Revelation 18:4-5 (YLT)
Come out of her, my people,
lest you share in her sins
and lest you receive of her plagues.
For her sins have reached to heaven
and God has remembered her unrighteousness.
The city of Babel, or Babylon, is a theme we come across throughout the Bible.
When God calls us to move out of Babylon, it is important that we understand what this city depicts.
unrighteousness
Babel is a picture of how man in his own strength builds himself up as a city in order to reach the heavenly; Where God is. Babel is an image of man trying to justify himself. God calls this unrighteousness. The law is a picture of this unrighteousness. By trying to do or not do certain things we try to get closer to God. This, however, is self-justification.
Paul says it very clearly in Galatians 5:
Galatians 5:4 (NKJV)
You have become estranged from Christ,
you who attempt to be justified by law
you have fallen from grace.
Romans 3:28 (NKJV)
Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith
apart from the deeds of the law.
the bride of Christ
Man is meant to be the wife of Christ. Married to Him, all one with Him.
Marriage is a picture of this wonderful spiritual principle.
Ephesians 5:31-32 (NKJV)
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Paul says marriage is a mystery.
This means that its meaning is hidden from the flesh, it can only be understood spiritually.
Marriage reflects in the natural what God’s spiritual purpose is for us.
So just as a man and a woman become one together, even into one body, God wants us to become one with Christ, even one with His body.
The church of God is the wife of Christ. An image of the wife of Christ is the New Jerusalem.
John teaches us that in the book of Revelation. He said:
Revelation 21:9-10 (NKJV)
An angel came to me, saying,
Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain
and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God.
The angel says he is going to show the Lamb’s wife, and he shows John the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem is a picture of the church of God.
The New Jerusalem is a picture of the wife of Christ,
who is faithful only to Him and does not look after other men.
Babylon is the antitype of this.
Babylon is the woman who is not faithful to her husband.
John also sees an image of her in the spirit and describes her in this way:
Revelation 17:4-5 (NKJV)
The woman held in her hand a golden cup
full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
And on her forehead a name was written:
Mystery: babylon the great, the mother of harlots
and of the abominations of the earth.
This too is a mystery!
It is therefore not so much about the city of Babylon, but about its spiritual significance.
It is very important that you let the Spirit of God reveal to you the mystery of Babylon!
Otherwise you will wander in this city from one street to another and in the end you never lift your head to the heavenly Jerusalem, to let it descend within you.
In the spirit, John sees the city of Babylon pictured as a female harlot.
This does not mean however that the meaning of this image only applies to women.
Babylon, the harlot, is a picture of every human being on earth who lives from the wisdom of the flesh; earthly wisdom.
James 3:14 (NKJV)
If you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
These people too are made by God, they are His children and God gave them to Christ as His wive.
But they commit fornication, they’re whoring, with all that the world offers them.
James 4:4 (NKJV)
Adulterers and adulteresses!
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Babylon is an image of the old man; the man who has not yet found his true identity.
Which is, that he is a son of God, made in His image and in His likeness.
To discover your true identity, Jesus Christ must be revealed to you.
When you get to know Jesus Christ, you get to know God, because Jesus said:
John 14:9 (NKJV)
He who has seen Me has seen the Father
and you also get to know the son of God; yourself!
Because…
Romans 8:16 (YLT)
…His Spirit joins with our spirit
to affirm that we are God’s children!
When you get to know Christ, you change from the old man, who lives according to the wisdom of the flesh, to the new man, who lives according to the heavenly wisdom, the Spirit of God.
An image of the new man is the New Jerusalem.
Babylon is an image of old man.
You see this in all aspects of both cities.
Babylon vs the new jerusalem
We had already seen that Babylon is called a harlot, while John describes the New Jerusalem prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
All the differences between Babylon and the New Jerusalem have a deep spiritual meaning that all relate to you and me.
For example, the new Jerusalem is coming down from heaven.
John saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
It refers to all the good that comes from God. So it comes from heaven to earth. Just like Jesus. It comes from heaven to be on earth, so that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
With Babylon we see the exact opposite. They said:
Let’s build a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven
Babylon is an image of man who wants to reach heaven in his own strength; from the power of the flesh.
Often we want to work for it so that we earn it. God calls that our unrighteousness.
We then try to make a name for ourselves.
The only way we are justified is by the grace of God, which is found in Jesus Christ. So the grace of God comes from heaven to earth. We are not allowed to build a city ourselves to get heaven on earth.
And when we are changed from an unfaithful wife to the bride who has adorned herself for her husband, we may also take the name of our husband. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name.
The materials with which both cities are built also have a deep spiritual meaning.
In Babylon they said to each other:
Genesis 11:3 (NASB)
Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.
And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
The New Jerusalem, on the other hand, is built with materials that cannot simply be found on the surface. For, the construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls.
The New Jerusalem is built with materials that are not found easily.
They are treasures that are hidden deep. ….Just like the Word of God.
Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV)
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
You are that king!
Like gold and precious stones, the deep meaning of what is written in the Bible doesn’t just lie on the surface.
We must dig deep for it in a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit who reveals the Truth to us.
There are many more differences to be found between Babylon and the New Jerusalem.
There were many temples in Babylon for instance for many different gods.
From historical books we can conclude that more than 50 different gods were worshiped at times, all of which had their own temple.
At the time of Daniel, the god Bel was especially worshiped in Babylon.
And at some point…
Daniël 1:1-2 (NKJV)
…Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord gave the king of Judah into his hand,
with some of the articles of the house of God.
Nebuchadnezzar brought the articles into the house of his god.
But when John sees the New Jerusalem, he says:
Revelation 21:22 (NKJV)
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
It is very important you understand that the image of the city of Babylon and of the new Jerusalem are about one and the same person. Everything that happens in those cities is a picture of what can happen inside you and me.
The temple is also an image of you.
Or…
1 Corinthians 6:19+13 (YLT)
…have you not known that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from God?
And the body is not for whoredom, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Do you see that these same images are a common thread throughout the Bible?
God uses visible objects and events to explain the spiritual to us.
So when Nebuchadnezzar takes objects from the temple of God, to use in worship of an idol, we can apply it directly to ourselves.
Our body is the temple of God and we are appointed as priests over it to worship God in that temple, our body.
But when we use our bodies for things that go against God, the objects from our temple are used to worship idols.
Babylon is also about you, when you are still living from the flesh, when you try to reach heaven by your own works and when you let yourself guide by earthly wisdom.
The new Jerusalem is also about you, but this city depicts that you have moved out of Babylon.
(Come forth out of her, My people (Revelation 18:4)
and that you know, believe and live out that you cannot earn the love of God, but that He has given you everything.
Romans 3:23 (NKJV)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
and all are being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Throughout the Bible, God shows how He changes you
from the harlot Babylon to the virgin bride the New Jerusalem.
His truth will eventually destroy all of Babylon within you!
Jeremiah 50:3 (NKJV)
For out of the north a nation comes up against her,
which shall make her land desolate,
and no one shall dwell therein.
They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast.
When, in a deep relationship with the Holy Spirit, you let the Babylon in you be destroyed by the wisdom, love and grace of God
Then…
Isaiah 62:4 (NASB)
…it will no longer be said to you, ‘Forsaken’
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, ‘Desolate’
But you will be called, ‘My delight is in her’
and your land, ‘Married’
For the LORD delights in you, and to Him your land will be married.
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves
and give Him no rest until He establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in all the earth.
Babylon vs New Jerusalem
Revelation 17:5
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots
Revelation 21:2
The new Jerusalem prepared as a bride adorned for her husband
Genesis 11:4a
let us build a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven
Revelation 21:2
I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God
Genesis 11:4b
let us make a name for ourselves
Isaiah 62:2
You shall be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the Lord will name.
Genesis 11:3
They used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Revelation 21:18-19+21
The construction of its wall was of jasper
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Daniël 1:2
Nebuchadnezzar brought the articles into the house of hís god.
Revelation 21:22
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Jeremiah 50:3
For out of the north a nation comes up against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein.
They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast.
Isaiah 62:4 (NASB)
It will no longer be said to you, ‘Forsaken’
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, ‘Desolate’
Babylon
Revelation 17:5
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots
Genesis 11:4a
let us build a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven
Genesis 11:4b
let us make a name for ourselves
Genesis 11:3
They used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Daniël 1:2
Nebuchadnezzar brought the articles into the house of hís god.
Jeremiah 50:3
For out of the north a nation comes up against her,
which shall make her land desolate, and no one shall dwell therein.
They shall move, they shall depart, both man and beast.
New Jerusalem
Revelation 21:2
The new Jerusalem prepared as a bride adorned for her husband
Revelation 21:2
I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God
Isaiah 62:2
You shall be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the Lord will name.
Revelation 21:18-19+21
The construction of its wall was of jasper
and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls.
Revelation 21:22
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Isaiah 62:4 (NASB)
It will no longer be said to you, ‘Forsaken’
Nor to your land will it any longer be said, ‘Desolate’
As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you!
