A (fairly brief) tale of two cities

Jerusalem and Babylon

Oct 15, 2024

Dear Church Leaders (and everyone else)

The aim of this post is to provide an introduction to some important context for much of what is currently going in the world — and for forthcoming material.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem in the Old Testament

Throughout the Bible, the city of Jerusalem features prominently. It is mentioned more than 800 times.

In the book of Genesis1 we are introduced to Melchizedek2 king of Salem in the context of Abraham3 rescuing his nephew Lot:

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Emphasis added)

And it appears that Salem is essentially an Old Testament name for Jerusalem. Psalm 76:2 says (poetically) of God:

His tent is in Salem, his dwelling-place in Zion

Later on we find mention of Jerusalem in the time of Joshua.4 And then we read of King David who conquered the city and established it as Israel’s capital.5 Shortly afterwards, Solomon built the first temple there,6 and Jerusalem became the city of God.7

Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, Jerusalem played a central role. Prophets such as Jeremiah8 warned both of the city’s coming destruction9 — because of the sin of God’s people — and its future restoration.10 And so it came to pass.11

Jerusalem in the New Testament

In the New Testament, Jerusalem was the place of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.12 The city then became the centre of the early Christian church in Acts.13

And in Revelation, in the final book of the Bible, we find the “new Jerusalem” depicted symbolically. In Revelation 21, in the penultimate chapter of the whole Bible, John14 records that:

…I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’15 for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death”16 or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’
He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’

And that:

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel…

As I wrote here (in The Big Reveal) there will, in the age to come, be “a new heaven and a new earth” — essentially a new everything. As Paul puts it, the “world in its present form is passing away”17.

In the present age, heaven and earth are estranged because of the effects of the Fall. But in the age to come those effects will be reversed, and heaven and earth will be reunited. Paul speaks of “[God’s] will… purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ”.18 Heaven and earth will be part of the same whole. It should thus not surprise us when Jesus speaks of “the kingdom of heaven” belonging to “the poor in spirit,” and then of “the meek… [inheriting] the earth”.19 We may note too that “heaven” is sometimes used in the Bible as shorthand for “the new heaven and the new earth”.20

And it is important to note that the biblical descriptions of the new heaven and the new earth suggest not so much the replacement of the existing heaven and earth as the regeneration of them. Jesus spoke of the coming “renewal [more literally regeneration] of all things”.21 And the voice from the throne of God that John hears in the passage quote above says, “I am making everything new!”

In the words of Paul, in the age to come the world will be “liberated from its bondage to decay [more literally corruption]” and the new heaven and the new earth “brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”22 The “new Jerusalem” is a glorious, holy, eternal city, characterised by God’s eternal presence, purity and peace, and the restoration of the creation that was spoiled by the effects of sin.

But Jerusalem is not the only city that features prominently in the Bible. There is another place that we find in both Genesis and Revelation, and also in between. It is not so prominent as Jerusalem, but it is still mentioned more than 300 times, streets ahead of any other city.23 It’s name is Babylon.

Babylon

Babylon in the Old Testament

The first reference to Babylon comes in the account of the Tower of Babel, i.e. even earlier than the first mention of Jerusalem.24 I have included the relevant [footnotes]:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar [That is, Babylonia] and settled there.
They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel [That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused] because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The hubris of humanity. A motif that never grows old.

After the great flood,25 people were united in language and purpose to build a tower reaching the heavens, seeking a name for themselves, and to avoid being scattered. But when God saw what they were doing, and that “nothing would be impossible for them” (quite a striking statement), he intervened, confusing their language, scattering them over all the earth, and putting an end to the building of the city. For God had a very different plan for humanity, beginning in the next chapter of the Bible with his promise to Abraham:26

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing… and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

The account of the Tower of Babel — which is literally “the gate of God” — marked the beginning of Babylon’s biblical association with rebellion against God, a theme to which we shall return. Although at the time, the city was but a minor part of the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur being where Abraham’s family was from27).

We may note in passing that, as noted e.g. in this 2008 BBC News article, ancient Babylon was located in what is now Iraq:

There is still a Babylon Governorate today:

Here is a map featuring Babil Province:

And in 2019 the ancient city was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

In the Old Testament, Babylon played a prominent role in the history of God’s people. Led by King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians conquered the Assyrian Empire,28 and then destroyed the city of Jerusalem and took God’s people — including the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel — into exile.

This was the context for Psalm 137, which begins…

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion [i.e. Jerusalem]

…and whose words are used in the 1978 Boney M track Rivers of Babylon (lyric video here) which, according to the Official Charts website, is the UK’s seventh best-selling single of all time.29

Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s view of the world was epitomised by an episode in the book of Daniel:30

As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’

But in his pride, the great King Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God.31 And in due course God raises up Cyrus of Persia32 — “my shepherd [who] will accomplish all that I please”33 to conquer Babylon, and to pave the way for the remnant of God’s people to return to Jerusalem.34 (This is part of a wider biblical pattern,35 where God raises up an enemy nation to bring judgement on his people, and then in turn brings judgement on that same enemy nation.)

Babylon in the New Testament

In the New Testament, Babylon is — like Jerusalem — depicted symbolically in the book of Revelation.

In Revelation 17, John records that:

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.’
Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast36 that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth.”
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.
Then the angel said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages… The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.’

A mysterious name. People, multitudes, nations and languages. And a great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

But the destiny of Babylon is very different to that of Jerusalem.

In Revelation 18, John records that:

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour. With a mighty voice he shouted:
‘“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!”37 She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit… For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.’
Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
‘“Come out of her, my people,”38 so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes… In her heart she boasts, “I sit enthroned as queen…” Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.’
‘When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her…’
‘The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more — cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.’

Human beings sold as slaves. It still happens of course, and doubtless plenty of what goes on never makes it into official reports such as the one at that link.

Plus there are of course many other modern-day “cargoes”.

I find the words of the angel in the final verses of the chapter particularly striking in the context of the last few years:

The light of a lamp will never shine in you [Babylon] again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.’ (Emphasis added)

As I noted at the end of this post on medical misinformation (which is well worth a look if you haven’t seen it), the Greek word translated “magic spell” here is pharmakeia, from which we get the modern English word “pharmacy”. And the word “pharmaceutical” — as in Big Pharma — has the same root.

In John’s time, the ancient city of Babylon was no longer in existence, and so it seems reasonable to think that the Babylon to which he refers is something else, although it appears that certain Old Testament prophecies can be applied to both cases. It is worth noting that John’s list of the “cargoes” of “Babylon the Great” in Revelation 18 bears a fairly close resemblance to a list in the Old Testament39 which describes the fall not of (ancient) Babylon but the city of Tyre40 — though John’s list does include additional items such as silk and myrrh.

It is often said that John’s reference to “Babylon the Great” is directed at Rome, the pre-eminent city of his day, and that seems consistent with e.g. the “seven hills” that John mentions.41 But, not least given his implicit reference to Tyre, it seems not unreasonable to apply what he has to say to other cities too, and perhaps even to cities not yet built.

Or rebuilt?

And indeed to any enterprise that operates in rebellion against God (however it may appear on the surface).

The new Babylon and the new Jerusalem: similarities and differences

I have sat through many sermons over the years, but I cannot recall hearing much by way of comparison of the two great cities that feature right through the Bible plotline. It doesn’t help that well over 90% of the references to Babylon are found 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah,42 Ezekiel, Daniel and the second half of Revelation — none of which I suspect would feature among any church’s most-preached parts of the Bible.

In the final six chapters of Revelation though, there is ample evidence that John intends us to compare and contrast the new Babylon and the new Jerusalem.43

Let’s start with some similarities.

Similarities

Geographically, the earthly Babylon and Jerusalem are not far apart: ~530 miles44 as the proverbial crow flies, which is less than the distance from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in the UK.45 They are both cities of what we now call the Middle East. And their climates are similar.

Historically, both cities were part of the Babylonian empire, and both endured siege and destruction.46

Both cities at their peak were something to behold. In the Bible, Babylon is described as “the jewel of kingdoms”47 and Jerusalem as “the joy of the whole earth”.48

And this is echoed in the depictions in Revelation, with (as we saw earlier) the new Babylon being described as “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” and the new Jerusalem as “a new heaven and a new earth”.

There also seems to be a parallel between the description of the new Babylon as “glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls”49 and the gold, precious stones and pearls of the new Jerusalem.

But this parallel is also striking for its differences.

The scale of the glory of the new Babylon distinguishes it from other worldly cities, but it pales in the shadow of the new Jerusalem which was:50

…laid out like a square… 12,000 stadia [~1400 miles] in length, and as wide and high as it is long…”,51 whose “wall was 144 cubits [~65 m] thick and made of jasper”, and which was itself constructed “of pure gold”52

And whose city wall foundations:53

…were decorated with every kind of precious stone… the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst

And it is worth noting, for example, that in John’s vision, it is pearls, which are judged in value by their size, that form the gates of the heavenly city, with:54

…each gate made of a single pearl

Hence the expression “pearly gates”.

Differences

One of the starkest differences between the new Babylon and the new Jerusalem is in how the two cities are introduced to John:

The new Babylon:55

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters.

The new Jerusalem:56

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’

Both these introductions are rich in symbolism that can be traced back through the whole Bible. Adultery and prostitution are used to convey rebellion against God.57 And even the best marriage in this life is but a shadow of the “ultimate marriage” in the age to come, with Christ the bridegroom and his people the bride.58

And whereas:59

The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in [the new Babylon] again”

John sees:60

…the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband

The contrast could hardly be more stark.

Whereas:61

The light of a lamp will never shine in [the new Babylon] again

John tells us that:62

…The [new Jerusalem] does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

And whereas the day will come when:63

They will say [of the new Babylon], “The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendour have vanished, never to be recovered”

John speaks of:64

…the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month

And we may note that in contrast to the new Babylonian pharmakeia described earlier, by which “all the nations were led astray”:

the leaves of the tree [of life] [of the new Jerusalem] are for the [genuine and permanent] healing of the nations

The destinies of the two cities are entirely different.

Of the new Babylon, we read:65

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.’

In order to appreciate what is being said here, it is important to note that, in the context in which John is writing, the sea symbolises chaos and destruction.

So it is particularly significant that in John’s vision of ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ and the new Jerusalem, he notes that:66

…there was no longer any sea

In contrast to the new Babylon, consigned to permanent destruction, the new Jerusalem will be an eternal paradise free of chaos and destruction.

Whereas in the new Babylon:67

The kings of the earth… the merchants of the earth… all who earn their living from the sea… will weep and mourn over [the city]

In the new Jerusalem:68

There will be no more death… or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away

There are of course plenty of other contrasts that can be drawn between the new Babylon and the new Jerusalem. And there is plenty more that could be said, not least in terms of the role69 and ultimate fate70 of Satan. But I am inclined to think that this article — intended to be “fairly brief”71 — is already plenty long enough already.

It is clear from the Bible that there are two opposing visions for humanity. And that is surely something worth pondering in the context of recent events and what is currently going on in the world. I plan to return to this theme in forthcoming posts.

Dear Church Leaders articles (some of which can also be found on Unexpected Turns)

The Big Reveal: Christianity carefully considered

Genesis 14:18-20

A rather mysterious figure who is mentioned in Psalm 110:4 in the context of eternal priesthood, and in the New Testament (Hebrews 5-7), where he is portrayed as prefiguring Jesus Christ who is the ultimate High Priest. Melchizedek’s lack of genealogy and role as both king and priest make him a unique person in the Old Testament, and one who points forward to Jesus.

In Genesis 14, Abraham is still known as Abram; he is named Abraham in Genesis 17:3-5: “Abram fell face down, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram [“exalted father”]; your name will be Abraham [probably meaning “father of many”], for I have made you a father of many nations.”

Joshua 10

2 Samuel 5:6-9

1 Kings 6

See e.g. Psalm 48:1-2

As featured in this recent post

Jeremiah 6:6-8

e.g. Jeremiah 33:1-18

See e.g. 2 Kings 25 for an account of the destruction of Jerusalem, and e.g. Ezra 6 and Nehemiah 6:15-7:3 in relation to the rebuilding of the temple and the city wall respectively

Luke 19:28-48, Luke 21-24

Acts 1-4ff

To whom the book of Revelation — “this revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place” — was originally given (see Revelation 1:1-3)

Echoing the prophecy of Isaiah 65:17-25, particularly v17

Echoing the prophecy of Isaiah 25, particularly v7-8

1 Corinthians 7:31

Ephesians 1:9-10

Matthew 5:3-5, emphasis added

See e.g. Matthew 6:20, 1 Peter 1:4

Matthew 19:28, cf. Isaiah 35:1-7, Acts 3:21

Romans 8:21

Jericho comes next, with about 60 mentions, followed by the likes of Nineveh (the capital of Assyria) and Bethlehem

Genesis 11:-9

Genesis 6-8

Genesis 12:1-3, emphasis added (and of course Abraham was still called Abram at that time)