And God saw the light. Genesis 1:1-4.

[caption id="attachment_5280" align="alignright" width="300"] Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Photo property of Google travel contributor Ivan Friedman[/caption]

 In my previous post, I had hoped to establish that all things were created perfectly from the moment Jesus first spoke all things into existence. I believe that the primary creation happened in verse one.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NKJV

But writing and thinking through the events of the first few verses of Genesis, I am reminded that Jesus, in time, will voluntarily set aside His divinity, which includes His knowledge, insight, and power, so that He could become a human being, untainted by sin, and thereby bring redemption and salvation to all who would receive this great salvation.

The sacrifice or price that would be paid to become a human was to quite literally be born a blank slate, and it may well mean that Jesus had to be told about the scriptural narrative that describes actions that He performed in creation by Joseph and, in time, the Holy Spirit. Put yourself in Jesus's shoes for a moment and then try to imagine what you are supposed to do with information like this.

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
Isaiah 45:18 NKJV

I feel strongly about this perspective. If such a revelation caused you to go into a tailspin, as it did me at first, my suggestion is that you relax and reestablish yourself in the words of Jesus that we find in Genesis and the Hebrew that makes those words work; and remember that Jesus is God.

The idea that Jesus lost His knowledge of who created all things was never a question that we see the Apostle John fretting over. John's opening statement about Jesus demonstrates that he has become convinced, without question, that Jesus was, is, and ever shall be God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
John 1:1-3 NKJV

I pointed out in the previous post that Jesus told us that He beheld Satan's fall in a rather dramatic way.

“And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 NKJV

The problem with that is that we have few details that define what Satan's fall looked like aside from that. Just because we do not see those details does not mean it did not happen.

So, let's assume that the lights entirely went out.

Did God/Jesus merely quake in fear that Satan's fall included a horrendous destruction?

No, the recovery process began with a peculiar act.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

There is a peculiar usage of the word hovering. It is the Hebrew râchaph. One of the defining words means to brood. The Word Study Dictionary refers to this hovering as an eagle hovering over its eggs. Honestly, it works the same for chickens or foul. All of this is part of the process of growth, which is an aspect of brooding. The Strong's concordance adds that it is, by implication, to be relaxed.

Does a hen seem stressed as it broods over the chicks?

Only if a threat arises and then she will fight. If the mother hen flutters or moves, it is only to maintain a satisfactory temperature necessary for the embryo to progress in their growth.

So I can assume that God, in His brooding, was actively in the process of restoring and rebuilding the creation. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were actively involved in the recreation of the creation.

“Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.”
Genesis 1:3 NKJV

When God said, Let there be light, who was speaking?

It's a rhetorical question, and I am not demanding an answer, but the simple answer is that Jesus spoke those words into existence. Watch what happens next.

“And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.”
Genesis 1:4 DRB

When I read narratives like this, I picture God standing there watching as Jesus precisely spoke creation into existence a second time (as though Jesus/God was troubled by the severity of the damage;) only moments pass when I realize how foolish such a thought process is, as God is not impacted by time and space as we know it. I remind myself that God knew that Satan would, in turn, destroy, deceive, and attempt to capture the hearts of God's creation, and all of this was a part of God's eventual plan of redemption that ends with the eternal removal of Satan once and for all.

Light is the Hebrew word 'ôr. It means illumination or (concretely) luminary (in every sense, including lightning, …) Strong's concordance/dictionary.

To assume that this is only the sun is erroneous as it also applies to stars, which are suns, just like ours; the difference is that other suns tend to be much larger than ours, and they are scattered across the universe at incomprehensible distances away from the earth; and then there are the reflective bodies, such as moons and planets. Seeing as there is no reference to heat, as we will soon see, then, while I cannot exclude the sun, it clearly speaks to the variety of things that emit or reflect light.

Question, can you typically see the effects of a flashlight on a bright day?

No, so it is obvious that the lights had gone out and the light that Jesus is now speaking into existence, once again, was not a blinding light. This tells me that the illumination was like some nights when the sky was clear.

When we were teens dad took the family to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Besides the spectacular

formations, it is known for the nightly flights of bats that emerge from the cave (there are thousands of them.) 

On the tour, the Park Ranger takes us to a deep place in the cavern, warns the audience not to move, and then turns out the lights for about a minute. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face, as there is NO illumination at all. It is a darkness that feels like it permeates you. Moments later, they turn the lights back on, and you are instantly reminded of how spectacular the ancient formations and reflective lighting truly are.

Divided is the Hebrew word badal. It is a primary root and means to be divided or separated: It also means to come over, dismiss, make a separation, make a distinction, partition, separate, or set apart.

In Genesis chapter 1, verse 4, we see this: “and God divided the light from the darkness.”

Darkness is the Hebrew word chôshek. The Strong's # is H2822. It is from H2821; the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - (darkness), night, obscurity.

When I think about the effects that Satan had on the earth, these words stand out.

• misery,

• destruction,

• death,

• ignorance,

• sorrow,

• wickedness,

• obscurity.

The Strong's # associated with chôshek - is H2821- châshak, enunciation khaw-shak'. It is a primitive root meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: - be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide.

Now ask yourself, when did Jesus begin to address Satan's actions?

So Jesus did not only address the lights going out, but He immediately began attacking the damage that Satan brought about.

If you want a definition of who Satan is and what he does, you got it.

Jumping forward in time to the Garden. Eve, having bought into the deception, hands the fruit, with her teeth marks on it, to her “husband.” We have no indication that he was deceived, so Adam sets aside what God had told him and chooses to die with his “wife.”

It doesn't matter what you call it; the treasonous act was to hand over the dominion – rule and control over the earth. Sounds bad, and lacking a relationship with Christ is a hopeless situation. But God had a plan all along.

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 BSB

We get bruised all the time. Some foolishly believe that this bruising is God's wrath (tribulation;) it is NOT. It is just life, so get over it. Note, however, that God tells the serpent that the seed of the woman will crush your head. You don't typically get over a crushing; you die. Our hope is, to some degree, based on the reality that through Jesus, Satan's head will be crushed – or at least put away forever.

In beginning God created. Genesis 1:1

 Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

When it comes to Bible translations, I transitioned from the King James version long ago as I came to understand that the NASB was a bit more accurate in translating to English. Many years ago, while listening to Dr. Chuck Missler on the radio, I learned that he preferred the KJV because the problems with that translation were well known, while other, relatively new translations or transliterations, which, too, had issues but, in some cases, were not identified yet. Taking Dr. Missler's advice, I approach them all with a bit of skepticism. That being said, here is a translation that works for me when looking at Genesis 1:1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 AFV
(AFV - A Faithful Version) Copyright © 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011; York Publishing Company.

What is so different about the AFV?

It is one of the few versions that puts the word "the" in an italicized format to affirm that it is an added word and used only for the sake of clarity. I do not think verse one needed any added clarity at this point. So verse one could and should be read "In beginning."

You might ask, what difference does it make?

To say, "In the beginning" denotes an emphasis on a specific point in time in which everything happened perfectly. The Hebrew word is rê'shı̂yth and means the first, in place, time, order, or rank (specifically a first fruit.) If you were to hold tightly to a specific point, why does scripture bother to point out other periods in which God/Jesus created? Almost as if the Hebrew is in opposition to a specific point, you should have noticed the reference in definition to this point in time being the first fruit. If there was a first of the fruit, then there were other fruits produced or gathered; none of which takes away from or diminishes the authority and power of God in creation, but it also does NOT limit His creative abilities. So, the more appropriate read of rê'shı̂yth would be "In beginning," as this expresses the idea that creation was a process.

If you feel you need to continue arguing that everything was created at once, with one word, then why wasn't Adam placed here on the earth at that moment? Notice that I did not mention Eve because she clearly came later, and we cannot define how much later she showed up.

What else can I learn from verse one?

That God created created the heavens and the earth.

Create is the Hebrew word bara, meaning to shape, bring about, make, or produce.

How do I look at this and not see a process?

I can, however, see why evolutionists think the way they do; the obvious is that they refuse to acknowledge or consider that there is an omniscient, eternal God that established our moral baseline and placed the knowledge and comprehension of that baseline within us through His Son, Jesus, who put Himself upon that cross in order to give us all salvation and a restored life with the Father. A life without problems or mistakes in it.

Does God have problems or make mistakes?

The answer is an emphatic NO, although someone lacking wisdom will throw in the creation of Lucifer/Satan and say, see, what about that?

Even the angels were given free will, and though we don't know when this Satanic rebellion took place, it was obviously after verse one and was prior to God putting the man in the garden.

This is so much easier on the brain when you can acknowledge that the creation was a process.

If God created the Earth, then it had to be perfect from the beginning. Want evidence?

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
Isaiah 45:18 NASB

Note the words formed and made; Formed is the Hebrew word yāṣar and means to form, fashion, or devise. In my book, this word alone demonstrates a process. Made is the Hebrew word ‛āśāh, meaning to do, make, accomplish, or complete. If it was complete from the moment He spoke it into existence, there would be no reason to complete it sometime later unless something cataclysmic took place.

So God, in making the earth and everything related to it, did it perfectly from the beginning. In other words, it was NOT formless and void unless you can handle a process that allows for the sun and planets to be created out of spinning, formless masses of matter that God had to fashion into something usable (trying to reason that out simply defies logical thought). If God made everything, then He also had to make the formless masses from which He may have formed the universe.

Most of the “Christian community” will adamantly renounce such talk because they believe it implies an agreement with evolution. For someone to suggest that the Creation of the earth, in the Genesis account, could have taken an indeterminate amount of time garners abrasive negativity and the idea that I am now an evolutionist, which I am not.

How do I know that the fall of Satan took place after verse one?

Because verse two declares that the earth is now destroyed.

“The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
Genesis 1:2 NASB

Perhaps you have never heard what Jesus said about Satan.

 “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
Luke 10:18 KJV

Jesus, the creator – according to John's gospel, watched as Satan fell from heaven.

The word fall is the Greek word piptō and means to descend from a higher place to a lower or to be thrust down.

When I apply Jesus's eyewitness account, in which He compares Satan's fall to lightning, it is easy to see that Satan's departure from his heavenly position was fast and powerful.

Why is this important?

Because of the potential damage involved with Satan's impacting the earth, the fall could have had a greater impact than some meteorites, such as those that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago. An understanding like this makes it far easier to understand that the heavens sustained tremendous violence.

We have another piece of evidence concerning Satan's plummet.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV

Who is the dragon?

Repeatedly, we learn that Satan is the dragon. One of the problems we seem to have is that the Book of Job renders Satan, in heaven, walking among the Sons of God. This gave Satan the opportunity to pursue a course of action against Job. So obviously, Satan did not receive complete destruction with his punishment, or he would not have been able to tempt Jesus nor offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth when he tried to tempt Him. His day will come.

“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.' "

Matthew 4:8-10 NKJV

Having been thrown down to earth, did God bestow him with authority and power?

No, but Adam did, and that was an aspect of the deception and willing participation in eating the fruit, in opposition to the ONLY rule God placed against the only two humans walking and dominating the earth. And yet, there it is, Satan is offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew ...”.
Genesis 3:5-7 NKJV

They knew they had undone the life and pattern that God had laid out before them, and they knew they had just handed it over to Satan.

Did you see Jesus calling Satan a liar or reminding him that he had been thrown down to earth, stripped of power?

You did not see that because even Jesus knew that Adam had given Satan all this power. This is an interesting way of stating a fact, and it is interesting because Jesus had voluntarily set aside all that HE was to become a human – and He is still a human today.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV

If that is the case, and it is, then how did Jesus come to know and understand that Satan had been given his power through Adam's betrayal?

The most substantial clue we have is a sparse statement about Joseph.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.”
Matthew 1:18-19 NKJV

Just is the Greek word dikaios and means that he was one that observed divine laws. In a wider sense, Joseph was upright, righteous, and one who kept the commands of God. (Thayer's Definitions)

This title of being righteous was not one you gave yourself but was assigned by a watchful community – in other words, Jews. Because Mary stood her ground and maintained that this baby was implanted by the Holy Spirit, she was considered a tramp, worthy of nothing more than a stoning, and the baby was deemed an illegitimate child – a mumzer and He (the young Jesus) was excluded from entering the synagogue or learning from the rabbis. It may have been possible that Joseph was very capable of teaching the young Jesus.

Obviously, somebody taught Him and taught Him well because, without us having to discuss it, it is clear that He knew the intimate details of the events that happened in the garden on the day that Adam handed the world over to Satan.

Where the whore is. Revelation 17:15-18.

 In the previous post, I tried to give you a commentary on Revelation 17:12-14 based upon logic, scripture associations, historical evidence, and a bit of influence from other commentaries. I ended on Revelation 17:14. This is what verse 14 says.

"These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." (Revelation 17:14 NASB)

The “these” is referring to kings that rise up – use that term kings lightly as it also refers to rulers and ruling bodies.

Waging war is in this case, limited to the time when Jesus comes back to earth as the warring Messiah that Israel has longed for. Verse 14 says “and those who are with Him are the called, the chosen, and the faithful.”

The word called is the Greek word klētos and means the invited or appointed.

Called, this word works, especially if you picture God looking over the earth and all who have been born or unborn and called them all to come back to Him. Not only were we all invited, but God takes it one step further, in that we have been appointed.

Appointed, according to Webster's dictionary means fixed; set; established; decreed; ordained; constituted; allotted. 2. Furnished; equipped with things necessary; as a ship or an army is well appointed.

Try this on for size.

You have been decreed and ordained, before you were ever thought of, to be equipped with the things necessary, to function as an emissary for and to God.

For those who wish to argue.

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I separated you for myself..." (Jeremiah 1:5a CJB)

Chosen is the Greek word eklektos. Other, more dominant usage options are select; and by implication favorite.

And the final word used to designate those who will be with Him is faithful.

Faithful is the Greek word pistos. Pistos also means a trusty person who shows themselves faithful in - the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties.

It also applies to:
- One who kept his plighted faith;

Plighted ranges between pledged and difficult. Some, after some missionary comes back and gives the entire church their field report, may decide to make a faith pledge that they will never keep. On the other hand, it seems this life of faith we live is filled with difficulties.

- One who is worthy of trust.
- And, those that can be relied on.

The first two terms (called and chosen,) can easily be seen as characteristics of a believer in Jesus Christ, as these terms are frequently applied to a Christian; this does not mean that the “Christian” will follow after or walk in their calling. The last term, faithful, can apply to a wide variety of people, and many of them are not in your church body. Consider Matthew 25 and the sheep and goats.

As we saw in the last post scripture interprets itself.

Revelation 17:15 CJB  Then he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the whore is sitting, are peoples, crowds, nations, and languages.

As I talk with people in church few understand what the nations are. Perhaps this will help your understanding. There are only three people groups in the Bible.

• The Jews

  This is also deemed to be Israel.

• The nations

  The Jews call anyone outside of Judaism, the Gentiles. We, believers, are considered Gentiles, but we are NOT.

• And the church.

  To the Jews, the church is nonexistent, however, to the believer in Christ we are the church, and the church is in Christ Jesus. If a Jew comes to Christ then they are a part of the body and can also be a Jew. And, in a sense, we were all from the nations but are now in Christ. Very soon the church will be caught up to be with Jesus in the air, at that point there will only be two people groups on earth.

“The waters that you saw, where the whore is sitting, are peoples, crowds, nations and languages.”

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, (Revelation 17:1 NASB)

So the whore of Babylon is truly dealing with the nations – the Gentiles. Remember, if you are NOT a Jew, you are a Gentile; this includes the Ishmaelites - the Islamic nations, and all other third world nations.

If the whore represents the filthy rich, then how and why would they have anything to do with the downtrodden, the poor, the dirty, and the enslaved, you should be getting the idea?

Revelation 17:16 NASB "And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.

• “ And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast,”

  These are two different entities, although they worked toward what we consider a common goal. Remember, the horns represent kingdoms or empires; this applies to both physical and financial empires.

  This is why God is causing them to go astray so that they will believe the Lie.
  (2 Thessalonians 2:11 CJB)

  Context, Paul wrote this letter to a Jewish community of Christ-followers. So when Paul says “them”, he is including the Jews in this group of people that can and will go astray and believe “the lie.”

  What is the lie?

  Paul does not define it, and yet, like in the movie “The Matrix,” the lie is all around you. I hear this in my spirit, many will read this statement and say, you stupid conspiracy theorist. Let me show you something.

  Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; because all the things of the world—the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pretensions of life—are not from the Father but from the world. And the world is passing away, along with its desires. But whoever does God's will remains forever. (1 John 2:15-17 CJB)

  There, in 1 John 2, is the Matrix analogy.

  It is the drive to dominate, the lust for money, and the power they think it brings. It is intertwined throughout our governing bodies. It is an intricate aspect of “the swamp” that former President Trump described. And worse yet, for the beast, which will, in the last minutes of time will be a man, it will be the false belief that through his deceit and power grab, he believes his ideologies will overthrow God.

  The beast, while playing the game, will seem to have the same goal, global domination, but with an Islamic background, one that claims to abide by the Quran, his goal will be to make everyone a follower of Allah or they die. For the horns, the goal is global domination where they are treated in the manner in which they have become accustomed. Add this to the drive to bring the population down to a manageable level of about 400 million. Just for the fun of it, there are approximately 7.7 billion people on the earth today. Consider food for a moment, here in America it has become quite obvious that food shortages (an event that the Bible tells us will happen,) are man-made.

  Do you think for a moment that those who hold the power will do without?

  Not a chance. While we eat veggie burgers, they will dine on prime rib.

• “they will hate the whore, bring her to ruin, leave her naked, eat her flesh and consume her with fire. “

  We are still on Revelation 17:16 talking about the whore that rides the beast. As you might have noticed, I gave you the Complete Jewish Bible translation, and this is the language that they have used. “They,” in context, is the beast, however, the usage of the term they certainly move this beyond a singular man as the beast.

  Look at what the “they” do to these “rich” people do.

  • They hate the whore,

  • Bring her to ruin,

  • Leave her naked,

  • Eat her flesh,

  • And, consume her with fire.

What kind of backing would it take to take down George Soros, Bill Gates, and Klaus Schwab at one time?

A massive economic collapse might do it.

Revelation 17:17 CJB  For God put it in their hearts to do what will fulfill his purpose, that is, to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast until God's words have accomplished their intent.

• “ For God put it in their hearts”

  “Their hearts,” is referring to the people who have already aligned, and those who will align themselves with the beast/antichrist.

• “to do what will fulfill his purpose,”

  So the question is, whose purpose? Well, the answer is both; God has a purpose, and it will be fulfilled. The beast has a purpose that will also be fulfilled but there is a catch, it is all God's purpose. Let me show you.

  In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.
  (Proverbs 16:9 NIV)

  Another place where we see God's purpose demonstrated is in Genesis 37.

  Joseph's brothers threw him into a dry well with the apparent intent of killing him.

  Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? (Genesis 37:26 NIV)

  When a band of Ishmaelites came by the brothers opted to sell him. The Ishmaelites took him into Egypt and sold him. None of them had any idea that a massive drought was coming. Joseph rises to power and ends up serving God's purpose as he saves the entire family during the years of drought.

• “that is, to be of one mind and give their kingdom to the beast until God's words have accomplished their intent.”

  God's purpose is to cause them to be of one mind; to give their kingdom to the beast; and, for that to happen until God's words have accomplished their intent.

In finishing Revelation 17 we have this.

Revelation 17:18 NASB "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."

• “And the woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

  What or where is the great city?

  I strongly suggest that it is Israel. Evidence for that, and it should be scriptural, although even scripture has a historical aspect to it.

  A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.
  (Psalms 48:1-2 NASB)

  Another piece of information that feeds into this great city being Israel.

  When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Revelation 11:7-8 NASB)

  • When it refers to “they” here it is talking about the two witnesses that were sent from God.

  • Finished – having been here for 1240 days, they are done speaking and God allows them to be killed. They will be resurrected but not for three days. Quite symbolic, don't you think?

  • Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

    Where does God put the two witnesses? Right in the middle of Jerusalem. The passage calls Jerusalem the great city.

    So, are the two witnesses lying in physical Babylon? NO, they are lying in the streets of Jerusalem.

    Did you notice that Jerusalem is referred to as Sodom and Egypt? This should be eye-opening, but there is a problem because it (sarcastically) says, where also their Lord was crucified.

    Where was Jesus crucified? On a hill called Golgotha, the highest point in Jerusalem.

Revelation 17 closes with “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” Merely because the harlot has a name associated with Babylon through comments like “the great city” which most assume to be physical Babylon; and, the idea that this great city rules over the kings of the earth, does not mean it is Babylon. We have more evidence in scripture that tells us this is Israel. One of those examples comes from Ezekiel 16.

Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
(Ezekiel 16:44 NLT)

Here again, most will assume this is referring to Babylon. If you chose to investigate the context of Ezekiel chapter 16, you would find that God is talking about Israel. This showing of evidence can drag out for pages, so I will leave that to you.

As I started pursuing an understanding of Revelation 17:18 I became aware that some will allow this to fire their prejudice and antisemitism, and go on rants against Israel and the Jews. I am saying this because I have heard it, and the majority has come out of the mouths of “Christian” folk. You should know that Israel is the center of God's heart and He will never forget Israel and His people. How fortunate we Gentiles are that we have been allowed to be grafted into the vine. Oh, and that Bible you are reading is a Jewish-oriented book. Maybe it's time we adjust our thinking?