I just went through the link below.
IS JERUSALEM “MYSTERY BABYLON”? | Right Word Truth
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https://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=cr#fp=cfaa46a217674a9&q=mystery+babylon+is+not+jerusalem
INTRODUCTION
I must confess that the first time I heard that “Mystery Babylon” is Jerusalem, my immediate reaction was, “Oh I don’t think so, because God
loved Jerusalem, but His angels rejoiced over the destruction of “Mystery Babylon”. My thoughts went to Luke 13:34, where we read, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together
as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!”. Here Christ compared Himself to a hen who would gather her brood, even though they had killed the prophets. Had it not been for the setting aside of Israel at Acts 28, that statement would have been made just a few decades before the destruction of Mystery Babylon in the day of God’s vengeance.
Bearing that in mind, let us consider the reaction of God’s angels at the destruction of the city. Consider, for example, Rev. 19:1, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying,
Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God”. And again in verse 3, “And again they said, ‘
Alleluia‘”. And again in verse 6, “
Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth”.
My point is that there was great rejoicing in heaven at the destruction of this city. And rightfully so because God’s prophets were avenged, and the Lord will reign. But would there be such great rejoicing if it were Jerusalem that had been destroyed? Jerusalem, the city of David, the capital city of the nation which was the “apple of His eye”? The city over which Christ spoke so lovingly even though in the same sentence He recognized their sin in killing the prophets. But I recognize that this is just a first reaction, and certainly does not prove anything. So let us search the Scriptures for the truth in this matter.
GOD’S PROMISE TO NEVER AGAIN DESTROY JERUSALEM
Ezek. 5:9 reads, “And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto
I will not do any more the like”. The context will show that this verse has to do with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. But please note, God said the
He would
“not do any more the like”. In other words, we read here God’s promise that
He will never again destroy Jerusalem.
It is clear however, that mystery Babylon will indeed be destroyed by God. This verse alone should prove that Jerusalem is not mystery Babylon.
A DISCUSSION OF THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN BABYLON AND JERUSALEM
Many point to the similarities between the description of Babylon with Jerusalem and assume from that that Babylon represents Jerusalem. But I believe we must take into consideration the fact that Revelation is a book about the end times. One of the main characteristics of the end times is Satan’s attempt to counterfeit what is God’s . Let us consider some of those counterfeits.
THE COUNTERFEIT OF CHRIST HIMSELF
We read in II Thess. 2:4, “who (the antichrist) opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God;
shewing himself that he is God“. We know that Christ is God and will sit in the Temple of God in His millennial reign. But we read here of the antichrist claiming to be Christ. Is this not a counterfeit of the greatest magnitude?
THE COUNTERFEIT OF CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION
We read in Rev. 13:3, “And I saw one of his (the beast) heads as it were wounded
to death; and his deadly wound was healed….”. Here we have the antichrist, represented as one of the heads of the beast, which was “wounded to death”. The note in the Companion Bible makes this meaning very clear. That note reads, “deadly wound =
death stroke“. So this verse tells us that the antichrist died and was “healed”. Is this not a counterfeit of Christ’s death and resurrection?
THE COUNTERFEIT OF THE NAME ON THE FOREHEAD OF THE 144,000
In Rev. 7:3 we read of the sealing of the 144,000, “…hurt not the earth…….till we have
sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads“. Rev. 14:1 tells us that it is the
Father’s name which is written on the foreheads of the 144,000. The note in the Companion Bible on this sealing is very interesting: “This sealing is visible and protects the elect (Matt. 24:31) of Israel during the tribulation, marking them off as worshippers of the true God”.
Let us consider the mark of the beast. We read in Rev. 13:16-17. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or
in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
The mark of the beast is a counterfeit of God’s sealing of the 144,000.
THE COUNTERFEIT OF GOD’S MIRACLE OF FIRE FROM HEAVEN
Let us also consider the miracles described in Rev. 13:13-15, “and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men”. This is an obvious counterfeit of the miracle recorded in I Kings 18:30-38 where after taunting the prophets of Baal, Elijah soaked the altar of God with water and in verse 38 we read, “Then the
fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench”. Again, we see Satan’s counterfeit, this time the counterfeit of the miracle of God in I Kings 18.
SATAN’S ARMY OF REV. NINE AND GOD’S ARMY OF JOEL TWO
We read in Rev. 9:3-11 of an army of locusts. Verses 7-8 describe these locusts, “And the shape of the locusts were
like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads, were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. and they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as
the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle”.
And we also read in Joel 2:4-10 of an army of locusts. Verses 4-5 describe them, “the appearance of them is
as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the
noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array”.
Note the similarities: both armies were locusts that looked like horses. Note both passages mention the noise of this army. But they are
not the same army. The army of Rev. 9 is Satan’s army. Rev. 9:11 reads, “and they had a king over them, which is the angel of the
bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon”. The note in the Companion Bible tells us that “Abaddon” means
“destruction” and Apollyon” means “destroyer”. Given that the head of this army comes from the “bottomless pit”, we may conclude that Satan is the king of this army.
On the other hand, verse 11 of Joel 2 tells us that that army is the Lord’s army, “and the
Lord shall utter His voice before
His army….”.
My point is that even though there are similarities in these two armies of locusts, it is clear that Satan’s army, which will march in the tribulation is a counterfeit of God’s army which will march in the day of the Lord.
THE COUNTERFEIT OF JERUSALEM
We come now to a discussion of the similarities of the end time Jerusalem and the end time Babylon. Given that we are told quite specifically that the woman of Rev. 17 represents the city of Babylon and that the mystery surrounding the woman is not which city she represents but that she reigns over the kings of the earth (Rev. 17:18), I believe we may conclude that Babylon is yet another counterfeit of the things of God. In this case Babylon is the counterfeit of Jerusalem. (We will consider the significance of this counterfeit in a section below.)
But there is even more convincing evidence that the great city that will be destroyed in the day of the Lord is not Jerusalem, but Babylon. We read in Rev. 18:10, “….Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that great city! for in
one hour is thy judgment come”. And in verse 17 of that same chapter we read, “For in
one hour so great riches is come to nought…..”. And again in verse 19 we read, “Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of costliness! for in
one hour is she made desolate”.
Now let us compare this with some Old Testament prophecies concerning Babylon. Is. 47:1 reads, “…..come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of
Babylon….”. And in verse 5 we read, “sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O
daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms”. My point is that this passage concerns the punishment of Babylon of the Chaldees, not Jerusalem. Let us continue with verses 8-11 for the Scriptural account of Babylon’s punishment.
“Therefore hear now this…..that sayest in thine heart…… ‘I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children’. But these two things shall come to thee
in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. ………Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee
suddenly, which thou shalt not know”.
This prophecy has not been fulfilled. Ancient Babylon did fall into ruins, but certainly not suddenly, in one day. If we attribute the punishment of Babylon in “one hour” (Rev. 18:10, 17, and 19) to Jerusalem we have an unfulfilled prophecy.
Let us also consider Rev. 18:21, “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be
found no more at all“. But Jerusalem will be the city in which Christ Himself will reign in the millennium. That is to say, it cannot be said of Jerusalem that She will be “found no more at all”.
And we read several times of the
permanent destruction of Babylon. Jer. 50:33-34 contrasts Jerusalem with Babylon which tells us that this passage is in reference to the literal city of Babylon, not a representative of Jerusalem. “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: ‘The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: ……Their Redeemer is strong…..He shall thoroughly plead their cause, that He may give
rest to the land, and
disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon”.
Having established that this passage is about the literal city of Babylon let us continue with verses 35, 39-40 and 46. “The sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon….”. “Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it
shall be no more inhabited for ever;
neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord ‘so shall
no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein”.
Though present day Babylon is small, there are inhabitants of Babylon today telling us that this prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. And it cannot be a prophecy concerning Jerusalem because Jerusalem will be inhabited in the millennium.
