Jeremiah and the Book of Revelation

Reminder: If you are new to this blog, start here with my original post drawing links between the Bible's figure of the Antichrist and Donald Trump.

I believe that the two Old Testament texts that serve as the main foundation for the Book of Revelation are Jeremiah and Daniel. If you read Jeremiah you will be surprised at how many quotes and images are directly lifted from it and transposed into Revelation’s eschatological context. When interpreting Revelation, it’s important to understand that the end times Babylon described in Rev. 17 and 18 is not just a country or a church, but a combination of the two. Jeremiah’s warnings are spoken to both kings *and* priests, both state officials *and* false prophets. John's focus on the cult of emperor worship is reflected in modern day American Christians' idolatry of Trump and the MAGA movement as their agent of political salvation.

In Jeremiah, the spiritual/political harlot is used as a metaphor for Jerusalem and the Jewish people in Israel. As I mentioned in my post about Trump potentially being the Antichrist, I and a number of other Biblical researchers believe that the Mystery Babylon referred to in Revelation 17 and 18 is not the modern nation of Israel or the Jewish people, but rather the polluted version of megachurch Christianity - and the MAGA movement it has partnered with - in America.

Some prophecy researchers insist instead that Mystery Babylon refers instead to modern day Jerusalem. Why do I believe that’s incorrect? There are a number of reasons, including:

• Mystery Babylon is said to “reign over the kings of the earth,” and that is a description that much better fits Washington, D.C. (and the country it represents as its capital) than Jerusalem, which is the capital of a nation roughly the size of New Jersey. Washington, D.C. sits on seven hills and was called Rome before being renamed to its current name.

• It is said in Revelation 17 that the “inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries,”  a description that better fits the USA than modern day Israel, as America has been for decades the global center of “mass culture’ (e.g. Hollywood, television, professional sports, Silicon Valley, etc.) which has often been reflected in mass media with seductive and salacious imagery.

• The Nero Redivivus “eighth king” reference to the Antichrist reflects John the Revelator’s focus on the ancient Roman empire as a template for the end times beast. The Roman empire exerted wide military dominance through its usage of an array of foreign military bases, a scenario that lines up with the United States’ array of dozens of military outposts and airbases across the Middle East.

• Mystery Babylon also is said by John to sit on many “waters,” and these waters are referred to as “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages”. The United States is often referred to as a “nation of nations,” as it includes foreign-born residents from all over the earth, and a plethora of languages are spoken in the U.S. English is also the main global language of international business and politics, in large part due to American influence throughout the 20th century and beyond - similar to how Latin became dominant throughout Europe due to the Roman empire’s rule. Jerusalem most likely cannot be Mystery Babylon, then, among other reasons, because modern Hebrew is in no sense a globally pervasive language among the other countries worldwide.

• John mentions in Revelation 18 that “the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries” - and that again probably refers to America (where many of the world’s super-wealthy billionaires choose to live) rather than to modern day Israel or Jerusalem.

Additionally, note that the “Make America Great Again” red baseball caps that Trump fans wear at his rallies lead them to wear the words “America [the] Great” written on their foreheads, and Mystery Babylon - dressed in scarlet just as the MAGA baseball caps are red - has the words “Babylon the Great” written on her forehead.

One might ask: Why would Jeremiah focus on Jews and Israel, while, if my conclusions are correct, John in Revelation focuses on America and American Christians in Revelation 17 and 18? This is simply because Jeremiah lived in the time of the first covenant - that between YHWH and fleshly Israel - while John has carried that focus over onto Christians living during the end times, where the promises made to God’s people - both Jewish and Gentile - in the second and final covenant are brought to fruition and fulfillment. In other words, just as God’s beloved Jerusalem and her residents during Jeremiah’s day turned aside to idolatry, greed, lies and violence, so do the residents of America and the parishioners in wealthy and complacent American churches during the end times. Recall as well that many of the early pilgrims to this country referred to America as a sort of New Jerusalem, where they could escape the Anglican Church and be free to preach and live in the ways they saw fit. So, what once was envisioned as a "city on a hill" - an earthly reflection of the heavenly New Jerusalem - has instead morphed into a corrupt, violent nation where might makes right and the good and the true are too often ignored. True Christians are told by John to “come out of her, my people” - in other words, to exit (either literally or figuratively) this harlot spiritual/political beast system, and return to the Word of God, vocal defenses of which will lead to Christians being persecuted, arrested and executed by the King of this empire.

I want to encourage everyone reading this who wants to learn more about end times prophecy to dig into the Book of Jeremiah. I know it’s a long book and many Christian prophecy researchers and pastors don’t often stress a focus on Old Testament prophets, but I believe it’s important to have a firm grounding in the OT prophets, both major and minor, because learning about their countercultural stances and imbibing their spirit of boldness and courage in the face of oppression will be inspirational for us all as we approach the upcoming tribulation. John the Revelator was no madman having hallucinations and delusions about monsters and dragons. Rather, he was obviously intimately familiar with not just the imagery found in the OT prophets, but, even more importantly, how that imagery could be utilized in his own prophetic framework so that his message carried consistency and power.

In the spirit of that focus, I’ve listed below just some of the themes and quotes from Jeremiah that are directly lifted into Revelation:

• Jeremiah 1:16: “I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.”  Who are “my people” in Revelation 18:4?: “‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins.” This is told to Christians, who are urged to come out of a merged spiritual/political entity (i.e. not necessarily a physical relocation out of one physical place into another, but a change from one frame of mind to another).

• Jer. 2:20: “Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.” The harlot of Babylon in Rev. 17 sits on seven hills as a prostitute.

• Jer: 2:27: “They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’ and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’” Crucifixes are usually made of wood and statues to Mary are often made of stone. Now, I do not believe that Mystery Babylon ONLY refers to the Catholic church. Rather, I believe it refers to all of the tares who align themselves with churches among the various Christian denominations. These fake Christians are in no sense the “elect” that John pictures in his imagery of the 144,000 redeemed saints in the Tribulation.

• Jer 3:1-2: “But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers— would you now return to me?” declares the Lord. “Look up to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been ravished? By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers, sat like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.”

• Jer 3:14: “14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.” The Lord (Jesus Christ) is the bridegroom and spiritual Israel is the bride (c.f. the Marriage Supper of the Lamb). What was once the bride has morphed into a corrupt harlot. Jesus will refine this harlot bride like silver is refined. True Christians will be purged out of the harlot spiritual body, so that their robes will be washed white and prepared for the Marriage Supper.

• Jer. 4:29: “At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them.” Revelation 6:16-17 New International Version (NIV): “They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

• Jer. 4:30 “What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why highlight your eyes with makeup? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they want to kill you.” In Rev. 17, the beast power rises up to burn and devour the flesh of the harlot who dresses in scarlet. Remember, in Jeremiah, the harlot is also the Daughter of Zion. This is crucial to remember because the harlot of Babylon is simply a corrupted/perverted version of the true Body of Christ.

• Jer. 5:27: “Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit”. This matches up with Rev. 18:2: “She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, *a haunt for every unclean bird*, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.”

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• Jer. 5:31: “31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” What better description of American churchianity than: the priests/pastors “rule by their own authority”? Yet we are told in Matthew 23 to have no instructors, masters or teachers (in an ultimate sense) except for Jesus as revealed in the Word of God.

• Jer. 6:10: “Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.” Fake Christians that are part of Babylon churchianity usually do not read the Bible (they find no pleasure in the word of the Lord). Lack of knowledge leads to lack of lived-out faith through works. If you don't know how the Lord wants you to act, you will be unable to measure your behavior by his standards.

• Jer. 7:4: “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” The temple of the Lord is not made with hands, as Stephen pointed out in Acts and as John also mentions at the end of Revelation. It is not a physical cathedral or a church down the street - it is the globally scattered elect, whom the author of 1 Peter addresses as the new temple of God.

• Jer. 7:18: “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.” Catholics call Mary “Regina Caeli” (the Queen of Heaven). 

    Finally, I want to encourage study of Jeremiah 50 and 51, which come at the tail end of Jeremiah’s book. These two chapters closely mirror Revelation 18 - it’s obvious that John was consciously drawing on this imagery in his own writing. If you read these two chapters, you’ll see that my linkage of modern day America with John’s Mystery Babylon in Revelation 18 is based on a solid scriptural foundation.