Heavenly Jerusalem
God’s Heavenly city has never been visited by any one who returned to tell the story, except for Apostle Paul. John the Revelator had a vision of the New Jerusalem which presently would appear to be closely connected to the Heavenly city and will come down to the earth in the future. The Apostle Paul was so overwhelmed and inspired by the sights he saw that his eloquence was abated and he found it unlawful to tell the beauty he had beheld. His only words about this experience were extremely limited. “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)

The great psalmist gave an anointed and eloquent expression of the Father’s eternal city. David penned these words, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” (Psalm 48:1-3)

After Calvary and the Resurrection the Son of God ascended back to Heavenly Jerusalem and was seated by the Father on His “holy hill” which without doubt is the location of His throne. Again, David received revelation of the prophetic fact long before the event of Christ in redemption. Look at this beautiful prophecy. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalm 2:1-7) The Father said, “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.” The Lord Jesus is presently seated at the Father’s right hand in His city “on His Holy Hill” of Heavenly Jerusalem. He is attired in the Heavenly vestments of the High Priest of God and has full approach into the Holy of Holies of which the earthly counterpart was “O, so great” but only a type of the “most Holy of Holies.”

The great revelation of John, where he “in the Spirit”, saw the reigning priest before the Father’s throne is the highlight of the book of Revelation. He said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:10-18) God then said to John, “write,” and from this scene flows the entire last book of the Bible. The Book of Revelation must be held in uttermost importance because of this scene and all that follows.

God’s Heavenly Jerusalem has never been attacked but once and that was from a conspiracy within. Satan, named earlier with the name of Lucifer, was certainly a beautiful archangel. He appeared to be the chosen vessel of music and praise and probably led the host of angels in the praise of the Great God, our Creator and Sovereign. Out of his own heart arose pride and rebellion and he led an insurgency against God. Satan was apparently in the Garden of Eden when rebellion struck. Isaiah said, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms.” (Isaiah 14:13-16) Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” (Luke 10:18) His final judgment is not far away.

Babylon, Satan’s Choice
There is no question but that Babylon was Satan’s choice of a capital and palace. When Satan was cast out of Eden and Heaven, he set up his kingdom in the mid-air between earth and Heaven so he could constantly challenge everything that represents God and His world. Satan has never been stripped of his angelic powers so he can presently move in both directions. The best way I can describe Satan’s present authority is to say that he is out on bail. The victory of his defeat was settled at the cross and the tomb, but the charges are still pending on appeal. As saints, we are gathering evidence for the trial, and our witness against him must await our resurrection from the dead or by the Rapture. No wonder he hates the truth of the Pre-tribulation Rapture, because we will then become God’s Heavenly elders with authority to assist the Throne of God in final judgment. I tell you that I’m sitting on “ready” for that day.

In the meantime, Satan’s seat is in Babylon and the consort city of Mystery Babylon. The reason that the ancient city of Babylon has laid in ruins for centuries is because of Satan’s trickery. He moved his headquarters to Rome to hide himself behind the religious garb of an imitation pageantry of the false. We’ll further discuss this deception after we understand the ancient city.

The rebuilding of Babylon has been an effort of man to bring order out of chaos. In fact, the entire effort in Iraq to bring peace has been similar. It is happening, but only at great cost to human lives. At God’s timing, an uneasy peace will settle over the area to allow prophecy to be fulfilled. The sad truth is that the population of Iraq is like a pawn in the hands of eternal powers, and their suffering must touch our heartstrings. The ancient city will be rebuilt, but probably the major activities will only occur between the Rapture and the actual beginning of the seven years of the Great Tribulation. Prophetic events do not occur by human design. God is in control. Revelation makes it plain that this city will become the center of the Antichrist kingdom. While his political center will be Babylon, his religious center led by his “false prophet” or, as I call him, his “false spirit” or “false anointing,” will be “Mystery Babylon” or Rome.

Babylon already has a palace for the Antichrist to make his “living quarters.” I believe that Saddam Hussein built this for the Antichrist without knowing the significance. At the present time, the entire complex is a military zone and that itself will demand a multi-nation effort to finish rebuilding the city. Watch the news for such an announcement. Babylon has got to become a great city again. The announcement in prophecy of its judgment demands its glory first. The Word of God said, “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.” (Revelation 18:2-3, 10-11)

Rome, Mystery Babylon
Between 300-600 A.D., while Babylon began its descent, Rome began its rise to become Mystery Babylon. It’s amazing to study the date that Babylon was forsaken and forgotten and Rome was becoming the center of Babylonian pageantry. This has got to be the picture of Satan’s greatest historical accomplishment. Every pagan religion had its inception in Babylon. All the male gods or female goddesses can be traced to Babylon and the effort to replace the God of creation and holiness. Inanna became Isis, Ishtar, Ashtoreth, etc., and the American version, Gaia, the goddess of the earth. Babylon is the seat of Lucifer on earth, but Rome is his clever reproduction under a false name to deceive the world.

Everything that makes the Roman Catholic system unique, from her doctrines to her costumes, and on to all her pageantry, is Babylonian in essence. I have pictures of the mother goddess figurines dating back five thousand years from the museum in Baghdad. The entire idea of Mary, the mother of God, and the worship and prayers offered to her, plus her promise of protection and good luck charm, comes straight out of the pagan religion of Babylon. Anyone that prays to Mary, worships Mary, or visits her deceptive apparitions, is actually worshipping devils in disguise. Not one aspect of the Catholic doctrine concerning Mary comes from the Word of God. Look at the staff that was carried prominently by Pope John Paul II and see the crooked cross with an emaciated Christ, appearing more like a defeated specter instead of a victorious redeemer. That’s the Jesus that needed a co-redemptrix in his mother just like Nimrod of Babylon. Study the fourteen stations of the so-called Via Dolorosa path to the cross and you find much superstition instead of redemption. One station says he photographed his image onto a vial around the neck of a woman worshipper who offered Him water to drink. The story of the “Passion” film had Mary gathering His blood, hair, and pieces of flesh so she could penetrate His tomb with angels, prepare the body back to its original state, and help Jesus be resurrected. All of this is pagan, not Christian.

Rome now claims to be the “eternal city,” but all of this is preposterous. I’m not sure when the claim of calling Rome the eternal city started, but the process certainly began seventeen hundred years ago. This will be part of the reason that the Antichrist will burn Rome to the ground. When the height of the Antichrist kingdom has spread to the world, he will have made Babylon his capital. The Catholic Church and the pope will be furious when Babylon once again becomes the seat of Satan, acting like God, and he calls Babylon the center of his world. The furor will be so hot that the Antichrist will have Rome torched and put out of business. There is no question that the pope and his kingdom of Catholicism truly believes that they are chosen of God. The truth will register only after the fire is lit and Rome goes up in smoke. The Great God is sick of this sham, and He will soon put it in the heart of the false christ to judge her for himself.

Jerusalem, God’s Eternal City
The only “eternal city” in God’s universe is Jerusalem. Our present Jerusalem is in bondage to sin and the denial of Jesus Christ as Messiah, but that is soon to change. As we await the finality of God’s action, we must follow the perfect word of God that is history written in advance. The reason Jerusalem is the eternal city is because it is a reflection of the Heavenly Jerusalem. No city on this earth has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times. The present city sits on ruins many feet deep. Each level of the ruins is a testimony to God’s choice of this city as His own. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. to make way for Rome to claim supremacy. Nothing proves Jerusalem’s special status like the hatred of the world and, especially, every false religion or false empire. Leaders of other empires and religions seek to dominate or possess Jerusalem. If they can do neither, they seek to destroy her. The Catholic crusades were organized and paid for with great sums of money and human lives to take possession of Jerusalem. The Muslim religion has done the very same in its effort to claim Jerusalem. All three major religions, and several different branches of the Christian religion each have a slice of Jerusalem at this very moment.

The prophets of Israel spoke unquestionable truths concerning Jerusalem in the end of human history. They warned the Jewish people of their dark years of wandering over the world, which were forced on them by their persecutors and because of their own sins and rebellion. But, in the end they promised that God would not forget His chosen city or His chosen people. Zechariah prophesied, “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:1-5, 8-10)

When Israel has been redeemed and established in the Promised Land with Jerusalem as the capital, God will make this “Eternal City” a place of beauty for the whole earth. Jesus Christ will reign from Jerusalem, where He will be seated on the Throne of David. The Spirit said, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” (Zechariah 14:4-9) The Lord Himself has chosen Jerusalem. Please read the article by this ministry entitled, “Jerusalem, The Eternal City.” Those that hate Jerusalem or fight against this chosen city do so at the peril of their own soul. The city of Babylon is the antithesis of Jerusalem and Rome is her bastard daughter. Both are soon to be judged and Jerusalem will become the light of the earth. Do not forget that “New Jerusalem” will descend to be fixed above the earthly city after the one thousand years of Christ’s Kingdom on earth. The Bride will possess New Jerusalem, the Jewish nation will possess Jerusalem and the Promised Land, and the saved of eternity will possess the earth.