The Great City is Divided into three parts
Part 8 of the Harlot of Babylon Series
Rev 11:8 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.
Of course, we all know why the teachers say their dead bodies lie in the street of Jerusalem. It is because the verse says, where also their Lord was crucified. The key to understanding this verse is the mystery of the great city being divided into three parts.
Rev 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
Why is the great city split into three parts? What are the three parts? What is the significance of the three parts? Why do we care? These are the questions I kept asking the Lord for years as I studied the prophecies concerning the two witnesses and the great city. The Holy Spirit would not let these questions go and He finally gave me the answers I requested.
The great city is divided in three parts and the description of the city where their dead bodies lie is divided into three parts. Both verses are referring to the same three divisions. We have Sodom, Egypt, and where their Lord was crucified.
What the Holy Spirit revealed to me is this. These are the three manifestations of the great city in the last days.
The great city is mystically called Sodom and Egypt. This is not the literal Sodom, and this is not the literal Egypt. If we want to know what the harlot looks like, then we need only look at what Sodom and Egypt looked like. If we want to know how the harlot behaves then we need only look at what was going on in Sodom and Egypt. They are descriptions of the harlot. Her characteristics. Her behavior.
Now for the third description of the great city. Where also their Lord was crucified. This is the worst behavior of the harlot. This is a reference to martyrdom. She kills those who oppose her. She kills those who speak the truth. She kills those who belong to God. Jesus was the first martyr of the Christian faith. (The second if you count John the Baptist.) The harlot possessed the corrupt leadership of Israel, and they demanded that Jesus be killed. Remember, the blood of prophets, saints and all those who have been slain on the earth is on her hands. She killed the prophets who prophesied the coming Messiah and His kingdom. Then she killed the Messiah, and she has been killing His followers ever since. She is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
This verse is not referring to the literal Sodom, it is not referring to the literal Egypt, and it is not referring to the literal Jerusalem. If this was referring to Jerusalem then it would say their bodies lie in the street of the holy city, Jerusalem.
Jesus was martyred by the harlot and the beast that carries her. The two witnesses will be martyred by the harlot and the beast that carries her. The two witnesses will follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They will minister to a lost world for three and a half years just like Jesus did. They will be killed at the end of their ministry just like Jesus was. God raised Jesus from the dead and God will raise the two witnesses from the dead. That is what the phrase, where also their Lord was crucified, is telling us.
Babel Was Divided into Three Parts
The first corporate rebellion against God was one city, Babel. The last corporate rebellion against God is the great city, the harlot of Babylon, all the cities of the nations. Babel was divided into three parts and the harlot of Babylon is divided into three parts. They are the same three parts. John, like all Jews in his day, was very familiar with the book of Jasher. When he was writing about the three parts in Revelation, he was referencing the book of Jasher, chapter nine. Let’s look at this again.
Jasher 9:26 And all these people and all the families divided themselves in three parts; the first said we will ascend into heaven and fight against Him; the second said, we will ascend to heaven and place our own gods there and serve them; and the third part said, we will ascend to heaven and smite Him with bows and spears.
Remember, the purpose of the tower was to ascend into heaven and war against God. The first division said we will ascend into heaven and fight against God. The second division said we will ascend into heaven and place our own gods there and serve them. The third division said we will ascend into heaven and kill God.
Now, let’s put these three parts together with the three descriptions of the great city which we just discussed.
The first division. We will ascend into heaven and fight against God. The great city which mystically is called Sodom. Sodom is the ultimate manifestation of fleshly desires. The flesh will always fight against God. This division is the lust of the flesh.
The second division. We will ascend into heaven and place our own gods there and serve them. The great city which mystically is called Egypt. Egypt always represents worldliness and idolatry. Worldly desires will always draw us away from God and attempt to replace Him with idols. This division is the lust of the eyes.
The third division. We will ascend into heaven and kill God. Where also their Lord was crucified. This is the worst division of the three. It is pride. Pride will always attempt to kill God and replace Him with the carnal self-life. It is to be like God. Pride is self for self. It is the opposite of humility. There is no room for God in a prideful person. Pride is what kept the corrupt Israeli leadership from accepting the Messiah. Pride is what keeps mankind today from accepting the Messiah. Pride ultimately drove the Israeli leadership to kill the Messiah. The pride of mankind has been trying to kill the Messiah ever since. This division is the boastful pride of life.
Babel was divided into three parts and the harlot today is divided into three parts. The same three parts. You can see it everywhere. The Lord tells us what they are so we can come out of them. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.
I John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
As King Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun. The enemy deceived Eve in the garden with these same three sins. Babel was divided into these same three sins. Today, at the end of the age, the whole earth is being divided into these same three sins.
One more note before moving on. Going back to the third division of the people that wanted to ascend into heaven and kill God. The book of Jasher says that God killed this group. He killed the third that wanted to kill him. The other two thirds of the people were dispersed. At the end of the age, during the second woe, one third of mankind is killed. This is the third of the harlot’s people who try to kill God. The types and patterns of the harlot remain consistent.
Come out of her, my people, for her sins have piled up as high as heaven.
