THIS PEOPLE WILL RISE AND PLAY THE HARLOT . . . AND THEY SHALL BE DEVOURED
Revelation 17-18 shows the climax of God’s judgment on the dwellers on the land—the climax of the covenant curses on God’s unfaithful old covenant people. This is exactly what God told Moses would happen to the children of Israel in the “latter days” of the old covenant.
The above passage presents the basic concept of the harlot in the Old Testament. It is a picture of God’s old covenant people going after the gods and ways of the Gentiles (cf. Ezekiel 16). If we knew our Old Testament as well as we do our New Testament, the meaning of the harlot would be as easy as the meaning of the bride. The two symbols are two sides of the same coin: the harlot speaks of God’s unfaithful covenant people, the bride of God’s faithful covenant people. The harlot of Revelation is unfaithful Israel. The Gentile power she is whoring with—the beast she is sitting on (v. 3)—is Rome.And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured” . . . For I [Moses] know that after my death you [Israel] will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 31:16-17, 29
The idea popular among many scholars that Rome is both the beast and the harlot does not fit the OT motif of the harlot. A Gentile power committing harlotry with itself and then destroying itself does not make sense. It is true that Rome almost destroyed itself in the civil wars of AD 68-69 (cf. Rev. 16:10), but it recovered from those death throes (cf. Rev. 13:3). Harlot Babylon never recovers from her fall (Rev. 18:21). That Babylon is a symbol of the unfaithful old covenant community and its Temple is consistent with the rest of Scripture. It is Jerusalem and her Temple that the Antichrist attacks (Dan. 11:40-45), captures (2 Thess. 2:4), and destroys (Dan. 9:26-27; cf. 12:1-7), not Rome. This is what Revelation 17-18 is showing, the individual beast’s destruction of unfaithful Israel and the old covenant system. Consistent with this, the ultimate day of the Lord (which happens in Revelation 19 right after the beast destroys the harlot, cf. Rev. 16:12-16) was to happen at Jerusalem (Isa. 1-5; Dan. 11:40-12:7; Joel 2:1-11, 3:12-17; Zeph. 1; Zech. 14:1-9). The plagues of harlot Babylon are “. . . pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire . . .” (Rev. 18:8, NASB). These are the torments of a city that undergoes an extended siege and are exactly what happened to Jerusalem in AD 70.
THE OLD TESTAMENT’S USE OF THE HARLOT MOTIF
In the OT the metaphor of the harlot is used of God’s old covenant people whenever they follow after the gods and ways of the Gentile nations. Israel being unfaithful to God’s covenant is like a wife being unfaithful to her covenant of marriage (e.g., Jer. 2:31-32; 3:1; Ezek. 16:32; Hos. 1:2). Chilton writes the following on this:
The only two non-Israelite cities that the Bible refers to as harlots are Tyre and Nineveh. Even these two Gentile cities are consistent with the OT use of the harlot metaphor, however, as both had a form of covenant relationship with God. Tyre even participated in the establishment of the old covenant system, as she assisted in the building of Solomon’s Temple (cf. the materials of 2 Chron. 2:11-14 with Rev. 18:12-13). Chilton notes the following on this:The Biblical motif of the Bride falling into adultery (apostasy) is so well-known that such an identification is all but inescapable. The metaphor of harlotry is exclusively used in the Old Testament of a city or nation that has abandoned the Covenant and turned toward false gods; and with only two exceptions . . . the term is always used for faithless Israel.5
Israel breaking her covenant relationship with Yahweh by going after other gods was like a wife cheating on her husband with other lovers. God went so far as to have the prophet Hosea marry a harlot as an object lesson of what it was like for him to be “married” (i.e., in covenant relationship) to his unfaithful people.It is noteworthy that Tyre and Nineveh—the only two cities outside of Israel that are accused of harlotry—had both been in covenant with God. The kingdom of Tyre in David and Solomon’s time was converted to the worship of the true God and her king contracted a covenant with Solomon and assisted in the building of the Temple (1 Kings 5:1-12; 9:13; Amos 1:9); Nineveh was converted under the ministry of Jonah (Jon. 3:5-10). The later apostasy of these two cities could rightly be considered harlotry.6
When the Lord began to speak by Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea: “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.”
Hosea 1:2
If one is going to follow the Bible’s lead for the meaning of the harlot, it is almost impossible to escape the conclusion that she refers to unfaithful Israel. In the first century the Jews had rejected Jesus and had broken their covenant relationship with God. They had been unfaithful and were about to be judged for it; these were the “citizens” of Babylon. The rejection and murder of Jesus (cf. 1 Thess. 2:14-16) was the ultimate form of harlotry. It was one thing for unfaithful Israel to cheat on her husband with other gods; it was quite another thing to have her husband killed. Notice that the harlot of Revelation is a widow (Rev. 18:7). With the killing of Jesus, faithless Israel went from a queen (Matt. 21:5) to a widow and was guilty of all the blood shed on the land (Rev. 18:24; cf. Matt. 23:29-38).
EZEKIEL 16
I earlier touched on how Revelation parallels the sequence of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 16 and 23 provide the backdrop for the harlot motif in Revelation 17. Ezekiel 16 is especially important; in that chapter God, in recounting the harlotries of Jerusalem, says the following:
In Ezekiel 16:37 God says the following about the judgment that would come on harlot Jerusalem: “Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may all see your nakedness.” Ezekiel goes on to say how Jerusalem’s lovers would destroy her “with fire,” executing God’s judgments on her (Ezek. 16:39-41; cf. Ezek. 23:22-27). Having done that, God’s anger would be finished (Ezek. 16:42; cf. Rev. 15:1). This is what happens to the harlot in Revelation 17; she is stripped naked and burned with fire as a fulfillment of God’s judgment.“You built your high places at the head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger. Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied. How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord God, “seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot. You erected your shrine at the head of every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned payment. You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband.”
Ezekiel 16:25-32
Ezekiel 16 also has a connection to Revelation 17-18 in terms of the items associated with the harlot. In Ezekiel 16 the dress and food of harlot Jerusalem contain references to the furnishings of the tabernacle and its offerings. In Revelation the “merchandise” of the harlot city alludes to the furnishings and offerings of the Temple (Rev. 18:12-13). Beale notes the following on this:And the ten horns which you saw on the beast these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
Revelation 17:16-17
The harlot is arrayed in the colors of the Temple (Rev. 17:4-5; 18:16; cf. Exod. 25:1-8), which are also the colors of the most sacred apparel of the high priest (Exod. 39:1-31). The merchandise of Babylon in Revelation 18:12-13 consists of the articles used in the Temple buildings (v. 12) and in its offerings and sacrifices (v. 13). As Carrington correctly notes, “The long list of merchandise in 18:11-13 is surely a catalogue of materials for building the Temple, and stores for maintaining it.”8Also relevant [to the merchandise of Babylon in Rev. 18] is the description in Ezek. 16:13 of God’s adornment of Israel (“you were adorned with gold and silver . . . your clothing was fine linen and silk . . . you ate fine flour and oil . . . .”), who then sinned and “trusted in her beauty and played the harlot” (v 15). The nation whom God chose to be a kingdom of priests and whom God adorned for that function prostituted itself. Ezek. 16:13 mentions six of the products listed in Rev. 18:12-13 . . . the parallels are sufficient to suggest that the Ezekiel description may have supplemented those from Exodus [25] in influencing the language of Rev. 18:12-13, 16. This is put beyond doubt by Ezek. 16:23, where the prophet announces “woe, woe” to harlot Israel because of her idolatry. Here we have the probable inspiration for the double woe in Rev. 18:16 (cf. Ezek. 16:24-34).7 (emphasis in original)
WHAT ABOUT ROME?
Those who say that harlot Babylon was the city of Rome (the most common identification of Babylon by commentators)9 are being inconsistent with the Bible’s use of the harlot metaphor. Consider the following by Aune. While he sees the harlot as being Rome, he admits that this position is inconsistent with the predominant scriptural use of the harlot motif:
Aune provides a convincing summation of why the harlot motif speaks of unfaithful Israel and then proceeds to disregard his own evidence! He justifies this because “in a very few places” the motif is used differently. That is a less than convincing argument. Even in the two places where the motif is used differently, he admits the references have more to do with the effects of the harlotry on Israel than either Tyre or Nineveh! Aune at least acknowledges that “the great city” (which is how harlot Babylon is referenced, cf. Rev. 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19) refers to Jerusalem earlier in Revelation. He writes, “The phrase ‘the great city’ occurs in 11:8, where it clearly refers to Jerusalem. This is part of the larger argument advanced by several scholars that Jerusalem, not Rome, is addressed in Rev 18.”11 That the reference to the great city in Revelation would change to a different city makes little sense.In the OT the term zana, “fornicate, be a prostitute” is frequently used in a figurative sense of Israel’s faithless behavior toward Yahweh as manifested in her frequent lapses into idolatry. This is based on the analogy of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel and marriage contracts (Lev 17:7; 20:5-6; Num 14:33; 15:39; Deut 31:16; Judg 2:17; 8:27; 1 Chr 5:25; 2 Chr 21:11; Ps 73:27), a metaphor found with particular frequency in the prophets Hosea (1:2; 2:4 [MT:6]; 4:15; 9:1), Jeremiah (2:20; 3:2,9,13: 5:7,11; 13:27), and Ezekiel (6:9; 16; 23; 43:7,9) . . . Considered against this OT background, the metaphor of sexual immorality appears at first sight to have little to do with the author’s condemnation of Babylon-Rome. In a very few places in the OT, however, there are instances in which the commercial trade of a city is described with the metaphor of prostitution . . . doubtless because economic relationships frequently led to the exchange of religious practices (Mic 1:7; Nah 3:4; 2 Kgs 9:22). In Isa 23:17, Tyre’s commercial contacts are called “prostitution,” and the profits of such trade are called “the price of a prostitute” (similar language is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:4). However, the historical context of both Isa 23:17 and Nah 3:4 suggests that neither prophet is interested in Tyre or Nineveh in themselves; rather the prophets condemn the negative influences the cities have exerted on the Near East, particularly on Israel.10
As impressive a work of scholarship as Aune’s commentary on Revelation is (3 volumes, 1,354 pages!), he is making a fundamental mistake by divorcing the interpretation of the image of the harlot in Revelation from its predominant OT usage. To Aune’s credit, he acknowledges that the weight of scriptural evidence comes down strongly on the side of identifying the harlot with unfaithful Israel (something many interpreters ignore or gloss over). It does not make sense that one as steeped in the OT as the author of Revelation is would use the motif of the harlot in a way that is almost totally inconsistent with its OT usage.12 The most important way for one to stay on track in understanding the images in Revelation is to stay as consistent as possible with their use in the rest of Scripture.
It would seem that scholars are so used to telling each other that Babylon is Rome that they are not fazed by the lack of scriptural support. Wright notes that some scholars are actually hostile to anyone who says the harlot is not Rome.
Saying the harlot is unfaithful Israel is hardly an exegetical peculiarity. It is not a tangential notion driven by the quest for a novel interpretation. Quite to the contrary, given the consistent OT portrayal of the harlot as God’s unfaithful old covenant people, apostate Israel should be the starting point in one’s examination of harlot Babylon. In regard to this, consider one of the conclusions that Wright comes to in his study of the Gospels:Recent commentators (e.g., Massyngberde Ford, 1975) have suggested the great and wicked city [of Rev. 17-19] is not Rome but Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 11:8). I have discovered that this suggestion arouses anger in some circles, which is not explained simply as annoyance at an exegetical peculiarity (plenty of those are to be found in all the journals, but they merely arouse curiosity). What is at stake here, and for whom?13
Wright notes that his conclusion “may be held by some to carry implications for the reading of Rev. 17-19”15 (i.e., that Babylon = Jerusalem). Note that when Jesus speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in the Olivet Discourse, he is using the language from the sixth-century BC destruction of Babylon (cf. Mark 13:24 with Isa. 13:10; in both places cosmic catastrophe is used to symbolize the fall of the respective nations, cf. Rev. 16:10).16 Wright notes the following on this: “This, then, is what it means to say that ‘the sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars will not give their light’ (Mark 13:24). It means ‘Babylon will fall—an earth-shattering event!’”17 Just as ancient Babylon had destroyed God’s Temple and persecuted God’s people, so unfaithful Israel had destroyed God’s ultimate Temple—Jesus—and was persecuting God’s people (Matt. 23:29-38; 1 Thess. 2:14-16; Rev. 17:6; 18:24). As Jesus said to the Jews, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19-21; cf. Matt. 12:6; Rev. 21:22).When we read through the synoptic tradition (and John, for that matter) we find a great deal of warning of coming judgment, in all strands of the traditions, and all pointing in one direction. Jesus, I shall now argue, predicted that judgment would fall on the nation [of Israel] in general and on Jerusalem in particular. That is to say, he reinterprets a standard Jewish belief (the coming judgment which would fall on the nations) in terms of a coming judgment which would fall on impenitent Israel. The great prophets had done exactly the same. Jerusalem, under its present regime, had become Babylon.14
While identifying the harlot with Jerusalem is essentially correct, it must be remembered that Revelation is dealing in symbols: the harlot-city represents a community of people. As Johnson notes, “John’s use of the word ‘city’ from its first occurrence in 3:12 is symbolic . . . A city may be [used as] a metaphor for the total life of a community of people (Heb. 11:10, 12:22; 13:14).”18 While she was seated in Jerusalem (in the Temple) and was destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the harlot represented all of unfaithful Israel, not just the city of Jerusalem. She is similar to Uncle Sam (a personification of the United States). While it could be said that Uncle Sam is seated in Washington, D.C., he represents all of America, not just the city of Washington.19
THE HARLOT REPLACED BY THE NEW JERUSALEM
With the harlot burned in chapters 17-19, Revelation shows the waters of life flowing in the New Jerusalem in chapters 21 (v. 6) and 22 (vv. 1-5, 17). Zechariah 14:8 shows this time when living waters would flow from Jerusalem. It would happen at the AD 70 capture of physical Jerusalem. Zechariah 14 says that on the day of the Lord, the city of Jerusalem would be captured and its women raped (cf. Isa. 3:16-4:6). The defeat of Jerusalem would be so complete that the invaders (the Romans) would feel perfectly at ease dividing up the spoils in the midst of the city.
It was at this time that God would come and deliver his true people, the remnant (Zech. 14:3-11; cf. Matt. 24:36-44). If God is talking about delivering physical Jerusalem here, he was tragically late. The city had just been plundered and its inhabitants—as well as the whole land—left desolate (cf. Zech. 13:8-9; Isa. 3:16-26). All that was left in physical Jerusalem was a remnant of raped women (v. 2). It was not physical Jerusalem that was delivered at this time (AD 70); rather, it was the New Jerusalem bride. This was the meek and humble people who would be left in the midst of Jerusalem (cf. Isa. 4:1-3; Zeph. 3:12; Matt. 5:5). This was the Jerusalem that would no longer have unclean people in her from this time on (Zech. 14:20-21; cf. Rev. 21:27).Behold the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 14:1-2
Consistent with this, Paul said the New Jerusalem and her children would receive their inheritance at the time old Jerusalem and her children were cast out (Gal. 4:24-31; cf. Matt. 8:11-12). Thus, while the Jerusalem in Zechariah 14:2 in which the raped women are found is clearly physical Jerusalem, according to Revelation the Jerusalem of Zechariah 14:8 that the “living waters” flow out of is the New Jerusalem, the bride (Rev. 21:9-10). In support of this, consider the following on these two sections; I have added A-C for points of comparison.
LIVING WATERS IN JERUSALEMAnd in that day [A] living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site . . . People will live in it, and (B) there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security . . . And [C] there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.
Zechariah 14:8-11, 21 NASB
But [C] there shall by no means enter it [the New Jerusalem] anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And he showed me a pure [A] river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And (B) there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
Revelation 21:27-22:3
It is the New Jerusalem bride, not physical Jerusalem, which has the waters of life (Rev. 22:1-2). It is the New Jerusalem that would be raised up (on a mountain) at this time (Zech. 14:10; Rev. 21:9-10). It is the New Jerusalem in which there would “no longer be a curse” (Rev. 22:3). It is the New Jerusalem that would have nothing impure in it (Rev. 21:27). All this would happen at the AD 70 desolation of physical Jerusalem (cf. Dan. 11:40-12:13).
The living waters that flow from Jerusalem which Zechariah 14:8 speaks of are not literal waters in physical Jerusalem that will flow sometime in the future; they are symbolic of the life-giving properties of God’s Holy Spirit that are flowing today!
And behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work . . . And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
Revelation 22:12, 17; cf. Matt. 16:27-28
The life-giving properties of water from rain that would be withheld from those who would not worship the Lord from this time forward (Zech. 14:16-21) speak of the water of life that is withheld from those who are not part of the bride today—those outside the walls of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14-15). Zechariah (14:3-7) says that after physical Jerusalem was thoroughly defeated, God would come and fight for his people. This is shown in Revelation 17-19 where the Word of God comes to defeat the beast (Rev. 19:11-21) right after the beast has desolated the harlot city (Rev. 17:16).
Notice that the time when living waters would flow out of the New Jerusalem would be the time when the Lord was king over the whole earth (Zech. 14:9). This is speaking of the AD 70 full establishment of the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45; 7:21-27). It would happen at the destruction of those who were morally destroying the land of Israel (Rev. 11:15-18).
Many places in the OT speak of both the destruction and deliverance of God’s people in the same context. God’s enemies would be destroyed while his servants would be rewarded (e.g., Isaiah 3-4, 65-66; Ezekiel 16; Dan. 9:24-27, 12:1-7; Hosea 2). The NT reveals that this is speaking of the AD 70 destruction of God’s unfaithful old covenant people at the full establishment of his new covenant people and kingdom (e.g., Matt. 8:10-12, 21:33-45, 22:1-10; Gal. 4:21-31). Consider the first chapter of Isaiah:
Jerusalem would go from a “harlot” city (v. 21; cf. Rev. 17:1) to “the city of righteousness” (v. 26; cf. the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21:27); this would happen at the time of God’s fiery judgment on his unfaithful people (vv. 25-26, 31). This is what Revelation shows: harlot Jerusalem is purged by fire (Rev. 19:1-9) and then there is a renewed Jerusalem—the New Jerusalem bride. The unfaithful old covenant wife is destroyed and the faithful new covenant bride becomes married (cf. Matt. 22:1-10).How the faithful city has become a harlot! It was full of justice; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, nor does the cause of the widow come before them. Therefore the Lord says, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, “Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries, and take vengeance on My enemies. I will turn My hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy. I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness. The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
Isaiah 1:21-28
THE DESTRUCTION OF GOD’S UNFAITHFUL WIFE FOLLOWED
BY HIS MARRIAGE TO HIS TRUE PEOPLE IN HOSEA 2
The second chapter of Hosea shows the same narrative found in Revelation 17-19—God destroys his harlot wife and then marries a faithful bride:
God said he would not have mercy on the children of his harlot wife (v. 4); instead he would cause her feast days to cease (vv. 10-11). Although initially given in reference to the northern kingdom of Israel, the ultimate fulfillment of this happened in AD 70 with the end of the Temple and sacrificial system. Notice that this would be the time of the coming of God (v. 9). Hosea said at that time—when Israel was in the wilderness— God would enter into a more intimate marriage relationship (v. 16) with his people, who would now be composed of those who were formerly not his people (v. 23). In regard to this, note that both the harlot and the bride are in the wilderness in Revelation (Rev. 12:13-17; 17:3; cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-11). One will die there; the other will become married.Bring charges against your mother, bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband! Let her put her harlotries from her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and expose her, as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. I will not have mercy on her children, for they are the children of harlotry . . . Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time and My new wine in its season, and will take back My wool and My linen, given to cover her nakedness. Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her from My hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, her Sabbaths—all her appointed feasts . . . [after that] I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her. And it shall be, in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me “My Husband” and no longer “My Master” . . . I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy . . . Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, “You are My people!” And they shall say, “You are my God!”
Hosea 2:2-4, 9-11, 14, 16, 19, 23
Some would argue that Hosea is speaking about physical Israel here, not new covenant believers. It should be remembered, however, that believers have become part of true Israel (Rom. 11:13-24; Rom. 9:6-33; Rev. 3:9). Jesus would be responsible for “the fall and rising of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34). Furthermore, the NT explicitly applies Hosea’s reference to “those who were not My people” that God would marry (Hos. 2:23) to new covenant believers:
Peter is taking the reference to the people God would marry in Hosea 2:23 and applying it to new covenant believers. Note also that Peter applies God’s description of national Israel in Exodus 19 (“If ye will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people . . . a royal priesthood and a holy nation” vv. 5-6 LXX) to new covenant believers. The clear point being that believers have become part of covenant Israel. God would marry his new covenant wife at the time he slew the children of his harlot old covenant wife (Hos. 2:3-4).Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builder rejected has become the chief cornerstone” and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:7-10
Paul gives a similar interpretation of Hosea 2 in Romans 9:6-29 where he talks about the vessels of wrath (God’s unfaithful old covenant people) versus the vessels of mercy (God’s new covenant people). Paul explicitly says that Hosea 2’s reference to those whom God would betroth forever (vv. 19-23) is a reference to God’s new covenant people:
Thus, according to both Peter and Paul it was new covenant believers that God would betroth to himself forever; this is the true Israel (composed of Jews and Gentiles, Gal. 6:15-16) that God would marry. The coming of God (Hos. 2:9; cf. Isa. 66:14-24; Dan. 7:21-22; Matt. 21:37-41; Rev. 19:11-21) would be the time when the feast days of the harlot would stop (Hos. 2:9-13) and true Israel, the bride, would become married forever (Hos. 2:16-20). This happened at the AD 70 Second Advent at the destruction of Jerusalem and the old covenant order.What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says in Hosea, “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Romans 9:22-26
Endnotes:
5. Chilton, Days of Vengeance, 421.
6. Ibid., 424.
7. Beale, Book of Revelation, 912.
8. Carrington, Meaning of Revelation, 287.
9. Gentry, Navigating the Book of Revelation, 133-34.
10. Aune, Revelation 17-22, 930-31.
11. Ibid., 997. In spite of Jerusalem being designated as “the great city” in Rev.11:8, Aune thinks Rome is “the great city” in Rev. 17-18. The scholars that Aune cites who see Babylon as Jerusalem are the following: Ford, Introduction, Translation and Commentary, Anchor Bible Commentary, 38, 1975, 285-86. A.J. Beagley, The ‘Sitz im Leben’ of the Apocalypse with Particular Reference of the Role of the Church’s Enemies BANW 50 (Berlin, New York: de Gruyter, 1987), 92-102. I. Provan, “Foul Spirits, Fornication and Finance: Revelation 18 from an Old Testament Perspective,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 64 (1996), 81-100.
12. Ultimately the author of Revelation was God, not John.
13. N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Christian Origins and the Question of God, vol. 2 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), footnote 358.
14. Ibid., 322-23.
15. Ibid., 358.
16. See my discussion of the symbolic use of cosmic catastrophe in volume one, 254-60.
17. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, 354.
18. Johnson, Revelation, 112.
19. Uncle Sam (initials U.S.) is a personification of the United States. While Uncle Sam is centered in Washington, D.C., he symbolizes all of America, not just Washington. So it is with the harlot in Revelation. She was centered in Jerusalem (in the Temple) but she represented all those of Israel who rejected Jesus, not just the city of Jerusalem (cf. Hos. 1:2).