This article serves as 'Footnote 10.' for the previous posting, 'The Messiah Expected by the Jews: An Overview of the Last Days.'
1. The Harlot and Babylon Are One and the Same
The Harlot and the Great City Babylon are the exact same entity. The vision showing the name "Babylon the Great" explicitly written on the Harlot's forehead, along with the angel's explanation, serves as the ultimate definition that overrides any other possible interpretation.
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:5)
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev 17:18)
These explicit verses leave no doubt that the Harlot and the Great City Babylon are one and the same. Furthermore, the Harlot in Revelation 17 and Babylon in Revelation 18 go beyond mere parallels; they form a symmetrical, mirror-like structure.
Appearance
- The Harlot: Dressed in purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls (Rev 17:4).
- Babylon: Dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls (Rev 18:16).
Partners in Fornication
- The Harlot: The kings of the earth committed adultery with her (Rev 17:2).
- Babylon: All the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries, and the kings of the earth committed adultery with her (Rev 18:3).
The Blood of Martyrs
- The Harlot: The woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus (Rev 17:6).
- Babylon: In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth (Rev 18:24).
In short, the Harlot and the Great City Babylon represent a single, integrated reality. The Harlot symbolizes its spiritual and religious aspect manifested through spiritual adultery, while Babylon the Great represents its political rule, economic status, and geographical identity.
2. Adultery Requires a Prior Marital Bond
In the Bible, the foundational nature of harlotry and the Harlot lies in the betrayal of a party that has entered into a marriage covenant with God. Therefore, this symbolic imagery is never applied to the Gentile world, which has no such covenant. The idolatry and sins of Gentile nations are simply a reflection of their spiritual default state; they cannot be classified as adultery, which involves violating a covenantal bond.
While the Gentile city of Tyre is a rare exception, being called a harlot in Scripture (Isa 23), its unique history—marked by a deep alliance with Israel and even a contribution to the construction of the Temple—actually reinforces this point. Throughout the entire Bible, denunciations of spiritual harlotry and adultery are overwhelmingly directed at Israel, God's covenant partner.
Whenever Israel turned away from God's covenant toward idolatry and sin, the Old Testament consistently accused her, using symbols like adultery, prostitutes, and harlots. These patterns are clearly visible across the following sections of the Old Testament. Readers who may have overlooked this theme are encouraged to read through these sections carefully.
The Pentateuch
The foundational prototype defining Israel's apostasy and idolatry as harlotry
Exodus 34:15-16
Leviticus 17:7; 20:5-6
Numbers 15:39; 25:1-3
Deuteronomy 31:16
The Historical Books
Judges 2:17; 8:27, 33
1 Chronicles 5:25
2 Chronicles 21:11-13
The Prophets
In the Torah and the Historical Books, "harlotry" primarily refers to the act of Israel committing the sin of idolatry, serving as legal warnings or historical records. In the Prophets, however, this concept shifts dramatically. It becomes a vivid personification of Israel as a distinct persona—the Harlot—who has broken her covenant with God, serving as a core literary theme that runs through entire books.
Hosea 1–10
The absolute center of the harlot metaphor. The prophet Hosea’s marriage itself was a direct command from God to serve as a living warning against Israel’s spiritual adultery.
Ezekiel 16 and 23
Ezekiel delivers the most intense and detailed description of the Harlot in Scripture. The symbolic imagery of the Harlot in chapter 16 directly overlaps with the portrayal of the Harlot in Revelation.
In chapter 23, the Harlot is destroyed by the very Gentile powers with whom she committed adultery. This serves as a clear Old Testament foreshadowing of the Harlot’s fate in Revelation, where she is hated and destroyed by the Beast and the ten horns she once rode.
Jeremiah 2–3
The explicit accusation of Judah’s betrayal and spiritual adultery.
Jeremiah 5:7-8; 13:27; 22:8-9 (great city); 23:10-14; 31:32
Isaiah 1:21
A definitive prototype where a city is explicitly identified as a harlot.
Isaiah 57:3-13
By nature, the Old Testament prophetic books are deeply eschatological—focusing heavily on the coming of the Messiah and the judgments that follow. Over 70 percent of their content is understood through the lens of prophetic perspective or typology. Furthermore, most of the apocalyptic symbols that make up the book of Revelation—such as beasts (Dan 7), four horses (Zech 6), seven lampstands and two olive trees (Zech 4), and a mark on the forehead (Ezek 9)—actually originate in the Old Testament Prophets.
When viewed in this light, the fact that the Harlot imagery is so overwhelmingly concentrated on Israel within the Prophets is highly significant. It means that when the "Harlot"—a symbol used in the Old Testament to denote Israel's apostasy—reappears in the book of Revelation, the most natural way to read it is as referring to apostate Israel.
3. The Coexistence of the Harlot and the Beast
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (Rev 17:3)
The total number of heads and horns across the four beasts in Daniel 7 adds up to seven and ten, respectively. This provides powerful evidence that Daniel's four beasts and the single, seven-headed, ten-horned Beast of Revelation are the exact same entity. In Revelation, the Harlot riding a single beast with seven heads and ten horns means, in essence, that she is riding the unified expression of Daniel's four beasts. This exerts strong contextual pressure for these beasts and the Harlot to exist within the same time and space, thereby giving rise to a perplexing prophetic puzzle.
Much of the difficulty in solving this puzzle stems from a common misinterpretation of Daniel's four beasts. By mistakenly identifying these four beasts with the historical sequence of four empires (from Babylon to Rome) in Daniel 2, the Beast of Revelation is strictly confined to the past. Consequently, the Harlot who rides it must either be viewed as a historical entity as well, or compromised into a vague, abstract allegory.
Such interpretations inevitably conflict with other critical prophetic scriptures. This is a serious issue. For instance, the interpretation that identifies the Harlot as Jerusalem remains trapped in a Preterist framework—despite the strong internal consistency of its arguments—largely because it is tied to traditional views of Daniel's four beasts. (Of course, the root cause behind this eschatological distortion is the overarching premise of Replacement Theology, which effectively nullifies Israel's eschatological status and directly contradicts Romans 11.)
However, as demonstrated in my previous post on Daniel's four beasts, all four of these beasts actually coexist in the end times (see Daniel 7: The Four Beasts). This fresh perspective of eschatological coexistence completely reshapes the prophetic narrative. Specifically, through the imagery of Revelation 17:3, where the Harlot rides the seven-headed, ten-horned beast, it paints an entirely new picture: the Harlot, too, is an entity that coexists alongside these beasts in the final era of history.
Once we recognize that Daniel's four beasts represent Gentile powers that will coexist in the end times, the Beast and the ten horns naturally become what Daniel explicitly calls them—kings who will live alongside the Harlot in the final days (Dan 7:24). With this, the chronological setting for both the Harlot and the beasts aligns perfectly within a single, future eschatological framework. This instantly unties the knots of difficult passages left unresolved by the impasse between Preterism and Futurism—such as the scene where the Beast and the ten horns turn on the Harlot to destroy her and burn her with fire (Rev 17:16).
In summary, the prophetic landscape of the Harlot and the Beast can be outlined as follows: As clearly pictured by her riding atop the creature, the Beast of Revelation (= Daniel's four beasts), all its attendant features, and the Harlot Babylon will coexist in a single future era. This period corresponds to the feet and ten toes (the ten horns) of the statue in Daniel 2, rather than any of its upper portions. This era will mirror the days before the Flood, characterized by the mixing of iron and clay. Regarding this, Daniel explicitly interpreted that it signifies the mingling of human seed with a non-human seed. Daniel’s seventieth week also unfolds within this exact timeframe.
The Harlot leads "all" nations into her immorality and makes "all" peoples drink "the wine of wrath of her fornication" (Rev 14:8; 18:3).
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. . . . 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. (Rev 16:17, 19)
Babylon is forced to drink this wine of wrath at the exact moment the final "seventh bowl" is poured out. The bowl judgments begin with the first bowl, which targets those who have accepted the mark of the beast and worshiped his image (Rev 16:2), and they culminate in the seventh bowl, where Babylon the Great receives the cup of the wine of fierce wrath (Rev 16:17-19). This clearly shows that the bowl judgments unfold during the seven-year Tribulation—the period when the mark of the beast is enforced and its followers are judged. The fact that the Harlot’s global deception and God's judgment (the cup of wrath) are so perfectly intertwined with the era of the mark of the beast provides ironclad evidence that the Harlot belongs to the end-times era.
An important point to notice here is that the "all nations" targeted by the winepress of wrath at Christ's Second Coming does not mean every human being who has ever lived throughout history. Whether one holds to a pre-tribulation or post-tribulation view, the First Resurrection at Christ's Second Coming includes only the saints and the righteous; the resurrection of the rest of humanity, including the wicked, does not take place until the Great White Throne Judgment after the Millennium (Rev 20:4-6). Therefore, the judgment described in Revelation 19 is not dealing with all the dead of history, but is strictly confined to a final end-times judgment poured out on "the nations alive in that specific generation"—those who allied with the Antichrist to rebel against God at the climax of the Tribulation.
The long-extinct Roman Empire and other past entities simply cannot corrupt the nations at the time of Christ's Second Coming, nor can they stand alongside them to face its judgments. As a result, Preterist and Historicist interpretations that attempt to bind the Harlot and Babylon to ancient Rome are utterly dismantled by this prophetic structure.
Revelation 17:18 offers yet another definitive clue regarding the timeline of the Harlot:
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev 17:18)
When we view chapters 17 and 18 through an end-times lens, as argued before, this verse connects naturally with the reality that this woman serves as the hub of global governance in the final days. Even if critics dismiss this as a view reliant purely on Futurism, this single verse decisively shatters the Preterist claim that "the Harlot equals first-century Jerusalem." Jerusalem in the first century was far from ruling over the kings of the earth; instead, she was a thoroughly conquered province under the boot of the Roman Empire.
4. The Case for Jerusalem
Where Our Lord Was Crucified
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. (Rev 11:8)
The most decisive key to unlocking the true identity of Babylon the Great is the internal definition the book of Revelation provides within its own text. Throughout Revelation, Babylon is consistently referred to as "the Great City" (polis megalē) (Rev 14:8; 16:19; 18:10; 18:19). The geographical reality of this city has already been unmistakably declared in chapter 11, verse 8. It is precisely "where our Lord was crucified"—that is, Jerusalem. If we accept the fundamental premise that the symbols within Revelation must remain consistent, then Babylon the Great leaves no room for any other interpretation than Jerusalem.
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Rev 18:24)
33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! (Luke 13)
Babylon's identity as the place where the Lord was crucified is further revealed by another of her great sins: the shedding of the "blood of prophets." Revelation indicts Babylon as the place where "the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people was found." Jesus Himself establishes the locus of this bloodguilt, declaring that "it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem."
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (Rev 11:7)
The location where the two witnesses are killed by the Beast after finishing their three-and-a-half-year ministry is also the exact same place where our Lord was crucified. The Harlot and the Great City’s bloodguilt concerning the prophets will be laid bare before God once more through the martyrdom of these two witnesses, and the identity of the Great City and the Harlot will be sealed by the very place where they are killed. In other words, the bloodguilt of spiritual apostasy accumulated by murdering God's messengers from the Old Testament to the End Times is concentrated within a single space—Jerusalem—where it will finally be fully exacted.
Certain interpretations become so fixated on the pagan name "Babylon" that they refuse to identify this city with Jerusalem. However, the text of Revelation 11:8 already refers to it through the spiritual allegories of "Sodom" and "Egypt." The Old Testament prophets set a clear precedent for this, bluntly addressing the rulers of apostate Jerusalem as "rulers of Sodom" and accusing the city of a corruption far worse than Sodom’s.
Apply common sense for a moment to the description in chapter 11, verse 8, where it says ". . . Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." It becomes instantly clear which parts are metaphors and which part is a geographical fact. The name "Babylon" simply cannot bear the weight of that concrete, historical reality: "where our Lord was crucified." This implies that "Babylon," much like "Sodom and Egypt," is a typological label. Therefore, it is entirely natural that Jerusalem, now corrupted by spiritual adultery, would be stripped of her holy, original name and instead be branded as "Babylon"—a title perfectly suited to her degraded character.
Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. (Isa 1:10)
And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways. As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. . . . Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. (Ezek 16:48, 51)
The Symbolic Framework: Beasts vs. Man
In the world of Jewish apocalyptic thought, there is an established formula: Israel is symbolized as the true Adam (Man), while the Gentile nations are depicted as adversarial beasts. The prophet Amos offers the most stark depiction of this framework when warning about the Gentile threat that would come on the Day of the Lord:
Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. (Amos 5:18-19)
When we look at Revelation 17 with this apocalyptic grammar in mind, a compelling reverse inference becomes possible. The seven-headed, ten-horned monster that the Harlot rides is ultimately the "Beast of Daniel 7," which embodies the sum total of the Gentile empires. Therefore, according to this long-standing formula of Jewish apocalyptic literature, the woman riding that beast must belong to a category fundamentally distinct from the beast—meaning she must possess a human (Israelite) identity.
Let us look at it from another angle. If this entity represented yet another Gentile power rather than Israel, Revelation’s prophetic symbolism would never have cast her as a distinct "woman." As in the Book of Daniel, it would have been far more natural to simply append another body part to the Beast or to introduce an entirely new beast.
Deeply telling is the fact that Scripture goes out of its way to depict this entity not as a mere appendage of the Beast, but as an independent 'woman' seated upon it. Through the framework of Jewish apocalyptic thought, this imagery powerfully demonstrates that she has entirely different roots from the ecosystem of Gentile empires (the beasts). She is none other than apostate Israel—the nation that once held a marriage covenant with God.
The Harlot is not the only woman found in Revelation. Chapter 12 presents another.
Revelation 12
- A woman appears, clothed with the sun, the moon, and twelve stars—imagery from Joseph’s prophetic dream.
- She gives birth to the Messiah, who will rule all nations with an iron scepter.
- A 'red' dragon with 'seven heads and ten horns' pursues her.
- She flees from the dragon to a place prepared for her for three and a half years.
- There is a "remnant of her seed." (those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus, living in a period marking the final days when the defeated dragon has been cast down to the earth.)
This woman is unmistakably a symbol for Israel. Now, let us turn to chapter 17 and compare her with the Harlot.
Revelation 17
- A woman appears, committing adultery with the kings of the earth.
- She is adorned in garments and jewelry that vividly evoke the Temple, with a name inscribed on her forehead: "Babylon, Mother of Harlots."
- She rides a 'scarlet' beast with 'seven heads and ten horns.'
- She is drunk with the blood of God's holy people and the witnesses of Jesus.
- The Beast will hate her, completely destroying her and burning her with fire.
As we can see, chapters 12 and 17 present these two women in a strikingly parallel yet fiercely contrasting structure. This structural parallel demonstrates that both women share the exact same root identity: Israel. At the same time, the extreme contrast exposes their opposing spiritual natures—the faithful bride versus the adulterous betrothed. Ultimately, the Harlot seated upon the Gentile beast can only be the apostate Israel (Jerusalem) that has fallen into spiritual prostitution with the nations.
The history of Israel throughout Scripture has always been a history of separation—one where a holy seed is sifted out from a compromised community. From the very beginning of the Exodus, Israel's story has moved through this constant division between the unfaithful masses who betray the covenant and the "Remnant" who endure discipline to preserve it. Even when Jerusalem falls into deep corruption in the final days—transforming into the Harlot and the epicenter of global apostasy—God will faithfully separate His true offspring, identified as the woman of chapter 12 and the remnant of her seed. Chapters 12 and 17 stand together as the ultimate, dramatic juxtaposition of this grand eschatological separation.
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. (Amos 9:9-10)
The Great City and the Cities of the Nations
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. (Rev 16:19)
We must pay close attention to the specific targets of this judgment. The text does not speak in broad strokes by stating that all the cities of the earth are destroyed. Instead, it deliberately distinguishes between two targets: "the Great City" and "the cities of the nations." The Greek term translated here as "nations" is ethnos, which throughout the New Testament is widely used to denote the Gentile world as distinct from Israel. It serves as the direct equivalent to the Hebrew words goy (גּוֹי) and goyim (גּוֹיִם).
Considered in this light, it becomes clear that the dividing line used to separate these doomed cities is the covenant that demarcates Israel from the Gentiles. Therefore, if "the cities of the nations"—which represent one axis of this destruction—refer to the Gentile cities outside the covenant, then the contrasting "Great City" must logically be Jerusalem, the very heart of the covenant and the primary city of Israel.
The Evidence on the Forehead
And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. (Exod 28:38)
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. (Deut 6:8)
And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. (Ezek 9:4)
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Rev 7:3)
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: (Rev 13:16)
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Rev 22:4)
In the Bible, the forehead is far more than a mere physical body part. It is presented as a spiritual signpost where an individual's identity, belonging, shame, or glory is most visibly displayed. For readers familiar with this prophetic language, this imagery serves as a direct link to the apostasy of Jerusalem.
And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. (Ezek 16:12)
Ezekiel 16 depicts Jerusalem as a city whose forehead God once adorned with a jewel, but who later degraded herself into a harlot through her spiritual adultery. Jeremiah goes a step further, explicitly declaring that she possesses the forehead of a prostitute.
. . . and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. (Jer 3:2-3)
The book of Revelation brings this theme to its ultimate climax, finally exposing the defiled state of her forehead for all to see:
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:5)
The Harlot’s Attire: The Language of the Temple
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Rev 17:4)
And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! (Rev 18:16)
The prophetic archetype for this description of the Harlot can be found in the following passages concerning the adulterous Jerusalem:
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. (Ezek 16:13)
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. (Jer 4:30)
To a Jew living during the Temple era, the specific combination of "purple," "scarlet," and "fine linen" instantly evoked the image of the Temple; it was, in essence, the language of the sanctuary. In The 'Jewish War,' Flavius Josephus provides a vivid and detailed description of the Jerusalem Temple, explaining that the Temple veil was a "Babylonian" curtain embroidered with blue, fine linen, scarlet, and purple thread. Furthermore, his records state that after the siege of Jerusalem, the Temple priests surrendered the holy garments to Titus, which included an immense store of purple and scarlet thread reserved for the veils.
To the people of that era, the description in Revelation would not have brought to mind the sights of a Gentile city like Rome. Instead, they would have recognized it as a direct and specific indictment of the very city where God's sanctuary stood.
But then this house, as it was divided into two parts, the inner part was lower than the appearance of the outer, and had golden doors of fifty-five cubits altitude, and sixteen in breadth; but before these doors there was a veil of equal largeness with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, embroidered with blue, and fine linen, and scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture of colors without its mystical interpretation, but was a kind of image of the universe; . . . But that girdle that tied the garment to the breast was embroidered with five rows of various colors, of gold, and purple, and scarlet, as also of fine linen and blue, with which colors we told you before the veils of the temple were embroidered also. . . . in these buttons were enclosed two very large and very excellent sardonyxes, having the names of the tribes of that nation engraved upon them: on the other part there hung twelve stones, three in a row one way, and four in the other; a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire; an agate, an amethyst, and a ligure; an onyx, a beryl, and a chrysolite; upon every one of which was again engraved one of the forementioned names of the tribes. . . . and delivered him from the wall of the holy house two candlesticks, like to those that lay in the holy house, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold, and very heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, with the precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels that belonged to their sacred worship. The treasurer of the temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on, and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there reposited for the uses of the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large quantity of other sweet spices, 30 which used to be mixed together, and offered as incense to God every day. (Josephus, The Jewish War, excerpts from Books 5 and 6)
An Avoided Identity
The prophecies regarding the Harlot and Babylon focus heavily on the final seven-year Tribulation period. This is Daniel’s seventieth week—an era when the "times of the Gentiles" (previously hidden in the Old Testament) come to a close, and the wheel of prophetic fulfillment spins around Israel once more.
The very concept of "adultery"—an extramarital affair—cannot apply to Gentile nations who were never part of a marriage covenant to begin with. Furthermore, by the time the Tribulation begins, the Church, having become the Bride through grace, will have already been removed. When we take these dispensational and covenantal parameters into account, interpretations that view the Harlot as either the Church or a pagan Gentile empire completely lose their footing. The concept of a covenant partner who was supposed to remain pure but instead commits adultery must, by definition, point to Israel.
Existing views identifying the Harlot of Revelation as apostate Jerusalem have mostly been trapped in a Preterist framework, relegating her to a mere symbol of first-century Jerusalem for rejecting and persecuting the Messiah. However, as demonstrated earlier, this Preterist view is fundamentally incompatible with the future, end-times timeline provided by the book of Revelation itself.
Furthermore, the biblical text describes Babylon's influence as truly global, dominating all nations and the kings of the earth in the final generation (Rev 14:8; 17:18; 18:3). Therefore, if we confront the prophecies of the Harlot and Babylon as future events, the upcoming global politico-religious system inevitably demands a tangible, real-world epicenter to serve as its spiritual and political hub.
At the heart of this massive, integrated world system sits the end-times Jerusalem. In the final days, Israel will rebuild the Temple and reinstate sacrifices in Jerusalem (Dan 9:27). It is there that they will accept the Antichrist—the one who proclaims himself to be God (2 Thess 2:4)—as their Messiah. Under his messianic rule, Jerusalem will transform into the political and religious epicenter of a unified world.
Such an eschatological vision of the final days is relatively widely recognized. And Jewish tradition itself shares a spiritual and political vision where all nations follow the teachings of the Messiah during the Messianic Age. If the Antichrist failed to fulfill these very expectations, Israel could hardly be expected to accept him as the Messiah.
Viewed through this framework, a Jerusalem that embraces someone other than Jesus Christ as the Messiah—and subsequently becomes the religious and political capital of the nations—is the only entity that fits the prophetic profile of the Harlot and the Great City Babylon (Rev 17:18). For anyone anchored in the foundational framework of Dispensational-Futurism—which systematically connects Daniel’s seventieth week, the covenant, the Antichrist, the Temple, and the abomination of desolation—Jerusalem is the most compelling identity—one that should become instantly obvious through structural intuition, requiring no complex argumentation.
Yet, even within circles that firmly share the eschatological vision of Israel returning to center stage in the final days, explicitly identifying "Israel and Jerusalem" as the Harlot Babylon has been studiously and strictly avoided. Such a phenomenon is almost bizarre. These groups readily celebrate Israel’s prominent role as the protagonist of the End Times, yet consistently turn a blind eye to the heavy biblical warnings regarding her apostasy—an attitude that amounts to nothing short of a 'selective eschatological blindness.'
This article has been translated from the original Korean text through automatic translation and may contain errors.
