The Unholy City

Babylon is the source of the ideologies and structures of this world. God is calling His saints to come out of the defiled city before it is too late.

The Bible teaches disciples of Jesus to live holy lives separated from the existing world order, not physically, but morally and spiritually. They are “in the world but not of it,” and the mission of the Church is to call others to “save themselves from this crooked generation” before judgment comes.

The existing world order was condemned long ago because it rejected Jesus and his sacrificial death. The ideologies and institutions of this age will not tolerate the “word of the cross.” The Cross and the Sword are inherently incompatible, and so, Babylon works tirelessly to destroy the Church from within and without.

[Baalbek - Photo by FERNANDO TRIVIÑO (Colombia) on Unsplash]

Nevertheless, Babylon and the Beast on which the Great Whore rides, the World Empire, will vanish from the earth when Jesus appears. Only Jesus and his Kingdom will remain. Scripture confirms this, and believers must live daily with this future reality in mind.

• “But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that from now on both those who have wives may be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they possessed not; and those who use the world, as not using it to the full, for the fashion of this world is passing away” - (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

• “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof. But he who does the will of God abides forever” - (1 John 2:16-17).

• “We speak God's wisdom in a mystery that has been hidden, which God marked out before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” - (1 Corinthians 2:7-8).

In the Book of Revelation, John describes the “seven mountains” of this age, and he links them to Babylon, “the Great Whore, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.” This seductress “sits on many waters” and the “scarlet-colored Beast,” and she also reigns over the seven mountains – (Revelation 17:1-10).

The waters on which Babylon sits represent “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues,” and the scarlet-colored Beast is the same Beast from the Sea that wages war on the saints of the Lamb - (Revelation 13:6-10).

The scarlet color of the Beast connects him with the Great Red Dragon, “the Ancient Serpent who is called ‘Devil’ and ‘Satan’ and the deceiver of the whole habitable earth.” Babylon is the religious and ideological center that influences the World Empire and motivates it to wage war with the Lamb and on his people- (Revelation 12:9, 20:2).

The seven mountains on which Babylon sits represent seven kingdoms, seven political systems, five of which had fallen by the time John received his vision, one of which existed in his day, and the seventh was yet to come.

This is a picture of a transhistorical reality, an empire that recurs time and again, but in a different form each time. For example, Babylon, Persia, or Greece, or a monarchy, dictatorship, or democratic republic. The outward appearance may change, but the goal remains the same.

Each of the seven kingdoms is an embodiment of the Beast that persecutes the people of the Lamb, and the Beast is the earthly servant of the Dragon who wages war with the Son of God:

• “And there came to be war in heaven! Michael and his angels made war with the Dragon, and the Dragon made war and his angels. <…> And the Dragon was enraged with the woman and departed to make war with the rest of her seed, those who are keeping the commandments of God and who have the testimony of Jesus” – (Revelation 12:17).

• “And it was given to the Beast to make war with the saints, and to overcome them…” – (Revelation 13:7).

• “And I saw the woman drunk from the blood of the saints, and from the blood of the witnesses of Jesus” – (Revelation 17:6).

The seventh kingdom is identified with the “Beast that was and is not, is itself also an eighth, and is of the seven; and he is going into destruction.” There is nothing positive here, nothing worth saving, and the destruction of this final empire is sealed even now. The annihilation of the seventh beast will be absolute – (Revelation 13:3, 17:8-11, 20:10).

Reforming this Beast, its policies and ideology, is not an option. The destiny of the Dragon, the Beast, the False Prophet who exhorts men to venerate the image of the Beast, and every man and woman who swears fealty to the Beast is the Lake of Fire, “the Second Death.” Holy living and faithful witness to Jesus are what the church must do – (Revelation 13:3, 13:15, 19:10).

• “If any man renders homage to the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb” – (Revelation 14:9-10).

• “The beast that you saw was and is not, and is going to ascend out of the abyss, and to go into destruction. And the inhabitants of the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast, how that he was, and is not, and will come” – (Revelation 17:8).

THE VIOLENT CITY

Babylon is stained red with the blood of prophets and of saints. The Great Whore is intoxicated with the blood of Christ’s martyrs, and her sins have reached the highest level imaginable. The destruction of the Unholy City is inevitable:

• “In one day, her plagues will come, death, and mourning, and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, will weep and howl over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city, for in one hour is your judgment come!” - (Revelation 18:8-10).

We must not be fooled by her outward appearance (“She was arrayed in purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls”). The city is full of abominations and iniquities. It would be foolish if the Church befriended this Great Whore or attempted to lead her to change her evil ways. It is dangerous to do so. If the Church remains in Babylon, she will be destroyed along with the Unholy City.

The letter from Jesus to the church of Thyatira demonstrates that the Great Whore was infiltrating the churches of Asia in the first century. The prophetess called ‘Jezebel’ was seducing believers to compromise their commitment to Jesus to the demands and expectations of the surrounding pagan society:

• “I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. And she teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time, that she should repent; and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works” – (Revelation 2:20-22).

And so, God summons His saints with the utmost urgency to separate themselves from Babylon before it is too late, to seek holiness rather than accommodation with the pollutions of this unholy system:

• “Come forth, my people, out of her, that you have no fellowship with her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” - (Revelation 18:4-5. Compare Isaiah 52:11).

• “And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what partnership has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has a sanctuary of God with idols? For we are a sanctuary of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them. And I will be their God, and they will be my people. Wherefore, Come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, And touch no unclean thing. And I will receive you” - (2 Corinthians 6:15-17. Compare Leviticus 26:11, Isaiah 52:5-11).

• “Seek after holiness, without which no man will see the Lord” - (Hebrews 12:14).

The idea of sin and depravity rising to levels that demand Divine judgment is found elsewhere in Scripture, including the Book of Daniel and on the lips of Jesus. Indeed, sin can reach the level of no return:

• “In the aftertime of their kingdom, when transgressions have filled up their measure, there will rise up a king of mighty presence, a skilled dissembler” – (Daniel 8:23).

• “And he said, Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the season of the end. Many will purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined, but the wicked will do wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand. But they that are wise will understand” – (Daniel 12:9-10).

• “And he says to me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the season is at hand. He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still. And he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still. And he that is holy, let him be made holy still. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is” - (Revelation 22:10-12).

• “Wherefore you are witnesses to yourselves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets. Therefore, fill up the measure of your fathers” – (Matthew 23:32).

The exhortations of the Book of Revelation accurately reflect the primary biblical sense of the term ‘holiness,’ namely, separation from that which defiles us, from unholy things.

There can be no compromise with Satan or his ideologies. There will be no negotiated peace between the Dragon and the Lamb. The Church will never win the world to the Gospel by emulating the Devil’s evil ways or infiltrating his corrupt institutions. The hearts of men and women can only be transformed by the Gospel of Christ.

This is not a call to abandon the world, but for every man and woman who would follow the Lamb to engage the world by using the biblical means, and “not to defile his garments.” This includes preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God, which is the only political realm that will endure in the end. Our allegiance to the Lamb and his kingdom must be absolute, and holiness is not optional - (Revelation 3:4).

As Christ’s Body, we are called to be lights shining brightly in the darkness, unsullied reflections of everything that Jesus taught and did. We must be everything that the Beast, his Empire, and Babylon are not, and we must summon others to leave the darkness and join the Kingdom of God.

Finally, we are not simply leaving the impious city of Babylon. We are marching behind our Commander, Jesus of Nazareth, to the Holy City, New Jerusalem, where no unclean person or thing will ever be found:

• “And the city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its lamp. And the nations will walk amidst its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the city. And the gates will certainly not be shut by day, for there will be no night there, and they will bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it. And there will certainly not enter into the anything unclean, or he that makes an abomination and a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life” - (Revelation 21:23-27).

[NOTE: Text printed in small capital letters represents quotations and allusions to Old Testament passages]

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SEE ALSO:

• Babylon Rides the Beast - (Babylon has ridden the Beast from the Sea and its Seven Heads and Ten Horns since the Tower of Babel – Revelation 17:7-13)

• A Tale of Two Cities - (A key theme in Revelation is the contrast and conflict between the two cities - New Jerusalem and Babylon, the Great Whore)

• Empires Rise and Fall - (Imperial arrogance and idolatry are the legacies of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first, but certainly not its last attempt, to create a world empire)

• La Ville Impie - (Babylone est la source des idéologies et des structures de ce monde. Dieu appelle Ses saints à sortir de la ville souillée avant qu'il ne soit trop tard)