NEW JERUSALEM vs BABYLON THE GREAT
AND THE TEMPLE THE MAN OF SIN WILL APPEAR IN
It's important that we understand the following:
* We are told that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (compare Ephesians 1:20 with Ephesians 2:6).
* We are told Christ entered into the heavenly temple on our behalf (Hebrews 8:1-2; Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:24), and we are told He IS the temple (Revelation 21:22), and we are told Christ is in us and we are in Him (John 14:20).
Hebrews 12
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the first-born
who are written in Heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 and
to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Galatians 4
25 For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in slavery with her children.
26 But
the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all.
Ephesians 2
19 Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
20 and are built upon
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.
Revelation 21
9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you
the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city,
the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God.
14 And the wall of the city had
twelve foundations, and in them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he who talked with me
had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its wall.
17 And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
Remember, we are told Christ entered into the heavenly temple on our behalf (Hebrews 8:1-2; Hebrews 9: 12, 24), and we are told He IS the temple (Revelation 21:22), and we are told Christ is in us and we are in Him (John 14:20).
Revelation 11
1 And
a reed like a rod was given to me. And the angel stood, saying, Rise up and measure the temple (Greek: naos) of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it was given to the nations. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months.
* New Jerusalem is called
the holy city three times in the Revelation (Revelation 21:2, 10 & Revelation 22:19).
* Jerusalem on earth is called "Sodom and Egypt" in Revelation 11:8.
The problem therefore with assuming that "the holy city" in Revelation 11:1-2 is referring to Jerusalem on earth is that NEW Jerusalem is called the holy city in Revelation 21:2 & 10, and 22:19 (three times),
and it's not very likely that the same passage in the Revelation would call Jerusalem on earth both "the holy city" AND "Sodom and Egypt" (Revelation 11).
1. Holy places made with (human hands).
2. The thesis-antithesis comparison the Revelation makes between New Jerusalem and the harlot.
1. HOLY PLACES MADE WITH (HUMAN) HANDS
Hebrews 9
24 For Christ
has not entered into the Holy of Holies made with (human) hands, which are the figures of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
Acts 7
48 But,
the Most High does not dwell in temples (Greek: naos) made with hands, as the prophet says.
Acts 17
24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and earth,
does not dwell in temples (Greek naos) made with hands.
The pages below make the (very important) fact you are about to read abundantly clear. The two Greek words used in reference to the Temple of God in the gospels:
1. Naos
Strong's #3485 - ναός - Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary - StudyLight.org
2. Hieron
Strong's #2411 - ἱερόν - Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary - StudyLight.org
In the New Testament, the Greek words naos and hieron are both used in reference to the temple (both mean "temple"),
but the word naos stops being used in reference to the temple in Jerusalem after the verses talking about the tearing of the veil between the holy place and the holy of holies.
After the verses taking about the tearing of the veil, in the New Testament
the word naos is ONLY used in reference to:-
i. The bodies of believers as a temple; and
ii. The church as the temple; and
iii. the temple in heaven:
(See: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 & 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 7:15; Revelation 11:19; Revelation 14:15 & Revelation 14:17; Revelation 15:5-6 & Revelation 15:8; Revelation 16:1 & Revelation 16:17; Revelation 21:22).
*StrongsGreek*]
02411
ἱερόν hierón, hee-er-on'
neuter of 2413;
a sacred place,
i.e. the entire precincts, whereas 3485 denotes the central sanctuary of the Temple itself (at Jerusalem or elsewhere):--temple.
[*StrongsGreek*]
03485
NAO/S ναός naós nah-os' from a primary ναίω naíō, (to dwell);
a fane, shrine, temple :--shrine, temple.
Compare 2411.
Thayer's definition of the Greek word naos:
(1) Used of the temple at Jerusalem,
but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies (in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of gold was placed which is distinguished from the whole enclosure).
(2) Any heathen temple or shrine.
(3)
Metaphor for the spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages joined together by and in Christ.
These facts teach us that there is a BIG problem with assuming that 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and Revelation 11:1-2 refers to
a temple in Jerusalem, because all the other verses in the New Testament
that follow after the verses in the gospels talking about the tearing of the veil (and that use the Greek word naos for "temple")
are talking about the temple in heaven or the church as the temple.
The Greek word
naos used for "temple" in Revelation 11:1-2
implies that it's symbolic language being used, and it's quite possibly a repeat of the information given in Revelation 13:7, where the temple being 'measured' is the same as telling us that John is being told to count the sheep. It's the same symbolism seen where New Jerusalem is measured:
Revelation 21
14 And the wall of the city had t
welve foundations, and in them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he who talked with me
had a golden reed to measure the city and its gates and its wall.
17 And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
1 And
a reed like a rod was given to me. And the angel stood, saying, Rise up and measure the temple (Greek: naos) of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.
2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it was given to the nations. And they will trample the holy city forty-two months.
The same goes for the naos (temple) that the man of sin will seat himself up in: The word naos used for "temple" in 2 Thessalonians implies that it's the church being spoken of (if it was speaking of a temple in Jerusalem, the Greek word hieron would have been used, since the word hieron continues to be used beyond the gospels in all references to the physical temple in Jerusalem).
2. THE THESIS-ANTITHESIS COMPARISON REVELATION MAKES
BETWEEN NEW JERUSALEM AND THE HARLOT
*
New Jerusalem is called
the bride and the wife of Christ (Revelation 21:2, 9) and a "city"
of gold, precious stones and pearls (Revelation 21:10-11 & 18-21).
* Babylon the Great is also a "city" but is called a harlot which is "gilded
with gold, precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
FORNICATION" (Revelation 17:4).
Compare the following:
New Jerusalem:
"And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Babylon the Great/the Harlot:
"And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and talked with me, saying to me, Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot sitting on many waters" (Revelation 21:9; Revelation 17:1).
Babylon the Great/the Harlot:
"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet. And she was gilded
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her
fornication."
New Jerusalem:
"And
there shall in no way enter into it anything that defiles, or any making an abomination or a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." (Revelation 17:4 & Revelation 21:27).
Now
consider the fact that Matthew 23:29-38 shows us that God holds those who are supposed to be His elect equally responsible for the blood of all prophets and saints when they shed the blood of the innocent among His elect, and compare the following:
Revelation 17
6 And I saw the woman
drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with a great marveling.
Revelation 18
24 And in her was found
the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all those who were slain on the earth.
Biblical types and their counterparts, a.k.a antitypes:
Isaiah 1
21 How has the faithful city become a harlot? It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers.
Jerusalem:
"Behold, your house is left to you
desolate." (Matthew 23:38).
Revelation 17
16 and the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot and will
make her desolate and naked. And they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
Revelation 3
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold
tried in the fire, so that you may be rich;
and white clothing, so that you may be clothed, and so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see.
Revelation 7
14b And he said to me, T
hese are the ones who came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 2
21 And I gave her (Jezebel) time that she might repent of her fornication, and she did not repent.
22 Behold, I am throwing her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches will know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works.
Daniel 12
10
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried. But the wicked shall do wickedly. And
none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
HOW OLD IS "BABYLON THE GREAT"?
Revelation 17 should make it abundantly clear to the reader that Babylon the Great has existed for as long as the seven-headed beast has existed (i.e, since long before John received the Revelation, and long before the Messiah came into the world). Therefore based on all the above, she seems to represent that part of the Old Testament + New Testament Church (a.k.a Israel), that is a harlot, and she is the antithesis of that part of the Old Testament + New Testament church that is the faithful bride of Christ. Babylon the Great is the antithesis of New Jerusalem.