Paradise Restored

The Great Harlot 189
Old Testament prophets, it represents a covenant lawsuit, charging
Jerusalem with breaches of the covenant and declaring her
judgment.
John records that the “ten kings,” the rulers subject to the
Empire, join with the Beast against Christ: “These have one
purpose and they give their power and authority to the Beast.
These will wage war against the Lamb” – and what is to be the
outcome? “And the Lamb will overcome them, because He is
Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him
are the called and chosen and faithful” (Rev. 17: 13-14). John
assures the Church that in their terrible and terrifying conflict
with the awesome might of imperial Rome, the victory of Christianity
is guaranteed.
At this point the focus seems to shift. Just as the war between
Caesar and Christ is heating up, John says, the peoples of
the Empire “will hate the Harlot and will make her desolate [cf.
Matt. 24:15] and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her up
with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to execute His purpose
by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom
to the Beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled” (Rev.
17:16-17; cf. 18:6-8). Jerusalem had committed fornication with
the heathen nations, but in A.D. 70 they turned against her and
destroyed her. Again, this picture is taken from the Old Testament
prophets who spoke of Jerusalem as the Whore: they said
that just as a priest’s daughter who became a harlot was to be
“burned with fire” (Lev. 21:9), so God would use Jerusalem’s
former “lovers,” the heathen nations, to destroy her and burn
her to the ground (Jer. 4:11-13, 30-31; Ezek. 16:3’7-41; 23:22,
25-30). It is noteworthy, however, that the Beast destroys
Jerusalem as part of his war against Christ; early historians
report that the Roman leaders’ motive in destroying the Temple
was not only to destroy the Jews, but to obliterate Christianity.
The Beast thought that he could kill the Whore and the Bride in
one stroke! But when the dust settled, the scaffolding of old,
apostate Jerusalem lay in ruins, and the Church was revealed as
the new and most glorious Temple, God’s eternal dwelling place.
John tells us that the Harlot “is the great city, which has a
kingdom over all the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). This verse
has thrown some interpreters. Even though all the other signs
point to Jerusalem as the Harlot, how can she be said to wield