____So, I have recently been reading the book of Revelation, and ideas and images have been swirling through my mind-- So I thought I would share some of them with the mass populace. Yesterday and today I have been in ch. 21, which speaks primarily about the New Jerusalem, or, "the great city, the holy Jerusalem".
____One thought that occurred to me was this: In verses 21:9-10, the angel says to John, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." From this passage we can clearly put together that the angel is calling the new Jerusalem "the Lamb's wife", and that they are one and the same.
Bride of Christ = Church = New Jerusalem?
____There are at least a couple passages that I can find that imply that the church (the body of believers in Christ) is this bride of Christ (ie, Ephesians 5:22-27, Revelation 19:7-9). I can't find a direct reference, but there's certainly enough contextual evidence throughout the New Testament to put this idea together. If the "Lamb's wife" is the New Jerusalem, and the church is the Lamb's wife (or bride of Christ), then that would mean the church is the New Jerusalem.
Two Women
____What intrigues me is that here the church is portrayed as a city (whether the church is dwelling within a literal city or it is symbolic of the church I do not know), and that in Revelation 17 there is another symbolic woman-- the great harlot who sits on many waters, who represents Babylon the Great. This intrigues me because I have been wondering what this "Babylon" could be symbolic of.
Babylonian Mystery Religion
____There are some who believe it is representative of a corrupt religious system, one that has been deceiving the world from almost its very foundations-- and that it originated with Nimrod and the building of his cities. And this would be the Babylonian mystery religion, upon which all false religions have been based throughout history.
____It is a system designed by Satan, who, in an effort to deceive mankind, mimics the truth of the gospel and God's word. This mimicry stands to make God's word appear to be just another myth-- "Look how similar it is to other ridiculous beliefs people have held in the past." It causes yet others to believe the lies.
Babylon: City or Religious System?
____Now, in reading through the passages about Babylon and her judgment, I have sought to read them without presupposed ideas (no eisegesis here), and to only draw from the text (exegesis). With my limited understanding of history, this obviously keeps me from coming to any grand conclusions. But one thing I found of interest was how incredibly specific the details about Babylon, as a city, are:
____It speaks of the woman as "a great city which reigns over the kings of the earth", of this city being "fallen" and becoming a "dwelling place" for abominable creatures; it speaks of the nations of the earth, and merchants of the earth, having some sort of exchange with her, and becoming rich through the "abundance of her luxury". God calls people to "come out", and that she will be plagued with death, mourning, and famine, and be burnt with fire. The most interesting part to me is where it goes into great detail about the merchandise traded through this woman, Babylon: precious stones and metals, spices and oils, rich fabrics, animals, foods, chariots, and bodies and souls of men Revelation 18).
____It's kind of hard to imagine an intangible system being burned with fire-- but it's possible that the "system", if it is that, could very well have a physical epicenter that could be burned, could conduct trading transactions, possess wealth, etc. And that they trade "bodies and souls of men", well, that just creeps me out and makes me want to shudder at the pure evil of it all. Trading bodies and souls of men for profit? And weeping when you cannot do so anymore? That's just disturbing!
Women, Religious Systems, and Cities, Oh My!
____So, where I am going with all this is-- if the Bride of Christ (a woman), who is in fact a group of people in a "religious system" (Christianity), is referred to as a city-- Could it then stand that the harlot (a woman), who is Babylon, is also a group of people who are in another, false religious system?
____And, if the city of Babylon is symbolic, and all its seeming details symbolic, could then the city of the New Jerusalem be symbolic as well, and not necessarily a literal city?
Is the New Jerusalem Symbolic?
____We find when reading about the New Jerusalem many details given that would lead you to believe it is, in fact, a literal city. It has dimensions, gates, stones, names written on it, no temple, etc. But so do we find many seemingly physical details in regards to Babylon-- And we can all see that there is no literal city of Babylon ruling over the kings of the earth, at least not in our time nor the forseeable future. And one could use the line of logic, "Well, it may exist in the future..." But the words of Revelation don't seem to jive with it being a new city, but rather one that has been plaguing God and all things holy for millenia.
____The only difference I can see between the descriptions of Babylon and the New Jerusalem is that the New J is given specific dimensions and architectural/design plans. This surely gives the impression of it being a literal city (I never said it wasn't, I'm just speculating).
____In pondering this thought, I could see how perhaps the "12 foundations" of the New Jerusalem, which have the names of the 12 apostles written on them, could forseeably symbolize the 12 apostles being the foundation of the church. They laid the early doctrine, penned much of the Bible (if you include Paul as one of the 12), and were the start of the earliest churches. We are told in Acts that the disciples continued steadfastly in the "apostles doctrine" (Acts 2:42). They are the foundation of the church whether or not it's a literal city, mind you. So this doesn't prove anything.
Symbolism Run Amok
____IIf we decided to go symbolic, what would the 12 gates named according to the 12 patriarchs of Israel stand for? Perhaps that Israel was the "gate" by which the church entered the world? I have no idea. And as far as all the minute details, such as the stones and colors and all (and for that matter, all the trading and details and such in regards to Babylon)-- I have no idea, and could not start to fathom, what they could possibly be symbolic for-- if they are symbolic at all.
____It doesn't stand to reason that God would have useless, meaningless words penned down in His Bible, and so I don't think they are just there as filler to make it a more colorful story. Thus they must have some purpose or meaning, whether it's all symbolic or Babylon and the New J are literal cities.
The Conclusion...
____And so, the conclusion of the matter is... No conclusion at all! Just some food for thought. Revelation is an interesting book. I can hardly wait to see how it unfolds in real life! And I too, in response to Jesus' statement, "Surely I am coming quickly," say, "Amen. even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
____One thought that occurred to me was this: In verses 21:9-10, the angel says to John, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." From this passage we can clearly put together that the angel is calling the new Jerusalem "the Lamb's wife", and that they are one and the same.
Bride of Christ = Church = New Jerusalem?
____There are at least a couple passages that I can find that imply that the church (the body of believers in Christ) is this bride of Christ (ie, Ephesians 5:22-27, Revelation 19:7-9). I can't find a direct reference, but there's certainly enough contextual evidence throughout the New Testament to put this idea together. If the "Lamb's wife" is the New Jerusalem, and the church is the Lamb's wife (or bride of Christ), then that would mean the church is the New Jerusalem.
Two Women
____What intrigues me is that here the church is portrayed as a city (whether the church is dwelling within a literal city or it is symbolic of the church I do not know), and that in Revelation 17 there is another symbolic woman-- the great harlot who sits on many waters, who represents Babylon the Great. This intrigues me because I have been wondering what this "Babylon" could be symbolic of.
Babylonian Mystery Religion
____There are some who believe it is representative of a corrupt religious system, one that has been deceiving the world from almost its very foundations-- and that it originated with Nimrod and the building of his cities. And this would be the Babylonian mystery religion, upon which all false religions have been based throughout history.
____It is a system designed by Satan, who, in an effort to deceive mankind, mimics the truth of the gospel and God's word. This mimicry stands to make God's word appear to be just another myth-- "Look how similar it is to other ridiculous beliefs people have held in the past." It causes yet others to believe the lies.
Babylon: City or Religious System?
____Now, in reading through the passages about Babylon and her judgment, I have sought to read them without presupposed ideas (no eisegesis here), and to only draw from the text (exegesis). With my limited understanding of history, this obviously keeps me from coming to any grand conclusions. But one thing I found of interest was how incredibly specific the details about Babylon, as a city, are:
____It speaks of the woman as "a great city which reigns over the kings of the earth", of this city being "fallen" and becoming a "dwelling place" for abominable creatures; it speaks of the nations of the earth, and merchants of the earth, having some sort of exchange with her, and becoming rich through the "abundance of her luxury". God calls people to "come out", and that she will be plagued with death, mourning, and famine, and be burnt with fire. The most interesting part to me is where it goes into great detail about the merchandise traded through this woman, Babylon: precious stones and metals, spices and oils, rich fabrics, animals, foods, chariots, and bodies and souls of men Revelation 18).
____It's kind of hard to imagine an intangible system being burned with fire-- but it's possible that the "system", if it is that, could very well have a physical epicenter that could be burned, could conduct trading transactions, possess wealth, etc. And that they trade "bodies and souls of men", well, that just creeps me out and makes me want to shudder at the pure evil of it all. Trading bodies and souls of men for profit? And weeping when you cannot do so anymore? That's just disturbing!
Women, Religious Systems, and Cities, Oh My!
____So, where I am going with all this is-- if the Bride of Christ (a woman), who is in fact a group of people in a "religious system" (Christianity), is referred to as a city-- Could it then stand that the harlot (a woman), who is Babylon, is also a group of people who are in another, false religious system?
____And, if the city of Babylon is symbolic, and all its seeming details symbolic, could then the city of the New Jerusalem be symbolic as well, and not necessarily a literal city?
Is the New Jerusalem Symbolic?
____We find when reading about the New Jerusalem many details given that would lead you to believe it is, in fact, a literal city. It has dimensions, gates, stones, names written on it, no temple, etc. But so do we find many seemingly physical details in regards to Babylon-- And we can all see that there is no literal city of Babylon ruling over the kings of the earth, at least not in our time nor the forseeable future. And one could use the line of logic, "Well, it may exist in the future..." But the words of Revelation don't seem to jive with it being a new city, but rather one that has been plaguing God and all things holy for millenia.
____The only difference I can see between the descriptions of Babylon and the New Jerusalem is that the New J is given specific dimensions and architectural/design plans. This surely gives the impression of it being a literal city (I never said it wasn't, I'm just speculating).
____In pondering this thought, I could see how perhaps the "12 foundations" of the New Jerusalem, which have the names of the 12 apostles written on them, could forseeably symbolize the 12 apostles being the foundation of the church. They laid the early doctrine, penned much of the Bible (if you include Paul as one of the 12), and were the start of the earliest churches. We are told in Acts that the disciples continued steadfastly in the "apostles doctrine" (Acts 2:42). They are the foundation of the church whether or not it's a literal city, mind you. So this doesn't prove anything.
Symbolism Run Amok
____IIf we decided to go symbolic, what would the 12 gates named according to the 12 patriarchs of Israel stand for? Perhaps that Israel was the "gate" by which the church entered the world? I have no idea. And as far as all the minute details, such as the stones and colors and all (and for that matter, all the trading and details and such in regards to Babylon)-- I have no idea, and could not start to fathom, what they could possibly be symbolic for-- if they are symbolic at all.
____It doesn't stand to reason that God would have useless, meaningless words penned down in His Bible, and so I don't think they are just there as filler to make it a more colorful story. Thus they must have some purpose or meaning, whether it's all symbolic or Babylon and the New J are literal cities.
The Conclusion...
____And so, the conclusion of the matter is... No conclusion at all! Just some food for thought. Revelation is an interesting book. I can hardly wait to see how it unfolds in real life! And I too, in response to Jesus' statement, "Surely I am coming quickly," say, "Amen. even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
