Most of the Scripture verses below were taken from one CD of the CD set on
The End by Dr. Scott Hahn. Click on his picture to go to his
website, or see “The End” of this web page for more of his resources.
Sections
DISCLAIMER
1. BABYLON - JERUSALEM
2. SEVEN HILLS
3. CODE NAME
4. “BABYLON” IS CALLED THE GREAT CITY
5. “BABYLON” AND THE DEATHS OF THE PROPHETS
6. A CITY WITH FINE
CLOTHING AND PRECIOUS STONES
7. DESTROYED WITH FIRE
8. HARLOT
9. ASSOCIATED WITH THE SCARLET BEAST
10. LIVED NEAR THE MANY WATERS
- Check back for Update
11. “BABYLON” HAS SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE NATIONS
12. MY PEOPLE
13. CONCLUSION
1. Babylon - Jerusalem
The Book of Revelations speaks of the Whore of Babylon, who has
rejected God's plan for our salvation. Who is this Whore of
Babylon ?
In Revelation we find references to both Heavenly Jerusalem, and Babylon
Jerusalem, which represent the two paths for mankind.
The Book of Revelation is highly symbolic. So, it is best for a
person to familiarize oneself with the rest of Sacred Scriptures, the Bible,
because it is there that Saint John would be able to draw upon meanings that
he knew his readers would be able to pick up on. These clues clearly
point to Babylon as being a code name for the corrupt city of apostate Jerusalem,
possibly just before 70 AD. Those who contend that Babylon is Rome
end up ignoring all the Biblical evidence. The context of Biblical
literature points to Babylon as being corrupt Jerusalem. Those who insist
that it is Rome are interjecting
non-biblical suppositions which are usually based on preconceived notions.
2. SEVEN HILLS
Revelation 17:9-10 “Here is a clue for one who
has wisdom. The seven heads represent seven hills upon which the woman
sits. They also represent seven kings: five have already fallen, one
still lives, and the last has not yet come, and when he comes he must
remain only a short while.”
Some have tried to claim that the Roman Catholic
Church is the Whore of Babylon by pointing out that Rome has been
referred to as a city on seven hills. The Seven Hills of Rome are; the
Palatine,
Aventine,
Capitoline, Quirinal,
Viminal, Esquiline, and the Caelian Hill. However, Saint Peter’s
Basilica was built on
Vatican Hill,
Collis Vaticanus, which is on the other side of the Tiber River and is
not one of these Seven Hills. St. Peter Basilica’s high altar was built
directly on top of Saint Peter’s grave which was outside of the city
and across the river. [See the book The Bones of St. Peter by John
Evangelist Walsh]
The reference to the seven hills does fit in
regards to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was a large
city spreading beyond the walls of the fort and onto the seven hills
there during the time of Jesus and the Apostles. It’s seven hills are;
1.) Mount Gared; 2.) Mount Goath; 3.) Mount Acra; 4.) Mount Bezetha;
5.) Mount Moriah; 6.) Mount Ophel; 7.) Mount Zion. Sometimes,
some will substitute the first four with the Mount of Olives, Mount of Offence, Mount of
Evil Counsel, and Mount Calvary.
Mount Calvary is presently
leveled for the most part. It was a major quarry that was used for the
building of the city. As the quarrymen cut into the stone layer by layer
they discovered a section that was flawed. A crack in that section made it
unusable so they cut around it. As they cut and cleared away the stone slabs
from around the flawed section it left an outcropping rising thirty feet from
the floor of the quarry to where the top of the hill had once been. It was
into this flawed crack that the Roman’s placed the upright beam of the cross of
the criminals that they crucified to place fear into their subjects. And
it was here that our Savior gave his life for our salvation.
3. CODE NAME
Revelation 17:5-6 “On her forehead was written a name, which is
a mystery, ‘Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of
the earth.’ I saw that the woman was drunk on the blood of the holy
ones and on the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her I was greatly
amazed.”
Babylon was a code name, a “mystery.” Compare how Jerusalem
is referred to similar code names such as Sodom, Gomorrah, and Egypt.
All of these, Sodom, Gomorrah, Egypt, and Babylon are all notorious enemies
of God’s people.
Isaiah 1: 1, 9-10 “The vision which Isaiah, son of Amoz, had concerning Judah and
Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
…9 Unless the LORD of hosts had left us a scanty remnant, We had become
as Sodom, we should be like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD,
princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of
Gomorrah !”
Moses warns the Jews how God will punish them and destroy their land
if they forsake the covenant.
Deuteronomy 29: 22-24 “…all its soil being nothing but sulphur and salt, a burnt-out waste,
unsown and unfruitful, without a blade of grass, destroyed like Sodom and
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his furious wrath—
they and all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD dealt thus with this land?
Why this fierce outburst of wrath?’ And the answer will be, ‘Because
they forsook the covenant which the LORD, the God of their fathers, had made
with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt…”
Jeremiah 23:14 “But among Jerusalem’s prophets I saw deeds
still more shocking: Adultery, living in lies, siding with the wicked, so that
no one turns from evil; To me they are all like Sodom, its citizens like
Gomorrah.”
Romans 9:27-29 “And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the
Israelites were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved;
for decisively and quickly will the Lord execute sentence upon the earth.’
And as Isaiah predicted: ‘Unless the Lord of hosts had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom and have been made like Gomorrah.’
” NAB
John in his Book of Revelation continues this use of code names for
the “great city.” He is using symbolism to refer to people
who had betrayed God’s people.
Revelation 11:8 “Their corpses will lie in the main street of
the great city, which has the symbolic names ‘Sodom’ and ‘Egypt,’ where indeed
their Lord was crucified.”
This passage in Revelation 11: 8 is most important because it clues
us in as to where this “great city” is. It is “where indeed their
Lord was crucified.” It is Jerusalem.
4. “BABYLON” IS CALLED
THE GREAT CITY
Revelation 18:10 “They will keep their distance for fear of the
torment inflicted on her, and they will say: ‘Alas, alas, great city,
Babylon, mighty city. In one hour your judgment has come.’ ” NAB
Jerusalem is also called the great city.
Jeremiah 22:4-8 “If you carry out these commands, kings who succeed to the throne
of David will continue to enter the gates of this palace, riding in chariots
or mounted on horses, with their ministers, and their people. But
if you do not obey these commands, I swear by myself, says the LORD: this
palace shall become rubble. For thus says the LORD concerning the
palace of the king of Judah: Though you be to me like Gilead, like the peak of Lebanon, I will turn you into a waste, a city uninhabited.
Against you I will send destroyers, each with his axe: They shall cut down
your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire. Many people
will pass by this city and ask one another: ‘Why has the LORD done this to so
great a city ?’ ”
5. “BABYLON” AND THE DEATHS
OF THE PROPHETS
Revelation 17:5-6 “On her forehead was written a name, which is
a mystery, ‘Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of
the earth.’ I saw that the woman was drunk on the blood of the holy
ones and on the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. When I saw her I was greatly
amazed.”
Revelation 18:24 “In her was found the blood of prophets and holy ones and
all who have been slain on the earth.” NAB
Compare them with these statements about Jerusalem
Luke 11:47-51 “Woe to you! You build the memorials of the prophets whom your ancestors
killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give consent to the deeds
of your ancestors, for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’ in order that this generation might
be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the
world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the
altar and the temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged
with their blood !”
Luke 13:31-34 “At that time some Pharisees came to him and
said, ‘Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you.’ …
Yet I must continue on my way today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it is
impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem.’
‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you,
how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, but you were unwilling !’ ”
Matthew 23:29-36; “ ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build
the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and
you say, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have
joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.” Thus you bear
witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered
the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out !
You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna ? Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets and
wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, some of them
you will scourge in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that
there may come upon you all the righteous blood shed upon earth, from the
righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom
you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Amen, I say to
you, all these things will come upon this generation.’ ”
24:34 “Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.”
6. A CITY WITH FINE
CLOTHING AND PRECIOUS STONES
Revelation 18:11-17
“ all kinds of scented (or fragrant) wood,
all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood,
bronze, iron and marble,
cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine
flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that
is, human souls. … (16)
Alas, alas, great city, wearing fine linen, purple
and scarlet, adorned (in) gold, precious stones, and pearls. In
one hour this great wealth has been ruined.”
However, all these things were found in Jerusalem.
Exodus 35: 30 - 36: 1
“Moses said to the Israelites, ‘See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel… of the
tribe of Judah, and has filled him with a divine spirit of skill and
understanding and knowledge in every craft: in the production of
embroidery, in making things of gold, silver or bronze, in cutting and
mounting precious stones, in carving wood, and in every other craft.
… the making of variegated cloth of
violet, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen
thread, weaving, and all other arts and crafts. ...
the LORD has endowed with skill and understanding in knowing how to execute all
the work for the service of the sanctuary, just as the LORD has commanded.’ ”
Exodus 39: 1-2, 8-14 “With violet, purple and
scarlet yarn were woven the service cloths for use in the sanctuary, as
well as the sacred vestments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses. … Four rows of
precious stones were mounted on it: in the first row a carnelian, a topaz and an
emerald; in the second row, a garnet, a sapphire and a beryl; in the third row a
jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a
jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree work. ... and each stone was engraved
like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.”
Exodus 30:23
“Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh … and of
sweet-smelling cinnamon … and of aromatic …
and of …, and of olive oil a hin …”
Song of Solomon 4:12-14
“A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
… Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits, …
and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all chief spices”
Baruch 5:8
“The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s command.”
1 Kings 9:20
“All the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the
Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the people
of Israel - their descendants … - these Solomon made a forced levy of
slaves, and so they are to this day.”
Jerusalem had become one of the trading capitals of the world.
1 Kings 10:13-18
“King Solomon … Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year
was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, besides that which came
from the traders and from the traffic of the merchants, and from all the
kings of Arabia and from the governors of the land. … The king also made
a great ivory throne, and overlaid it with
the finest gold.”
7. DESTROYED WITH FIRE
God had promised blessings to the Jews if they obeyed, Deut 28: 8
and seven curses if they disobeyed, verses 15 -20. God’s Covenant
is effected by His Oath. The word “oath” is based on the word “seven.”
And so the number “seven” represents the Covenant. In Leviticus
he threatens to punish the Jews with fire if they break the Covenant.
Leviticus 26: 15-16, 27- 28 “…if you reject my precepts and spurn my decrees, refusing to obey
all my commandments and breaking my covenant, then I… (27) If, despite all this, you still persist in disobeying and defying
me, I, also, will meet you with fiery defiance and will chastise you with
sevenfold fiercer punishment for your sins…” (emphasis
added)
It also had been prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed by
fire in the following passages.
Ezekiel 16: 2-3, 35, 38, 41 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.
Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem … 35 Therefore, harlot, hear
the word of the LORD! … 38 I will inflict on you the sentence of adulteresses and murderesses;
I will wreak fury and jealousy upon you. … 41 They shall burn your
apartments with fire and inflict punishments on you while many women
look on. Thus I will put an end to your harlotry, and you shall never again
give payment.” NAB (emphasis added)
Ezekiel 23: 2-4, 17-19, 22-25, 44-47 “Son of man, there were two women, daughters of the same mother,
who even as young girls played the harlot in Egypt. … (As for their names:
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.) … 22 Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: … 25 … They shall
take away your sons and daughters, and what is left of you shall be devoured
by fire. … 44 And indeed they did come to her as men come to a harlot. Thus
they came to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But just men shall punish them with the sentence meted out to
adulteresses and murderesses, for they have committed adultery, and blood
is on their hands. … 47 The assembly shall stone them and hack them to pieces with
their swords. They shall slay their sons and daughters, and burn their
houses with fire.” NAB (emphasis
added)
Also see Lamentations 2:4, and 4:11. Ezekiel 19:12,
21:2-3, 22:19-21,
In John's prophetic vision “Babylon” is also to be destroyed by fire.
Revelation 18: 8, 17 “Therefore, her plagues will come in one day, pestilence, grief,
and famine;… she will be consumed by fire. For mighty is the Lord God who
judges her… (17) In one hour this great wealth has been ruined.”
Every captain of a ship, every traveler at sea, sailors, and seafaring merchants
stood at a distance…”
Jerusalem had been a center for commercial trade.
Jewish maps even depict it as the center of the world, but true to prophecy
it had been completely destroyed by fire in 70 AD, whereas, Rome was only
partially burned by Nero.
The burning of Jerusalem by fire also had theological significance.
The City of Jerusalem is often referred to as a daughter.
Lamentations 2:15-18 “ … They hiss and wag their heads over daughter Jerusalem:
‘Is this the all-beautiful city, the joy of the whole earth?’
…The LORD has done as he decreed: he has fulfilled the threat
He set forth from days of old; he has destroyed and had no pity,
…Cry out to the Lord; moan, O daughter Zion!”
NAB
Unfaithfulness to God is frequently compared to sexual immorality.
The penalty for fornication by the daughter of the priest called
for a special punishment. It was to be burned to death.
Leviticus 21:9 “A priest’s daughter who loses her honor
by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall
be burned to death.” NAB
So, when Jerusalem was offered the grace to accept Christ, but instead
rejected Him, she is referred to as the “Whore of Babylon”
who is subsequently burnt to death.
8. HARLOT
Just as “Babylon” is referred to as a whore, a harlot.
Jerusalem is also called a harlot.
Revelation 17:1 “Then one of the seven angels who were holding
the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come here. I will show you the judgment on
the great harlot…”
Ezekiel 16: 1-3, 26 “Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, make known to
Jerusalem her abominations. Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:
By origin and birth you are of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite
and your mother a Hittite… (26) You played the harlot with the
Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, so many times that I was provoked to anger.”
Jeremiah 2:1-2, 17-20 “This word of the LORD came to me: Go, cry out this message
for Jerusalem to hear! … (17) Has not the forsaking of the LORD, your God, done this to you
? And now, why go to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile?
Why go to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates ? Your
own wickedness chastises you, your own infidelities punish you.
Know then, and see, how evil and bitter is your forsaking the LORD, your
God, And showing no fear of me, says the Lord, the GOD of hosts.
Long ago you broke your yoke, you tore off your bonds. ‘I will not
serve,’ you said. On every high hill, under every green tree, you
gave yourself to harlotry.”
Isaiah 1:1, 21 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings
of Judah… (21) How the faithful city has become a harlot, she that
was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.”
RSV
Jeremiah 3:1-2,6-8 “ ‘If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes
another man’s wife, will he return to her ? Would not that land be greatly
polluted ? You have played the harlot with many lovers; and
would you return to me ? says the Lord. Lift up your
eyes to the bare heights, and see ! Where have you not been
lain with ? By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers like
an Arab in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with
your vile harlotry…’ (6) The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: ‘Have
you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every
high hill and under every green tree, and there played the harlot ?
And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me;” but
she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.
She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had
sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did
not fear, but she too went and played the harlot.’ ” RSV
Jeremiah 5:1, 5-7 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look
and take note ! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one
who does justice and seeks truth; that I may pardon her… (5) I will go to the great, and will speak to them; for they know
the way of the Lord, the law of their God.” But they all alike
had broken the yoke, they had burst the bonds. Therefore a lion from
the forest shall slay them, a wolf from the desert shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching against their cities, every one who goes out of them shall
be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are
great. ‘How can I pardon you ? Your children have
forsaken me, and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed
them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of harlots.’
” RSV
Ezekiel 23:1-5, 11, 17-19 “The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, there were two women,
the daughters of one mother… Oholah was the name of the elder and
Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore
sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria,
and Oholibah is Jerusalem. Oholah played the harlot while
she was mine; and she doted on her lovers the Assyrians… (11) Her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt
than she in her doting and in her harlotry, which was worse than that of
her sister… (17) And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love,
and they defiled her with their lust; and after she was polluted by them,
she turned from them in disgust. When she carried on
her harlotry so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust
from her, as I had turned from her sister. Yet she increased
her harlotry, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot
in the land of Egypt.’ ” RSV
9. ASSOCIATED WITH THE
SCARLET BEAST
Compare the following verses. King Herod the Edomite, had falsely
claimed to be King David’s successor. “Edom” means red, [ it referred
to Esau’s successors. ] And not so coincidentally the
beast in Revelation 17 is scarlet.
Revelation 17:1-3 “Then one of the seven angels who were
holding the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come here. I will show you the
judgment on the great harlot … Then he carried me away in spirit to
a deserted place where I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was covered
with blasphemous names, with seven heads and ten horns.”
We see an evil relationship between the harlot, apostate Jerusalem,
and the scarlet beast, King Herod, on whom she is seated. This
evil alliance is confirmed in the Book of Acts.
Acts 4:26-28 “ ‘The kings of the earth took their stand and the
princes gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.’
Indeed they gathered in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you
anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples
of Israel, to do what your hand and (your) will had long ago planned to take
place.”
Acts 12:1-3, 19, 21-23 “About that time King Herod laid hands upon some members of the
church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, killed
by the sword, and when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he proceeded
to arrest Peter also. (It was (the) feast of Unleavened Bread.) …
(19) Herod, after instituting a search but not finding him,
ordered the guards tried and executed. Then he left Judea to spend some
time in Caesarea… (21) On an appointed day, Herod, attired in
royal robes, (and) seated on the rostrum, addressed them publicly.
The assembled crowd cried out, ‘This is the voice of a god, not of a man.’
At once the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not ascribe the
honor to God, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.”
A reading of the Book of Acts will show many examples of the particular
Jewish leaders of that time attacking the Christians. For example, Acts 7:
54 -60, 14: 4-6, 19 and 17: 5 -7. Jesus had prophesied in John 16:2
that His followers would be kicked out of the synagogue.
10. LIVED NEAR THE MANY
WATERS
- Check back for Update -
The harlot is said to live near the many waters.
Revelation 17:1-3 “... the great harlot who lives near the many waters.
The kings of the earth have had intercourse with her, and the inhabitants of the
earth became drunk on the wine of her harlotry.’ ”
First Figurative Meaning: Revelation 17:15
“And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are
peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.”
Second Figurative Meaning: Jesus had been crucified just outside the city of Jerusalem.
When His side was pierced with the sword out flowed water and blood.
The water represents the waters of Baptism, through which God gives us
saving grace and eternal life. The blood which flowed from His side
is a reference to the Blood that He offered at the Last Supper, the Eucharist.
Cf. John 6: 54
John 7:37-38 “… Jesus stood up and exclaimed, ‘Let anyone who
thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture
says: “Rivers of living water will flow from within him.” ’ ”
Literal meaning: Some individuals try to associate the phrase,
“lives near the many waters” in Revelation 17 with the city of Rome by
pointing out that Jerusalem was not on the coast. However, neither
is the city of Rome on the coast.
The Jewish Encyclopedia has this theological map of
Jerusalem below Click to
see why the Jewish Christians of John's Day would have
recognized Jerusalem as sitting on the Many Waters.
11. “BABYLON” HAS SOVEREIGNTY
OVER THE NATIONS
Revelation 17:18 “The woman whom you saw represents the great
city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”
Jerusalem, who had the role to bring God’s law to the rest of the
nations, had a spiritual sovereignty over all the nations.
Psalm 2:6-9 “ ‘I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy
mountain.’ I will proclaim the decree of the LORD, who said to me,
‘You are my son; today I am your father. Only ask it of me, and I
will make your inheritance the nations, your possession the ends of the earth.
With an iron rod you shall shepherd them, like a clay pot you will shatter
them.’ ”
12. MY PEOPLE
And a very important verse is Revelation 18: 4
Revelation 18:4 “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
‘Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues ...’ ”
God said, “Come out of her, my people …”
Who does “my people” refer to and where are they
at ? These are the important questions. The term “my
people” is the key.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. .. .. .. I will
be their God, and they shall be my people.
The term “my people” is covenant language.
It is a reference of people who were in a covenant relationship with God.
This becomes even more evident when we examine just what it means to be
in a covenant. A covenant is very different than a contract.
A covenant is as different from a contract as marriage is different from
prostitution. In a contract two people exchanges goods and services.
“This becomes yours and that becomes mine,” or “I will do this
for you and you will do that for me.” However, contracts can be broken.
A covenant is an exchange of persons. “I will become yours and you
will become mine.”
Ezekiel 37: 26-27 “I will make a covenant of peace with them;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and
multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people.”
The important question here is, where were many of God’s people when
John wrote this Book ? They were still in the Old Covenant, in old
worldly Jerusalem and God wanted them to leave that and come into the New
Covenant. God could refer to them as “my people” because they
were in His Old Covenant. The good becomes the enemy of the best
if it causes you to reject the best.
Hebrews 13:12-14 “Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate
the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside
the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. For here
we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.”
NAB
13. CONCLUSION
The descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob
[Israel] are God's chosen people. He has chosen to reveal Himself through
them and through the Jewish Messiah that was born to Mary, Jesus. By the
covenants that God has made with this chosen race He has made them His
“firstborn,” and through them God's plan for salvation is made known. [Cf.
Psalm 89:28, John 4:22] They illustrate the two paths that mankind can
choose, good and evil. There are many examples in this chosen race of holy
faith and virtuous living made possible by the grace of God that are
revealed for us to emulate. And there are examples of mankind at his worst
that are also revealed to us as a warning. One such example is the Jewish
leaders of 33 - 70 AD who rejected Truth, Beauty, Love, that is, God
Himself. And so, the Whore of Babylon is a code name for the corrupt
Jerusalem of the 33 - 70 AD time period, upon whom God's judgment fell.
As a side note: a significant number of the Jews in Jerusalem
had converted to Christianity. However, when 2.1 million Jews were
slaughtered in Jerusalem in 70 AD none of the Christians that had lived
there were killed. They had escaped by leaving Jerusalem before the
Romans came. They had been forewarned in the Bible to get out of
there.
Please note, this web page consists of one topic that was part of a tangent
discussion in Scott Hahn's study on the Book of Revelation titled The End.
It certainly was not the Most Important part of his discourse. The
series was so good I purchased about 4 sets of this series and gave them
away to friends and family members. I highly suggest you listen to the
whole series.
Contact St. Joseph
Communications, Ph: 1-800-526-2151
|