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Revelation Chapter 17

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John is once more caught up in the Spirit as this angel shows him the future judgment of Mystery Babylon who is the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Mystery Babylon is described first as a great whore that sits on many waters. She is a mystery to John when the vision was given to him, but now made very clear since the sixteenth century Reformation.

The woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet colors. These are the main colors of the revived Roman Empire. The woman is the city of Rome known as Vatican City and the scarlet beast is the spiritual and worldly empire it controls being that of the Roman Catholic Church and all its believers through out the nations.

Continue reading...
 
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This entire post. But please make your point, absurd as it is.
I know you are new here, but you had better go back and read the Terms of Service as you are in violation of the ToS 1.1 and 1.3 as we do not tell others that what they believe is absurd or tell them they are wrong as in continuing to do so will get you banned from CF. Let this be a warning. If you have questions about what someone else has written or disagree with them then make your point.
 
I know you are new here, but you had better go back and read the Terms of Service as you are in violation of the ToS 1.1 and 1.3 as we do not tell others that what they believe is absurd or tell them they are wrong as in continuing to do so will get you banned from CF. Let this be a warning. If you have questions about what someone else has written or disagree with them then make your point.
and where are these terms
 
I know you are new here, but you had better go back and read the Terms of Service as you are in violation of the ToS 1.1 and 1.3 as we do not tell others that what they believe is absurd or tell them they are wrong as in continuing to do so will get you banned from CF. Let this be a warning. If you have questions about what someone else has written or disagree with them then make your point.
found em

1.1 "speak truth in love" would involve pointing out the absurd and allowing the poster to clarify. (so not a violation)
1.3 address the argument not the person. Same. If the argument is absurd then call it out and allow for clarification.(also not a violation)

please don't allow feelings to override logical discourse.
 
dwb001

1.1 Grant others the courtesy to be understood and acknowledge their views. As best as one is capable, speak truth in love (Matthew 7:12; 1Corinthians 13:1-13)

It's not pointing out the absurd or even telling others of what they believe is absurd. It's always better to ask them to explain what they are saying so the two of you can discuss the indifferences respecting the other person as you would want them to respect your views and understandings.

1.3 Use self control and focus on reconciliation when discussing differences. Address the issue, not the person. Do not make derogatory personal remarks or you will be removed from the thread.

It says to address the issue, not the person. Arguments lead to division that flairs anger in others as both parties try to retaliate and brings no glory to God, but shame on themselves.

If you can not abide by the Terms of Service or the Community Message then you will be banned from CF.
 
Revelation is, in part, a story of not one but two tribulations (as foretold in Matthew 24:9 and Matthew 24:21).

The first 7 chapters deal primarily with the tribulation of the saints, as best seen in John's letters to the churches of that time.

Chapters 8-20 deal with the "great tribulation" (judgment) that befell Jerusalem because of the persecution of Christ and His messengers.

Revelation 17 is the fulfillment of Matthew 21:33-46, and Matthew 23:29-39/Luke 11:49-51 and all was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70AD, according to Luke 21:20-24.

Revelation 17 is wholly about the destruction of Jerusalem.

Compare what Christ said, in Matthew 23/Luke 11, with what God did and why in II Chronicles 36:

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. MATT 23:34-36

“For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ LUKE 11:49-51

The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or infirm; He gave them all into his hand. All the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his officers, he brought them all to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its fortified buildings with fire and destroyed all its valuable articles. II CHRONICLES 36:15-19

The answers to understanding Revelation are all in the Bible, much of which is in the Old Testament.
 
I respectfully disagree as why would John be given these visions to write by the angel Jesus sent to him around 20 years later after the destruction of the Temple in 70AD while being a prisoner on the isle of Patmos.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.


Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
 
Revelation wasn't written after 70AD. In fact, it could not have been written later than June of 68AD, when Nero died. The case for this is in the identity of the "7 kings":

Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
REV 17-9-10

The mountain upon which the woman (Israel's 1st century apostate priesthood) sits is Rome. By the middle of the 1st century, Rome was choosing Jerusalem's high priests. Rome occupied and controlled virtually all aspects of Judea's civil and religious life. Those seven "mountains" in Rome are:
The five Roman kings that had fallen are Julius, Augustus Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. The sixth that was living at the time of the writing of Revelation was Nero: the man whose number is also 666. Nero reigned 14 years, from 54 to 68 AD. His immediate successor, the 7th king, is Galba, who reigned only 7 months before being killed in a coup by Otho. Galba's reign was short, just as John wrote.

The Jewish rebellion against Rome and the subsequent war it caused began under Nero's reign. Nero was also the first Roman emperor to persecute Christians, and it was Nero who beheaded Paul and had Peter crucified upside down.

The case for Rome in Revelation 17 is also made in Daniel 2:

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others...And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. DAN 2:40,44

The fourth kingdom Daniel saw can be none other than Rome, during which time Christ was born, died, rose and ascended, establishing His eternal kingdom.

Robert Young, translator and author of the literal translation of the Bible that bears his name, said this about the dating of Revelation:

“It was written in Patmos about A.D. 68, whither John had been banished by Domitius Nero, as stated in the title of the Syriac version of the book; and with this concurs the express statement of Irenaeus in A.D. 175, who says it happened in the reign of Domitianou – i.e., Domitius (Nero). Sulpicius, Orosius, etc., stupidly mistaking Dimitianou for Domitianikos, supposed Irenaeus to refer to Domitian, A.D. 95, and most succeeding writers have fallen into the same blunder. The internal testimony is wholly in favor of the early date.” Robert Young, Commentary on Revelation.

Nero's birth name was, in fact, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. John was exiled by an emperor named Domitius (54-68 AD), not Domitian (81-96 AD).

Revelation is much more fascinating when you understand that John's vision of the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the players involved was written at least 2 years before the events happened. That is why it's so important to us today, not because it hasn't been fulfilled, but because it has and it all happened just as the risen Lord said it would.

Apologies for the length of this post, but these are issues than cannot be answered or addressed in Twitter form.
 
Another interesting point to note: In Revelation 7, John writes of the 144,000 elect from the 12 tribes of Israel sealed for service to Christ's kingdom during the Sanhedrin's persecution of the saints; a persecution in which Saul/Paul enthusiastically undertook.

Revelation 7:4–8 (NKJV)
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

The lineages of all these tribes' family lines were kept in the temple complex. They were destroyed with the temple. After 70AD, there were no more "tribes" of Israel, only the dead, the captive, and the survivors: those who were saved from the catastrophe by heeding Christ's words.
 
More internal evidence of the early dating of Revelation comes in John's letters themselves.
Revelation 3:17–18 (NKJV)
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Laodicea was built on a trade route that enabled it to become immensely wealthy through the sale of its fine black wool. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 60 AD (it was built on a fault line, which gave it its famous hot springs), and the city leaders declined Roman financial assistance in rebuilding it.

"One of the famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was that same year overthrown by an earthquake, and, without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources." Tacitus, Annals, 14.27


Tacitus doesn't say how long this recovery took, but its entirely reasonable to assume, given its wealth and prominence in the Roman Empire, that it would've taken no more than a couple of years to fully rebuild. In order for John's letter to reference their wealth to the point of "needing nothing", the letter had to have been written between 60 AD and 68 AD, between the time of the quake and the death of Nero.

Is Revelation all starting to make more sense now? :)
 
Stormcrow I haven't time right now to address all of this as I am leaving shortly. I will address all of this tomorrow.

You have a good day.
 
Stormcrow, you have good thoughts on Revelation.

I wonder how the LATE DATE theory ever became popular.
Philip Schaff, in his work "History of the Christian Church, Vol. 1", writes the following:
Nero, owing to his youth, beauty, dash, and prodigality, and the startling novelty of his wickedness (Tacitus calls him “incredibilium cupitor,”Ann. XV. 42), enjoyed a certain popularity with the vulgar democracy of Rome. Hence, after his suicide, a rumor spread among the heathen that he was not actually dead, but had fled to the Parthians, and would return to Rome with an army and destroy the city. Three impostors under his name used this belief and found support during the reigns of Otho, Titus, and Domitian. Even thirty years later Domitian trembled at the name of Nero. Tacit., Hist. I. 2; II. 8, 9; Sueton., Ner. 57; Dio Cassius, LXIV. 9; Schiller, l.c., p. 288.

Among the Christians the rumor assumed a form hostile to Nero. Lactantius (De Mort. Persecut., c. 2) mentions the Sibylline saying that, as Nero was the first persecutor, he would also be the last, and precede the advent of Antichrist. Augustin (De Civil. Dei, XX. 19) mentions that at his time two opinions were still current in the church about Nero: some supposed that he would rise from the dead as Antichrist, others that he was not dead, but concealed, and would live until he should be revealed and restored to his kingdom. The former is the Christian, the latter the heathen belief. Augustin rejects both. Sulpicius Severus (Chron., II. 29) also mentions the belief (unde creditur) that Nero, whose deadly wound was healed, would return at the end of the world to work out “the mystery of lawlessness” predicted by Paul (2 Thess. 2:7).

SCHAFF, PHILIP ; SCHAFF, DAVID SCHLEY: History of the Christian church. vol. 1. New York : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910

The impact Nero had on the society of his day cannot be understated. As Schaff notes, 30 years after his death, people of the late first century were still looking for the return of Nero as the Anti-Christ. Of course, if you believed that then, you would have to practically rewrite Revelation to fit that theory. Unfortunately, that is what happened and this is another example of the pagan influence of the time upon the early church, as noted above.

Much later, along comes Martin Luther, and falsely asserts that the current Pope is the Anti-Christ (1520), and uses Revelation to do so. His charge causes the Roman Catholic Church, at that time, to lose many to Luther's form of Protestanism, so much so that the Roman Church needed to address this charge. In 1585, the RCC commissioned a Spanish Jesuit named Francisco Ribera to come up with an alternative interpretation of Revelation. He began work on his 500 page commentary called "In Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarii", proposing that the first chapters of the Apocalypse applied to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest referred to a yet future period of 3½ literal years, immediately prior to the second coming.


In 1611, the King James Version of the Bible was printed in England, and soon everyone capable of both reading and acquiring one could become an "expert" in Biblical hermeneutics and exegesis. Enter Nelson Darby, whose Bible popularized Ribera's view of Revelation through his own commentary, which then heavily influenced Scofield in the U.S. The Scofield Study Bible became a staple of theological seminaries in this country for decades, training church leadership in the Riberan view of Revelation.

And all of it started with pagan rumors that spread to the church. See if any of Ribera's views on Revelation and its Anti-Christ look familiar today:

  • Persecute and blaspheme the saints of God
  • Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem
  • Abolish the Christian religion
  • Deny Jesus Christ
  • Destroy Rome
  • Be received by the Jews
  • Pretend to be God
  • Kill the two witnesses of God
  • Conquer the world.
Again, this is from a book written in the late 16th century that was written specifically to counter the charge that the Pope of his day could not possibly be the Anti-Christ.

Now, if you're Sulpicius, a French Christian historian living in the 4th century, and you believe the early pagan and Christian rumors of Nero's return, you cannot believe that Revelation was written in 68 AD. You have to believe it was written much later to accommodate that belief, and so you get sloppy in translating the Greek, as I noted from Robert Young in the earlier post.

So, ultimately, the basis for the late date writing of Revelation is based on rumors, innuendoes, and lies that can be traced all the way back to Rome at the time of Nero's death, in June of 68 AD.

Hope this helps.

P.S. All of the information provided in this post is freely available on the web. Make research your friend. :)
 
Yet more evidence that John is writing about 1st century Jerusalem.

So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. REV 17:3

As noted in an earlier post, the scarlet beast is Rome (I'll get to the woman in another post). It's seven heads are the seven hills in Rome and seven kings or "Caesars" (John makes this clear in verses 9-10. The most perplexing part to me for a long time was the issue of the 10 horns. John explains those in verse 12:

“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast." REV 17:12-13.

Then it hit me: The Decapolis: 10 city-states that were semi-autonomous at the time of the Jewish War with Rome.


decapolis.jpg


The link above describes these cities as "...independent of the local tetrarchy, and answerable directly to the governor of Syria. They enjoyed the rights of association and asylum; they struck their own coinage, paid imperial taxes and were liable to military service (Ant., XIV, iv, 4; BJ, I, vii, 7; II, xviii, 3; III, ix, 7; Vita, 65, 74)."

The Lexham Bible Dictionary notes this about the Decapolis:

The cities of the Decapolis, like many cities in the region, were caught up in the Judaean War of AD 66–70. According to Josephus (Life, 65. 341–42, 410), a group of leaders complained to the Roman general Vespasian about Judaean attacks against their cities. During this period, sporadic massacres were carried out against local Judaean populations. Josephus records Judaeans being slaughtered in Scythopolis, Pella, Gadara, and Hippos. In the city of Gerasa, however, Judaeans were exiled rather than killed. During the Judaean War, Scythopolis—the one city west of the Jordan River—served as a base for the Roman army under Vespasian.

Later tradition suggests that one of the cities of the Decapolis served as a safe haven for Christians fleeing from the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. According to Eusebius, the Christians fled Jerusalem and made their way to Pella (Ecclesiastical History, 3.5.3–4). While archaeological evidence is unable to confirm this relocation, Pella’s location near Galilee and the possibility that many Jerusalem believers were Judaean Christians from Galilee lends some creditability to the tradition. Pella became an important Christian center in the Byzantine period.

MAY, DAVID M.: Decapolis, BARRY, J. D. ; BOMAR, D. ; BROWN, D. R. ; KLIPPENSTEIN, R. ; MANGUM, D. ; SINCLAIR WOLCOTT, C. ; WENTZ, L. ; RITZEMA, E. ; ET AL. (eds.). The Lexham Bible Dictionary.

After the Jewish War with Rome, the Decapolis was incorporated into the provinces of Syria and Arabian Petraea under Roman emperor Trajan, thus losing their autonomy, just as John had written.

I hope this is taking some of the mystery out of Revelation for you. It is a book written to be understood and heeded by those living at the time of these events. We are beneficiaries of chapter 21. That's where our story is. :)
 
"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters..." REV 17:1

There can be no question here that John is writing about the generation of Jews and Jerusalem's apostate priesthood living in the first century. We need look no further than the Bible itself to see the proof of this.

First, we see that she "sits on many waters". This is a direct reference to an Old Testament prophecy.

“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! Like valleys that stretch out, Like gardens by the riverside, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside the waters. He shall pour water from his buckets, And his seed shall be in many waters. “His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted. Numbers 24:5-7

We see the fulfillment of this in Acts 2:

"And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language." Acts 2:5-6

She is called a "great harlot". There are too many instances in the OT where this epithet is used to describe apostate Israel, Judah, and the people and priests of Jerusalem. Here is one:

"Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor." Hosea 9:1

God's covenant with Israel was likened to a marriage (Jeremiah 3:14). When the nation was unfaithful to God, breaking His laws, His prophets would use the term "harlot" to condemn them.

"How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; Righteousness lodged in it, But now murderers." Isaiah 1:21

She is seen adorned in fine clothes and precious stones.

"The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication." REV 17:4

This is a reference to the priesthood.

"And he made the breastplate, artistically woven like the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. They made the breastplate square by doubling it; a span was its length and a span its width when doubled. And they set in it four rows of stones: a row with a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald was the first row; the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold in their mountings. There were twelve stones according to the names of the sons of Israel: according to their names, engraved like a signet, each one with its own name according to the twelve tribes." Exodus 39:8-14

And she is said to be "drunk with the blood of the saints":
"I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." REV 17:6

This is a direct reference to Christ's words to His disciples of their fate at the hands of the Sanhedrin:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake." Matthew 24:9.

"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city..." Matthew 23: 34

"They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service." John 16:2

"Now Saul was consenting to his [Stephen's] death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison." Acts 8:1-3

"I [Paul] persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women..." Acts 22:4 and on.

The fifth seal further confirms this:

When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” REV 6:9-10

And the fulfillment of their cries for vengeance:

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” REV 18:20

When reading Revelation, it absolutely must be understood in the light of these two tribulations: the persecution of the saints, and Christ's righteous judgment on Jerusalem and Judea for their crimes against himself and His messengers: "vengeance for the covenant."
 
One other note about the harlot of Revelation 17:

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. REV 17:4

The golden cup symbolizes the ancient Jewish marriage ceremony.

The mitzvah of marriage is performed over a cup of wine. The rabbi holds a cup of wine and first recites the hagafen, the standard blessing on wine, and then the kiddushin blessing, which thanks G‑d for sanctifying us with the mitzvah of betrothal before consummating marriage. After concluding the two blessings, the groom and bride both are given to sip from the cup.

After the bride and groom sip from the wine, the groom places the wedding band on the bride's right index finger. While putting the ring on her finger, the groom says in Hebrew and the vernacular:3 "With this ring, you are consecrated to me according to the law of Moses and Israel."


Recall that God was married to Israel through the Mosaic Covenant (Jeremiah 3:14). But over time, Israel rejected His commandments and acted with violence towards His messengers, going so far as to kill His only begotten son. (Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19). On a side note, the parable of the vineyard in the New Testament is taken from the song of the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7).

On the night of His last Passover on Earth, Jesus gives the cup of wine to His disciples:

Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:27-28

To recap: the cup in the hands of the harlot represents God's marriage to Israel through the Old Covenant, which Israel violated with ever increasing frequency and violence, culminating in their greatest abomination of all: the killing of Christ.

The cup of wine signifying the New Covenant betrothal of Christ to His church was offered at that last Passover. However, notice that in the Jewish Mitzvah of marriage, both the bride and the groom drink from the cup. But what did Jesus tell them that night as they drank from the cup:

But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29

God already had a wife. The Old Covenant was still in effect. The New Covenant could not be fully instituted until the requirements of the Old were completely fulfilled. That's why Jesus said this:

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Matthew 5:17-18

"Vengeance for the covenant" (Leviticus 26:25, Isaiah 61:2) was the last thing requiring fulfillment. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:13.

For Christ's bride to be fully revealed, the unfaithful wife - the great harlot of Revelation 17 - had to be divorced. This is why we see the New Jerusalem (New Covenant), "...coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2) after the destruction of the Old Jerusalem (Old Covenant) in the preceding chapters.

Revelation has been called the "most Jewish book of the New Testament". Symbolism, such as the harlot holding the cup, is one reason why.
 
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