Babylon as Apostate Israel in Revelation

 

The identity of the mysterious "Babylon the Great" in the Book of Revelation has been a subject of intense theological debate for centuries. While the historical interpretation pointing to first-century pagan Rome is powerful and compelling, a close exegetical analysis of Revelation 14-19 reveals a profound layer of meaning that identifies Babylon not with an external pagan empire, but with the internal corruption of Apostate Israel—the Jewish religious system that had rejected its Messiah and entered into a covenant with the Roman world. This view argues that John, writing to a predominantly Jewish-Christian audience, employs the Old Testament’s most potent imagery for Jerusalem’s judgment to reveal the tragic fate of the nation that had become the new Babylon.

The Foundation: Old Testament Typology and Covenantal Adultery

The primary evidence for this view is rooted in John’s consistent use of Old Testament prophecy. "Babylon" is not merely a code word for Rome; it is the archetypal enemy of God’s people. By labeling Jerusalem as "Babylon," John is executing a stunning theological reversal: the city that was once the victim of Babylon had now become its spiritual successor. This is not a new concept in Scripture. The prophets consistently lambasted Israel and Judah for acting like the nations they were supposed to oppose. Isaiah called Jerusalem "Sodom and Gomorrah" (Isaiah 1:10); Ezekiel declared that Jerusalem’s sins were worse than those of Samaria and Sodom (Ezekiel 16:46-52). And remember that Israel finds it origins in Babylon, Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees, and he is called an Amorite in Ezekiel 16:1-3. The Amorites were the founders of the Babylonian Empire. The famous Hammurabi was an Amorite, Arameans, the tribe from which Abraham came were a subgroup of the Amorites. So, in this view John is arguing that in rejecting God Israel has gone back to its origins, as well, as Peter argues happens with those who reject the knowledge of Christ,  

“20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire” (2 Peter 2:20-22).

In Revelation, this theme of covenantal adultery is central. The great harlot is described as committing "fornication" with the kings of the earth (Rev 17:2). Throughout the Old Testament, this metaphor is used almost exclusively for God’s people, Israel, when they forsake their exclusive covenant with Yahweh to pursue idols and political alliances (Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6-9; Ezekiel 16:15-34; Hosea 2:2-5). The very charge of being a "harlot" is a direct indictment against Jerusalem’s spiritual unfaithfulness.

The Blood of the Saints

One of the most damning charges against Babylon is that she is "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev 17:6). While Rome certainly persecuted Christians, the New Testament places the primary responsibility for the persecution of the early church—the "saints" and "martyrs of Jesus" known to John’s original audience—squarely on the authorities in Jerusalem.

Jesus himself indicted the religious leaders of Israel for this very crime,  

“34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,[f] whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Matt. 23:34-39). 

Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was executed by a Sanhedrin-sanctioned mob (Acts 7:54-60). James the brother of John was killed by Herod Agrippa, a client-king of Rome who acted to please the Jewish leaders (Acts 12:1-3). Saul (Paul) persecuted the church "to the death" under the authority of the high priest (Acts 9:1-2; 22:4-5). For John’s readers, the entity most directly guilty of shedding the blood of the prophets, Jesus, and his followers was Apostate Israel.

This theme traces all the way back into the Old Testament as well,

““9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:9-13).

There is a very strong case from scripture that the city that persecutes the prophets and saints, when John wrote Revelation, was Israel. Especially if it was written in the ad 60’s, but the case is still strong even with a later date as the Jewish leaders continued to stir up persecution of the Church beyond the New Testament era. 

The Wine of Her Wrath: Covenant Curses and Economic Language

The economic language used to describe Babylon’s fall in Revelation 18 is often cited as proof of its Roman identity. However, this language is also deeply evocative of Old Testament prophecies against Jerusalem. The list of cargo in Revelation 18:11-13 mirrors the description of Tyre’s wealth in Ezekiel 27, but it also includes two shocking items: "slaves, and human lives" (or "the bodies and souls of men"). This echoes Jeremiah’s condemnation of Jerusalem’s leaders: "But your eyes and your heart are only on your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence" (Jeremiah 22:17). The religious system of first-century Israel, particularly the high-priestly families, was notoriously corrupt and economically exploitative, turning the Temple into a "den of robbers" (Matthew 21:13). Their "merchandising" involved the oppression of the poor and the corruption of worship for financial gain. Their "slavery" was the spiritual bondage of legalism they enforced (Matthew 23:4).

Furthermore, the call for God’s people to "Come out of her, my people" (Rev 18:4) is a direct echo of the prophets’ calls to flee from Babylon (Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6, 45). Yet it also parallels Jesus’s urgent warnings to his followers to flee Jerusalem before its coming judgment (Matthew 24:15-16). The "wine of the passion of her sexual immorality" (Rev 18:3) that she gave the nations is the export of her corrupt, Christ-rejecting religion, which both the Pharisees and Paul identified as a form of slavery (Galatians 4:25).

The adornment of the whore of Babylon also reflects the adornment of the priests in the temple. We read in Exodus 28 about the fine clothing that was to be made for the high priest of Israel, including fine purple robes, 

“4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests. 5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. 6 “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked” (Ex. 28:4-6). 

“15 You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it—of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen shall you make it. 16 It shall be square and doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle shall be the first row; 18 and the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes” (Ex. 28:15-21).

Of course, their adornments were meant to be holy and good. However, the religion of Israel had become corrupted and therefore had become a mockery of God’s holy faith. This adds further credence to the identity of the woman with Apostate Israel that was judged in the first century.

The City on Seven Hills

Proponents of the Roman view rightly note that Rome was famously known as the city on seven hills (Rev 17:9). However, Jerusalem was also symbolically associated with seven hills (Zion, Akra, Bezetha, etc.), and more importantly, the number seven holds deep symbolic meaning in Revelation for completeness and covenant fulfillment.

Conclusion: A Tale of Two Cities

What makes this even more compelling is that throughout the whole Bible God compares the apostate people of God to a prostitute and the faithful people of God to a righteous bride and we see this comparison at the end of Revelation. Revelation 17-18 presents the whore, and Revelation 19 presents the bride. The whore is judged, but the bride is vindicated. This reflects Jesus’ imagery in the parable of the wise and unwise virgins (Matt. 25:1-12). Which is a comparison between God’s faithful and unfaithful people.

And of course in Revelation 11:8 “the great city” is identified with the city “where their Lord was crucified”. And throughout the rest of Revelation “the great city” is identified as Babylon. There is no reference to plural great cities in Revelation, only one, and it is clearly Jerusalem according to Revelation 11. There is just too much crossover for this interpretation not to be superior reading of the text. 

Interpreting Babylon as Apostate Israel does not negate the reality of Roman persecution, either. Rather, it reveals a deeper, more tragic spiritual reality. Revelation presents a cosmic conflict between two cities: the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, and Babylon, the mother of harlots. The great shock of this interpretation is that the mother of harlots is not initially a pagan city, but the unfaithful covenant people of God.

This view makes profound sense of the intense Old Testament imagery, the specific charge of killing the prophets and saints, and the language of covenantal adultery. It explains why God’s people are called to "come out of her"—a call to separate from a corrupt religious system that had rejected the Messiah. The destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in AD 70 becomes, in this prophetic lens, the historical outworking of God’s judgment on this spiritual Babylon, using the beast (Rome) to destroy the harlot (Apostate Israel) (Rev 17:16-17). Ultimately, this interpretation serves as a timeless warning: that the people of God are always in danger of becoming Babylon if they exchange faithfulness to the Lamb for power, wealth, and compromise with the world. Hence, we must make sure they we cling to our faith in Christ and do not fall into the temptation of being of this world.