The Great City

Among the many important lessons of Revelation is the lesson about the great city. All or part of six chapters identify the city, discuss the nature of the city and portray the judgment of the city. If we finish the study of Revelation without hating the great city, without searching our lives to discover to what extent we are living in the city, then we are insensitive to the heart of God. We are deaf to His voice from heaven when He calls to us, "Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

The Question

Quite often the study of the great city is begun by asking the question, "Which city is the great city? Where is it on the map?" From this point, an investigation is launched of various passages, noting verses that might indicate the name of the great city.

The passages available for such an investigation soon lead to the conclusion that every great city that has ever existed is the great city, and no particular city is in view. This is suggested at the destruction of the great city under the events of the seventh bowl when we are informed that "... the great city was split into three parts, and the cites of the nations fell ... and Babylon the great was remembered before God..." (Rev. 16:19). The splitting of the great city into three parts is explained in terms of the fall of the cities of the nations, which in turn ends that which began in ancient Babylon. Later, when the angel explains to John the judgment of the great city, he points out that "... in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth" (Rev. 18:24). Clearly, since no particular city can claim such notoriety, the great city is many great cities in various nations throughout history, and finally, in the day of the Lord.

An Economic Entity

The Lord highlights the great city to warn His people about a sinful apparatus in which they can become entangled, not some bad geographical location. In the great city, God focuses our attention on the immoral economic apparatus of the world, the corporate means developed by sinful mankind for glory, pleasure and security without God. This is apparent from the description of the great city, its relationship to the beast (chapter 17), and the reactions to her judgment (chapter 18).

Description

The great city is graphically represented by the picture of a self-glorifying (Rev. 18:7) intoxicated harlot (Rev. 17:4-6) who murders saints and deceives the world with sorcery (Rev. 18:23-24). She is a harlot because she is in illicit relationship with the beast^[1], and thereby unfaithful to the Lord. She is clothed in "... purple and scarlet ... and gold and precious stones and pearls..." (Rev. 17:3), the products of her immoral activities^[2]. Her life, the life of the great city, is defined by the acquisition of valuable things^[3]. She deceives the world into believing that with riches come glory, pleasure and security, while she herself is an abomination to be destroyed in one day. (Rev 17:4; 18:7-10). The great city is necessarily a murderer of saints and prophets who threaten her existence with the truth that life and glory and security are in the Lamb, not things.

Relationship with the Beast

We see in the relationship between the great city and the beast, the uneasy alliance between an economic and political force. The harlot "sits" on the beast. The harlot consumes and wears luxurious things. The harlot makes rich those who trade with her. The harlot is city, a civil structure for economic cooperation. On the other hand, the beast is an alliance of kings: an empire (Rev. 17:12; 13:1-10). The beast makes war and conquers and governs. During all the empires of man, the beast has been saddled by the influence of the city^[4]. Ultimately the power-hungry beast destroys the harlot and seizes her economic reigns of control (Rev. 17:16-18 cf. 13:16-17).

Reaction to Destruction

The mourning and sense of loss that arises from the destruction of the great city focuses on the destruction of an economy. Kings (Rev. 18:9), merchants (Rev. 18:11-16), and shipmasters (Rev. 18:17) mourn the loss of their market. The merchants of the great city had been "... the great men of the earth..." (Rev. 18:23). The great city was a consumer. Her people liked to dress richly, eat fine food, live in luxury and maintain a strong military^[5]. Gone are the parties, the craftsmen, the mills, nightlife and the propagation of the city^[6].

Spiritual Sodom and Egypt

The spiritual nature of the great city is nowhere more apparent than in John's description in chapter 11. There it's "street" is the location of the slain witnesses, it is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt and it is the place where the Lord was crucified (Rev. 11:8). The street of the great city is the place of its business and commerce. John's notice that the slain body^[7] of the witnesses is upon^[8] the street of the great city, just as the produce of the marketplace would be found upon the street of the great city, depicts their murder as a product of the great city^[9]. In times past, God's people had to be delivered from the slavery and corruption of Sodom and Egypt, and after being delivered, looked back with a sense of loss^[10]. Thus John portrays the great city as possessing the spirit^[11] which enslaves, corrupts and murders God's people, just as it had crucified the Lord Jesus. It is true that ancient Jerusalem was the place where the Lord Jesus was crucified, but John is pointing to the great city, the spiritual institution that crucified him.

The Great City v. The Holy City

We see in God's presentation of the great city the anti-type of the holy city. The holy city is the bride of the Lamb; the great city is the harlot of the beast. The holy city comes from heaven; the great city is of the earth. The holy city is clothed in righteous deeds; the great city is clothed in the treasures of the world. The holy city worships the self-sacrificing Lamb; the great city worships the war-making beast. The street of the holy city has the water of life from the throne of God; the street of the great city has the bodies of the witnesses of Jesus. The holy city glorifies God; the great city glorifies mankind and blasphemes God. The holy city is the habitation of God; the great city is the habitation of mankind. In the holy city, God will wipe away every tear; the great city will be brought to torment, weeping and mourning. The holy city will live forever; the great city will be destroyed in a day.

The Warning to come out

At the end of the angel's explanation of the great city, John hears "... another voice from heaven, saying, `Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues...'" (Rev. 18:4).

But how do the people of God know when they are living in the great city?

Look at the harlot -- Ask the Questions...

The glory, the beauty and the clothing of the harlot, is fine and valuable things of the earth.

The saints should ask: "What makes me glorious and beautiful? The possessions of this world: clothing, jewels, cars, houses, furnishings, education, position? Or the impress of the image of God, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Do the attributes of God, communicated to me by the work of Christ, now alive in my values and actions, do these make me beautiful?"

The security of the harlot's life, her confidence, consisted in her wealth. She could survive anything because she could buy whatever she needed.

The saints should ask: "What gives me my sense of security? My job, my house, my family, my wealth, my intelligence, my influence? Or do I look at the love of God demonstrated at the cross and conclude that God has directed His infinite power toward me for me?"

The power of the harlot consisted in her ability to control through buying and selling. The fact that she was needed by those who wanted things of the world gave her power.

The saints should ask: "What is my power? Is it wealth, position, education, physical condition, my ability to bend others for my benefit? Or is my power the sacrificial Spirit of the Lamb alive in my actions, bringing God's glory and redemption to others?"

The pleasure of the harlot is self-indulgent materialism. She is intoxicated by destroying those who oppose her. The basis of her fellowship ("the cup in her hand") is the sharing of her abominations.

The saints should ask: "What brings me pleasure? Is it seeing those who oppose me destroyed? Is it the reinforcement of carnal appetites by seeking like-minded company? Or is it the joy of being transformed by the Spirit of God, of seeing the Lord Jesus transforming lost lives, of seeing the true King take His place in redeemed hearts? Is it sharing in common with others the Life of the Lamb?"

Conclusion

The angel who flies in midheaven declares to the inhabitants of the earth, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great..." (Rev. 14:8; 18:2).

Footnotes

1. Rev. 17:3-6, 9. The harlot "sitting on a scarlet beast" portrays relationship and dependence.
2. Clothing, throughout the book of Revelation, is used to speak about the activities of those clothed. The bride of the Lamb is clothed in "the righteous acts of the saints" (19:8). The triumphant Lord is "clothed with a robe dipped in blood," pointing to his sacrifice (19:13). The laboring woman of chpater 12 is "clothed with the sun" signifying the glory of her mission and labor.
3. Compare the description of her clothing to the things she consumed, Rev. 18:13.
4. Rev. 17:9-11. Seven heads represent all the empires ("mountains") of mankind. They exist as a chronological succession of seven, "five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come." The harlot sits on all seven throughout history, "the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits."
5. Rev. 18:13. The sense of military comes from "horses and chariots."
6. Rev. 18:22-23. The now-missing voices of the bride and bridegroom suggest the cessation of the propagation of city life.
7. Literal Greek is to ptoma auton, "body," not "bodies." The reference is to a body of believers, not the single body of an individual.
8. Literal Greek is epi, "upon," not "in."
9. We find this theme repeated and emphasized in 17:6, 18:13 and 18:24.
10. Notice the example of Lot’s wife, Gen. 19:26, and those delivered in the Exodus, Numbers 11:5 ff.
11. Note Rev. 18:2 where the great city is "a dwelling place of demons."

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