INTRODUCTION
When King Nebuchadnezzar II conquered the kingdom of Judah, the Bible makes it very clear that the exile is a judgment upon Israel. This punishment from God was meted out due to the consistent practice of idolatry in the land. The Jews were given over, “You want to worship idols? Then I will send you to the capital city of idolatry.” As you know, the etymology of the name Babylon is linked to the site of humanity’s first attempt to defy God. The tower of Babel was the first monument of human pride. And thus Babylon, which symbolically represents opposition to God and His people, is aptly named. And while the physical nation of Babylon ceased to exist under Cyrus the Great in the 6th century B.C., the spirit of Babylon persists to this day. And its name is Legion: sexual perversion, materialism, celebrity worship, technological obsession, self-worship, political ideologies, entertainment, and escapism are just a few of its forms. If this is the case, that all of these things are active in the world, what does Isaiah mean when he says, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”? While true that the Babylonian statues of Marduk and Ishtar were trampled under the sandals of the Persians, what does it matter if these idols simply resurrect in different form? Where is the true and final victory? The apostle John echoes Isaiah, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.” If it’s fallen, why do we see thousands of muslims in Copenhagen, hijacking the public square to bow before a false god? Perhaps we are missing something.
BABYLON – THE WOMAN WHO RIDES THE BEAST
John is carried away in the spirit to the eremon or the wilderness, sometimes translated desert. This is an allusion to Isaiah 21. Listen to the first verse, “The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land.” And from verse 9 of the same chapter, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.” The presence of the phrase “fallen, fallen is Babylon” in both Isaiah and Revelation, alongside the fact that Isaiah 21 depicts a vision of judgment against Babylon, demonstrates that John’s usage is more than mere coincidence. The apostle is intimately familiar with the prophets and he’s quite comfortable borrowing their language. For example, Isaiah 21:1 uniquely combines the apparently disparate images of desert and sea and associates them with Babylon to communicate that the area is destitute. And likewise when we get to Revelation 17 and latter-day Babylon, this woman in the wilderness is found to be “sitting on many waters” to communicate barrenness.
NEW JERUSALEM – THE WIFE OF THE LAMB
The first and most obvious difference is the incongruity of juxtaposing a prostitute with a bride adorned for her husband. One is chaste and demure, saving herself for her husband. The other is indecent and shameless. In the vision, the location for Babylon was the wilderness. Conversely, the bride’s location is a high mountain. Listen to this from Ezekiel 40 and 43. Once again, John is drawing from the Old Testament prophets, “The hand of the Lord was upon me and brought me…and set me on a very high mountain, and upon it there was, as it were, the edifice of a city before me.” In this section of scripture, Ezekiel 40-48, describes the blissful image of a future temple located on a very high mountain. And in no uncertain terms, we as readers are expected to follow John’s reference to Ezekiel’s temple and connect it to the New Jerusalem. We also have many other prophetic references that the coming Jerusalem is to be situated atop a high mountain. Isaiah 2, Isaiah 4, Isaiah 25, Micah 4, Psalm 48, and others. Next, her appearance is described as follows, “…coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” The clarity of the jasper, the radiance and quality of the light refraction, the degree of its luminosity all point to the concept of purity and the light of truth. Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” The church shines brightly as a beacon of hope to the world and she proudly proclaims, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”
POTIPHAR’S WIFE
Let’s take note of a couple of things. First notice the intersection of duty and temptation. The Lord was with Joseph as he provided stewardship for Potiphar’s house. To avoid the temptation of this woman, he had the following options: leave Potiphar in the lurch and abandon his master. He could give in to temptation and betray Potiphar’s trust. He could tell Potiphar the truth, “Your wife is propositioning me.” How do you think that would’ve gone? Or he could fulfill his duty and endure the slings and arrows of seduction while on the job.
RUTH
In contrast to Potiphar’s wife who pesters and pesters and eventually grabs Joseph in desperation, she gently uncovers the feet of Boaz and lies there, waiting to be discovered. She then exercises more patience as she’s forced to wait. Boaz is not first in line. She waits on the Lord and the Lord blesses her. Ruth is a perfect example of the wife of the lamb.