In Ezekiel; the Harlot is Gods People who were in Covenant with Him
Intro: Well morning friends and visitors. My name is Matt Johnson and as we finish up Revelation for 2024 – we have been looking at a few chapters from Ezekiel to better understand the harlot metaphor. In Revelation – we hear about A HARLOT or PROSTITUTE who rides on the back of a terrible beast. The big question – who is the harlot?
PRAYER:
Well in Revelation God, Jesus and Satan are all easy to identify. They are all named in various places. But not all the characters in Revelation are easy to identify. For instance, THE BEAST – out of the Sea – is that China, Russia or Artificial Intelligence? IS THE WOMAN crowned with the sun, moon and stars – Israel, Mary or the constellation of Virgo.
Now one of the most intriguing symbols in Revelation is the harlot riding on the beast. (Slide 2; Slide 3; Slide 4). In some ways the HARLOT in Revelation is an equal or worse enemy than the BEAST. But she is rarely identified AND there is a good reason why? SO WHO IS THE HARLOT?
In the history of Christendom – THE HARLOT OF BABYLON – has often been linked with THE CITY OF ROME. The early church saw that what Babylon did to Israel (in the C6th BC), was similar to what Rome did to the church in the C1st AD. They were both corrupting and persecuting powers. So there are several places in the New Testament where BABYLON seems to be code for ROME. What’s more, Rome was built on SEVEN FAMOUS HILLS (Slide 4). Revelation 19 says “the seven heads of the beast represent seven hills on which the harlot sits. They are also seven kings. Now interestingly – ROME is built on seven hills and on the top of each hill is a shrine to a Roman god. Each shrine, (on each hill in Rome) is dedicated to a different “king” or “Queen” in the Roman pantheon of gods. So the light of pagan religion shone from seven high places in Rome. Meanwhile, Jesus light of true religion shines from his seven churches in Asia Minor.
But the light of pagan religion is now corrupting the light of true Christianity through syncretism. Now I’m not making this up. Something is definitely happening in this space in Revelation. What’s more, the most significant hill (of the 7 hills) in Rome is Capitoline Hill (from which we get Capitol Hill in Washington DC). Capitoline Hill was about political earthly power. Capitoline hill was dedicated to the god Jupiter (who the Greeks called, Zeus). Jupiter or Zeus was the supreme pagan God from whom the Roman Emperors claimed their authority to rule on earth. Zeus or Jupiter is also known as the GOD OF THUNDER AND LIGHTNING. But remember each new section of Revelation makes it clear that 1) the peals of thunder, 2) rumblings and 3) the flashes of lightning are coming from Gods throne (not Zeus’). The supreme God to be feared above all gods is Yahweh, the God of the Bible, not Zeus or Jupiter.
But it gets more complicated yet. In one of the most famous Roman myths – the god Zeus becomes a “bull-like beast” who appears on earth to a woman named Europa. The beast then lets Europa ride on his back to Crete – where he has sexual relations with her AND her offspring become the peoples of Europe. Hence, the statues of the bull and Europa outside the EU in Brussels. Again, something is happening in this space for 1st century readers. We know that the Roman Caesars were trying to force Christians to bow the knee to Zeus. But Revelation is calling the church to remain faithful to Jesus…
Now given all these undeniable links to Rome – MOST PROTESTANT REFORMERS in the C16th identified the Roman Catholic Church as the harlot of Babylon. The title seemed to fit. At this time the Roman Catholic Church was PERVERTING biblical truth. The Roman Catholic church was also SO POWERFUL it could control most of the Kings of Europe. The title also seemed to fit – because the more the Protestants identified the pope as the harlot – the more the Pope tried to kill them. But since this time – the harlot in Revelation has generally been identified with false religion and especially with false, empty Christian religion.
Point 1: Jerusalem is the Story of a Queen who became a Harlot
Show: Ezek.16:1-5 (READ)
Explain: Well I think Ezekiel 16 is one of the most sexually explicit passages in the entire Bible. The Hebrew words in this chapter are so EXPLICIT – that every English translation tones it down – so as not to offend our delicate Christian sensibilities. But the sin of Jerusalem is explicitly explained to vindicate Gods wrath. THE HARLOT is NOT the Babylonians, or the Egyptians or even the Assyrians. THE HARLOT is Gods own wife – to whom he has shown grace, kindness and covenantal love.
Now Gods wife is addressed as JERUSALEM. The city is being personified. But the city clearly represents God’s people. Now when it talks about Jerusalem’s ancestry being Amorite and Hittite – it is still talking about the city. THE CITY OF JERUSALEM was originally part Amorite and part Hittite. Jerusalem was a pagan city – before God saved it through King David around 1000BC (2Sam.5:6-10). But by identifying Jerusalem with its Amorite and Hittite origins – God is saying the apple has not fallen far from the tree. The city still bears undeniable marks of its evil, idolatrous and sexually immoral parentage.
Now sadly, Jerusalem began life – like an unwanted child (born of a one-night stand). The city itself was subjected to infanticide or abortion. In Canaanite and Amorite communities this was not uncommon. The killing of unwanted children (by exposure) was as normal as abortion now is in Sydney. In this fallen world – this poor child was not really loved by its parents. INSTEAD, it was left to die in the desert sun.
But thankfully, God saw JERUSALEM squirming like a new-born baby in its own blood. The umbilical cord had not been cut. The child was still attached to the placenta. The picture is both powerfully disturbing and depressing. But that’s how God found Jerusalem. THAT’S HOW God finds all of us in this fallen, sinful world.
Sadly, because our world is evil – even our own parents don’t always love us the way they should. Many children are discarded in the evil of abortion AND infanticide. But even if we are not discarded as children – sin still leaves us all facing inevitable death by exposure. Like newborn children we are powerless to save ourselves from sin or the effects of sin. That’s how God finds all of us. Like newborn babies left to die in our own faeces and blood. This picture is in some ways you. It is me. In this sinful world we are dying and powerless to save ourselves.
(GOSPEL) But then in His great mercy – God speaks life into our broken minds and broken bodies. First God assures us of His love and mercy in saving Israel from Egypt AND in saving us from hell Jesus. Because of sin Israel deserved to be slaves in Egypt. Because of sin we deserve to die and go to hell. But God assures us that He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. When Jesus died on the cross he was taking the punishment for all your sin. Now if you believe Jesus did this for you and you ask GOD to forgive – you will be saved. But then God calls you to trust Him. And as you trust God He begins to clothe you; feed you and grow you. Then as you mature – God invites you into A COVENANT with Himself. Ezekiel 16 tells the rags to riches story of an unwanted child who grows up and enters into COVENANT with God.
Apply: Now a COVENANT is simply a contract. The New Covenant is a contract between God and man written with Jesus’ blood. A) Gods side of the covenant is that He promises to save people (and take them to heaven) if they accept Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. B) Mans side of the covenant is that we promise to trust in Jesus’ death for our sins and we promise to obey Jesus’ commands to the best of our ability. This is the New Covenant of Jesus AND it is like marriage. The Bible likens both 1) the Old Covenant with the Jews and 2) the New Covenant with Christians – to marriage. That’s what we see in Ezekiel 16. By Gods grace – Jerusalem experienced Gods love and entered into a marriage type covenant with God. But Jerusalem (or more specifically the people of Jerusalem) ended up cheating on God…
Point 2: Jerusalem engaged in Spiritual & Political Adultery
Show: Ezek.16:13-15 (READ)
Explain: Well in covenant with God – Jerusalem rises to become a type of Queen. God is King and lavishes on His spiritual wife – all his wonderful blessings so she rises to becomes a regal Queen. But then recognising that the world acknowledges her beauty she starts to prostitute it.
Now sadly, this QUEEN LANGUAGE is also used in Revelation 18. The Harlot says (Slide 10); “I sit enthroned as a Queen, I am not a widow.” (Rev.18:7). Perhaps she was once a Queen of sorts. Perhaps she even mouthed the words of the New Covenant. But sadly, in Revelation 19 the Queen who sits by many waters is NOT described as a faithful wife, but as a harlot. Again, the idea of sitting by MANY WATERS suggests she has no geographical boundaries. The harlot is not a particular city or even country. She is kind of Queen recognized worldwide.
Now the word we expect to find in Ezekiel 16 is ADULTERY, rather than prostitution. When you cheat on your spouse – it is called ADULTERY, not usually prostitution. Now you can see the word “ADULTERY” in verse 38. God says to Jerusalem I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery. (Ezek.16:38). Several times in Revelation – the harlot is also identified as committing adultery (with the kings of the earth). But this Queen has become a serial adulterer. (It is not like she stuffed up and had one affair). No! This Queen is now more like a prostitute constantly jumping in and out of bed…
Now specifically – Ezekiel accuses Jerusalem of 1) spiritual adultery and 2) political adultery. You can see SPIRITUAL ADULTERY in verses 20-21. Jerusalem is engaging in false religion. You can see POLITICAL ADULTERY in verses 23-29. Instead of looking to God for protection Jerusalem is entering into political covenants with the Egyptians (verse 26); the Assyrians (verse 28) and even the Babylonians (verse 29).
Now let me explain. SPIRITUAL ADULTERY is talking about religious syncretism (which we looked at last week). Spiritual adultery is when church leaders start blending different religions together. Spiritual adultery is when church leaders start mixing ceremonies (like baptism and Lords Supper) with other religious ceremonies that are not in the Bible. In doing such things we start sharing our WORSHIP OF GOD, with the WORSHIP OF DEMONS. In verse 21 – the harlot Queen is also sacrificing Gods children to idols. This is literally child sacrifice. Sadly, a secular version of child sacrifice happens in Australia as religious leaders now often whitewash – abortion, infanticide and the destruction of IVF embryos. THE HARLOT QUEEN reduces the number of Gods children by killing them…
But POLITICAL ADULTERY is also taking place as Jerusalem enters into more and more covenants with people other than her husband. Instead of trusting God and seeking His protection, JERUSALEM entered into covenants with the Egyptians and Assyrians to protect her from the Babylonians. But as she entered into covenants of protection with the Egyptians and Assyrians – they demanded Jerusalem give them the sort of love and loyalty that she should only give to God. BUT IN THE END the Egyptians and Assyrians could not protect Jerusalem from the Babylonians. So Jerusalem entered into a political covenant with Babylonia – where she basically agreed to worship Babylon as her King, instead of Yahweh as her king.
So, (like the modern institutional church) Jerusalem is committing spiritual and political adultery.
Point 3: Jerusalem’s Prostitution will come back to Bite her
Show: Ezek.16:38-40 (READ)
Explain: Well Jerusalem is about to reap what they’ve sown. If the citizens of Jerusalem had simply repented of their sins – as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel called them to do – they would have found God to be entirely loving, faithful and protective husband. BUT INSTEAD of repenting – they increasingly looked for love, faithfulness and protection in the arms of other lovers. The stupidity is insane.
While A) Jerusalem is NOT being faithful to Gods covenant with them, they stupidly enter into B) covenants with Egypt, Assyria and Babylon trusting them to be faithful to their covenant agreement with Jerusalem. What the?? Jerusalem is unfaithful in her covenant with God, but she expects pagans (with no fear of God) to be faithful in their covenant with her. So God simply says – “Yeh, good luck with that.” NOW PLEASE NOTE God doesn’t really do anything to Jerusalem. She simply reaps what she sows. She gives herself to pagan lovers and she reaps domestic violence, rape and accusations of adultery (that end in her being stoned to death). No mercy. It’s the letter of the law.
This is the product of Jerusalem giving herself in covenant to lovers who are NOT good and CANNOT be trusted. But again, this THEME of Jerusalem being punished by her own lovers is taken up in Revelation 17. LET ME SHOW YOU (Slide 12-13; Rev.17:15-18). So the harlot – who is riding on the back of the beast and trying to control the kings of the earth – ends up being destroyed by the very people she is jumping into bed with. God does not need to destroy the harlot Queen, because her own lovers will do it for Him. IF ONLY THE QUEEN had listened to all Gods calls to repent and trust Him – he would have been a wall of protection around her. He wouldn’t have allowed anyone to touch his faithful bride…
So many weeks ago – I suggested that THE HARLOT in Revelation is the dead, faithless, institutional church. The harlot is church leaders and church goers who give lip service to God, but their hearts are far from Him. The Harlot is church goers who are not born-again. So when things get tough they lack the courage (that comes from Gods Spirit) to remain faithful to God. INSTEAD, they fold, they compromise and they enter into dodgy covenants to try to protect themselves. SADLY, this is what the institutional church is now doing. They are increasingly entering into covenant agreements with secular authorities and pledging allegiance to secular laws, even though they know these things compromise their covenant faithfulness to God. So, I believe, the harlot in Revelation is the institutional church.
Now when I first made this suggestion – some of the more mature, Christians in our church, came to me and asked if I could theologically defend this claim that the harlot is the church. They weren’t really challenging me. But they wanted to see whether this accusation could be backed up biblically. They were being Bereans. So for the last two weeks – in order to show that my suggestion has biblical support – we have looked at Ezekiel.
Apply: Now whether you realise it or not – what we have been doing is biblical theology and typology. THE BIBLE IS FULL OF PATTERNS – because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So every single concept in the Old Covenant with the Jews, has a parallel concept in the New Covenant with the church. VERY OFTEN THE PARALLELS find FULFILMENT in Jesus or even call us to a HIGHER STANDARD in Jesus. But as the Jews were called to a type of covenant faithfulness to God as a husband because he saved them from Egypt, so the church is called to an even higher standard of covenant faithfulness to Jesus because he saved us from hell AND he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us. But here is the point.
If Jerusalem and the Jews were Gods wife and queen in the Old Covenant, who is God’s wife and queen in the New Covenant? (PAUSE). And if Gods original wife (the Jews) could commit adultery, become a harlot and give herself to other lovers (as their world fell apart), what might Gods new wife (the church) do in the last days as the world falls apart? (PAUSE). The only people who have a marriage covenant with God are the Jews and the church? So the only people who can really commit adultery on God are the Jews and the church. But the Jews have already had their day of harlotry and paid the price. So I’m pretty sure the harlot in Revelation is the institutional church. But it is a church that has become 1) so syncretistic; 2) that it’s a bit demonic and witchlike, 3) full of sexual immorality, 4) offering up its children to the beast and to demons – 5) while whitewashing everything – the Bible calls evil. Now I’m not sure if you could IMAGINE a church this bad…
But you now know why the institutional church doesn’t really like preaching on Revelation because there is something they don’t want you to see? THE GREATEST ENEMY of your soul may not be the beast, but the harlot. Of course, EVERY INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH will claim to be the faithful bride of Christ and NOT a harlot. The Roman Catholic Church claimed to be a faithful bride – as they burnt at the stake all the protestants who called for a return to the Bible in the C16th. The Anglican Church then also claimed to be a faithful bride of Christ as they shed the blood of all the puritans who called for greater faithfulness to Gods Word in the C17th. Apparently, locking up good Christians like John Bunyan – who wrote a Pilgrims Progress was faithfulness to God. Apparently, letting the beast kick 2500 ministers out of the Anglican church – the likes of Richard Baxter, John Flavel and Thomas Manton was faithfulness to God. THE POINT IS there have been many times when THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH has prostituted herself to the beast – in such a way as to persecute and kill Gods faithful children. THE HARLOT is not a true friend to the bride of Christ. But perhaps the very worst form of Gods wife becoming a brazen harlot was when the Lutheran Church pledged allegiance to the Nazi’s in the C20th.
At this point a remnant church in Germany (formed a group called the Confessing Church) and they publicly stood in opposition to both the beast of Nazism and the harlot church of Lutheranism. KARL BARTH who wrote up the foundational documents for this faithful remnant – ended up in exile in England. Others like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who were part of this confessing church – ended up dead.
This is how I understand it. God rules the world through THE TWO SWORDS of political authority and spiritual authority. But when the beast of political authority (stops recognizing Gods ultimate authority) it becomes more and more beastly. THEN Gods Queen who has spiritual authority starts acting more and more like a hooker. In order to preserve her own status – she starts to pawn her spiritual authority in exchange for political favours. As the beast becomes more beastly – the harlot is even willing to sacrifice some of her own faithful children – to satisfy the beasts demands. She knows it is wrong. But she hands over whoever the beast demands – protestants, puritans, Jews simply to preserve the fragments of spiritual authority she still possesses. But in the end the beast is a beast. And the beast doesn’t want to share his authority with anyone. (Not two swords. Just one – because he recognizes no higher authority). So he turns and devours the harlot who gets what she deserves. But as the beast turns and begins to devour the harlot – the beast sees little distinction between the harlot and the true bride – and the bloodshed is widespread. And welcome to book of Revelation.
I must say – there is one other element – to THE HARLOT METAPHOR in Revelation – because Isaiah 47 – speaks of the Virgin Daughter of Babylon being a harlot too. Not just Jerusalem. But Babylon. So when we come back to Revelation (next year) we will need to think a little more about the harlot metaphor. But I hope you can now see – that identifying THE HARLOT of Revelation with the institutional church is supported by Scripture…
