The Two Cities
REVELATION 18:21
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. We think of Babylon as being the Vatican city that is to be bomb by a Russian Nuke, or America that is destroyed by the earthquake, and that is true, but we must also realise that the entire world today is Babylon, Mystery Babylon – Babylon is not just a city with a geographical location on a world map, it is the spirit that is upon the entire people of the world system of today.
All through the bible this city of Babylon captured and destroyed the people of God, but she is now herself finally destroyed, never to rise again.
REVELATION 21:1-2
1 ¶ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. This city lives on throughout eternity – this is the consummation of the entire bible.
There are only two cities spoken of in the book of Revelation - one is Babylon, and the other is Jerusalem, and the bible traces and reveals the final outcome of these two cities all the way from Genesis to Revelation.
The Two Cities
Only want to introduce this subject today
The word “city” is found written in 777 verses in the King James Bible.
We know that a city in the bible types a woman.
ZECHARIAH 8:2-3
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. (Notice – Jerusalem is a city of truth while we know that Babylon is the city of a lie. One city has the seal of God, while the subjects of the other city have the mark of the beast)
So a city in the bible types a woman – but it also types a man as an individual because you and I are likened unto a city, your body is your habitation, and you are the king dwelling in your temple in your city which is your earthly house – soul, spirit, and body.
PROVERBS 25:28
28 ¶ He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
These two cities (Babylon and Jerusalem) have dominated in the stories of the bible from Genesis to Revelation.
HEBREWS 11:8-10
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
(when we were called out of denominations as believers in this message, we also didn’t really know where we were going)
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise (we are sojourning in the land of the promised word), as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
***We know that the Bible is not really a book of history as it is a book of prophecy, because all the history was really just a prophecy of the end time.
- The history of Ruth and Naomi was actually a prophecy of an end time bride and the Jews returning back to their homeland in 1946.
- The history of Abraham and Sarah in the time of the destruction of Sodom, and them being changed back young again to receive the promised son is a prophecy for this end time age concerning you and I that will be changed back young again at the last trump.
- The history of Israel being captured and taken to Babylon for 70 years and then returning is a prophecy of this end time age when after 7 church ages the bride goes back to her homeland of the promised word.
***So we see then that the entire bible was a prophecy and a mystery that would be kept secret until the time of the seventh angel’s message when all this understanding of the word of what was sealed would be made fully known to an end time people.
IS.THIS.THE.SIGN.OF.THE.END.SIR_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-11 SUNDAY_ 62-1230E
30-3 Now, listen close. The seventh angel of Revelations 10:7 is the seventh church age messenger. See? Now, watch. And in the days... Now, watch here.
But in the day's of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished...
Now, sounding forth, this messenger, the seventh angel here, is sounding forth his message to the Laodicean church. Notice his type of message. Now, it wasn't to the first angel (wasn't given that), second angel, third, fourth, fifth, sixth; but it is the seventh angel that had this type of message. What was it? Notice, his type of message: finishing all the mysteries of God that are written in the Book. The seventh angel is winding up all the mysteries that's lain loose-ended, all out through these organizations and denominations. The seventh angel gathers them up and finishes the entire mystery. That's what the Bible said: finishes the mystery of the written Book.
So because we know that the bible is a prophecy for this end time age, then we understand that these two cities in the bible (Babylon and Jerusalem) must be revealing something to us that is greater than just natural geographical places and cities on the earth were people live.
The book of Revelation only talks about two cities in the last days, one is destroyed eternally, and the other one is exalted eternally, and so we can be sure that we will have to belong to either one city or the other city – either Babylon or Jerusalem.
REVELATION 17:5
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
*** By the teaching of Malachi 4’s message, we know that the whole world today is the Roman Empire revived – it is mystery Babylon, and this mystery Babylon is actually a spirit that is upon the people of the entire world, it is the spirit of deception – and it is also a Roman spirit.
That is why people today just love their sports, because the Romans loved their sports, that is why the people today love their races and the theatre and their violence today, because that was the spirit that was upon the Romans - they love their races and their theatres and their gladiators.
The spirit that was on Babylon came back upon the Romans, and the spirit of the Romans has come back on the people of this age, and they have taken on the mark of the beast which is to receive the lie in their forehead, your forehead represents your thinking, in the days of Noah their thoughts were evil continually – so this is the age and the people of mystery Babylon.
But then there is another spirit that has come back on a people which is the seal of God, and that is the spirit of the revelation of the revealed word of the hour which is also written on our foreheads, it is the spirit of truth, because Jerusalem is the city of Truth, and that is what and end time people have received into their thinking, they have caught the revelation of this last days message, and the message of Malachi 4 has called us out of Babylon by the appearing of the headstone in the sky in 1963 and the voice that followed that sign – that is how we came out of mystery Babylon.
REVELATION 18:4
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. That is the voice that followed the sign of the cloud that appeared in 1963.
If you don’t see that headstone that appeared in 1963 over Sunset Mountain, then you won’t come out of Babylon and into Jerusalem. It is this same stone that appeared to us in 1963 that goes on to destroy all the gentile kingdoms at the end, it is salvation to us who receive it, but judgment to the unbeliever who rejects it.
- The same one that appeared to Abraham in the tent door was the same one that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
DANIEL 2:32-34
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
MATTHEW 21:44
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
**Babylon is Satan’s Eden with Satan sitting in the midst of it as king like a husband and wife; while heavenly Jerusalem is God’s restored Eden where the Lamb is in the midst of her and he is the light of it.
So the city of Babylon is just a perversion of God’s Eden - The two Eden’s, The two Cities, God’s Eden verses Satan’s Eden.
REVELATION 18:1-5
1 ¶ And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (This is the same mighty angel of Revelation 10-1 – this is Christ himself, this is the opening of the word that shone light throughout the entire earth by the way of the message of the hour – “as the light shines from the east even unto the west, so shall the coming of the son of man be” – light is the revealed word, the truth is coming into a people, because this is the coming of the Lord in word form in the bride coming of Christ. Jesus said “I am the light of the world”)
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (Who revealed to us who Babylon was in this hour? – it was the strong voice of a the seventh angel’s message)
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (This is the message of the hour that is continuing to call the bride out of Babylon and back to Jerusalem)
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
REVELATION 14:8
8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Brief history of Babylon
If we look back to the origin of Babylon, we find that after the flood of Noah the descendants from Noah were living in the area of Mesopotamia in which was called Babylonia, and the bible says that they found a plane in the land of Shinar, and Shinar was an area situated by the two rivers Tigris and the Euphrates. We are also told that at this time that the whole world communicated in one language and speech, and that ability to communicate is what united the people together.
It was then that the people decided to build a city and a sky tower, and this city was reportedly the city of Babylon. So the Babylonians wanted to build a tower “whose top may reach unto heaven”, this is no different to the space station program of today, so all these things of what we read about in Genesis we can also see today – today the whole world is united by a communication system, today we are all speaking the one language of google and we are living an industrial age with a scientific space program, it is history repeating itself again, and the same spirit of that Babylon is here with us again.
Notice - They wanted to go to heaven without the need for God and without the need of having to repent, in other words, they just wanted to live any sinful life and still go to heaven by their own way and by their own choice and by their own abilities.
So God interrupted their communication system and that resulted in their confusion, and so this tower in Babylon was called the tower of babel – and babel means confusion, and that is why we see so much confusing in the world today because we are living in Babel again.
*Today we see that Denominations are in confusion
*Politics is in confusion
*People are in confusion
*Ministers are in confusion
*Scientists are in confusion – one group agree with global warming and the other group doesn’t.
The spirit of Babel is alive and well in the earth today.
A background of Jerusalem
**Jerusalem is mentioned over 750 times in the bible, while Babylon is mention a little over 250 times.
The common meaning of the word Jerusalem is interpreted "The City of Peace"
Jeru – salem or Shalom meaning peace.
PSALM 76:2
2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
Psalm 76:2 uses "Salem" as a parallel for "Zion" - Zion is the citadel of Jerusalem. A citadel is effectively a strong fortress in a city; it is where people can shelter from danger, especially during a war.
The word Zion essentially means “fortification”. Zion is described both as the city of David and the city of God.
Zion was originally an ancient Jebusite fortress in the city of Jerusalem. After David’s conquest of the fortress, Jerusalem became a possession of Israel and the royal palace was built in that location, and Zion/Jerusalem became the seat of power in Israel’s kingdom.
II SAMUEL 5:4-10
4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah.
6 ¶ And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.
7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
9 So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
Zion also refers to the place where the Temple Mount is situated in Jerusalem, this is the very same geographical location that Abraham (who lived around a 1000 years before King David) when he was commanded by God to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice found the ram caught in the thicket, it was known then as mount Moriah. This is exactly the same geographical location that King David bought the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and built an altar to the Lord so that the “plague may be held back from the people” because of the sin of him numbering the people – that is why when people measure themselves by numbering the people in their church, then that is a very bad thing in the eyes of the Lord because it is based on pride.
This spot was the very same place that Solomon (Kind David’s son) built the first temple of stones for God to dwell in, and this was also the site of the second Temple in Jerusalem, and will also be the site of the third temple that will be built again in Jerusalem in the very near future.
It is the most holy geographical place in the world, especially for the Jewish people who have seen it as the connection between God and humanity.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 ¶ Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Notice the voice and the message that God first spoke to Abraham – it called him out of Babylon – that was the message to Abraham – Come out of Babylon and into another land.
ACTS 7:2-3 (this is Stephens address to the council)
2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran (Charran is southern Mesopotamia which is also Babylonia),
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
So the message to Abraham was the voice of God calling him out of Babylon into another land.
Eliezer was also sent to Mesopotamia (Babylon) to call a bride out for Isaac
GENESIS 24:6-11
6 And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
7 The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
10 ¶ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
11 And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
REVELATION 17:18
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
A woman is a city – and a city has a king.
In Genesis we know that Adam was the king over the entire earth, and Eve was the City – so in this end time age in Satan’s Eden you just have the perversion of the same thing, Satan is the King, and the woman (false church) is the city.
***So these two cities are really just two groups of people that have two different spirits ruling over them.
REVELATION 21:2-4
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Notice again that this city is also a woman)
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
REVELATION 3:12
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (His new name is the revelation of himself of who he is for the hour that you live in. That is why this message contains the new name, not the titles, but the person of the titles, the revelation of Jesus Christ revealed to you by the message of the hour)
PSALM 137:1-8
1 ¶ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 ¶ Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.