ALL’S WELL
THAT ENDS WELL
CONT., page 2
What do the following cities all have in common?
Each one of these is seemingly different. Jerusalem is the city of David and was the place where the temple was built. Sodom was a key city of notoriety many many years before, and was identified with the oppression of the poor (Ezekiel 16:49) and corruption and was thereby consumed by fire. Egypt, west of Jerusalem (though itself not a city per se), was a place of bondage for the sons of Israel, who were delivered out of it by Moses. Nineveh, northeast of Jerusalem and the capital of Assyria, was equally a place of oppression and bondage for the ten northern tribes of Israel, as well as much of the people of Judah. And Babylon, even further east, was equally a place of bondage, more specifically for the tribe of Judah, some of Benjamin, as well as the Levites. So with so much diversity, what could be their commonality? This is a most important and revealing question, and the most direct answer to it can be found by beginning our search in the book of Revelation.
In Revelation 11:8 we find a very remarkable passage. In this sole passage we see Jerusalem directly identified with two of these cities, and uniquely implicated with the other two as well. This is the account surrounding the death of the two witnesses. Let us now read this passage, wherein certain key words will be in bold for the sake of notation.
And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
First of all, quite clearly we see that Jerusalem is identified as spiritual Sodom and Egypt; so right away we see that the prophetic association of these three is that they are spiritually one and the same. Spiritually, Jerusalem = Sodom = Egypt. But what about the latter two – Assyria and Babylon?
We find here that Jerusalem is called “the great city.” In The Issue – II, page 16, we point out that, first, “the great harlot” mystery Babylon is equally a spiritual testimony of something else – Christianity, which has played the harlot with the world for 2,000 years. But furthermore, we also note from Revelation that “the great harlot” is specifically identified as none other than “the great city” as well, the very term used here in Revelation 11:8 to identify Jerusalem, both sharing this common title. To help understand this, let us quote from page 16 of The Issue – II.
Thus we have seen that the breach church of Christianity is "the great harlot." The second matter to be considered here is - How is Christianity "the great city," as identified both here and in other passages in Revelation? First, because the woman, "the great harlot" Mystery "Babylon the great," is Christianity. Here in Revelation 17:18 we specifically read - "And the woman whom you saw (i.e., "the great harlot" Mystery "Babylon the great" - vs. 5) is the great city." In other words, "the great harlot" and "the great city" are unquestionably one and the same. This fact that "the great city" is Christianity, brings a whole new insight to Revelation 11:1-13 concerning the testimony and death of the two witnesses, the two olive trees, the two lampstands.
Thus we see that Jerusalem = “the great city” = mystery Babylon. And not only have we introduced here who “the great city” in Revelation 11:8 actually is (mystery Babylon Christianity), but we have also introduced the reason for pointing out these five cities. But before we say anything about this, let us consider the other city we have listed as well – Nineveh.
The book of Revelation uses the term “the great city” a total of eight times in reference to Jerusalem or mystery Babylon, and three times the equal term “Babylon the great” is used. In Jeremiah 22:8, Jerusalem is once again identified as “this great city.”
The identical term ”the great city” is used four other times in the Bible, three times in the book of Jonah and once in Genesis. In all four cases, the reference is to the city of Nineveh. Also in Jonah, Nineveh is called “an exceptionally great city.” The only exception to the use of this like term outside of Nineveh and Jerusalem/mystery Babylon, is in Joshua 10:2 where it is stated that Gibeon “was a great city.” As the only exception, this makes the application of this title notably limited and quite specific.
If then from Revelation 11:8 we see that spiritually:
“the great city” = Jerusalem = Sodom = Egypt,
it is equally true then that since Revelation 17:18 specifically says that “the great city” is mystery Babylon, we can further add that spiritually:
Babylon = Jerusalem = Sodom = Egypt.
And likewise, which will be supported even further in this writing, by virtue of Nineveh’s uniquely shared identification as “the great city,” we can confidently say that spiritually:
Nineveh = Babylon = Jerusalem = Sodom = Egypt.
And now for the final conclusion, which gives important meaning to this entire comparison. As we saw in The Issue – II, page 16, mystery Babylon is Christianity. But, it has equally been seen in other writings here that Sodom, with the two remnant taken out under the covering of Lot (whose name means “covering”), is Christianity as well. And even more recently it has been noted that Egypt is in fact prophetic of Christianity.
Thus we find that the commonality of these five cities which are clearly associated with each other in their spiritual representation, is the fact that all five of them represent in various forms and testimonies - Christianity. Thus:
Nineveh = Babylon = Jerusalem = Sodom = Egypt = Christianity.
All of this has been set forth for two reasons – (1) for the simple purpose of presenting truth regarding the clear testimonies of the Scriptures, and (2) to present evidence that Nineveh is a prophetic spiritual representation of Christianity. Having laid this foundation, let us now proceed to the book of Jonah and see some confirming and revealing truth.
Continue to page 3 of Alls Well … for JONAH AND THE CITY OF NINEVEH