The Bride and the Harlot

The Bride and the Harlot

By The harlot was shown to John as a woman who sits on a scarlet beast, and on her forehead was a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.” Rev. 17:1-6. In the 18th chapter we read about Babylon’s fall. We read about the kings and merchants who weep and lament for her. They had become rich in Babylon, but now the judgment had come because of their luxurious lifestyle.

When the angel showed John the bride, the wife of the Lamb, he saw the holy city Jerusalem that came down out of heaven from God; it had God’s glory and it’s light was as the light of the most precious stone, like jasper clear as crystal.

Both the bride and the harlot were compared to a city, yet there was a tremendous difference between these cities. Babylon was a merchant city. There the kings and merchants became rich and lived luxuriously. Its inhabitants thought of gain. On the other hand, Jerusalem was the city of sacrifice. The people went there to sacrifice. No one was supposed to go there empty-handed.

Now each one of us can test ourselves as to which city we belong. We belong to Jerusalem if our life is a sacrifice, but we are inhabitants of Babylon if we desire honor and gain. Jesus came to serve and to give His life. The church is Jesus’ body on earth. Everything in the church is built up by sacrifice. Those who are thinking of gain will gradually be removed like a foreign object from a festering wound. They would be better off joining a religious organization that offers many positions. There are many people who have become rich by serving in Jesus’ name. Many preachers can be compared to merchants. Everything in the harlot is based on business, gain, and honor.

John heard a voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4. The punishment will be great when all the sin that is being committed under the cover of God’s name will be punished. Many people are envious, offended, and discouraged. They imagine they are pious, and they think they are suffering unjustly; but the truth is that they don’t get their will and think they are not sufficiently honored. If they had been willing to lay down their life and be the slave of all they would have been saved from Babylon. Then they would have been blessed and could have rejoiced in Jerusalem—in the midst of the church.

David says, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together.” Ps. 122:1-3.

A person who wanted to go to the house of the Lord went there to sacrifice and to learn God’s commandments. How blessed it is to meet people with such an attitude. Then we rejoice together with David when we meet people on the way to the house of the Lord—to Jerusalem. This city was compacted together. There is fellowship when everyone has this one will to sacrifice.

When the time had come for Jesus to be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of Him. They entered a Samaritan village to prepare for Him. But the Samaritans did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51-63.

The Samaritans feared the Lord, but they also served their carved images. 2 Kings 17:41. Just as Jesus experienced it in that Samaritan village, so the bride also has the same experience when she meets the harlot. If your face is set toward Jerusalem—if your life has become a sacrifice—then you will lose the glory of this world. You will be despised just as it was prophesied about Jesus. He grew up as a tender plant before Him, and as a root out of dry ground. He had no form or comeliness; and we saw Him, but there was no beauty that we should desire Him. Isa. 53:2.

The harlot was dressed in purple and scarlet and was adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She admires the glory of this world, and she is received by the world. The apostle says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . . And do not be conformed to this world.” Rom. 12:1-2. We want to join in with the voice from heaven: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4.