The Great city is not Jerusalem
Part 7 of the Two Witnesses Series
Rev11:8 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.
There are two cities in the book of Revelation. The Holy City, Jerusalem and the great city, Babylon. The Holy City, throughout the Bible, is always Jerusalem. The great city is always Babylon. Here are a few verses to prove this point:
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.
Rev 17:18 The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Rev 18:10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
Rev 18:16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls;
Rev 18:18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’
Rev 18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’
Rev 18:21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
The great city, where the two witnesses are killed is Babylon, the harlot city. Babylon the Great represents all the cities of the nations ruled by Satan during the tribulation period.
Revelation 16:19 above says the great city is the city of the nations.
Jerusalem, on the other hand, is always referred to as the Holy City, never the great city. Here are a few verses to prove this point:
Neh 11:1 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities.
Isa 52:1 Awake, awake, Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion; Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; For the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer come into you.
Dan 9:24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.
Matt 4:5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
Matt 27:53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Rev 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
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.
This evil city has three names. Revelation 16:19 above says this city is split into three parts. I believe these represent the three characteristics of evil beginning in the Garden of Eden and progressing all the way to the end of the book in the last days.
Sodom – This represents the lust of the flesh. In the garden it was said of the fruit that it was good for food. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food…in other words, it made you feel good. Of course, later Sodom represents sexual immorality of all kinds, especially homosexuality. This is what the letters to the seven churches are warned about more than anything else, sexual immorality caused by Balaam and Jezebel. Sexual immorality is rampant in the world today and getting worse every day, even to the point of teaching gender neutral to our grade school children, the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage and Obama lighting up the White House with rainbow lights.
The two witnesses will declare that sexual immorality and especially homosexuality is a sin and that the world needs to repent. That is one reason the whole world hates them.
Egypt – This represents the world. Wealth, power, recognition, and influence. In the garden it was said that the fruit was a delight to the eyes. This is what the world offers you, to be a delight to the eyes. See my new sports car? My nice clothes? My designer shoes and purse? My new home in the suburbs? Or it could be the desire for power, recognition, and influence. Look at me. I am a famous movie star, athlete, or politician. Everyone idolizes me and wants to be seen with me. I have wealth, fame, and glory. A delight to the eyes.
Where also their Lord was crucified – This represents religion. This is not the literal city of Jerusalem. It is a representation of the false religious systems of the last days. In the garden it was said that the tree was desirable to make one wise. To have their eyes opened. To be like God, knowing good and evil. The beast will make himself out to be like God, speaking blasphemies. This is Babylon the great, the great city, where the bodies of the two witnesses lay. All the nations of the earth have become drunk on her sexual immorality and her wanton commercialism and her corrupt entertainment. She is drunk with the blood of the saints. Sodom and Egypt have corrupted mankind, but the corrupt and false religions of the world have been killing God’s prophets and God’s people since the beginning. It was the corrupt religious leadership in Jerusalem who killed the prophets and rejected Jesus. In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth. Babylon is all the great cities of the earth where the bodies of the two witnesses will lay for three and a half days. Babylon will be judged by God at the end of the tribulation. He will avenge the blood of His bondservants on her.
Rev 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.
Again, I believe the three parts are Sodom, Egypt, and corrupt or false religion. We can see these cities being formed today. Some cities, like San Francisco, are Sodom, where the primary demonic hold on the city is homosexuality. Other cities like New York are Egypt, where the primary demonic hold on it is wealth. Cities like Mecca are the false religions of the last days.
Sodom, Egypt, and the great city is summed up perfectly in I John chapter 2:
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
After the overcomer company has finished their testimony the beast kills them. The whole earth celebrates their death. This is not a single city. It is the great city. All the cities of the nations. It is the spiritual Babylon or religious Babylon of the last days. The evil influence of Satan covers the whole earth.