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As we come to the end of the book of Revelation (chs. 17–22) and indeed the end of the entire Bible, John gives us a picture of two cities, and the two cities represent two destinies, two radically different ways of living. The two different cities are Babylon and the new Jerusalem. These two cities fit with what Augustine called the city of man and the city of God. The two cities are also depicted as two women—the city of Babylon is described as a harlot, a prostitute, a wicked witch. By contrast, the new Jerusalem is described as the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
babylon
Let’s consider the city of Babylon. I already noted that Babylon is represented as a harlot, but John doesn’t describe Babylon as a harlot because of sexual sin. Instead, her harlotry stands for spiritual adultery, for refusal to worship and submit to the Lord, for the worship of false gods. In describing Babylon as a harlot, John reaches back to the Old Testament where Israel is indicted by the prophets for worshiping other gods instead of Yahweh, the one true Lord (see Jer. 2; Hos. 1–3). The fundamental sin is the refusal to worship and to give thanks to God, the worship of the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:18–25). C.S. Lewis in the classic Mere Christianity captures the same truth in his chapter on “The Great Sin,” which is pride. Pride is just another way of talking about idolatry, wherein we worship and praise ourselves instead of the Lord. Pride means that we live independently from God, that we resist His lordship and claim over our lives. It is the same sin that Adam and Eve committed in Genesis 3, after the serpent told them that they could be like gods, knowing good and evil. In other words, the serpent told them that they could dispense with God altogether. Adam and Eve, the serpent claimed, could live their lives entirely separated from God. The chief sin of Babylon is godlessness, the forsaking of the Lord, the degodding of God.
Abandoning the Lord shows up in everyday life, in the way that human beings live. Babylon’s sins are not insignificant; her sins and crimes have reached the heavens (Rev. 18:5). John shines the spotlight on two sins in particular. First, Babylon, the city of man, is ruled by hatred, and this hatred expresses itself in the shedding of the blood of the saints (17:6; 18:24; 19:2). Babylon is drunk with the saints’ blood (17:6), and John wants readers to feel horror and disgust over Babylon’s behavior. The city of man hates the city of God, and that revulsion translates into actions. As we look around the world today and as we consider church history, we see a common thread. Babylon, the wicked harlot, resists, squelches, and even puts to death the people of God. Those who don’t love the Lord don’t love believers either (1 John 4:7–21). None of this should astonish us, since Jesus taught us that the world will hate us just as it hated Him (John 15:18–25).
Second, Babylon is ruled by a dehumanizing greed. In Revelation 18, John zeroes in on those who lament Babylon’s downfall: kings, merchants, and those who work on the sea. He focuses on all the material goods that flow in and out of Babylon, giving us a list that indicates inordinate luxury (Rev. 18:12–13). The harlot Babylon is “dressed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls” (Rev. 18:16, CSB). In one sense, there is nothing wrong with riches, because we find riches in the city of God, the new Jerusalem, as well. But here the riches are animated by greed and mistreatment of others, and this is evident because the list of riches climaxes with slavery (v. 13). Babylon amasses riches at the expense of others, by degrading and oppressing others. Thus, the destiny of the city of man is final judgment. The city of man will be dethroned, and all those who belong to Babylon will suffer in the lake of fire forever.
the heavenly city
Thankfully, there is another city and another bride. The marriage of the Lamb is coming (19:7; 21:2, 9). This bride is not a harlot but worships the Lord and His Christ, and the bride wears linen that is bright and clean. She has washed her robes in the blood of the Lamb (7:13–14; 22:14) and as a consequence lives in a way that pleases God.
If Babylon represents the city of man, the city to come, the new Jerusalem represents the city of God. The new Jerusalem descends from heaven (21:2, 10), which symbolizes that the city has a divine and transcendent origin, that it is God’s work and not man’s. The city is 12,000 stadia cubed (v. 16), which is about 1,500 miles. We aren’t intended to read this literally. The numbers 12 times 1,000 signal symbolism, for the new Jerusalem represents the whole world, the new universe that is coming. Revelation is an apocalyptic writing and is filled with figural imagery. For instance, the city is a perfect cube: “Its length, width, and height are equal” (v. 16, CSB). The dimensions remind us of the Most Holy Place, which was also a perfect cube (1 Kings 6:20). John is telling us that the new Jerusalem is the place where God resides, that the whole world, the whole universe, will be God’s tabernacle and God’s temple. There isn’t a physical temple in the city “because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22, CSB). What makes the city of God so lovely is God’s presence. He will dwell and tabernacle with us, and God will reside with us as our God, wiping away every tear and removing anything that defiles, defaces, or dehumanizes (vv. 3–5). The beauty of the city of God is in God Himself, and we “will see his face” (22:4).
All kinds of images portray the loveliness and beauty of the city of God. It is as beautiful as exquisite and delicate jewels and pearls (21:11, 19–21). It is safe and secure from evil, since twelve angels guard the twelve gates (21:12), and the number twelve screams to us again: symbolism. John doubles down on the safety of the city. It has a high and massive wall (v. 12), which was a common defense for cities in the ancient world. We know this is symbolic because later John tells us that the gates of the city are never closed (v. 25). A high wall is useless if you leave the gates open. But we aren’t meant to take this language literally. The message is this: The city of God can’t be breached by evil. Another picture of the perfect shalom in the city is the laconic expression “There is no night there” (v. 25). When Judas went out to betray Jesus, we are told that “it was night” (John 13:30). Yes, that was the hour of darkness, the hour when Satan was at work, but in the new Jerusalem all darkness and evil are extinguished. And there is no need for the light streaming from the sun or the moon because the city of God is illuminated by God’s glory and the light of the Lamb (Rev. 21:23; 22:5).
Everything that is beautiful and lovely from this world will be in that city (21:24, 26), so we should not fear that what we love in this world will be absent in the world to come. It may not be present in the same way, but the joys from this world will be ours in a new key. The end of history is like the beginning in that the Tree of Life and the river of life will be in the city (22:1–2). The leaves are for the healing of the nations, but once again the image isn’t literal, since no one gets sick in the new creation. John lifts the curtain and teaches us that the world to come is a perfect paradise, as lovely as a garden, as exciting as a bustling and beautiful city, and as safe and secure as one can imagine.
conclusion
John writes about these two cities, these two women, to challenge his readers, reminding them to endure to the end. The suffering of this present world may seem unendurable at times, but it is worth it for those who belong to Christ. Those who give their allegiance to Babylon may prosper in this world, but a new world, a new city, a new creation is coming. All those who are washed by the blood of the Lamb and follow Him as disciples will enter the city of God.