BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
EVERYTHING we need to know about "her", the "mother" and "harlot" is in the Bible. I learned this from the Bible, not the TV, not a website, a book, or a wild eyed man who just wants your money. From the Bible.
(All CAPS for emphasis, not shouting)
I want to start here, because it reveals so much. In this revealing verse Jesus was speaking to "Jerusalem", the Jerusalem of the first century that is. I want to be sure you know I am speaking of the first century religious system of the Jews, represented as the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus' time, not the Jerusalem of today. Read this letter "To Israel and all"
Notice how Jesus said ALL the righteous blood shed on Earth would be charged of her, that includes all the saints that were in their graves that their fathers killed, and even some that were to come...
Mat 23:34-36 Therefore I send you PROPHETS and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, SO THAT ON YOU MAY COME ALL THE RIGHTEOUS BLOOD SHED ON EARTH, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Yes, when Jesus said "this generation", he was speaking of his generation. And yes, vengeance did come upon that generation. By the year 70, the temple in Jerusalem was made desolate.
Now read this verse below again. Notice the similarities...
Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of PROPHETS and of saints, AND OF ALL WHO HAVE BEEN SLAIN ON EARTH."
Where did the saints and apostles and prophets ALL preach? JERUSALEM.
That says a lot to me. But there is more, a lot more to consider...
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Was Jerusalem ever called a harlot? In Ezekiel, especially chapter 16, God said in many ways she, Jerusalem, had played the "harlot":
Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations...
Eze 16:15-16 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colors, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
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"She" was called a "Mother":
"For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to JERUSALEM which now is, and is in bondage with HER CHILDREN. But Jerusalem which is ABOVE is free, which is the MOTHER OF US ALL" (Gal. 4:25-26)
Jerusalem above is our MOTHER, a free woman. Jerusalem below was also a MOTHER, a bondwoman answering to Agar with children in bondage. They were in bondage to the Roman Empire big time, and a bunch of thieves and hypocrites called Pharisees, even priests and workers of the Temple! One could say she, Jerusalem, was a "Mother of Harlots", because her children were being born of a bondwoman, not free, born as slaves into wickedness all around, a barren wilderness, a desert.
Just as Moses was sent from God to free God's people of bondage from Egypt, God sent his beloved son to set God's people free of bondage in Jerusalem. All who believed in him were set free, being born of him, of spirit, born of the free woman, not of the bondwoman.
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I would not say this if I did not see this within the scriptures, and all over. This is a very revealing verse. This was written by The Prophet, Isaiah, concerning John the Baptist, and Jerusalem was identified. That gives a time line as well as John the Baptist came in the first century!
Notice the similarities with Rev 18:6... "double"
*Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
*Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Double trouble, as was prophesied by the prophets:
Jer 16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.
Double trouble:
Jer 17:18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
Double trouble:
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zec 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.
Zec 9:11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Zec 9:12 Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope: even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee;
Zec 9:13 When I have bent Judeah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.
Zec 9:14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Double trouble is a whole lot of trouble!
His reward was with him. When we read "reward her even as she rewarded you", it was the Spirit speaking to Christ. She, Jerusalem was to be rewarded for the blood of all the prophets, she, who persecuted Christ, the apostles, and all the prophets before them:
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Just as Isaiah prophesied of the warfare in Jerusalem, prophesying of John the Baptist, "the voice of one crying in the wilderness", Jesus spoke of this prophecy too, saying "these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled", and "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled", that her iniquity could be pardoned, for redemption:
OLD:
Isa 40:1-3 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
NEW:
Luk 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luk 21:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Jerusalem was to be cleansed, refined, and even pardoned by our God. That same generation would see it all, and within that same generation, within the lifetimes of the same and children of those who called out "crucify him", BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS fell. There is a price to pay for the blood of all the prophets.
Jesus had said that Jerusalem would be trodden of the Gentiles, and for those in Judea who would hear his words, his warnings, to run for the hills, to come out of her, because vengeance was coming:
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
This is the same as we read in Revelation, how God told his people to come out of her, because vengeance was coming, she was going to be judged:
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
As redemption was to be after Jerusalem was trodden by the gentiles and receiving their just reward, with the final blow, the desolation of the Temple in Jerusalem by 70 a.d., it was ransom in full, a riddance of the works and deeds of the whole house.
"REDEMPTION", Strong's Concordance:
(G629) apolutrosis - ap-ol-oo'-tro-sis - From a compound of G575 and G3083; (the act) ransom in full, that is, (figuratively) riddance, or (specifically) Christian salvation: -deliverance, redemption.
There is so much symbolism to consider in the great book of Revelation and spoken by Christ himself who spoke as a prophet using many metaphors, it makes many blind because they have not seen a literal event to relate it in their minds, but take Christs word for it, he said His were the days of vengeance to fulfill all that was written...
Luk 21:22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
Mat 23:36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
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All this said the LORD hundreds of years before! Jesus knew the time was at hand, that this was to shortly come to pass and warned them...
Eze 5:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
Eze 5:6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
Matthew Chapter 23 is all about first century Jerusalem, about the wickedness of the workers of the temple, who by Jesus time had become unbearable! Behold, The Son Of God pronouncing his judgments against the Mother Of Abominations:
Mat 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Mat 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Mat 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Mat 23:18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Mat 23:19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift
Mat 23:20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Mat 23:21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
Mat 23:22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Mat 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
**Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.**
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Come, let us reason
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Consider her cloth:
Rev 18:16 "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls [possessing many of the blessings of God including the PEARLS of God's Word], having a gold cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. She was compared to Agar, she was the works and deeds of the Temple in Jerusalem in Jesus time. The Pharisees of the temple in Jerusalem even wore purple robes, and the scarlet beast she sat upon, the Roman army, red.
It is written of her:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Some may say " But Jerusalem was under the control of Rome, not the other way around."
The Woman was sitting upon the scarlet beast, she has no feet on the ground, the scarlet beast was in control and hated her...
Rev 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
17:16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
Jerusalem was in bondage to the seven powers of the Roman Empire and the Pharisees of the temple, the Roman authorities hated her because she had a throne that the children honored more, even dominion over all the kings of the earth as she sat upon the power of the scarlet beast...
Rev 17:18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth."
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Jerusalem was called a "great city":
Rev 11:7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,
Rev 11:8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the [great city] that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, [where their Lord was crucified.]
Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, not new York City!
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Some may say "Jerusalem wasn't the most Milti cultural place in the world of that time."
But she was, she was a multicultural magnet! The feast of tabernacles attracted people from all over the world...
Act 2:5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from EVERY NATION UNDER HEAVEN.
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Some may say "How Jerusalem could be in a position of power over peoples and nations and languages is something I can't seem to see."
I encourage you to read this history book written 74/75 AD called "The Wars of the Jews" (FREE at www.e-sword.net ) It was revealed that many of the wealthy , even kings from all over the world stored their precious items in the Temple, even the extremely rich Priests of the Temple. The Temple was decked out! And It was fortified very well. The gate was massive! As the temple had been rebuilt, the temple traded with merchants from all over the world to deck out the temple. You would not believe how luxurious it was!
See The siege of Jerusalem
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Now concerning the "merchants".
First century Israel, Judea, even Jerusalem, even the Temple in Jerusalem, did trade with many merchants from all over the world via the gaping Mediterranean Sea to rebuild the temple, and long before. Some may say Jerusalem cannot possibly be the representation of the woman upon a scarlet beast because you think the "great city" must her very own "port" to trade with merchants. You see a "port" ? ... *"And all ship masters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning"* ... I see ship masters and traders "stood far off"...but not that far...
*Nehemiah 13:20 Then the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice...
How's that?...Sidon, Zarephath, Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea, Apollonia, Joppa, Salamis...etc, etc, etc.
Rev 18:17-19 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?" And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
We are not talking exactly 60 minutes, not 58, not 62, but symbolically, quickly, completely. And all today is not all tomorrow. All then is not all now.
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Some may say "But did the destruction of Jerusalem by 70AD really affect all the kings and merchants that way"?
Preceding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD there was a massive earthquake, More than 7,000 died that hour alone. The bodies of merchants swept up on shore for weeks as the sea roared, so all the ships were lost.("Wars of the Jews") ...
Rev 18:9-11 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come." And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore...
The Romans were the most perverted bunch and generation ever on the face of the earth. Jerusalem was ruled by the Roman empire, and housed many great riches, She was very rich! The Temple made a lot of money trading goods on the very grounds of the temple. Jesus seen this and was furious!
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Some may say "I don't know how Jerusalem deceived "all the nations" by her "sorcery"?
The sons of the devil are workers of the flesh. The Pharisees were called sons of the devil. The temple had employed a many worker of iniquity, even Judas Iscariot, even sorcerers! Read this verse, they were all this and more, they employed murders, and even sorcerers:
Act 13:6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
Act 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
In Jerusalem, upon the Roman Empire, there was this and all that:
Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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The blood of all the prophets was to be charged of her, because all the prophets were sent unto her, and she kept killing them, from Abel to Zechariah, even the Apostles...
*Rev 18:20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"
*Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Where did the saints and apostles and prophets ALL preach? JERUSALEM!
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Some may say "I don't think that Jerusalem fits this one. Sorry, but it just came back."
Rev 18:21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more...
In the judgment of the Jewish nation where the holy house was, it was completely made desolate, utterly destroyed by the Roman army in the siege of Jerusalem that persisted roughly 66-73AD, with the worst desolation of the temple in 70AD, and there was truly no more a place for the high minded, for man's heaven, for man's Temple, for the sea of wickedness that was in that old earth age before Christ.
There truly was no place found for her WORKS, the Jerusalem below. The high minded were made low, the Old Jerusalem was to be cleansed of all that worked iniquity, annihilated in vengeance and the wrath of God, even the works, in God's "CONSUMING FIRE" (Heb. 12:29 & I Cor. 3:15).
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The voice of the bridegroom
Rev 18:23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
Who was the bridegroom? Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ! He was sent to Jerusalem, He was seen in Jerusalem, He spoke in Jerusalem, and He died in Jerusalem. He came to His chosen people like a bridegroom coming for His bride, but she cast Him away.
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The Wrap
Jesus said:
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
"Now" was then.
Hear a very revealing parable about the generation whom the Son of God was sent. Hear why judgment began with his people, and when:
Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes"?
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
*Mat 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
Mat 21:46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
They, the chief priests and Pharisees, workers of the Temple in Jerusalem perceived that he spake of them. I would say those fellers perceived well! Here's the deal. God kept sending prophets unto his people, but they kept killing them. This had gone on since the days of Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and for almost 600 years since Daniel, this had been going on for an awful long time! Finally, God sent His beloved Son, but they killed him too. So the wrath of God was to be poured out, for the blood of all the prophets, and even his beloved son.
Jesus was a Jew, and the Jews were His "husbandmen". He was sent from His Father, and came to His own land, like a groom coming for His bride, but she cast Him away. So the groom let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which is to say the Gentiles, the kingdom of God would be preached unto the Gentiles after his death, and so it was, the kingdom was given to the Gentiles, and they did render him the fruits. It was not long and the gospel of the kingdom of God "was preached to every creature under heaven", as Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.
That is what the parable was about. Hear the many parables of Christ, they were often about those wicked first century workers of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the workers of the Temple knew it, they wanted to kill Him every time Jesus spoke to them in parables.
A brief look into the great book of REVELATION
A simple first step in understanding who is identified as THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS is reasoning why the book of Daniel was sealed for a later fulfillment, but Revelation was not sealed, and that is because the time was at hand for all to be fulfilled. Many may say "no way!", but that is the gospel truth:
To Daniel*(KJV)Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
Jesus: Luke 21:22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
To John*(KJV)Revelation 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND.
What is the Revelation of Jesus Christ all about? It is "The testimony of Jesus Christ", The unveiling and revealing of ALL things pertaining to Christ. Is the book pertaining to the past, or the future? As I see it, This verse says it all:
*(KJV)Rev 1:19 Write the things which thou hast [seen], and the things which [are], and the things which shall be [hereafter]
What had John [seen] at this point? He had turned around and seen the Lord. And John had also walked with the Lord, he seen it all! John was also told to write of things that [ARE] as well, things that were, and were happening right then as this was being spoken in the first century. Also, John was told to write of things that were to be [thereafter], And these things were to happen "SHORTLY". It is the most important and common theme in Revelation. Have you ever noticed these things when reading Revelation?
It is written:
*(KJV)Rev 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must SHORTLY COME TO PASS [G5034] ; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND [G1451].
*(KJV)Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must SHORTLY BE DONE [G5034] .
*(KJV)Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND [G1451]
The Key
There is a common key that will open each symbolic vision in Revelation, that is understanding what heads, horns, and crowns may truly represent, and the great book of REVELATION itself.
THE KEY as I see it:
*A kingdom may be represented by a crown.
*A crown may be upon a horn which is representative of a mighty one made king.
*And the head the horn grows from where the crown is placed upon may be representative of a chief officer, one who appoints kings and kingdoms, such a high place and authority as a "mountain".
* * * * * * *
Jerry's final thought...
Jerusalem was called a mother, and a harlot, and Jesus confirmed that it was first century Jerusalem that would be charged with the blood of all the prophets, all that were slain upon the earth, even the Apostles, and within that same generation. Jerusalem, not New York City. And she sat upon one bloody beast, as red as scarlet. The beast hated her and ravaged her, but it was God's plan all along.
Pray for Peace in Jerusalem, all Israel. She has received from the Lords hand double for her sins, she was cleansed, she was pardoned, all in the first century marking the end of that age. Jesus is a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. In this new age of Christ, If a Jew will call upon the Father for salvation through Christ, that Jew will be saved from eternal death. Unfortunately, there is no "Jewish escape clause" for eternal life without Christ. There is no way to the Father without Christ, because in His perfect righteousness, we have a way to the Father, being clothed in His righteousness, not our own.
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