Babylon is the Harlot is Jerusalem
compiled by: J. E. Gautier Jr.

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance [see Is.61:2;63:4], that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. (Lk.21:20-23)

Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian...and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ' Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' Then they will begin ' to say to the mountains, ' Fall on us! ' and to the hills, ' Cover us! ' [see Hosea 10:8] For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Lk.23:26-31)

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place [see Is.34:3-4; II Pt.3:10-12]. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand [see Mal.3:2; 4:1,5]?” (Rev.6:12-17)

And on her forehead a name was written:
MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot... (Rev.17:5,1)

And she will be utterly burned with fire [see Mtt.22:7], for strong is the Lord God who judges her... “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” [“it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem...the one who kills the prophets” Lk.13:33-34] “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.” (Rev.18:8,10,20-21)

I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her. Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” (Rev.17:6; 19:2-3)

And the woman that you saw is that great city...

...the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (Rev.17:8; 11:8)

Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! (Lk.13:33-34)

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake...And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. (Rev.16:17-19)










  Christ's 40 Year, Thousand Year Reign
      J. E. Gautier Jr.

I Corinthians 15:24-30
"Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ' He has put all things under His feet.' But when He says 'all things are put under Him,' it is evident that He who put all things under Him is expected. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."
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Judges 8:22,28
"Then the men of Israel said to Gideon,' Rule over us... And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon."

I Samuel 4:17-18
"So the messenger answered and said, "Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter...And also your two sons are dead...And the ark of God has been captured. Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died...And he had judged Israel forty years."

I Samuel 10:17-19
"Then Samuel called the people together to the LORD...and said to the children of Israel...Thus says the LORD God of Israel...you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you...and you have said to Him, ' No, set a king over us!'"
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It seems that the God of Abraham ruling over the Children of Israel was not good enough - they wanted an earthly king, just like the heathen nations surrounding them.  So He gave them many.
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I Samuel 10:24
"And Samuel said to all the people,' Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen (Saul), that there is no one like him among the people?' So all the people shouted and said,' Long live the king!'"

II Samuel 5:3-4
"...And they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years."

I Kings 11:42
"And the period that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years."

II Kings 12:1
"In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem."
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Matthew 27:11
"Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, 'Are You the King of the Jews?' Jesus said to him, ' It is as you say.'"

John 19:13-15
"When Pilate therefore heard that...he brought Jesus out...And he said to the Jews, ' Behold your King!' But they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!' Pilate said to them, ' Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priests answered, ' We have no king but Caesar!'"
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A sharp contrast between the Jews of I Samuel 10:24 who wanted their king - "Long live the King!" And the Jews of John 19:15 who wanted their King...dead - "Away with Him! Crucify Him!"

Matthew 21:42
"...The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone..."

The previous kings of Israel, those that the people demanded to have rule over them, were merely a "shadow" of the True King of Israel. At death, their reign ended; and another king would take their place. At Christ's death, however, His reign had just begun! And at the end of His forty year reign, who would take over? Those "shadow" kings could not do what the True “King of the Jews” did - Return the Kingdom back to the Father, where it belongs.

"Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father."
The Kingdom is given back to the Father.

"the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."
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By the way, this sure sounds familiar -
"David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years."
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"every stone about the weight of a talent"
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"The missiles shot by the catapults, stone-throwers, and "quick-firers" flew all over the temple, killing priests and worshipers at the very altar itself.  For despite war, the sacrifices went on..."                                        (Josephus - The Essential Writings, Paul L. Maier translator, p.329)
BALLISTA
The Roman ballista shot stones, up to 160 pounds in weight, at an angle of about 50 degrees over an average range of 300 to 500 yards. (p.299)

"All the Roman engines were well built, but those belonging to the Tenth legion were most powerful. Their stone -projectors hurled boulders weighing a talent (75-85 pounds) a quarter mile, and the Jews set lookouts on the towers to spot the fired stones which, being white, shone and whizzed as they flew.  When they saw the stone discharged, these watchmen would call out,'Sonny's coming!' ("The stone" in Hebrew is ha-eben, which is easily corrupted to ha-ben, "the son.") - at which those in the line of fire dropped down to let the stone pass through harmlessly.  When it occurred to the Romans to blacken them, the stones were more effective, destroying many with a single shot." (p.340)


Cannonball-shaped stones such as these, found in Jerusalem, were hurled by the Roman catapults at the Jews, holed up in the Holy City.  (The Topical Josephus, Cleon L. Rogers Jr., p.180)

"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 16:19-21, KJV)
"As with the other plagues [in Revelation, JEGjr], the imagery is borrowed from the plagues that Moses brought upon Egypt (in this case, the seventh plague: Ex.9:18-26).  The plague of hailstones also calls up associations with "the large stones from heaven" that God threw down upon the Canaanites when the Land was being conquered under Joshua (Josh.10:11)..."      (Days of Vengeance, ~David Chilton, p.417)

























  Westminster Confession of Faith
Chapter I  Of the Holy Scripture

IX.  The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself:  and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. (y)

X.  The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture. (z)

Chapter XXXI  Of Synods and Councils

III.  All synods or councils, since the apostles’ times, whether general or particular, may err; and many have erred.  Therefore they are not to be made the rule of faith, or practice; but to be used as a help in both. (e)

The Creeds of Christendom
Philip Schaff, 19th century -

"In the Protestant system, the authority of symbols [creeds], as of all human compositions, is relative and limited.  It is not coordinate with, but always subordinate to, the Bible, as the only infallible rule of the Christian Faith and practice.  The value of creeds depends upon the measure of their agreement with the Scriptures.  In the best case, a human creed is only an approximate and relatively correct exposition of revealed truth, and may be improved by the progressive knowledge of the Church, while the Bible remains perfect and infallible.  The Bible is of God; the Confession is man’s answer to God’s Word.    The Bible has, therefore, a divine and absolute (authority), the Confession only an ecclesiastical and relative authority.  Any higher view of the authority of symbols is unprotestant and essentially Romanizing."  (Vol. I, p.7)

From The Second Helvetic Confession (Protestant) -

"...as far as they agree with the Scriptures; but we modestly dissent from them when they are found to set down things differing from, or altogether contrary to, the Scriptures....And in the same order also we place the decrees and canons of councils.  Wherefore we do not permit ourselves, in controversies about religion or matters of faith, to urge our case with only the opinions of the fathers or decrees of councils; much less by received opinions, or by the large number of those who share the same opinion, or by the prescription of a long time."

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  The following is taken from Dr. Louis Berkof's, Systematic Theology, 1939 (late President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Calvin Seminary) -

"...it must be said that there has never been a period in the history of the Christian Church, in which eschatology was the center of Christian thought.  The other loci of Dogmatics have each had their time of special development, but this cannot be said of eschatology....The Reformation adopted what the early Church taught respecting the return of Christ, the resurrection, the final judgment, and eternal life....It can hardly be said that the Churches of the Reformation did much for the development of eschatology." pp.662-3

FROM THE APOSTOLIC AGE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTH CENTURY.

"In the very first period the Church was perfectly conscious of the separate elements of the Christian hope, as, for instance, that physical death is not yet eternal death, that the souls of the dead live on, that Christ is coming again, that there will be a blessed resurrection of the people of God, that this will be followed by a general judgment, in which eternal doom will be pronounced upon the wicked but the pious will be rewarded with the everlasting glories of heaven.  But these elements were simply seen as so many separate parts of the future hope, and were not yet dogmatically construed."  pp.662-3

FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTH CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION.

"...under the influence of Origen and Augustine, anti-chiliastic views became dominant in the Church.  But though these were regarded as orthodox, they were not thought through and systematically developed.  There was a general belief in a life after death, in the return of the Lord, in the resurrection of the dead, in the final judgment, and in a kingdom of glory, but very little reflection on the manner of these."  p.663

FROM THE REFORMATION UP TO THE PRESENT DAY.

"The thought of the Reformation centered primarily about the idea of the application and appropriation of salvation, and sought to develop eschatology mainly from this point of view.  Many of the old Reformed theologians treat it merely as an adjunct to soteriology, dealing with the glorification of believers.  Consequently, only a part of eschatology was studied and brought to further development.  The Reformation adopted what the early Church taught respecting the return of Christ, the resurrection, the final judgment, and eternal life....In its opposition to Rome, it also reflected a good deal on the intermediate state and rejected the various tenets developed by the Roman Catholic Church.  It can hardly be said that the Churches of the Reformation did much for the development of eschatology."  p.663

"In general it may be said that eschatology is even now the least developed of all the loci of dogmatics.  Moreover, it was often given a very subordinate place in the systematic treatment of theology....Reformed theologians on the whole saw this point very clearly, and therefore discussed the last things in a systematic way.  However, they did not always do justice to it as one of the main divisions of dogmatics, but gave it a subordinate place in one of the other loci.  Several of them conceived of it merely as dealing with the glorification of the saints or the consummation of the rule of Christ, and introduced it at the conclusion of their discussion of objective and subjective soteriology.  The result was that some parts of eschatology received due emphasis, while other parts were all but neglected.  In some cases the subject-matter of eschatology was divided among different loci."  pp.664-5
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