There has been many predictions and ideas given of who or what Babylon in the book of Revelation is. Many don’t realize the answer to the identity of Babylon, the Harlot, is quite clear if we use some simple hermeneutics (rules of interpretation) to interpret the passages speaking of the Harlot. The key to finding the answer is to interpret the passages regarding Babylon with other scriptures regarding Babylon (or the Harlot) throughout the Bible. This is a well-known hermeneutic, often called “interpreting scripture with scripture.” Virtually all scholars agree that we have the greatest chance of interpreting Scripture correctly when we practice this rule, rather than trying to place our own ideas or preconceived notions onto biblical topics. So let us begin.
Just so that we're on the same page, be aware that Babylon and the great harlot are one and the same (Rev. 17:5). The first thing you should know is that Babylon, the harlot, is called "the great city" (Rev. 17:18). So, if we search through Scripture for a city called a harlot or a prostitute or a city that's associated with prostitution, that should shed a lot of light on the identity of Babylon in Revelation.
In Isaiah 1:21 we read, "See how the faithful city has become a prostitute." Who was the faithful city that became a prostitute? Verse 1 of this chapter says, "The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem" (Is. 1:1). The once faithful city of Jerusalem had now become considered a prostitute by God. Let's look at some other Scriptures where we find a city being called a Harlot.
Jeremiah the prophet, speaking to Jerusalem, said in 2:20, "on every high hill and under every green tree you have lain down as a prostitute." In 13:27 we read this: "Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills in the field, I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?"
Speaking of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16:15-17, we read: "You trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You took some … garments to make gaudy high places where you carried on your prostitution. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry I made of My gold and silver and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them."
To save time and space, here are several other references that identify Jerusalem as a harlot or associate her with harlotry: Ezekiel 16:20, 22, 25, 26, 28-31, 33-36, 41; 23:11, 14, 18-19, 27, 29-30, 35. Yes, there are times when other cities are linked to harlotry or called harlots, but none of them were referred to in this way as many times as Jerusalem due to her idol worship and rejection of her God, nor do they fit the context of Revelation as does the city of Jerusalem.
Consider the following parallels between the Revelation harlot and Jerusalem:
The Harlot
Adorned with Fine Linen, Gold, Precious Stones, and Pearls with Much Flour and Oil (Rev. 17:4 & 18:12-16)
Jerusalem
Adorned with Fine Linen, Silk, Ornaments, Brace-lets, Necklaces, Earrings, Gold, Silver with Much Flour, Honey, and Oil (Eze. 16:10-14)
The Harlot
In Her Was Found the Blood of Prophets, Saints, and All Who Had Been Slain on the Earth (Rev. 18:24).
Jerusalem
The Guilt of All the Righteous Blood Shed on the Earth Would Fall upon Her (Mat. 23:34-35).
The Harlot
The Blood of God's Servants Would Be Avenged When She Was Judged (Rev. 19:2).
Jerusalem
The Blood of God's Servants Would Be Avenged When She
Was Judged
(Deut. 32:43).
Another point worth noticing is that that Jerusalem sits upon seven hills (google "seven hills of Jerusalem"). Revelation 17:9 tells us that the seven heads upon which the woman (harlot) sat were seven hills.
Lastly, remember that Babylon, the harlot or prostitute, is called "the great city." In Revelation 11:8 we learn that the great city was where the Lord was slain.
Where was Jesus slain? Jesus was crucified on Golgotha, a hill in the province of Jerusalem!
If it is not obvious by now, the Bible seems to say that the city of Jerusalem is the great Harlot, Babylon. Please do not think I am anti-Semite; I am simply showing what the Bible says. Also, I do not believe that Jerusalem today is the Harlot of Revelation, nor do I believe there is a judgment coming on that city. I believe the Bible shows us the Harlot of Revelation was Jerusalem in the FIRST CENTURY, and she received her judgment when Rome seized and destroyed the city in the year A.D. 70.
You might be thinking “how is this possible? Isn’t the rise and fall of the Harlot supposed to be in the last days?” My answer is yes. You see, I believe the common view in the West of the last days (a worldwide event to take place in the future) has come from not following basic rules of interpretation. When we interpret scripture with scripture, it is clear that the last days in the Bible are speaking of the events during and leading up to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
Though one article is not enough time to explain everything, I will briefly share some thoughts that I hope you will consider.
Let us look at some key points in Matthew 24 (a pivotal passage on the last days) and the few chapters leading up to it:
In Matthew 21, Jesus tells the Pharisees a parable about a vineyard who sends his servants to his vineyard to reap the harvest. The tenants who were overseeing the property, beat and killed the servants who came to keep harvest for themselves. The owner then sends his own son to the vineyard, but the tenants kill him as well. Jesus asked the Pharisees what they think would happen to the wicked tenants. They replied that the vineyard owner would bring them to a wretched end. In verse 45 it shows that Jesus was speaking of the Pharisees in this parable; they would beat and kill God's servants, as well as His only Son, and they would come to a wretched end.
In Matthew 22:1-7, Jesus was still speaking to the Pharisees, narrating another parable (which is obviously about them) about a king who hosted a wedding for his son. When the wedding was prepared, the king sent his servants to inform the invitees, but they refused to come, and some even beat/killed the messengers. The king then sends his army to destroy them and burn their city. By this, Jesus is again warning the Pharisees of a coming destruction.
In Matthew 23, beginning at verse 13, Jesus pronounced upon the Pharisees eight woes, warning them of a calamity coming upon them.
Jesus then said in verse 34, "I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes; some of them you will crucify and kill, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city." This is exactly what the wicked tenants and the wedding invitees did in Jesus' parables. Jesus was saying that the Pharisees were going to do what the wicked people did in the parables, and would be destroyed by an army.
In Matthew 23:36, Jesus told the Pharisees that a judgment would happen to them in their generation.
In Matthew 23:37 Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of the calamity soon befall her.
In Matthew 23:38 Jesus declared over her, "your house is being left to you desolate.” This is a direct quote of Jeremiah 22:5. Jeremiah 22 is a prophecy of an army destroying a Judean city. By citing that passage, Jesus was saying that this destruction was coming.
Matthew 24:
In verse 2 of this chapter, Jesus told His disciples that all the temple buildings would be demolished, with not one stone left on top of another. THIS statement is the subject matter for this chapter. It does not switch from speaking of the temple to speaking of an end of the world event thousands of years in the future.
Throughout chapter 24, Jesus told His disciples that they were the ones who'd see the signs, indicating that the end of the age was happening or about to happen. This means that the events of Matthew 24 (aka The Olivet Discourse) had to have occurred within the first century while some of the disciples were still alive.
In verse 16, we find Jesus only warning those in Judea to flee. Two questions here: Firstly, if this event were worldwide, what good would fleeing to the mountains do? Secondly, why wouldn't Jesus also say something about those in Galilee, Samaria, Damascus, Ephesus, New York, L.A., Hong Kong, Moscow and London needing to flee? Unless of course these events were only taking place in Judea rather than the whole world.
In verse 34 (just as He did in 23:36), Jesus said these things would occur in "this” (his) generation. Jesus wasn't projecting all this into some future generation who'd witness these signs, but to the generation of time in which He was then living. How do we know? One of the things to happen in the generation Jesus is speaking of, would be the destruction of the temple (vs. 2); the temple was demolished in the year AD 70, and so the generation Jesus is speaking of had to exist at that time. Also, every other time Jesus used the phrase “this generation” (Matt. 11:16; 12:41, 42, 45; & 23:36), He was always speaking of His own generation.
Matthew 24, and the last days were about the events during and leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is not speaking of the destruction of the world in our future. Babylon, the great Harlot, was first century Jerusalem, who rejected Jesus as her Messiah, beat and killed God’s only son and his servants, and prostituted herself to the Old Covenant ways that Jesus made obsolete (Heb. 8:13). She received her judgment in AD 70 at the hands of the Roman armies.
(If you are interested in learning more about this view on the last days are looking of answers to other topics such as “heaven and earth burning up,” “the antichrist,” “the return” etc., please a get copy of my book “How The End Times Ended In AD 70,” for free with kindle unlimited. Click the link below to download).
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