Babylon to New Jerusalem

FROM BABYLON TO NEW JERUSALEM

Alonzo Trevier Jones

THE Babylon of the Bible reaches from almost the beginning of the Bible to almost the end of it. In principle, and in spirit, and in development, it is the same Babylon all the way through. What on the surface appears to be two Babylons, is strictly and truly the same Babylon repeating itself: two manifestations of the same Babylon. Thus the Babylon that stands out apparent, whether anciently or at the last, is only a product of the forces that are back of all, and that are the real Babylon.

And that which produces the open Babylon is the working of the spiritual and intellectual forces of the natural world. There is the spring of all that ever appears openly as Babylon: there, in these forces and their working is the real Babylon.

It must ever be borne in mind that the very first word in the permanent divine inscription that is expressive of ultimate Babylon, is MYSTERY. That characteristic is strictly hers all the way from the original to the ultimate Babylon: under that telling word, Babylon must ever be studied.

Let us start with the origin of Babylon:

“And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed eastward, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar: and they dwelt there. And they said Come, let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven: And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the earth.” Genesis 11:14.

The first element, in this enterprise that developed Babylon, is pride — Let us make us a name. And this characteristic goes with her all the way: it is she. And when the truth of her is plainly told, it is that she is “the most proud,” “O thou most proud” and “how much she hath glorified herself.” Jeremiah 50:31, 32; Revelation 18:7.

And it is a supremely selfish and exclusive pride: “I am and none else beside me.” Isaiah 47:8, 10. And this pride manifests itself especially against the Lord: “She hath been proud against the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:29. This feature was in it at the beginning. An inscription found deep in the ruins of old Babylon on the Euphrates telling of the building of the Tower and of the confusion of tongues, says:

“Babylon corruptly to sin went, and small and great mingled on the mound. Violently they fronted against Him.”

The second feature manifested in this beginning is centralization: “Lest we be scattered abroad.” And this centralization was for domination, though this particular effort at centralization and domination was frustrated by the confusion of their tongues and scattering them abroad, yet there remained the pride and the spirit and the ambition for centralization and domination:

And so it was at Babel that there was established the first kingship and kingly power of State, Kingdom and Empire.

“Nimrod began to be a mighty one (or was the first mighty one) in the earth.”

“And the beginning of the kingdom was Babel, and Erech and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” Genesis 10:8, 10.

And this was still in the same spirit of “pride against the Lord” and of “violently fronting against Him.” Before him no ruler bore or claimed the title or dignity of king but only of “viceroy” of the god, that was held to be the king. This clearly indicated the time when God was known as King and the true Ruler. And this time was so recent that even idolatrous men had not gotten so far from God that any one could be bold enough to claim the dignity and wear the title of king. But Nimrod was just the bold man to do this, and was the first man in the world to do it.

The name Nimrod signifies, “rebellion, supercilious contempt,” or “the extremely impious rebel.” He asserted his authority over religion along with all other things, and compelled all within the dominion to be of the idolatrous religion which he dictated. The word that “he was a mighty hunter before the Lord,” implies that he was a hunter of men, a persecutor: pursuing and compelling men to submit to his authority as ruler and to his religion as to God. And so Spurrell's translation renders the passage, “He was an over-bearing tyrant in Jehovah's sight.”

He was the first one to establish the centralized power of an organized government, kingdom, or State. After the Flood, in the peopling of the earth all the government that there was outside of the parental was individual — self-government. There was Society, but not the State. And the earth was free to all, there were no territorial lines. But there was a falling away from God, to idolatry and loss of self-control and to violence and domination.

“With the setting up of Nimrod's kingdom, the entire world entered a new historical phase. His reign introduced to the world a new system of relations between the governor and the governed. The authority of former rulers had rested upon the feeling of kindred, and the ascendancy of the chief was an image of parental control. Nimrod, on the contrary, was a sovereign of territory, and of men just as far as they were its inhabitants: and irrespective of personal ties. Hitherto there had been tribes — enlarged families — Society: now there was a nation, a political community — the State. The political and social history of the world henceforth are distinct, if not divergent.”

The cities and territory of Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh were “the beginning of kingdom;” and he extended it to empire, covering the greater part of the whole Mesopotamian plain. For “out of the land he went forth into Assyria and builded Ninevah, and Rehoboth Ir, and Calah and Resen between Nineveh and Calah.” Genesis 10: 11 margin, and ASV. Thus Nimrod at Babel was the founder of the State, of kingdom, of world-dominion and empire.

When Nimrod passed away and his empire fell, this was only to give place for other men to repeat the story of kingdom and empire, in Ur, Accad, Elam, Egypt and Assyria to the great Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar in which the idea of world-pride and world-empire and world-power and world-glory was perfected. (Daniel 4). And it was still the same in spirit and in practice: for it was “the hammer of the whole earth.” that “smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,” so that it was “the terrible of the nations.” Jeremiah 50:23; Isaiah 14: 6; Ezekiel 30:11. And it was all of this still in religion, and still against the Lord. (Daniel 3).

The Babylon of the Bible — “Mystery, Babylon” — is the working of the spiritual and intellectual forces of the natural world. The open, visible Babylon is the product of the working of these forces to the utmost of their power. The Babylon of the Euphrates was the ultimate product of these forces in and unto their fullest and freest working. And the Babylon of Revelation 17 is the ultimate product of these forces working the second time and finally to their fullest power and widest extent. The Babylon of the Euphrates is the example of the utmost that these forces can accomplish: and is the lesson of instruction for all times following and especially for the times of the final Babylon.

The forces that are the real Babylon never can surpass the Babylon on the Euphrates — the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar. There was manifested the utmost of their powers, the limit of worldly ambition, ability, and endeavor. It was “the glory of kingdoms.” Isaiah 13:19. It was “the lady of kingdoms.” Isaiah 47: 5. It was “the golden city.” Isaiah 14:4. It was the golden kingdom of all time. Daniel 2:38-43.

It was the wonder of the world, and some of its structures were among the “seven wonders of the world.” It was the grand center of the world's science and art and architecture and of all that goes to make up the highest civilization and the grandest expression of worldly glory.

By its power it had conquered the then world, and all kingdoms and peoples were subject to its sway. In its form of government it held and exercised the imperial power and sway, while the respective kingdoms governed freely in their own realm so long as they recognized the imperial power as supreme. Jeremiah 27:11.

Any kingdom of people who would not voluntarily submit to the imperial rule of Babylon was conquered and overrun and carried captive and placed in colonies in different parts of the empire. No people or power was allowed to stand, except as subject to the authority of Babylon. 2 Kings 24; Ezekiel 1:1, 3. The kings of the respective subject kingdoms were required to go to Babylon at stated times where they all had thrones upon which they sat on State occasions in the presence, to the right or the left, of the high throne of the king of Babylon. Jeremiah 52:32.

The actual government of Babylon was an autocracy; a government of personal imperial will only, not of any law as such: and it was all-inclusive in its scope and exclusive of every other power. Daniel 3: 13-15. In the nature of things it was a grand imperial world despotism. It was “the hammer of the whole earth” that “smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke,” the oppressor” — “the terrible of the nations.” Jeremiah 50:23; Isaiah 14:4; Ezekiel 30: 10-11.

Its being “the golden city” meant more than only the richness and grandeur of the city. It included the Babylonish greed for gold, and perpetual exactions by which the greed for gold was fed. For she was peculiarly “the exactress of gold.” Isaiah 14:4 margin. No supply of gold was ever enough; and no sight or prospect of gold was ever forgotten, till it could be possessed.

Hezekiah king of Judah was sick unto death and the Lord restored him. And as a pledge that it should be so, the Lord caused the shadow on the sun-dial to go back ten degrees. The Babylonians being close students of astronomy and observers therein, noted the phenomenon in the motion of the sun: and upon inquiry for the cause learned of the occurrence in Jerusalem. Then the king of Babylon sent an embassy with letters to Hezekiah to congratulate him on his recovery and to inquire concerning the motion of the sun. Hezekiah, feeling himself flattered by such attention from Babylon, spent more time in showing them the wealth and glory of his kingdom and city than in telling them of the wonder of God.

“He showed them all the house of his precious things — the silver and the gold and spices and the ointments, and all the house of his armour and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in his treasures that he showed them not.”

Then Isaiah came and asked Hezekiah who were the men and what had they seen. Hezekiah told him who the men were and whence they came, and said,

“All the things that are in mine house they have seen. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.”

Isaiah, understanding the Babylonish trait, replied that the day would come when all of it would “be carried into Babylon, nothing shall be left.” Isaiah 39;2 Chronicles 32:31. And the knowledge of that wealth was kept by the Babylonians more than a hundred years: till they had in very fact carried it all to Babylon.

All of this and all of the more that was the Babylon of old, is pertinent today. For the elements that compose the Babylon of Revelation 17 are altogether in spirit and in principle, and in some things in very form, the same as those of the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar.

The governmental elements that compose the combination of wild-beast and wild-woman that is the outstanding Babylon of Revelation 17, are a universal world-power over the nations allied with, and dominated by, a worldly and world-church. And any International Combine that may be formed, can carry in it the promise and potency of all that was the Babylon of old and that will be the Babylon of this last time.

In any Parliament of Nations that may be formed the door is opened and provision is made for the development of world government solely of will not of law; and for the development of a world autocracy, as certainly as one man might become the supreme head of such an International Union.

And in the Church of Rome with its Pope and Cardinals on their high thrones in the papal palace in Rome there is continued the very principle and form of the king of Babylon and his subject kings on their high thrones in the Babylon of old. The Church of Rome has ever been noted for its manifestation of that great characteristic of the former Babylon — the insatiable greed for gold.

In the Thirteenth Century, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, in the very presence of the Pope Innocent IV, spoke out the truth:

“Oh! money, money! how much canst thou effect, especially at the court of Rome.”

In the Fourteenth Century the abbott of Usperg denounced the schemes of Pope John XXII for the gathering of money:

“Rejoice now, O Vatican! all treasures are open to thee . . . Thou wilt sell God Himself for gold.”

In the time of the double Popedom of Boniface IX and Clement VII the doctors of the University of Paris declared of them:

“Religion is for them a mine of gold, which they work to the last vein.”

And in the Sixteenth Century Duke George of Saxony in the Diet of Worms in denunciation of the guilt and greed of Rome openly declared:

“All sense of shame has been cast off, and one thing only is pursued — money, money.”

And so it is yet and ever. And what “organized” church is there in the world today that is not like the “mother” in this Babylonish greed of gold and in inventions for varied and perpetual exactions of money, money, money, and ever more money, and never can get enough? Oh! all things are hastening to the ultimate Babylon again, all things are ready and the world is ripe for it: And this time the final Babylon and the final of all that is Babylon and of Babylon forever. Revelation 18:21.

Thank the soon coming Lord.

Babylon was not only the grand center of the world governmentally, But also mentally — scientifically, educationally and intellectually, There was the great world-university, with King Nebuchadnezzar its grand patron. From the subject kingdoms, Nebuchadnezzar caused to be selected by examination tests, physical and intellectual, the brightest and ablest young men to be educated in the university of Babylon. Daniel 1: 3-5. This, of course, was with the design of unifying all the world in all that was Babylon.

But this education was only of Babylon — of the world and while there was in it, considerable that was valuable in the knowledge and proceedings of the practical things of the world, there was magic and astrology and sorcery and necromancy and stargazing and monthly prognostication and enchantment and soothsaying: and this all under the profession and claim of science and philosophy. These were the particularly “wise men” to whom all must defer. But all of it was impotent for good, because there was in it nothing to strengthen character.

What it could produce, and this as its highest product, is told in the story that —

Belshazzar the King made a feast — (a grand banquet) — to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. He was the exemplar and set the pace in the drinking.

And Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was at a Jerusalem.

That the king,and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein . . . And the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass and of iron, of wind and of stone.

And in the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts affrighted him: so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one another.

And the king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers . . . and all the king's wise men. Daniel 5: 1-8.

But none of these could tell anything: they were all as dumb as the king himself, on that. At last Daniel was found and brought in. And Daniel readily told him:

“I will read the writing unto the king and make known to him the interpretation.”

But before he said a word in the reading of the writing he recalled to the king some things that the king knew. He told him:

“the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from the kingly throne, and was driven from the sons of men.

Till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men.

“And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this.

“But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of Heaven:

“And they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou and thy Lords, and thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them;

“And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

“ Then was the part of the hand sent from Him , and this writing was written.”

Thus while King Nebuchadnezzar and his son and his son's son, in their pushing and magnifying the education of Babylon, that culminated thus, — in all that time, to them themselves, to all that were in Babylon, and to all that was Babylon, there was being given a better education — the true education. This better and true education was education in the knowledge of God.

When Daniel and his three brethren were taken to Babylon and put in the university there, they stood true to the knowledge of God. Daniel 1: 18 16. And at the end of the three years' course in the university, the examination proved them to be “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all the king's realm.” Daniel 1:18-20. But it was these very magicians, enchanters, astrologers, etc. — the wise men — who were the teachers of the four young men. Yet on a rigid examination, the young men were found to be “ten times better” than they all. That is, they were ten times better informed than were their Babylonian teachers.

This proves that the education which they had from God, in the word of God and the knowledge of God, was ten times better than the best that Babylon could give. And that truth is written, to show to all people that ever and forever that the education that is found in the knowledge of God by the word and Spirit of God is ten times better than all that can be found in the education that is of the world. This great truth needs to be accepted and held and told and magnified unto and in the Babylon of today, as truly as it was in the Babylon of the day of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar.

Today the education of the world is as Babylonish as was that of Babylon itself; though not yet so fully developed. Today the knowledge of God is not believed to be educational: much less is it believed to be educational above the education of the world. Where the knowledge of God is allowed in education at all, it must always be with, and secondary to, the education of the world. The word of God — the Bible — is not believed to be an educational book. Where it is allowed even any place in education, it must be along with and secondary to the educational books of the world.

Of course this is only natural and to be expected in the education conducted by the world itself, but it is equally true in the education that is conducted by the churches: by churches that make strong profession of “The word of God; the whole word of God; and nothing but the word of God!” Heathen and pagan literature is found there having precedence of the word of God in the same language. There is not a denomination in the world, that gives the Bible any place as really an educational book: much less the supreme place as the one only truly educational book over all and leading all. Yet that is just what the Bible is, and that is its rightful place in education.

It produced the man Christ Jesus in the flesh. It produced the three individual characters — Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah — who in the crisis of their day held the world in its place, “changed the king's word,” and established truth forever. Daniel 2:14-18, 28. It produced the character of Daniel who in the several crises of his day held the world in its place and enlightened it forever. And whenever it can have the like place it will do the like thing in any day.

And when, in knowing disregard of this education, the young king Belshazzar and his crowd, of the Babylonian education, that same night sunk Babylon and themselves with it, the man Daniel, of the ever true education, stood pre-eminent and perfectly safe amid the crash of that fearful Fall. And this is what will be in the Babylon of now.

There will be those who giving to the Word and Spirit of God their educational place and power, will have the knowledge of God and the character that this produces. And in the midst of the grand Babylonian banquet and the drinking from the golden cup, these will proclaim the word of God — “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.”

And when this final Great City Babylon “with violence” shall “be thrown down,” to be “found no more at all,” these shall stand pre-eminent and perfectly safe amid the crash of that fearful Fall, and shall rise and reign forevermore.

In these studies it has been stated that the real Babylon of the Bible is always Mystery: Is always the working of the unseen forces — the spiritual and intellectual forces — of the natural world: And that the visible Babylon on the Euphrates and in Revelation 17 and 18 — is each time the culmination of the working of these forces to their uttermost. In this study, the truth of that view will stand out so plainly that none can fail to see that it is the truth. This study is of,

The King of Babylon.

In Isaiah 13 and 14 in “the Burden of Babylon” there is told the Fall of Babylon in both its ancient and its modern and final forms. In the part relating to the final Fall, “the king of Babylon” occupies a large place. The fact that the king of Babylon should have any place in the development and Fall of final Babylon tells that the king of Babylon continues all the time of the Babylon of the Bible, and is there at its final Fall.

In an intensely drawn description of him as he meets the final consequences of his reign —

As “the oppressor;”

As “he who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke;”

As “he that ruled the nations in anger;”

As the one “that made the earth to tremble,” and “did shake kingdoms;”

“That made the world a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof;”

And that “did not let his prisoners loose homewards.”

In the midst of this lofty strain touching “the king of Babylon,” the description bursts all bounds and exclaims,

How art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground that didst weaken the nations, for thou hast said in thine heart, “I will ascend into Heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation in the uttermost parts of the North, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High .” Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:4-17.

And there is the king of the Babylon of the Bible. This is confirmed in other connections.

While the Babylon on the Euphrates was the sum of all that of the world goes to make up government, kingdom, empire — power, as “the glory of kingdoms;” And of all that through education and art and fashion could go to form “the lady of kingdoms:” There was another city, that fell before the power of Babylon, that in one particular feature carried the palm and illustrated a great truth. This was the city of Tyre that in her day was queen of the world's trade, the mistress of world commerce and of commercialism.

Tyre was “of perfect beauty,” “The crowning city,” “The mart of nations,” “The merchant of the people for many isles,” “Whose merchants were princes,” “Whose trafficker were the honorable of the earth;” “All the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise,” “Many isles were the merchandise of thy hand.” Her business supplied a perpetual World's Fair. Read Ezekiel 27 and Isaiah 23. And “the king” of this world commercialism and business pride is described in a “Thus saith the Lord God:

Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the Garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering — the sardius, topaz, and diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created — till iniquity was found in thee.”

Thus, of world commerce, of world pride, of world grandeur, of world glory, of world power, of which Babylon is the sum and symbol, Satan is the king. He is the king of the Babylon of the Bible.

This truth is further confirmed in the story of the final Babylon — the Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18. This final Babylon is composed of the wild combine of the wild beast and the wild woman — of the woman-ridden beast. The throne and the power and the great authority of this beast is given to him by “the dragon.” And it is the throne and power and authority of “the dragon” himself, that is thus given. Revelation 13: 2. And the dragon “is that old serpent which is the Devil and Satan.” Revelation 12:9; 20:2.

Of that combine of wild beast and wild woman, it is “the woman” that is the inspiring and the controlling, guiding, and ruling, element: for it is she who rides the beast. And so, very probably, it is on her forehead that stands the inscription, that characterizes the whole combine —

“Mystery — Babylon The Great.”

And since it is Satan who is the giver of the throne and power and authority of this woman-ridden combine that is this ultimate Babylon, this again sufficiently tells that the king of Babylon of the Bible is Satan. When this Babylon is ever “Mystery,” and this “the Mystery of Iniquity.” Then the king of this Babylon is clearly the king of this “Mystery,” and cannot be any other than Satan.

The Babylon of the Bible is the culmination of the working of the spiritual and intellectual forces of the natural world: Of what the Scriptures always mean in the phrase “the world,” “this world,” “this present evil world,” of which “the prince” and “the god” is “the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” James 4:4;1 John 2: 15-17; John 14: 30; 2 Corinthians 4: 3-4; Ephesians 2: 2; Acts 26: 17-18. And since these forces are the Satanic, it follows as the certainty of truth that Satan is the king of the Babylon of the Bible.

The next study in this subject will be: Out of Babylon.

“Mystery, Babylon the Great” always the invisible intelligent forces of the natural world. The “King of Babylon” is the king of these forces: “the ruler of the darkness of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” “ the prince of this world” — Satan. Babylon open and manifest,is the ultimate product of the working of these forces to their utmost in all that they can do at their own will and in their own way. Babylon is always against God: as the natural mind is always enmity against God and is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be.

And knowing the elements of Babylon, and knowing what only is the ultimate of the working of these elements and forces, this is sufficient warning to all who care, that it should be escaped at all stages of its manifestation. Of course these elements and forces are always working and in that sense Babylon is always present on the earth and in the affairs of men and the world. But the Babylon that is particularly portrayed and dealt with in the Bible, is the Babylon at its height and in its glory ruling the world, with all the world, religious and civil, organized and centralized under its power. This will be perfectly plain to any one who will carefully read Daniel 2 to 5; Isaiah 13 and 14; Jeremiah 50 and 51; and Revelation 17 and 18.

Twice in the world's course Babylon attains this position and power; and both times this height of power and glory is itself the signal of her Fall and utter ruin. And at that point of her power and glory, and of her proud and confident boasting on it and of it, her Fall is proclaimed and the people are warned and called on and urged to flee out of Babylon, that they be not partaker of her iniquities and that they perish not in her destruction for it is the vengeance of the Lord in judgment upon her. Read Jeremiah 50:8; 41; 6; with Revelation 14: 8: 15: 2-3; Daniel 5: 2-5 with Revelation 17:3:18: 7-8; Isaiah 47: 7-11 and Jeremiah 51: 63-64 with Revelation 18:21.

What is it, then to be out of Babylon?

1. When Babylon includes all the world, with all the elements and all the power of the whole world, it is perfectly plain that to be out of Babylon is nothing less than to be out of the world.

2. When Babylon is the forces and the product of the working of the forces, of the natural mind and the natural world spiritual and intellectual, it is plain enough that to be out Babylon is nothing else than to be out of the natural: out of the realm of the natural world. It is to be completely delivered and separated from all the elements and forces of the natural mind and of the falsely spiritual that is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be.

3. When such is the realm and kingdom of Babylon, and when “the King of Babylon” is the true and appropriate king of that whole realm and is only Satan, it is conclusive that to be out of Babylon is only to be out of the realm and dominion and power of Satan.

From these items of plain truth, it is equally plain that to be in or out of Babylon is not at all dependent upon place, but is wholly dependent upon condition — condition of spirit, of mind, and of heart. As to place, Daniel and his three brethren were in Babylon. But as to condition —in spirit and mind and heart, of thought and wish and purpose — they were as far out of Babylon as Heaven is from the earth. And so as to place, bodily and physically Daniel was actually in Babylon at the moment of her frightful Fall. Yet as to condition, he was so utterly out of Babylon that even in the very midst of the crash of her Fall he was so far and away out of and above it all that he was perfectly safe. And that — only that — is what it is forever to be out of Babylon.

Yet as plain and true as this is, the present-day preaching of those who make much of “calling people out of Babylon” treats it as far more a matter of place than of condition: so much so indeed as to make it actually a physical thing rather than a spiritual. Holding, correctly enough, that the church of Rome is Babylon, they urgently call people out of that church and into another one that is constructed upon the same principle precisely and after the same pattern as that of Rome; and then tell them that they are “out of Babylon!”

It is ridiculous, and it would be ludicrous if it were not so pitiably blind and blundering in the things of the soul and of eternity, to see people build up a “church” in principle, in spirit, and in practice, after the very pattern of the “church” of Rome, and then vociferously call, “Come out of her, come out of her.” And in the next breath cooingly murmur, “Come in here, come in here.”

And it is sheet ecclesiastical cunning craftiness, first to build up a “church” structure just like all the other “churches” and teach the people that in the Scriptures a “church” is a “woman” and that Babylon is the mother and her daughters — Rome and the other “churches”, — and call the people out of all the other “churches” and into this one and assure them that thus they are “out of Babylon:”

To call people away from all the other “churches” as “defiling” (Rev, 14:4), and into this one that is just like all the others, or worse, and then delude them with the deceitful tale that “these” — of their “church” — “are not defiled with women” — as though their “church” were not a “woman” — is nothing short of the very trickery and confusion of Babylon itself.

The truth is that any and every humanly constructed and “organized” “church” is by the Scriptures a “woman” and is of the Babylon of “the Mother” and her daughters, and is defiling: and to be out of one of these and in another of them is not to be out of Babylon at all. No: let it be repeated, and repeated for ever, that —

To be out of Babylon or in Babylon turns not at all upon place, but only and wholly upon condition — condition of spirit and mind and heart: of will and wish and thought and purpose.

a. Babylon includes, and is, “the world,” the spirit and the elements of “the world” that is meant in the Scripture that says:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2: 15-16.

“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore, will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4.

And thus to be out of Babylon is to be out of the world. And this is only the plain Christianity of Christ —

“Ye are not of the world: but I have chosen you out of the world.” John 15:19.

“Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17: 14, 16.

“As He is, so are we, in this world,” 1 John 4: 17.

b. Babylon is the realm and the forces and the working of the forces, of “the world” of the natural mind. And to be out of Babylon is to be out of all of that, and in the realm and the forces and the working of the forces of the spiritual Mind — Of the Mind that was in Christ Jesus, and which He brought as the gift of God to the work, and call to all to:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” 1 John 5: 20; Philippians 2: 5-7.

c. Babylon is the realm and the domination of Satan, “the King of Babylon.” Isaiah 14: 1-15. And to be out of Babylon is to be out of the realm and dominion and power of Satan. And this is only the truth of the same old everlasting Gospel that Christ sent Paul to preach:

“Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee.

“To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” Acts 26:18.

That, all of that, and only that, is what it is to be out of Babylon.

Finally: The thought must be caught and never for a moment lost, that —

It is only the “Voice from Heaven” that calls, or that ever can call, anybody out, of Babylon. Revelation 18: 4. True, through the ministry of men this Voice will be heard. But in the ministry of men, if the Voice be not heard there can not be there any call really out of Babylon. When that Voice is heard by any one, and he responds and so is truly called out of Babylon, he is called to higher ground than any to which any voice from earth can ever call. He is called only to heavenly ground, to heavenly associations, and to the heavenly Church: Even,

“unto Mount Zion, And to the City of the Living God, The Heavenly Jerusalem. And to an innumerable company of angels. To the General Assembly and Church of the firstborn which are written in Heaven, And to God the Judge of all. And to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Hebrews 12: 22-24.

And that is what it is to be out of Babylon. Listen for, and listen to, and faithfully follow, the “Voice from Heaven, saying.

“Come out of her My people.”

We have studied the Babylon of the Bible. We have found what it is to be out of Babylon. We have found that only the “Voice from Heaven” can call anybody really out of Babylon. And when this Voice from Heaven calls any people out of Babylon, they are called only to heavenly places and heavenly things and heavenly association. And in this they are called from the earthly and worldly city of Babylon to the heavenly and divine city of Jerusalem.

In the Bible there are just two mother cities. These are —

1. “Babylon, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” Revelation 17:5.

2. “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Galatians 4:26.

When God anciently called His people out of Babylon, His word was —

“Flee ye out of Babylon . . . Remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. ” Jeremiah 51:45-50.

And when now he calls His people out of modern and final Babylon, it is still to “Let Jerusalem come into your mind.”

For “ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” Hebrews 12:22.

Jerusalem in Palestine was always only the suggestion of the “Jerusalem which is above.” Its Mt. Zion with its king on his throne in his glory; its temple with its priesthood, its services and its appointments were all only “figures” and suggestions of the heavenly Jerusalem with its Mount Zion and its King on His Throne in His glory; and its Temple with its Priesthood, its ministry and its appointments.

The old time Babylon never could rest till above all things else she had overthrown and obscured Jerusalem and what it meant in the world. And the blindness and iniquities of the people of old Jerusalem aided in accomplishing this thing.

So also the spiritual Babylon never could rest till she had overthrown and utterly obscured the spiritual and heavenly Jerusalem, and till she alone should stand as “the eternal city.” And again the blindness of the professed people of the New Jerusalem and true eternal city aided in accomplishing this evil thing. Yet in the old time there were a faithful few who amidst all the desolation and captivity and persecution wrought by Babylon, and the forgetfulness of the professed people of God, never forgot Jerusalem.

Daniel in captivity in Babylon “Kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks to God through his windows in his chamber opened toward Jerusalem.” Daniel 6: 10.

“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth; saying Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How long shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth — if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.” Psalm 137: 1-6.

In the time of the later and final Babylon it is so also. Always there have been the faithful few who have remembered Jerusalem above their chief joy and who through all the mists and fogs and miasma of swampy Babylon have never lost sight of Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all.

And both in old time and the last times, if all the professed people of God and Jerusalem had been so faithful and devout in their own land as were these few in the strange land, they never would have been in Babylon at all; and Jerusalem would have ever stood in her own place and meaning as the glory of God and the joy of the world.

And now in the time of preparation for the final forsaking of final Babylon forevermore, the time has fully come when every one who would escape Babylon must let Jerusalem come into his mind: and this so truly and so fully that he too in deeper truthfulness can say,

“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth — if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.”

This Jerusalem which is above, which is free, and which is the mother of all the true children of God — this Jerusalem is and always was the only true Jerusalem. This is the true Eternal City — “the city of the Living God.” Hebrews 12:22. This is the city of Abraham “the friend of God” and “the father of all them that be of faith,” the city for which he looked,” which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10. Here is the true Mount Zion, where God hath set His King upon the hill of His holiness. (Psalm 2: 6 margin.)

“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the North, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” Psalm 48:1-3.

And “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.” Psalm 87: 3. Its wall “great and high” is of jasper, “clear as crystal.” Its foundations are “garnished with all manner of precious stones.” Each of its gates is one solid pearl. The city itself, with all its streets, is “pure gold like unto clear and transparent glass.” The Throne of God and the Lamb is in it. There is a river, “clear as crystal,” proceeding out of the Throne, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God.” Revelation 22: 1. The glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. Revelation 21: 11, 23.

“The nations of them that are saved, shall walk in the light of it. And they shall see His face, and His Name shall be in their foreheads.” Revelation 21: 26; 22: 4; Exodus 33: 19; 34: 5-7.

“And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22: 3-5.

There is the innumerable company of angels. There is the place of the General Assembly of the Universe of holy intelligences, the Church of the high-born ones who are written in Heaven. There is God, the most kind and merciful Judge of all. There are the spirits of the just men made perfect. There is Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. And there is the sprinkling of the blood that speaketh better things than that of Abel. There are the heavenly Associates and associations offered and afforded by the heavenly Jerusalem to which all are called who, by the Voice from Heaven, are called out of Babylon the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.

These are some of the glorious things that are spoken of the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And this is the Jerusalem that is to come into the mind of every one who will go out of the midst of Babylon and deliver his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord, that presently engulfs forevermore that all surpassingly wicked city.

“Flee out of the midst of Babylon . . . remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.”

Babylon occupies one of the great places in the Bible Story. The studies in this booklet, From Babylon to New Jerusalem, reveal the Babylon of the Bible: What it is and also The Captivity and Deliverance of God's people out of Babylon unto New Jerusalem.

These studies are all preparatory for the next booklet in this series, The Greater Purpose; and this now is one of the most important studies that could be found in these days of Ecumenical activities. This because of the study itself, and also because it includes a part of the Scriptures that is very little studied, because it is “historical.” So be sure to keep in mind the facts in this booklet, From Babylon to New Jerusalem; for they will be needed, and their deeper meaning will be seen, in the next booklet after this: