There is one clue in Revelation that makes it obvious who is the only city that could be mystery Babylon in Revelation. Just as in the Old Testament where apostate Israel was called a harlot John says the same thing about Babylon. Only one city could be considered a harlot and that is Old Covenant Jerusalem.
John Refers to Babylon as a prostitute that committed fornication in Rev. 17 and only one city could fit that description—Old Covenant Jerusalem. One would have to be in a covenant relationship with God in order to be able to commit fornication.
Agree totally, and there's more than just one clue. The identity of the Great Harlot as the unfaithful wife of Jehovah, the apostate ecclesiastical system of the Jews, is conspicuously obvious from other passages within Revelation, to those who are able to strip away their presuppositions and biases. What other entity could this apply to? :
............ she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow,……… . Rev 18:7
She is no queen, and she is indeed a widow; she killed her husband, Christ the King. And she has been judicially convicted of that murder:
http://www.baptistboard.com/showthread.php?p=1670498#post1670498
Rome past or future is not in a covenant relationship with God so could never commit fornication. Only Jerusalem is in a position to commit fornication.
Excellent point. Rome has never been in a position to commit the covenant fornication that is meant here. Concerning the Harlot City of Revelation it is said:
And in her was found the blood of prophets.......Rev 18:24
Which of the prophets ever perished in Rome? Christ said:
…..it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. Lu 13:33
And the Holy Spirit, through Stephen, squarely convicts the Jews, not the Romans, of the blood of the prophets:
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and
they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; Acts 7:51,52
And concerning the murder of the Righteous One, the Harlot City of Revelation (also known as the great city, the great Harlot, Babylon the great, Babylon the great city) has been both identified and declared guilty:
.....
the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,
where also their Lord was crucified. Rev 11:8
It was to Jerusalem, not Rome, that this dreadful charge was laid:
34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
35 that
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Mt 23
This passage concerning the Harlot City of Revelation can only apply to Jerusalem:
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. Rev 18:24
Christ told the Jews at Jerusalem:
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Mt 23:38
Take note of the desolation that came upon the Harlot City of Revelation:
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
21 And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall
Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be
found no more at all.22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be
found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be
heard no more at all in thee;
23 and the light of a lamp shall
shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be
heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived. Rev 18
This clearly puts the events of Revelation at the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem.
I agree that much of the book of Revelation has had it's fulfillment with the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. There is compelling internal evidence that not only is much the book of Revelation concerned with the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem, but that it was written prior to this event:
And I saw another sign in heaven....and them that come off victorious from the beast... they sing
the song of Moses the servant of God....Rev 15.1-3
The song of Moses is being sang in heaven in the 15th chapter of Revelation. This is very significant. The song of Moses had only one purpose and time, and that was to 'testify before Israel as a witness against them' when they had utterly corrupted themselves and evil had befallen them in the 'latter days':
16 And Jehovah said unto Moses.....this people will rise up, and play the harlot ...and break my covenant which I have made with them.
17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them
in that day.....and
many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say
in that day, Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought.....
19 Now therefore
write ye this song for you...... that
this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
21....when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that
this song shall testify before them as a witness.....
29 For I know that after my death
ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you;
and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do that which is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.
30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished. Dt 31
It is also significant that Christ and the apostles quoted from the song of Moses several times to 'that generation' of Jews.