Babylon was not First-Century Jerusalem (it's Judaism)

[Timothy_Fitzpatrick]

The title of this article was meant to be somewhat provocative.  Before any of my preterist brethren get too provoked, however, let me say that I am essentially in agreement with those who say the Babylon was first century Jerusalem.  While equating Jerusalem with Babylon is essentially correct, it does need some refinement.
 
Many conservative preterists hold the position that first century Jerusalem was the harlot of Revelation (liberal preterists tend to see the harlot as Rome).  While identifying the harlot with Jerusalem is essentially correct, it must be remembered that Revelation is dealing in symbols; the harlot was not simply the city of Jerusalem.  The symbol of a harlot-city in Revelation is being used to represent a community of people.  Johnson wrote the following on this: "John's use of the word 'city' from its first occurrence in 3:12 is symbolic...A city may be [used as] a metaphor for the total life of a community of people (Heb. 11:10, 12:22; 13:14)." brackets mine Alan F. Johnson, Revelation, 112.   Just as the New Jerusalem is not a literal city (she is the bride, Rev.21:9-10) neither is Babylon, both represent a community of people.  New Jerusalem is a symbol of God's new covenant people, the bride; Babylon is a symbol of God's unfaithful old covenant people, the harlot.  The harlot was centered in Jerusalem in the Temple; she was destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 but she was more than just the city of Jerusalem.
Again, the image of a city in Revelation (in both the case of Babylon and New Jerusalem) is being used as a symbol of a community of people.  Babylon was not first century Jerusalem; it was a symbol of the unfaithful old covenant community that was centered in Jerusalem (in the Temple).  Saying that the harlot of Revelation is the city of Jerusalem is like saying that Uncle Sam is the city of Washington D.C.  Uncle Sam (initials U.S.) is an image that has been used as a personification of the United States.  While Uncle Sam has his seat in Washington D.C. he symbolizes all of America not just the city of Washington D.C.  So it is with the harlot in Revelation, she was centered in Jerusalem in the Temple but she represented all those of Israel who rejected Jesus, not just the city of Jerusalem.  This is similar to the usage of harlot in the book of Hosea where God accuses the whole Land of Israel (not just a given city) of harlotry, "When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: 'Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.  For the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord'" Hosea 1:2.  Also consider Ezekiel 23 where Jerusalem and Samaria (Ezek. 23:4) are called the "daughters of one mother" (Ezek. 23:2).  Samaria (representing the northern kingdom of Israel) and Jerusalem (representing the southern kingdom of Judah) were two daughters of the one mother, the whole nation of Israel.  The harlot of Revelation 17 is likewise the mother (i.e. the source) of all the harlots and abomination of the Land (Rev. 17:5).

If one wants a quick identification of the harlot all one has to do is compare Revelation 17:18 with 11:8.  In Revelation 17:18 Babylon is called "the great city."  In Revelation 11:8 we are told that "the great city" was "where also our Lord was crucified."  The city where Jesus was crucified was of course Jerusalem but as I have said Babylon was more that just Jerusalem; it was a symbol of the unfaithful old covenant community that rejected Jesus.  When God tells his people to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4) He is not telling them to come out of Jerusalem (He definitely wasn't telling them to come out of Rome either); the members of the seven churches of Revelation were already out of those cities (they lived in the province of Asia).  What God was saying was for His people to make a final break with old covenant temple system Judaism.  In this book I will variously be referring to Babylon as "the temple system," or "unfaithful Israel." it represents God's unfaithful old covenant community that had rejected Jesus in favor of the offerings of the Temple.  Just as ancient Babylon had destroyed God's Temple and persecuted God's people, so unfaithful Israel had destroyed Jesus, God's ultimate Temple ("Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." John 2:19-21; cf. Matt. 12:6; Rev. 21:22) and was persecuting His people.
In Revelation we are shown two women (the harlot and the bride) who are two cities (Babylon and New Jerusalem).  These two women are also two wives.  While it is obvious that the bride is a wife (Rev. 21:9) it is easy to miss that the harlot is also a wife, a widowed wife (Rev. 18:7); she became a widow when she had her husband (Jesus) killed.  She denies this claiming that she is still a queen (cf. Matt. 21:5), that she is still God's wife (cf. Hosea 2:2-4).  The widowed wife (the harlot) is judged and destroyed in Revelation chapters17 and 18 and then God marries his new covenant bride in Revelation chapter 19.  There is an almost exact parallel to this in Galatians chapter 4 that deserves careful consideration.  In Galatians 4:21-31 we are told of two women who are two wives (Hagar and Sarah) who correspond to two cities (physical Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem which is what the New Jerusalem is, Rev. 21:10).  We are told that these two women/cities are symbolic of two communities of people, those under the old covenant and those under the new covenant.
 
"Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewomen.  But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic.  For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar- for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children- but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all...But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.  Nevertheless what does the Scripture say?  Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." Galatians 4:21-31 emphasis added
 
Revelation is talking about the same subject as Galatians; both books are contrasting two "cities" (physical Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem in Galatians, Babylon and the New or heavenly Jerusalem in Revelation) that are two "wives" (Hagar and Sarah in Galatians, the widowed harlot and the bride in Revelation).  These two women of Galatians and Revelation represent two communities, those of the old and new covenants.  Notice that while the city of Jerusalem is mentioned in Galatians it is representing all those under the old covenant not just the city of Jerusalem ("which things are symbolic.  For these are the two covenants" this supports my contention that Babylon doesn't just represent 1st century Jerusalem but all those of the old covenant who were rejecting Jesus).  In the book of Revelation, as in Galatians (4:29), one woman persecutes the other (i.e. the harlot persecutes the bride, Rev. 17:6).  Similarly in Revelation, as in Galatians, one of the two women is cast out (and destroyed Rev. 18:21) while the other woman receives her inheritance (i.e. the Lord takes her as His bride).  This explains why the very next subject in Revelation after Babylon is destroyed is the wedding of the bride (Rev. 19:1-10).  God deposes of His unfaithful old covenant wife (who irrevocably broke her covenant of marriage with God and became a widow when she had Jesus killed) and then marries his faithful new covenant bride.
 Seeing the harlot as the old covenant temple system helps to explain Revelation 18:21 (that says Babylon would not rise again).  The city of Jerusalem has risen again; the old covenant temple system has not risen again (and won't).  By the way if you look at the merchandise of Babylon (Rev. 18:11-13) it is the items used in the building and offerings of the Temple.  The harlot city is dressed in clothes of the high priest.  Carrington said the following on the merchandise of Babylon "The long list of merchandise in [Rev.] 18:11-13 is surely a catalogue of materials for building the Temple, and stores for maintaining it." P. Carrington, The Meaning of Revelation, 287.

 In summary, Revelation is communicating by way of symbols (Rev. 1:1).  Just as the New Jerusalem is not a literal city but a community of people (the bride, the new covenant community) so Babylon was not a literal city but a community of people (the harlot, the unfaithful old covenant community).  The "city" that God was telling His people to come out of was not Jerusalem (they were out of that city, they lived in Asia) but the old covenant temple system.  Again, Babylon was not simply first century Jerusalem, it was a symbol of the old covenant temple system.  While Babylon was centered in Jerusalem, its citizens were all those of unfaithful Israel that were rejecting Jesus for the temple system.

Duncan McKenzie, Ph.D.

Source: http://www.preteristarchive.com/Preteri ... salem.html

[Michael K.]

Dear Timothy Fitzpatrick,

Very interesting exegesis.  There is no dogmatic view of Revelation, so we are free to use the tools available to solve the puzzle, but then I think we must accept a margin of disbelief about even our best guesses.

While generally I concur with most of the key points presented, the only thing I would add is that I think that, at least as far a Orthodox exegisis already covers the issue of Christ's nuptials, it can be ventured that if Judaism is the black widow, the virgin bride is the Virgin Mary, as well as the Church; given that the Jews of the first century were undoubtedly under the sway of Babylon's mystical power through the earliest forms of ceremonial magic, the Judaism of the Pharisees can be profiled as the Great Harlot.

It is valid to make the distinction between the physical city of a fallen Jerusalem, at any time, and the animating influence of that fallen culture, Kabbalistic and Babylonian Talmudic Judasism.  You know what the Jews say?  :  "When you're dead, you're dead."-- (So get it while you can, and use whatever means to the end of getting the gold ring.)