Mystery, Babylon the Great, Part 3
Was Jerusalem the Harlot of John’s Apocalypse?
Having explored ten reasons to believe that the woman of Revelation 17, called BABYLON THE GREAT, was in fact the city of Jerusalem as it existed in the first century, let’s tackle the last several clues remaining in the text and historical sources.
11. The Lady Wrapped in Gold
The woman is described by John as wearing particularly distinctive clothing:
…purple and scarlet colour, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
Purple, scarlet and precious stones were components of the priestly ephod (Exo 28:5), an office for which Jesus had especially choice words — “the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” (Joh 19:11).*
Moreover, Luke 21:5 tells of the disciples marveling at the temple “adorned with beautiful stones” to which Jesus replied that, before this generation passed, it would be completely destroyed. Jesus also referred to the copious amount of gold in the temple (Mat. 23:16–17), which, according to Josephus, Titus’ legions plundered and carried off as spoils of war.†
Where did this vast wealth come from?
12. Tearful Merchants
In Revelation 18, there is a dramatic depiction of merchants weeping and mourning over the fall of the great city, as they could no longer sell their cargo. Philip Carrington, in The Early Christian Church writes,
The fall of Jerusalem was the greatest historical event of the century next to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Rome had once again annihilated a rival; in this case an oriental city of great wealth, high antiquity, and world-wide influence, for she was the metropolis of a vast dispersion. There were millions of Jews in Europe, Asia, and Africa; and all their synagogues paid tribute to Jerusalem.
Echoing its prestigious heritage under Solomon, rebuilt under Nehemiah, and expanded by Herod the Great and his successors, Jerusalem had risen to become a trade capital who’s economic activity at times rivaled even that of Rome. Situated as it was near the lucrative Incense Route, and with Joppa (where Lebanon’s cedars were imported to build Solomon’s Temple), Caesarea and Ake (Ptolemais) as nearby natural sea ports, Jerusalem enjoyed an astonishing array of trade goods from all over the world, with one source estimating no less than 118 different articles.
Josephus writes:
The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle [of the province]; on which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that city the Navel of the country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come from the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais: it was parted into eleven portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was the supreme, and presided over all the neighboring country, as the head does over the body. (Wars 3.3.5)
Yet later laments, “Our city had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than any other city under the Roman government, and yet at last fell into the sorest of calamities again.”
This reputation of great wealth is echoed by the Roman general Titus himself, his legionaries having burned the temple and surrounded the last surviving zealot defenders:
Titus charged his soldiers to restrain their rage, and to let their darts alone, and appointed an interpreter between them, which was a sign that he was the conqueror, and first began the discourse,
“I hope you, sirs, are now satiated with the miseries of your country, who have not had any just notions, either of our great power, or of your own great weakness, but have, like madmen, after a violent and inconsiderate manner, made such attempts, as have brought your people, your city, and your holy house to destruction. You have been the men that have never left off rebelling since Pompey first conquered you, and have, since that time, made open war with the Romans… It can therefore be nothing certainly but the kindness of us Romans which has excited you against us; who, in the first place, have given you this land to possess; and, in the next place, have set over you kings of your own nation; and, in the third place, have preserved the laws of your forefathers to you, and have in everything permitted you to live, either by yourselves, or among others, as it should please you: and, what is our chief favor of all we have given you leave to gather up that tribute which is paid to God with such other gifts that are dedicated to him; nor have we called those that carried these donations to account, nor prohibited them; till at length you became richer than we ourselves, even when you were our enemies; and you made preparations for war against us with our own money; no, after all, when you were in the enjoyment of all these advantages, you turned your overabundance against those that gave it to you, and, like merciless serpents, have thrown out your poison against those that treated you kindly.” (Wars 6.6.2)
13. The House of Hillel
Though there are doubtless many more, a possible final link between Jerusalem and Babylon comes in the form of an often overlooked historical figure — Hillel of Babylon.
Carrington writes:
Hillel was a learned, broad-minded scholar from the Jewish academies of Babylon. His religious insight and intellectual powers were of the highest order; he was the founder of the dominant Pharisee school which was called the house of Hillel. He was affectionately referred to as Za-ken, or ‘The Elder’, which was explained by a characteristic rabbinic etymology as Zeh-sh-Kanah — “he who has gotten” or “acquired” — the word “wisdom” being supplied to complete the phrase. The grandson of Hillel was Gamaliel I, the master of St. Paul, who had advised caution in handling the Nazarenes. The son of this Gamaliel was Simeon II, who perished in the siege of Jerusalem; and Simeon’s son was Gamaliel II… The descendants of Hillel presided over the sanhedrin and were the rulers of Israel.
It is worth noting that, although Hillel and some of his descendants did demonstrate a moderating influence, his school of thought also produced one of the New Covenant’s bitterest adversaries, the Pharisees. Since the school originated in Babylon, one cannot help but wonder if this was what Zechariah saw in his prophecy about the woman in the basket in chapter 5, a “wickedness” that would be “taken to Babylonia” and a “house” established.
Afterword
The Bible features a truly scintillating flow between Old and New Testament, with ancient apocalyptic themes finding their satisfaction in contextually-related historical events. Though some do seem to remain, a great deal of the prophecies in John’s Apocalypse no longer need to be fulfilled in our future.
I hope this has helped you to make sense of an important portion of the Revelation. I believe these thirteen points form a cumulatively powerful case for Revelation’s BABYLON THE GREAT being none other than first-century Jerusalem.
* It is conceivable, then, that the rich man arrayed in purple and fine linen from the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man was none other than Caiaphas the High Priest. See my article on the topic here.
† A treasure haul that, incidentally, contributed to the construction of the Colosseum in Rome.
‡ As seem below, the Greek word used here is γῆ (gē) signifying a local region, or earth as in ground or soil, not kosmos as in the entire created world.
N E X T → The Lovers and The Search, Part 1
Mystery, Babylon the Great, Part 2 ← P R E V I O U S
The more I learn, the more I discover just how vast a realm of history, language and culture the Bible contains. It’s not easy! That’s why I made a deck of thematic cards unlocking an historical understanding of the Scriptures, one card at a time.
