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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Feb. 28, 1998
Update	: May 28, 2025
Parts	: 12

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part five, at this point in our discussion, we are going to take a quick review of the things we have discovered thus far regarding Jerusalem, as they pertain to the identity of mystery Babylon the Great:

1. She has been accused by God of being a harlot, or whore, due to her marital infidelity, and the spiritual whoredoms she has committed with the pagan gods of the nations around her.

2. She is impudent and unashamed, and has a whore's forehead.

3. She is guilty of murdering the Prophets and shedding the blood of the just. The Lord, through His Prophets, said that she is full of murderers, and calls her a bloody city.

It is an inescapable Biblical fact that just as all three of these characteristics pertain to Jerusalem, they likewise describe Babylon the Great to the letter as well. To begin with, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Babylon is a whore and the mother of harlots, as we can determine by the following verses:

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:‭ With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication . . . And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ‭‭And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."


Second, just as Jerusalem had a whore's forehead -- meaning that she was proud, impudent and unashamed of her sins -- likewise, Babylon the Great behaves in the exact same way. She too has a whore's forehead, and haughtily boasts of her sins; as we plainly see by the following two verses:

"And upon her forehead ‭was‭ a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."


"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."


Lastly, just as Jesus and the Prophets exposed Jerusalem for her hand in slaying the Prophets which had been sent to her, the Apostle John does the very same thing in the seventeenth and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation, when he exposes the sins of the mysterious city, Babylon the Great Whore. Again, consider the following group of verses:

"And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For THEY HAVE SHED THE BLOOD OF SAINTS AND PROPHETS, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."


"And I saw the woman DRUNKEN WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS, AND WITH THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS OF JESUS: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration."


"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye HOLY APOSTLES AND PROPHETS; FOR GOD HATH AVENGED YOU ON HER. 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. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. AND IN HER WAS FOUND THE BLOOD OF PROPHETS, AND OF SAINTS, AND OF ALL THAT WERE SLAIN UPON THE EARTH."


"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:‭ For true and righteous ‭are‭ his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, AND HATH AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS AT HER HAND."


To reiterate, the previous verses demonstrate a very striking similarity between these two cities, Jerusalem and Babylon the Great. In my view, this match-up is not simply a matter of coincidence. I am convinced that the Lord wants us to see something here. I believe He is telling us who this Babylon the Great is. But let me ask you a question: Exactly why is it that God refers to Babylon as "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"? In fact, her name is even in all uppercase letters in the King James Version of the Bible.

There are several different ways in which we can understand this. First of all, the fact that Babylon's full name is in all uppercase letters signifies her degree of wickedness. It is important to note that she is not just Babylon. She is in fact Babylon the Great, again signifying the degree of her wickedness. Then, in addition to being great in her level of wickedness, we are informed that she's THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. In other words, she is really beyond the pale. Her behavior is simply unacceptable, and she is the worst of the worst in her level of wickedness.

But please notice also that she is the mother of harlots. As you probably know, when we use the word "mother" in this way in our modern day, we mean the greatest of something, such as in the mother of battles, or perhaps the mother of headaches. But this Babylon is likewise a real mother in a metaphorical sense. She has given birth to her own wicked spawn, but she remains the very worst of the lot. So exactly who are these harlots?

As it turns out, in the Old Testament, one particular phrase which is frequently used is "daughter of my people". If you look up the Hebrew origin of this word, you'll discover that it is sometimes used to refer to other towns and villages. So while Jerusalem is the mother and the greatest in wickedness, there are other towns and villages in Israel -- her spawn -- which also act just like her, and who have abandoned God and engaged in wickedness. Furthermore, if you read "Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem", you will see that just as Jerusalem was eventually burned to the ground, as the Romans marched down from northern Israel, any town or village which did not submit to Rome's authority was likewise burned to the ground and its people mercilessly slaughtered. So I believe that is the significance of Babylon's name.

If you are not yet convinced that Jerusalem and Babylon the Great are one and the same, allow me to share some additional facts with you which I discovered while conducting research for this series. As you may know, throughout the Book of Revelation, Babylon the Great is repeatedly referred to as a "great city". This becomes evident by verses such as the following:

"‭‭And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that GREAT CITY, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.‭"


"And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,‭ Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that GREAT CITY Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come . . . And saying, Alas, alas, that GREAT CITY, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! . . . And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What ‭city is‭ like unto this GREAT CITY!‭ And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that GREAT CITY, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate . . . 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.‭"


As it turns out, if we turn to Revelation chapter eleven, we will discover that while discussing the martyrdom of the Two Sackcloth Witnesses, Jerusalem is likewise referred to as a "great city". We know without a doubt that the following two verses are referring to Jerusalem, because we are clearly told that it was in that great city "where also our Lord was slain", as we see by the following two verses:

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.‭ And their dead bodies ‭shall lie‭ in the street of THE GREAT CITY, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.‭"


This description of Jerusalem as a great city is not limited to the Bible alone. We find similar descriptions of the city in certain non-biblical works as well. For example, Gaius Plinius Secundus -- who is commonly known as Pliny the Elder -- was a first century Roman author, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire. He was in fact a friend of Roman emperor Vespasian and his son, Titus, and served the emperor as an imperial administrator. Pliny is known today as the author of the rather expansive Latin work "Naturalis Historia" -- Natural History in English -- which is a thirty-seven book encyclopedic work that covers quite an assortment of topics on human knowledge and the natural world. It is his only work that has survived to our current time.

At any rate, in Book 5 Chapter 15 of his "Natural History", under the heading "Judea", Pliny the Elder describes some of the major cities of Judea and he writes as follows:

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"Beyond Idumaea and Samaria, Judaea extends far and wide. That part of it which joins up to Syria is called Galilaea, while that which is nearest to Arabia and Egypt bears the name of Peraea. This last is thickly covered with rugged mountains, and is separated from the rest of Judaea by the river Jordanes. The remaining part of Judaea is divided into ten Toparchies, which we will mention in the following order: That of Hiericus, covered with groves of palm-trees, and watered by numerous springs, and those of Emmaus, Lydda, Joppe, Acrabateua, Gophna, Thamna, Bethleptephene, Orina, in which formerly stood Hierosolyma, by far the most famous city, not of Judaea only, but of the East, and Herodium, with a celebrated town of the same name.

Asphaltites [the Dead Sea] produces nothing whatever except bitumen, to which indeed it owes its name. The bodies of animals will not sink in its waters, and even those of bulls and camels float there. In length it exceeds 100 miles being at its greatest breadth twenty-five, and at its smallest six. Arabia of the Nomades faces it on the east, and Machaerus on the south, at one time, next to Hierosolyma, the most strongly fortified place in Judaea."

----- End Quote -----

Now, at first glance, you may not see the name "Jerusalem" in the above excerpts. However, I assure you that it is indeed there in both of those quotes. You see, the reason why you may not recognize it is because its Latin name is used. That is to say "Hierosolyma". I was not aware of this either until I conducted some online research. Furthermore, in the New Testament, two different Greek forms of the name are used. That is to say, "Hierosoluma" and Hierousalem.

Now that we have identified Jerusalem in the aforementioned excerpts, the most important thing for our discussion is how Pliny the Elder describes Jerusalem. He describes the city as "by far the most famous city, not of Judaea only, but of the East" and "the most strongly fortified place in Judaea". Clearly then, even though he was a Roman himself, Pliny the Elder seems to have had great admiration for Jerusalem. He says that its fame is known throughout the East. Well, it certainly doesn't sound like Jerusalem was an insignificant backwater town, does it?

Allow me to point out one other thing that Pliny says about Jerusalem. He writes "in which formerly stood Hierosolyma." The reason for this is that he wrote his "Natural History" between 77 and 79 AD, or seven to nine years after Jerusalem and the temple compound had been destroyed by General Titus and the Romans in 70 AD. I discuss this major historic event in my lengthy series entitled "Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem". If you really want to understand the Roman occupation of Israel, and everything that led up to the fall of Jerusalem, you REALLY ought to read this series. You'll be given an amazing understanding regarding that tragic event.

Let me likewise mention here that noted Jewish general and historian Flavius Josephus also uses these same names in his works. For example, in "Against Apion", which he wrote as a defense of Judaism against the criticism of Egyptian author and sophist Apion, Josephus quotes one particular critic who wrote as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

"But that the difficulties of the journey being over, they [meaning the Israelites] came to a country inhabited, and that there they abused the men, and plundered and burnt their temples, and then came into that land which is called Judea, and there they built a city, and dwelt therein, and that their city was named Hierosyla, from this their robbing of the temples; but that still, upon the success they had afterwards, they in time changed its denomination, that it might not be a reproach to them, and called the city Hierosolyma, and themselves Hierosolymites."

----- End Quote -----

As a final example, in Book 7 Chapter 3 of his "Antiquities of the Jews", while discussing how King David captured the city from the Jebusites -- who called Jerusalem "Jebus" -- Josephus likewise mentions how Jerusalem had been formerly called Solyma by the Patriarch Abraham, as we see by this excerpt:

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"It was David, therefore, who first cast the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, and called it by his own name, "The City of David": for under our forefather Abraham it was called [Salem or] Solyma: but after that time some say that Homer mentions it by that name of Solyma, [for he named the temple Solyma, according to the Hebrew language, which denotes security]."

----- End Quote -----

So regardless of which language we choose to use, or which name we use, the point is that Jerusalem was regarded as a great and famous city by the ancients, exactly as the Book of Revelation describes it and exactly as Babylon the Great is also described. But there is even more. While describing Babylon the Great in the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, notice what we are specifically told in verse fifteen of this chapter:

"And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.‭"


In particular, please take note of the phrase "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues". Now, if we go back to chapter eleven where the death of the Two Sackcloth Witnesses is discussed, notice how Jerusalem is likewise described in verse nine. It is rather hard to ignore the fact that in the verse below, the phrase "people and kindreds and tongues and nations" is pretty much identical to the phrase that is used to describe Babylon the Great. In my view, this isn't simply a coincidence. I am convinced that it is meant to serve as a hint regarding who Babylon the Great is:

"And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.‭"


As we have already seen, Jerusalem was not just viewed as a great city by the Jerusalemites themselves. The inhabitants of other nations which surrounded it likewise viewed it as a great and famous city as well. Furthermore, as some of you will already know, even the wise men came to the city from the area which we know today as Kuwait, to visit the young Jesus. So then, exactly who were some of these "people and kindreds and tongues and nations" who we see mentioned in the previous verses from the Book of Revelation? Once again, by conducting just a little bit of Scriptural research, we can find a very clear answer. Consider this group of verses which is found in the Book of Acts:

"And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.‭ And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?‭ And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?‭ Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,‭ Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,‭ Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God."


My friends, if anything, the previous verses from the Book of Acts clearly confirm for us once again that Jerusalem was not just viewed as an insignificant, backwater, podunk town. If it had been, I seriously doubt that the Romans would have taken much interest in it. To the contrary, if we translate all of those ancient names into their modern counterparts, what we discover is that at the very least, Jerusalem was visited by people from the countries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Crete, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Libya.

Who were all of these people? Luke tells us that they were devout Jews, and proselytes as well. That is to say, people who had converted to the Jewish faith. While they may have been born in foreign lands, and spoke the languages of those foreign lands, they identified as Jews by faith. This, of course, also included the many Hellenistic Jews who lived in and visited Jerusalem for the annual feasts. As I explain in a number of other articles, this diversity of nationalities and tongues who came to Jerusalem no doubt resulted in large part from the three diasporas which followed the Assyrian, Babylonian and Roman invasions. So just as Babylon the Great sat upon many waters, so did Jerusalem. It is undeniable.

In short, Jerusalem was an international city in every sense of the word, just as it is in our modern day as well. Let me also point out that Jerusalem being viewed as a great city did not begin in the First Century. It seems that its status as a great city was established centuries earlier. We find some proof of this in the Book of Jeremiah. If we turn to the twenty-second chapter, we find the Lord warning the Jews, via Jeremiah, regarding what will happen to their city, if they fail to repent of their apostasy. Please take note of the two phrases "many nations" -- just like in Revelation and the Book of Acts -- and "great city" -- again, just like in the Book of Revelation:

"And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?‭ Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them."


As we have clearly seen, in the Scriptures both the city of Jerusalem, as well as Babylon the Great, are described as being great, international cities into which flow multitudes from many surrounding countries. In addition to Jerusalem's religious significance to the Jews and to Jewish proselytes themselves, exactly why would so much international traffic flow through it? The fact is that Jerusalem was also quite a commercial center as well. Do you honestly believe that the money-minded Jews would not want to take financial advantage of all those multitudes of people visiting their city from eastern Asia, southern Europe and northern Africa every single year?

One good example can be found in 1 Kings 10 where the wealth of King Solomon is discussed. We are told that even the queen of Sheba -- who was very rich herself -- was very impressed by the level of Solomon's prosperity. Not only did Solomon receive great wealth from her, but he also had an agreement with King Hiram's navy which dealt in gold, precious stones, and other items. Considering Jerusalem's location, Solomon may have also had some interaction with the various spice routes which traversed near, or across, Israel, such as the Nabateans' famous "Spice Route". This particular trade route ran from Arabia, through the Negev Desert, on to Gaza. There was also the "King's Highway", and the "Incense" trade route. Consider the following verses:

"And she [the queen of Sheba] said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.‭ ‭‭Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen ‭it‭: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard . . . And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones . . . Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,‭ Beside ‭that he had‭ of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country . . . And all king Solomon's drinking vessels ‭were of‭ gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon ‭were of‭ pure gold; none ‭were of‭ silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.‭ For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.‭ So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom . . . And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.‭"


"‭‭Beside ‭that which‭ chapmen and merchants brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon.‭"


"And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and charged that they should not be opened till after the sabbath: and ‭some‭ of my servants set I at the gates, ‭that‭ there should no burden be brought in on the sabbath day.‭ So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.‭"


So what we see then is that there was a fair amount of trade occurring between Jerusalem and the neighboring countries. In similar fashion, Babylon the Great is likewise a rather rich commercial center in which many products and services are available, as we can easily determine by the following group of Bible verses:

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies . . . And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 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. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."


I find it so amazing how much of what we find written in the pages of the Book of Revelation regarding Babylon the Great, can be traced back to things which Jesus said in the Gospels concerning Jerusalem and the unbelieving Jews. Of course, this should not really come as a surprise to us. After all, the Book of Revelation starts out by telling us that this Book is the The Revelation of Jesus Christ, as we see by the following verse:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified ‭it‭ by his angel unto his servant John:‭"


So this revelation comes from Jesus Christ, and was given to Him by His Father. What we see then, is that in some regards, in the Book of Revelation, Jesus is merely reiterating to John, some of the things He told the Apostles while He was still in the flesh with them. Allow me to give you another clear example. In the eighteenth chapter of the Apocalypse, we previously read the following verse which describes some of the merchandise of Babylon the Great:

"And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men."


Please go to part seven for the continuation of this series.

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