Spiritual Fornication of Babylon: An important feature of Babylon (false Christianity) is that, as a harlot, she commits fornication with the kings of the earth (politics) as well as all the inhabitants of the earth. They are all made drunk with her fornication. Spiritual fornication is the worship of other gods and idols, which can be summed up as ‘worldliness’ (love of this world instead of love for God). The fornication of Babylon is prophetically tied to the Abomination of Desolation discussed in the Olivet discourse (Mat 24, Mk 13, Lk 21). Click on video link or continue with study below.

Fornication (Whoredom / Harlotry – Rev 17:1-2, 17:18, 18:3, 18:9, 19:2)

Spiritual Fornication Verses in the Old Testament

Spiritual Fornication Verses in the New Testament

Kings of the earth (leaders in the world)

Inhabitants of the Earth

Balaam and Jezebel

The ‘cup’ connection – Jer 51:7 and Rev 17:4 – Babylon was a Servant of God

Mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5)

Mother of Harlots

Abominations of the earth

Idolatry in the New Testament

Abomination of desolation in the holy place (church) / Jerusalem encompassed / Captivity

Babylon, the Harlot (Rev 17:1, 17:5)

Summary: A symbol of the apostate church of God that has rebelled by serving other gods and idols

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: (Rev 17:1)
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:4-5)

The most distinctive description of Babylon is that of a Whore (same root word as fornication, Greek: porneia). The noun ‘whore’ (or harlot) is used throughout the Bible primarily to describe people who identify with Jehovah God, in name, but have rebelled from God and have joined themselves to serve other gods and idols in contradiction to the first two commandments (Ex 20:3-6). Other gods and idols refer to whatever a person worships or mostly values in their life (which could include money, false teaching about the true God, materialism, family, accomplishments, power, fun, cars, boats, work, sports, wisdom, new age philosophy, etc., etc.). Notably, we find that greediness is a form of idolatry (Col 3:5).

Israel in the wilderness (God’s church of the Old Testament – see Acts 7:38) was called a harlot because Israel rebelled from God and as a result, did not enter into the promised-land. Israel was caused to wander 40 years in the wilderness (Num 14:33) for her whoredoms. In Num 25:1, as influenced by Balaam (Num 31:15-16, 1 Cor 10:8), we find that Israel pursued whoredom by joining themselves to the daughters of Moab and bowed down to the gods of Moab (Num 25:1-3). Israel, at this time, joined themselves with Baal-peor, providing an example of whoredom by the worshiping of other gods.

Similarly, the northern 10 tribes (called Israel) and the southern two tribes (called Judah) also committed abominable whoredom just as their fathers did (Eze 20:30). Ezekiel 16 provides a history of the whore Israel and records her whoredoms she committed with idols of other gods (Eze 16:17, 36). In Ezekiel 23, Israel and Judah are signified by two sisters (Oholah and Oholibah), which committed great whoredoms against God because of their service to false gods and idols.

In the book of Hosea, Israel is recognized as being an adulterous whore (Hos 3:3, Hos 4:10-18, Hos 5:3-4, Hos 6:10, Hos 9:1) in that she rebelled from God’s holy path. Hosea was told to marry a whore (Gomer), which symbolized the nation of Israel (Hos 1:2, Hos 2:2-5, Hos 3:3, Hos 4:10-15, Hos 4:18).

There are many other references to Israel / Judah being considered as an adulterous whore, which represented their going after false gods and idols (Eze 6:9, 43:9, Jer 3:1-9, 5:7, 2 Ki 9:22, 2 Chr 21:11-15, Ex 34:15-16, Deut 31:16, Judges 2:16-17, Micah 1:7, Pr 7:10, Ps 73:27, Ps 106:39, Lev 17:7, Is 1:21, etc.)

Nineveh – We find in Nahum 3:4 (see also Nah 1:1) that Nineveh is referred to as a whore as well. The book of Jonah records that the city of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah and Jehovah God spared them (i.e., a portrait of salvation to the Gentiles). At this time, the people of Nineveh became Jehovah God’s people due to their repentance (Jonah 3:6-10, Jonah 4:10-11, Mat 12:41). The people of Nineveh became a great example of God’s salvation plan for all His chosen gentile people, not just those of the heritage of Israel. However, within just a few generations, the city had returned to worship false gods and therefore, was considered as a whore, since they rebelled from Jehovah God.

Based on the above, it can be concluded that a whore (harlot) in the Bible can spiritually refer to a group of people who were considered God’s people, but rebelled and pursued other gods and idols.

Fornication (Whoredom / Harlotry – Rev 17:1-2, 17:18, 18:3, 18:9, 19:2)

Commits fornication with kings of the earth who are held under her control (Rev 17:1-2, 17:18, 18:3, 18:9, 19:2)

Spiritual Fornication

From a spiritual perspective, and as discussed above, fornication (Greek: porneia) involves intercourse with other gods and idols. That is, spiritual fornication is violating the first and second commandments of God to not have any other gods before Him, nor worship any idols o anything in heaven, earth or sea. The noun ‘whore’ (or harlot – i.e., one who fornicates) is used throughout the Bible primarily to describe people who identify with Jehovah God, in name, but have rebelled from God and have joined themselves to other gods and idols. Other gods and idols refer to whatever a person worships or mostly values in their life (which could include money, materials, family, accomplishments, power, fund, cars, boats, work, sports, philosophy, etc., etc.).

Israel in the wilderness (God’s church of the Old Testament – see Acts 7:38) was called a harlot because they rebelled and did not enter into the promised-land. Israel was to wander 40 years in the wilderness (Num 14:33) for her whoredoms). Similarly, the northern 10 tribes called Israel and southern two tribes called Judah also committed abominable whoredom just as their fathers did (Eze 20:30). Ezekiel 16 provides a history of the whore Israel and records her whoredoms she committed with idols of other gods (Eze 16:17, 36). In Ezekiel 23, Israel and Judah are signified by two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah) which committed great whoredoms against God. In the book of Hosea, Israel is recognized as being an adulterous whore (Hos 3:3, 4:10-15-18, 5:3-4, 6:10, 9:1) in that she rebelled from God’s holy path. Hosea was told to marry a whore (Gomer), which symbolized the nation of Israel (Hos 1:2, 2:2-5, 3:3, 4:10-15,18). There are many other references to Israel / Judah being considered as an adulterous whore, which represented their going after false gods and idols (Eze 6:9, 43:9, Jer 3:1-9, 5:7, 2 Ki 9:22, 2 Chr 21:11-15, Ex 34:15-16, Deut 31:16, Judges 2:16-17, Micah 1:7, Pr 7:10, Ps 73:27, 106:39, Lev 17:7, Is 1:21, etc.)

Spiritual Fornication Verses in the Old Testament

Hebrew words zanah (H2181), zanun (H2183) and zenuth (H2184):

And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? (Gen 34:31)
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. (Gen 38:15)
And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. (Gen 38:24)
Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; (Exo 34:15)
And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. (Exo 34:16)
And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations. (Lev 17:7)
Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. (Lev 19:29)
Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. (Lev 20:5)
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. (Lev 20:6)
They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God. (Lev 21:7)
And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. (Lev 21:9)
A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. (Lev 21:14)
And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. (Num 14:33)
And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: (Num 15:39)
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. (Num 25:1)
Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among (Deu 22:21)
Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deu 23:18)
And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. (Deu 31:16)
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot’s house, named Rahab, and lodged there. (Jos 2:1)
And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. (Jos 6:17)
But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.(Jos 6:22)
And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Jos 6:25)
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. (Jdg 2:17)
And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. (Jdg 8:27)
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. (Jdg 8:33)
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. (Jdg 11:1)
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. (Jdg 16:1)
And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months. (Jdg 19:2)
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. (1Ki 3:16)
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? (2Ki 9:22)
And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before (1Ch 5:25)
Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused()the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah (2Ch 21:11)
But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made()Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father’s house, which were better than thyself: (2Ch 21:13)
For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. (Psa 73:27)
Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions. Psa 106:39)
For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. (Pro 6:26)
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (Pro 7:10)
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. (Pro 23:27)
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his (Pro 29:3)
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. (Isa 1:21)
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. (Isa 23:15)
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. (Isa 23:16)
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. (Isa 23:17)
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. (Isa 57:3)
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. (Jer 2:20)
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD. (Jer 3:1)
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. (Jer 3:2)
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. (Jer 3:3)
The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
(Jer 3:6)
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. (Jer 3:8)
And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. (Jer 3:9)
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. (Jer 5:7)
I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be? (Jer 13:27)
And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. (Eze 6:9)
But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. (Eze 16:15)
And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be (Eze 16:16)
Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, (Eze 16:17)
Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. (Eze 16:26)
Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. (Eze 16:28)
How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; (Eze 16:30)
In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; (Eze 16:31)
They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. (Eze 16:33)
And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. (Eze 16:34)
Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: (Eze 16:35)
And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. (Eze 16:41)
Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? (Eze 20:30)
And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. (Eze 23:3)
And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours, (Eze 23:5)
And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her (Eze 23:11)
Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt. (Eze 23:19)
Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more. (Eze 23:27)
And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms. (Eze 23:29)
I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols. (Eze 23:30)
Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them? (Eze 23:43)
Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women. (Eze 23:44)
And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places. (Eze 43:7)
Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. (Eze 43:9)
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. (Hos 1:2)
The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. (Hos 1:2)
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; (Hos 2:2)
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. (Hos 2:4)
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. (Hos 2:5)
And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. (Hos 3:3)
For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD. (Hos 4:10)
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. (Hos 4:11)
My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. (Hos 4:12)
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. (Hos 4:13)
I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall. (Hos 4:14)
Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear, The LORD liveth. (Hos 4:15)
Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. (Hos 4:18)
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled. (Hos 5:3)
They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD. (Hos 5:4)
I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled. (Hos 6:10)
Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor. (Hos 9:1)
And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. (Joe 3:3)
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. (Amo 7:17)
And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. (Mic 1:7)
Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. (Nah 3:4)

Spiritual Fornication Verses in the New Testament

Greek words porneia (G4202), porneuo (G4203), porne (G4204), pornos (G4205)

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.(Mat 5:32)
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: (Mat 15:19)
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. (Mat 19:9)
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. (Mat 21:31)
For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. (Mat 21:32)
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (Mar 7:21)
But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. (Luk 15:30)
Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even (Joh 8:41)
But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from (Act 15:20)
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Act 15:29)
As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. (Act 21:25)
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, (Rom 1:29)
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. (1Co 5:1)
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. (1Co 6:13)
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. (1Co 6:15)
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one (1Co 6:16)
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. (1Co 6:18)
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: (1Co 5:9)
Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. (1Co 5:10)
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. (1Co 5:11)
()Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (1Co 6:9)
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. (1Co 6:18)
Nevertheless, to avoid()fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. (1Co 7:2)
Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. (1Co 10:8)
And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. (2Co 12:21)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (Gal 5:19)
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; (Eph 5:3)
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Eph 5:5)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: (Col 3:5)
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: (1Th 4:3)
For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; (1Ti 1:10)
By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. (Heb 11:31)
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. (Heb 12:16)
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. (Heb 13:4)
Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? (Jas 2:25)
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (Rev 2:14)
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. (Rev 2:20)
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (Rev 2:21)
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:21)
And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Rev 14:8)
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: (Rev 17:1)
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev 17:2)
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Rev 17:4)
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:5)
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. (Rev 17:15)
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. (Rev 17:16)
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. (Rev 18:3)
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, (Rev 18:9)
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. (Rev 19:2)
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Rev 21:8)
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (Rev 22:15)

Kings of the earth (leaders in the world)

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev 17:2)
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev 17:18)
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. (Rev 18:3)

In Rev 17:18, the Bible says that Babylon reigns over the kings of the earth. This term ‘reigns’ is not a typical translation in the New Testament since the Greek word used is echo. The Greek word echo is used extensively in the New Testament and is typically translated as ‘hold’ or ‘have’. Therefore, the translation in Rev 17:18 could easily be to have or hold kings of the earth. Therefore, Babylon, as the corporate Christian church indeed can be viewed as having kings of the earth under her authority. There are a multitude of ‘kings’ of the earth that would be said to be held by one of the Christian denominations and churches. These churches often are important in shaping the belief structure of the leader.

And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom. (1Ki 4:34)
So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. (1Ki 10:23)
And king Solomon passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. (2Ch 9:22)
And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, that God had put in his heart. (2Ch 9:23)
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, (Psa 2:2)
He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth. (Psa 76:12)
Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. (Psa 89:27)
So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. (Psa 102:15)
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. (Psa 138:4)
Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: (Psa 148:11)
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. (Isa 24:21)
The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. (Lam 4:12)
When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. (Eze 27:33)
He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? (Mat 17:25)
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. (Act 4:26)
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Rev 1:5)
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (Rev 6:15)
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:14)
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev 17:2)
And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev 17:18)
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. (Rev 18:3)
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, (Rev 18:9)
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. (Rev 19:19)
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (Rev 21:24)

Inhabitants of the Earth

Makes inhabitants (nations) of the earth drunk and corrupted with the wine / passion of her fornication (Rev 17:2, 18:3, 19:2)

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Rev 17:2)
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. (Rev 18:3)
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. (Rev 19:2)

As a result of Babylon’s fornication, the inhabitants of the earth become drunk and corrupted. To be drunk means to be spiritually drunk, which means that the one who is drunk loses their mental faculties to be able to spiritually discern truth from error. They are in a spiritual stupor. To be spiritually drunk is the opposite of being filled with the spirit (Eph 5:18). To be filled with the Spirit is to have the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit at work in one’s life by enlightening the word of God to the believer resulting in good works (Col 3:16, Col 1:9, Mat 5:6, John 14:26, etc.). To be drunk also relates to being in the dark since the Bible says that those who are drunk are drunk at night (1 Thess 5:7, Ro 13:13). They are in darkness and do not have the marvelous light of the Gospel (2 Cor 4:4-6, 2 Pet 1:19, 2 Tim 1:10). Therefore, through Babylon’s fornication, people become darkened due to their worship of other gods and idols rather than a worship of the true God by diligently studying the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15), who is Jesus. They are darkened in their understanding of the true and only God (John 1:4-10).

The word ‘corrupted’ (Greek ‘phtheiro’, Rev 19:2) means to become decayed. We find in Jude 10 that it is due to sin and false doctrine that people become corrupted. The unsaved man is corrupted by deceitful lusts (Eph 4:22). In 2 Cor 11:2-3, we find that our minds can be corrupted by the deceiving work of Satan. Finally, 1 Cor 15:33 teaches us that evil company corrupt good manners. By harmonizing these Scriptures, we can discover that the nature of the church Babylon is that it is corrupted due to sin. By having a blend of unsaved (majority) and saved (minority) persons within Babylon, even true believers can be affected by the false doctrine and sin to which they may be emboldened to partake of. Broad is the way to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life and there are few than find it (Mat 7:13). Babylon has grown into a very large, great church, but by so doing, it has increased in sin, especially the worship of false gods and idols. This leads to drunkenness and corruption.

Balaam and Jezebel

Balaam – In Rev 2:14, in the church of Pergamos, there were those who held to the teaching of Balaam. This teaching consisted of placing stumbling blocks in front of Christians by having them eat things offered to idols and to commit fornication. Similarly, in Jude 11 and 2 Pet 2:15, Balaam is put forward as an example of a minister who is greedy as Balaam was in Numbers 22-24 in that he got reward for trying to place a curse on the people of God. At this time, he was restrained. But later, in Num 25:1, as influenced by Balaam (Num 31:15-16, 1 Cor 10:8), we find that Israel pursued whoredom in that they mixed with the daughters of Moab and bowed down to the gods of Moab (Nun 25:1-3). Israel, at this time, joined themselves with Baalpeor, providing an example of whoredom by the worshiping of other gods. Back in Rev 2:14 at the church of Paergamos, we find the two methods of causing God’s people to stumble: eating things offered to idols and fornication. Although to the strong Christian, eating something offered to an idol is not a sin in and of itself (1 Cor 8), the problem is that associating with religious practices that are unholy can cause a brother to stumble. Therefore, over involvement with the world an easily lead to worshiping other gods of the world if one is not careful. As just one simple example, there is nothing wrong with viewing or attending a sports game, but when one becomes overly enamored with sports, it can lead to worshiping sports as a god. Balaam also caused the people of Israel to commit physical fornication because they mingled and married daughters who were following other gods. Similarly, Christians can start following other gods since when they closely associated with the unsaved in the church that have other interests beside that of worshiping the true god. In Ex 34:12-16, God reinforced to Moses in the covenant that God’s people were not to mingle with the inhabitants of the land such that it could lead to worshiping their gods and play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods and eat of the sacrifices made to these other gods. The gods in the Old Testament times were molten idols and other gods. In our modern world, the gods we are tempted to service are more subtle and can involve all types of material possessions, psychology, philosophy, avarice, etc.

Jezebel – In Rev 2:20, at the church of Thyatira, Jezebel was tempting the people to commit the same two acts as Balaam: eating things sacrificed to idols and fornication. In 2 Ki 9:22, we find that Jezebel practices whoredoms and witchcrafts. In 1 Ki 16:31-33, the Bible further clarifies that as a result of wedding Jezebel, King Ahab went and served the false god Baal and worshipped him. Jezebel also went and persecuted and killed the prophets of God (1Ki 18:4, 19:1-22, see also Chr 21:11-15).

She holds a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication (Rev 17:4)

Golden cup in her hand – The gold cup in Babylon’s hand is full of the abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

We have already seen that the worship of other gods and idols is considered as an abomination. As discussed above under ‘Babylon’s Description’, abominations, as defined in the Bible, are a morally detestable thing that usually involves the worship of other gods and idols, including false teaching and practices within the church. These abominations culminate in the abomination of desolation which is set up in the church of God in the Great Tribulation just before the return of Christ. It should be noted that the golden cup is full of these abominations. The worship of other gods and idols such as worldly wisdom, money, riches, materialism, sports, cars, boats, homes, philosophy, other gospels, mysticism / occult, etc., etc. is fully prevalent in the world’s corporate Babylon Christian religion.

This false Christian church of Babylon offers people the cup of abominations rather than the cup of the Lord’s Supper (i.e., the covenant and fellowship in the blood of Christ). The blood of Christ is that by which true Christians are saved (1 Pet 1:17‑19, Rev 5:9, Col 1:14, John 6:48‑58, Eph 1:7, Heb 9:22). Instead, the precious blood of Jesus Christ is replaced by the abominable actions of worshiping false gods / idols. The Bible verse in 1 Cor 10:20 equates the worshiping of idols to worshiping of demons. This accords with several Old Testament passages that teach the same thing (such as Lev 17:7, Deut 32:16-17, 2Ch 11:15, Ps 106:37-39, see also, 2Cor 4:4, Rev 9:20). These Old Testament passages also note that worshiping of idols is equivalent to worshiping demons. The Bible also teaches that demons are the messengers (or angels) of Satan (Mat 25:41, Jude 6, Rev 12:7-9). Therefore, we should see worshiping idols is actually the worship of demons, which is the worship of Satan and his kingdom. There are no other Gods than the true God of the Bible. Satan is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) and his messengers are demons (fallen angels – Mat 25:41, Rev 12:7-9, 2 Cor 11:13-15), which are active in the church of Babylon (Rev 18:2). There are only two kingdoms: the kingdom of God (in heaven) and the kingdom of Satan in the earth (1 Cor 3:10, 2 Cor 4:4, etc.). If one worships and serves idols, they are serving Satan’s earthly kingdom:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

(1Jn 2:15-17)

Filthiness literally means to be unclean (Greek – akathartos). Filthiness can refer to the dirtiness of sin (Is 4:4, James 1:21, 2 Cor 6:17, 2 Cor 7:1. But, it can also refer to demonic possession (Mk 3:30, Acts 5:16, etc.). Spiritual fornication is sin and is therefore, filthy in the sight of God. Whenever one puts their own pleasures, desires, false doctrines and lusts before God, they have become filthy through the worship of these other gods and idols.

The ‘cup’ connection – Jer 51:7 and Rev 17:4 – Babylon was a Servant of God

It is important to note that Rev 17-18 has many quotes and allusions to Jeremiah 50-51. Jer 50-51 was a prophecy concerning Babylon at the time of Judah’s captivity in the 6^th century B.C. Babylon, at the time of the Fall of Jerusalem and Judah in the 6^th century B.C. was a portrait for the end-time condition of the corporate, worldly Christian church. Judah had essentially been taken captive into the Babylonian state and the faithful were just a small remnant.

Jer 50-51 was a pronounced prophecy by God (though Jeremiah) that Babylon was to be destroyed by the Medes. As we have discussed previously, the worship of false gods and idols was endemic within the kingdom of Babylon. Rev 17:4 concerning the golden cup in the hand of Babylon is an allusion to Babylon being the golden cup in the Lord’s hand by which the nations have become drunken. Babylon and King of Nebuchadnezzar, who was a picture of Satan and the antichrist (Is 14:12-14) were tools used in the had of God to bring the cup of judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem (Jer 51:7, Jer 27:6, Jer 25:9, Jer 43:10, Eze 29:18-20).

At the end of Jer 51:7, God provides us more detail in that Jeremiah recorded that “…therefore the nations are mad”. The Hebrew word for ‘mad’ (Hebrew, H1984, halal) occurs more than 160 times in the Old Testament and is normally translated as ‘praise’ or ‘glory’. It literally could mean ‘to shine’. Just a few verses previously in Jer 50:38, Jeremiah declares that Babylon’s land is full of graven images and that they are ‘mad’ upon their idols. In other words, Bablyon is Jer 50:38 was replete with false gods and idols and were made (or better, gloried) in their idols. In Jer 51:7, the nations who were vassals to Babylon were also drunk with the cup of Babylon’s idols and were ‘mad’ (gloried). But, this Hebrew word (H1984) is also significantly used (and very significantly emphasized) in Jer 9:23-23 as ‘glory’:

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jer 9:23-24)

In Jer 9:23, it can be seen that man’s wisdom, might and riches can be a source of man’s glorying. In other words, they can become his idols. Relating Rev 17:4, Jer 9:23-24, 50:38 and 51:7, it can be seen that Babylon’s propagation of her wine cup of fornication in worshiping the false gods and idols of man’s wisdom, might and riches. Here are some practical examples of this spiritual fornication that is in Babylon’s cup:

Man’s Wisdom:

Philosophy, education, knowledge, experiences, new age philosophies, research, media / television, history, entertainment, science, religious doctrines, legalism, false doctrine, false gospels, psychology, non-Biblical counseling, superstition, animism, books, pundits, theologians, gurus, imams, teachers, etc.

Man’s Might:

Politics, business, sports, guns, finance, beauty / fashion, military, social standing, cliques, social media, special skills, body-building, manipulation, family / clan, alliances, business partners, mysticism / occult / new age philosophies, authority, denominations, churches, organizational titles / positions, rank, sex, extortion, money, influence, debates, achievements, accomplishments, goals, awards, etc.

Man’s Riches:

Gluttony, money, stock, bonds, precious metals, accounts, possessions, houses, cars, planes, boats, fields, collections, antiques, televisions, computers, electronics, idleness, recreation, vacations, pleasures, alcohol, drugs, etc.

Obviously, the above examples is not a complete list. But, it is important that we do not try to simplify the worship of other gods and idols as limited to primitive idol worship and mythical gods. Our god is whatever becomes the most important to us in our lives. The examples above are not necessarily sinful, unless they become our god / idol. Our gods and idols are what we worship with our time and energy. For example, Col 3:5 teaches us that greed is really idolatry. We find that we can depart from the faith by giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils (1 Tim 4:1). By definition, Babylon is confusing; to wit, the confusion and error of many prevalent Christian doctrines. Many false prophets and teachers have arisen to temp u to worship the demonic Babylonian religion (see Mat 24:11-12, 1 Tim 4:1, 2 Pet 2, Jude 3-4 with Rev 18:2).

If we dwell on the examples in the above three categories, we can begin to see that most Christian churches often promote, enjoin, support or at least tolerate most if not all of these activities. Of course, as human beings living in a physical world, we participate in life and therefore, need to engage in these type of activities in order to function in the world. None of the items above are sin in and of themselves. But, when they become more important in our energy and time than God, then these things become our god and / or idol. We must do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). We must examine ourselves to see if we are indeed in the faith of Christ (2 Cor 13:5). If we find any of these things more important that our relationship with Jesus Christ, woe be unto us and my God immediately correct us.

Mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5)

Summary: The identity of Babylon is a mystery and can only be discerned by comparing Scripture with Scripture (1 Cor 2:13). The ancient city of Babylon is discussed extensively in the Old Testament. The Tower of Babel passage illustrates Babylon’s mode of operation. She has children by Satan (the king of Babylon) and breeds daughters who also do abominations by worshiping other gods and idols, which includes false teaching for gain and the love of pleasures and riches. Notably, we find that greediness is a form of idolatry (Col 3:5). Her activity culminates in the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the time period known as the Great Tribulation just before the return of Christ on Judgment Day.

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:5)

Name – In the Bible, names are very often given to a person to represent a greater truth. For example Jesus means ‘Jah that saves’ (Mat 1:21), Abraham means ‘father of a multitude’ (Gen 17:5) and the twelve patriarchs of Israel were all named to represent things that have happened (Gen 29-30, 35:18). There are countless examples in the Bible of names representing a truth about an individual or nation. Similarly, the name given to the woman, Babylon (confusion) symbolizes important truths about her.

Forehead – In the Bible, the forehead represents the mind or will of a person (e.g., Rev 7:3, Rev 9:4, Rev 13:16, Eze 3:8-9, Eze 9:4, Deut 6:8, Deut 11:18, Ex 13:9, 16, Mat 23:5, etc. etc.). By placing the ‘name’ on her forehead represents that Babylon has her will (albeit confused) directed towards performing harlotries and abominations. The forehead represents the head and thoughts of a person.

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:5)
Foreheads symbolic of the mind of a person
- And these words … shall be in thine heart … And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. (Deu 6:6-8)
- … says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people (Heb 8:10)
- For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1Co 2:16)

Mystery – A mystery is something that is hidden and difficult (but not impossible) to understand. God’s revelation as found in the Bible, for example is referred to as a mystery (Mat 13:11, Mk 4:11, 1 Cor 2:7, 4:1, Eph 1:9, Eph 3:3-9, Col 1:26-27, etc.) . Revelation 17:5 indicates that Babylon in the book of Revelation is a mystery. The whole book of Revelation is a mystery (Rev 1:20), but God is the revealer of mysteries. The Bible can be understood by comparing spiritual with spiritual (1 Cor 2:13). The Bible to a large degree is written in dark sayings, parables and mysteries (e.g., Mat 13:3-34, 2 Pet 22 with Pr 26:11, Pr 1:1). Proverbs 25:2 teaches us that it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings to search out a matter. Therefore, Christians, as royalty (Rev 1:6, 5:10, 1 Pet 2:9), must not assume Babylon can be easily understand or jump to conclusions concerning what Babylon is, but rather must be willing to ‘search out’ the matter. Only by carefully comparing Scripture with Scripture (spiritual with spiritual) can we understand what the Babylon of Revelation refers to.

Mother of Harlots

Babylon is stated to have given birth to harlots. Therefore, just as she is a whore, she spawns other whores, which commit harlotry in worshipping other gods and idols. We find in the Bible that a church can be referred to as a mother (e.g., 2 John 1, 2 John 4, 2 John 13). In Revelation 12, we find that the mother church gives birth to Christ and then she and her offspring are persecuted by Satan. In Revelation 12, the true Christian church is driven into the wilderness where she is fed by God. The false church of Babylon is a ‘great city’ and has also fled into the wilderness (Rev 17:3), but has become a great city. Interestingly, in Revelation 18:4, true believers are commanded to flee from the great city Babylon. In Gal 4:26, the great city of the heavenly Jerusalem above is the Christian’s true mother (see Heb 12:22, Rev 3:12, 21:2, 10). That is, they are conceived as a child of God from a heavenly origin, not an earthly church. However, an earthly church enlarges itself by leading people into making free-will decisions for Christ, getting baptized or joining the church. However, genuine Christians are conceived by a heavenly source and become part of the church in the wilderness being fed by God (Rev 12:10-17).

Being in the wilderness represent a church needing to rely on God and is not necessarily highly organized. The great ‘city’ of Babylon represents the organization of a church community with various rules, organizational norms and confused doctrines. These churches may be given a name of being a church that serves the local community or they are a large denominational church that may exist worldwide. Whether an independent local community church or a large world-wide denomination, they are, by definition, Babylon due to their confused state of doctrine, whoredoms in serving the gods of riches, wisdom and might and the persecution and silencing of those who are genuine Christians. In Eze 16:44, when referring to the whore (harlot) Israel, the Scripture records that ‘as is the mother, so is the daughter’ in referring to her sinful, abominable harlotries. In the case of Israel, the mother were the Hittites (previous inhabitants of the land of Israel), who worshipped false gods and idols. As the Hittites did, so does Israel.

Symbolism of ‘Mother’:

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth … I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father … The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. (2Jn 1,4,13)
For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Gal 4:25-26)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem … to the general assembly and church of the firstborn … (Heb 12:22-23)

Earthly Jerusalem – Location of God’s people (mixed with unsaved):

Jerusalem – God puts his name forever – 2 Chr 33:4, Ps 125:2
Church first established at Jerusalem – Acts 1:15
Church symbolized as the temple and house of God (which was at Jerusalem) – 2 Tim 2:20, Eph 2:19-21, Heb 3:6, etc.
Christians have come to the city of God – Heb 12:22
Christians are referred to as Jews – Ro 2:28-29
Christians are referred to as Israel – Ro 9:6, Gal 6:16
See also Mat 7:21-23, etc.

Daughters of Whoredom:

Israel – the church in the wilderness – Acts 7:38
How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. (Isa 1:21)
And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. (Jer 3:8)
Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne unto me, and these have you sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of your whoredoms a small matter, (Eze 16:20)
They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that do not understand shall fall. (Hos 4:13-14)

Who are Babylon’s Harlot Daughters:

Babylon of Rev 17-18: End-Time False Christian Church
The False church and her offspring
Disciples of a church are considered as ‘children’
- Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith … (1Ti 1:2)
- My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you (Gal 4:19)
- Little children, keep yourselves from idols … (1Jn 5:21)
Churches are referenced as ‘sisters’ – 2 John 1,4,13
- The children of thy elect sister greet thee … (2Jn 1:13)

Summary of Church History:

Apostolic and Early Church formation – 1^st to 3^rd centuries
Church Accepted by Roman Empire – 4^th century
- Many church councils convened to maintain unity
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox – 1054 A.D.
Reformation / Protestant Churches – 16^th century
Churches Today:
- 33,000+ organized groups
- World Christian Encyclopedia – Barrett, Kurian, Johnson, Oxford University Press, 2^nd edition, 2001
- Babylon literally means ‘confusion’

The Greek word for mother is ‘meter’ and occurs 85 times. Here are the notable occurrences:

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Gal 4:25-26)
When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. (2Ti 1:5)
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it. (Luk 8:21)
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother. (Mar 3:35)
Woman of Revelation 12 gives birth to the man child (Jesus Christ) – Rev 12, Acts 1:14, John 19:26-27, Mat 2:11-20, etc.

Church symbolized as mother and children:

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; (2Jn 1:1)
- I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. (2Jn 1:4)
- The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. (2Jn 1:13)

Old Testament verses:

Israel was the mother that was divorced:
- Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. (Isa 50:1)
- Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. (Hos 2:2-4)
- Jer 3:1-10 – divorcement of Israel and Judah (people of Israel and Judah are the children)
The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. (Pro 31:1)
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. (Isa 66:13)
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. (Eze 16:3)
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite. And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters. (Eze 16:44-46)
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. (Eze 19:1-2)
Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. (Eze 19:10)

Abominations of the earth

It is important to examine what the Bible refers to as an abomination (literally meaning a morally detestable thing).

In the Old Testament, the word for abomination is used about 160 times (Hebrew words – H8441, H8581, H8251), with about 50 of these occurrences being in the book of Ezekiel (which involved Judah’s captivity in Babylon). The following are Old Testament abominations:

Sexual sins – Lev 18:22-30, Deut 22:5
Mysticism / occult (e.g., new age philosophies) – Deut 18:9-12, 2 Chr 33:6-7
Child sacrifice to other gods – Deut 18:10, 2 Ki 16:3, 2 Chr 28:3, 2 Chr 33:6
Greediness – Col 3:5
Worshiping and sacrificing to other gods and idols – Deut 20:18, Deut 32:16-17, 2 Ki 23:13 (Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Milcom), Deut 17:4 (sun, moon and stars), 2 Ki 21;11-12, 2 Chr 33:1-7, Deut 27:15, 2 Chr 28:3, 2 Chr 33:8 (Baal), 2 Chr 33:3 (stars), Eze 6:9 (Cannanite gods), 1 Ki 14:23-24, 2 Chr 28:3 (Sodomites), Jer 7:9-11 (Baal, etc.), Ps 26:25, Eze 5:11, Ezekiel chapters 7 and 8, Eze 11: 18, 21, Eze 37:23, Ezekiel 16 (Israel’s harlotry), Zech 9:7, Nah 3:6, Hos 9:10, Jer 4:1, Jer 7:30, Jer 13:27, Jer 32:34, Jer 16:18, 1 Ki 11:5, 1 Ki 11:7, Dan 9:27, Dan 11:31, Dan 12:11), Eze 20:7-8, Eze 20:30 (Egypt), Is 66:3, Deut 29:17, 2 Ki 23:24, etc.

It should be evident from the Old Testament that the primary abomination is that of worshiping other gods and idols. Even the sexual sins discussed in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy could provide symbolical reference to worshiping other gods and idols. In Pr 26:25, the Bible notes that who speak graciously, but inside, their hearts are full of abominations. In other words, one can appear to be an angel of light on the outside, but their heart can be full of idolatry.

An important passage is Jer 7:9-11 (which in part, is quoted in the New Testament when Christ cleansed the temple and said that the house of God has become a den of thieves / robbers – John 2:16, Lk 19:45-46, Mk 11:17, Mat 21:13). In Jer 7:9-11, God defines that when his house is full of thieves and robbers, this refers to those in the church of God who practice, in part the burning of incense unto Baal and walk after gods whom they know not.

In the New Testament, the word ‘abomination’ only occurs 9 times (Greek words G946, 947 and 948), but is used in a very interesting way. First, it is used in Rev 17:4-5 as referring to what is in Babylon’s cup that she makes the leaders and people of the world to drink. We also find it used to refer to idolatry (Ro 2:22, Rev 21:8, 27), consistent with the Old Testament. It is also used in Lk 16:14-15 in the parable of the unjust steward, which in context refers to the Pharisees (church rulers in the times of Jesus when He waked the earth). In the passage, it refers to these church leaders as being covetous and hypocritical, yet highly esteemed among men. Notably, false teachers in the church are also referred to as being abominable (compare Titus 1:9-10 with Titus 1:16). Finally, Mat 24:15 refers to the abomination of desolation which is set up in the church at the end of days, just prior to the return of Christ (Great Tribulation, see also 2 Thess 2).

Idolatry in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the Greek words for ‘idol’, ‘idolatry’ or ‘idolator’ (G1493, G1494, G1495, G1496, G1497) are based on the Greek word eido (G1492), which simply means to ‘see’. In the New Testament, we find that Christians are exhorted to keep themselves from idols (1 John 5:21, 1 Thess 1:9, 2 Cor 6:16, Acts 15:20, 1 Cor 5:10-11, 1 Cor 6:9, Gal 5:20, Eph 5:5, 1 Pet 4:3, Rev 21:8, Rev 22:15).

The New Testament provides the following examples of idolatry:

Greediness (Col 3:5)
Demons (works of the hands – gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk) – Rev 9:20
Objects that are revered, but cannot speak – 1 Cor 12:2
Temple robber – Ro 2:22 (John 2:16, Lk 19:45-46, Mk 11:17, Mat 21:13, Jer 7:9-11 – those in the church of God who practice, in part the burning of incense unto Baal and walk after gods whom they know not)
Israel’s calf – Acts 7:41, 1 Cor 10:7 (with Ex 32:1-8, 17-20, Ps 106:19-21)
Worshiping demons (false gospels) – 1 Cor 10:19-20 (eating things offered to idols – 1 Cor 8:1, 4, 7, 10, 1 Cor 10:19, 28, Rev 2:14, Rev 2:20 as opposed to eating / drinking of the Lord’s table)

Relating the Old and New Testament together, we can find that an abominations is the worship of other gods and idols, including false teaching and practices within the church. These abominations culminate in the abomination of desolation which is set up in the church of God in the Great Tribulation just before the return of Christ.

Abomination of desolation in the holy place (church) / Jerusalem encompassed / Captivity

Olivet Discourse Verses

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Mat 24:15)
But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) … (Mar 13:14a)
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
(Luk 21:20)
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luk 21:24)

Babylonian Captivity Passages – Abomination of Desolation

Desolations due to Abominations

So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. (Jer 44:22)
Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. (Eze 33:29)

Abominations Cause Desolation

So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. (Jer 44:22)
Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. (Eze 33:29)

Abominations Cause Captivity

And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. (Eze 6:9)

Abominations Cause Famine, Sword, Pestilence (Elements of desolation)

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. (Eze 6:11)
But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 12:16)

Abominations as worship of other gods and idols

Sexual sins – Lev 18:22-30, Deut 22:5
Mysticism / occult – Deut 18:9-12, 2 Chr 33:6-7
Child sacrifice to other gods / divination, etc. – Deut 18:10, 2 Ki 16:3, 2 Chr 28:3, 2 Chr 33:6
Worshiping and sacrificing to other gods and idols – Deut 20:18, Deut 32:16-17, 2 Ki 23:13 (Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Milcom), Deut 17:4 (sun, moon and stars), 2 Ki 21;11-12, 2 Chr 33:1-7, Deut 27:15, 2 Chr 28:3, 2 Chr 33:8 (Baal), 2 Chr 33:3 (stars), Eze 6:9 (Cannanite gods), 1 Ki 14:23-24, 2 Chr 28:3 (Sodomites), Jer 7:9-11 (Baal, etc.), Pr 26:25, Eze 5:11, Ezekiel chapters 7 and 8, Eze 11: 18, 21, Eze 37:23, Ezekiel 16 (Israel’s harlotry), Zech 9:7, Nah 3:6, Hos 9:10, Jer 4:1, Jer 7:30, Jer 13:27, Jer 32:34, Jer 16:18, 1 Ki 11:5, 1 Ki 11:7, Dan 9:27, Dan 11:31, Dan 12:11), Eze 20:7-8, Eze 20:30 (Egypt), Is 66:3, Deut 29:17, 2 Ki 23:24, etc.

It should be evident from the Old Testament that the primary abomination is that of worshiping other gods and idols. Child sacrifice and the occult were to worship and serve other gods. Even the sexual sins discussed in the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy could be considered as an idol put before the worship of the true God.

In Pr 26:25, the Bible notes those who speak graciously, but inside, their hearts are full of abominations. In other words, one can appear to be holy, but whose heart can be full of idolatry. A very important passage is also Jer 7:9-11 (which in part, is quoted in the New Testament when Christ cleansed the temple and said that the house of God has become a den of thieves / robbers – John 2:16, Lk 19:45-46, Mk 11:17, Mat 21:13):

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, says the LORD.

(Jer 7:9-11)

In Jer 7:9-11, God defines that when His house (see Holy Place study below) is referred to as becoming a den of robbers, this refers to those who are part of the church that commit sin, including the sin of worshiping other gods (e.g., those in the church of God who practice the burning of incense unto Ball and walk after gods whom they know not.)

Abominations in Babylon (Jer 50-51)

Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. (Jer 50:2)
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations. (Jer 50:46)
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. (Jer 51:7)
thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. (Jer 51:13)
Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. (Jer 51:17-19)
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out. (Jer 51:34)
Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. (Jer 51:47)
Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. (Jer 51:52-53)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. (Jer 51:58)

Abominations in Babylon (Isa 47)

Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. (Isa 47:1)
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: (Isa 47:8)
But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. (Isa 47:9)
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. (Isa 47:10)
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. (Isa 47:12)
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. (Isa 47:13)
Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee. (Isa 47:15)

Desolation – Old Testament Summary

In the Old Testament, the words for desolation (H8047, H8074, H8075, H8076, H8077, H8078) occur about 190 times. The Hebrew words (relevant to our study) translated as ‘desolate’ actually mean to be ‘stunned’ or ‘astonished’. These are the words that are used in the three key passages in Daniel which will be examined in greater details further below:

Dan 8:13, 27 (Little horn of one of the 4 horns of Greece)
Dan 9:17-18, 26-27 (70 weeks prophecy)
Dan 11:31, Dan 12:11 (King of the North versus King of the South passage)

The vast majority of the references to desolation refers to what happens to the land and cities (including Jerusalem) of Israel / Judah as a judgment for sins. The most prominent of these judgments was the Babylonian captivity of Judah resulting in the desolation of Jerusalem / Judah for 70 years. Other prophecies in the Old Testament involve God’s judgment on other nations outside of Israel / Judah:

Ammon – Eze 25:3, Jer 49:2, Eze 6:14, 12:20, Zeph 2:9
Moab – Zeph 2:9
Edom – Jer 49:17, 20, Eze 35:3-15, Mal 1:3, Joel 3:19, Eze 35:7-9
Babylon – Jer 50:3, 13, 45, Jer 51:26, 37, 41, 62, Joel 2:20, Jer 25:12, Is 13:9
Egypt – Eze 29:3-12, Eze 30:7, 14, Eze 32:10-15, Joel 3:19
Tyre – Eze 26:15-16, 27:35, 28:19
Phillistines – Zeph 2:4
Assyria / Nineveh – Zeph 2:13
Ai – Josh 8:28
Hazor – Jer 49:33
Israel (Omni / Ahab) – Micah 6:16

From a positive standpoint, the term desolation is also used in the context of being the place where God’s people must be saved from (e.g., see Is 61:1-4, Is 54:1, Eze 36:34-36, Jer 33:10, Is 62:1-5). Examples are provided below:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. (Isa 61:1-4, quoted in Mat 3L17, Lk 4:18-19)

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the LORD. (Isa 54:1, quoted in Gal 4:17)

And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. (Eze 36:34-36)

In addition, the Hebrew word ‘desolate’ (translated as astonished or wondered – see underlined words below) is used to describe the passion of Christ in the Old Testament:

As many were astonished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: (Isa 52:14)

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. (Isa 59:16)

And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. (Isa 63:5)

The Lord’s Response to Solomon’s Prayer – Desolation due to Forsaking the LORD and following other gods

In 1 Ki 9:1-9 and 2 Chr 7:12-22, the Bible records the LORD’s response to Solomon’s prayer of dedication (2 Chr 6, 1 Ki 8:22-61) after the completion of the temple in Jerusalem. In 1 Ki 9:6-9 and 2 Chr 7:21, we find these words of the LORD:

But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to everyone that passes by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? And it shall be answered: Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.

(2Ch 7:19-22, see also 1 Ki 9:6-9)

In this passage the above underlined word ‘astonishment’ is the identical Hebrew word usually translated as desolation. We see in this important passage that if God’s people forsake the LORD God and take other gods to worship and serve, they will become a desolation (or astonishment). This is similar to what we have seen in Deut 28 and Jer 25. We find extensive discussion in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel regarding how Judah did indeed forsake the Lord and became a desolation (more on this below).

Penalties and Curses in the Law of God for Disobedience

In Lev 26:14-43 and Deut 28:15-68, the Mosaic Law informs us regarding the consequences of disobedience of the people of Israel.

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee…The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. (Deu 28:15, 36-37)

In the above passage, we find that Israel would become an astonishment (i.e., desolation) because they did not observe all the commandments of the Lord culminating in serving other gods. We find similar information in Lev 26:

I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. (Lev 26:22)

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lies desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it…The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lies desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. (Lev 26:31-35, 43)

It is important to note that desolation was coming to the land because Israel despised the judgments and statutes of the Lord. Also, it is important to note that Israel was to be ‘scattered’ due to ‘wild beasts’ and the ‘sword’. It was by these tools that the land, cities and sanctuary (holy place) were made desolate and the land would enjoy her sabbaths.

The Land to be Desolate and Will Enjoy Her Sabbaths

As we saw above in Lev 26:34-35, 43, the land of Israel was to become desolate and enjoy her Sabbaths (days of rest). This prophecy in Lev 26:34-35, 43 was fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed and the removal of the people to be captives to Babylon was initiated in 606 B.C. and completed in 586 B.C. The 70 years of desolation was completed in 536 B.C., where Cyrus, King of Persia made a proclamation that Judah could return to Jerusalem.

And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

(2Ch 36:18-21, see also 2 Chr 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1)

The prophecy of Jeremiah is found in Jer 25. The cause of the 70 year desolation is found in these verses:

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened. And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jer 25:3-11)

It should be noticed in Jer 25:5-6 (see underlined section above) that Judah went after other gods and served and worship them. This was foretold in Deut 28 as we saw above. We should be able to see that the cause of desolation is serving and worshiping other gods (e.g., idolatry).

A further important verse in order to understand the nature of ‘desolation’ is found in Dan 9:2:

In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Dan 9:2)

We find in Dan 9:2 (see also 2 Chr 36:21 and Jer 29:10) that the desolation of Jerusalem were to last 70 years. This 70 years is measured from 606 B.C. (4^th year of the reign of Jehoiakim (see Jer 25:1-3) to the proclamation of Persian King Cyrus in 536 B.C. that allowed Judah to return to Jerusalem (2 Chr 36:22-23). This is important since the physical desolation (destruction) of Jerusalem did not occur until 586 B.C. (i.e., 20 years after the beginning of the 70 year desolation of Jerusalem). However, in 606 B.C., captives were already being taken to Babylon (Dan 1:1-4, 2 Kings 24:12). It was at this time that Israel began serving the King of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar), who is a symbol for Satan (Is 14:3-14). Later in this study, we will find that the captivity of some of the people of Judah was a part of the desolation of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel – Desolation of Jerusalem and the Land of Judah

Jeremiah and Ezekiel were two major prophets of the Old Testament who prophesied at the time of the ‘desolation’ of Jerusalem and the Land of Judah. As we saw above in Dan 9:2, the desolation lasted for 70 years from 606 B.C. (1^st year of King Nebuchadnezzar, 4^th year of King Jehoiakim – see Jer 25:1-3, 11, Jer 29:10, Jer 46:2, 2 Ki 24:12) to the fall of Babylon in 536 B.C., when King Cyrus of Persia made a decree that the people of Judah could return to their land (2 Chr 36:22-23, Ezra 1:1-4). Jeremiah lived in Jerusalem and was there prior t and at the time of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Ezekiel, on the other hand was a captive (Eze 1:1-3) at the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans (ruled by Babylon). Both of these prophets foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and had much to say about the desolation of the Jerusalem and the land of Judah:

Jeremiah:

Because of foolishness and no knowledge, land to be desolate and people will flee from the horsemen – Jer 4:22-29
Jerusalem and the land to become desolate – Jer 6:8
The Lord will make Jerusalem and the cities of Judah desolate – Jer 9:11
Since the pastors are dull-hearted, the flocks shall be scattered by the desolation that comes from the north – Jer 10:21-22
Enemies of Jacob to make his habitation desolate – Jer 10:25
The pastors have destroyed God’s vineyard, the land has become desolate, sword of the Lord has devoured the land – Jer 12:10-12
People forsook the Lord, land to be desolate, Judah to be scattered before their enemies – Jer 18:15-17
Judah to fall by the sword and have plagues resulting in desolation of Jerusalem – Jer 19:7-8
Land to be desolate (given into the hands of the Chaldeans) with no man or beast due to the evil of Judah – Jer 32:43
Babylon’s army to make cities of Jerusalem desolate – Jer 34:21-22
Due to worshiping other gods, cities of Judah and streets of Jerusalem are desolate – Jer 44:5-6
Lamentations of Jeremiah for the desolation of the people, the land and mountain of Zion – Lam 1:4-8, 1:13, 1:16-17, 2:10-15, 3:11, 4:5,4:12, 5:18

Ezekiel:

Famine to cause desolation (astonishment) – Eze 4:16-17
Altars to be desolate due to idolatry – Eze 6:4
Idolatry and child sacrifice is a cause of desolation and scattering – Eze 20:23-26
Due to whoredoms of idolatry, Jerusalem to become desolate (Eze 23:33, Eze 23:4, 14-20, etc.)
Desolation of the land and mountains by sword and beasts due to idolatry, fornication and abominations – Eze 33:25-29

A careful examination of the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel indicate that the abominations of the people were their whoredoms of idolatry and pursuing other gods. It is important to look at Eze 33:25-29:

Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

(Eze 33:25-29)

This passage is important since Eze 33:29 clearly links Judah’s abominations (idols / other gods) with the land becoming desolate. We know that Babylon was used as an instrument in God’s hand to bring about desolation of Judah by captivity, scattering and killing with the sword, wild beasts, famine and and pestilence.

Desolation of Israel / Judah Discussed in the Minor Prophets

The following are additional passages that discuss the desolation of Israel and Judah:

Israel’s vines and fig trees to be made desolate – Hos 2:12
Locusts have made land desolate – Joel 1:17, 2:3
High places of Isaac to be desolate – Amos 7:9
Israel to be brought out of captivity, desolate cities to be rebuilt – Amos 9:14
The idols of Israel have caused Samaria and Jerusalem to be desolate – Micah 1:5-9
Israel to be desolate and sick due to their sins / abominations – Micah 6:10-16
The land shall be desolate due to the fruit of their doings – Micah 7:13
Due to idolatry and worshiping other gods, the houses of Judah will become desolate – Zeph 1:4-6, 13
The Lord scattered the people so their pleasant land was desolate – Zech 7:14

Desolations is the outcome of the Babylonian Captivity (Listing of Verses from Jeremiah, lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel)

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. (Jer 2:12)
The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. (Jer 4:7)
For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. (Jer 4:27)
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. (Jer 6:8)
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. (Jer 7:34)
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. (Jer 9:11)
Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons. (Jer 10:22)
Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. (Jer 10:25)
Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. (Jer 12:10)
They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart. (Jer 12:11)
To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. (Jer 18:16)
And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. (Jer 19:8)
But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. (Jer 22:5)
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. (Jer 25:9)
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. (Jer 25:11)
And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. (Jer 25:12)
To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day; (Jer 25:18)
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger. (Jer 25:38)
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD. (Jer 26:9)
And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. (Jer 32:43)
Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, (Jer 33:10)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. (Jer 33:12)
Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant. (Jer 34:22)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, (Jer 44:2)
Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day. (Jer 44:6)
So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. (Jer 44:22)
thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. (Jer 46:19)
Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. (Jer 48:9)
From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. (Jer 48:34)
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD. (Jer 49:2)
For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. (Jer 49:13)
Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. (Jer 49:17)
Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. (Jer 49:20)
And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it. (Jer 49:33)
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. (Jer 50:3)
Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. (Jer 50:13)
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! (Jer 50:23)
Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. (Jer 50:45)
And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD. (Jer 51:26)
And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. (Jer 51:29)
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby. (Jer 51:43)
Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. (Jer 51:62)
The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. (Lam 1:4)
From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate and faint all the day. (Lam 1:13)
For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. (Lam 1:16)
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. (Lam 3:11)
Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and destruction. (Lam 3:47)
They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. (Lam 4:5)
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. (Lam 5:18)
And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. (Eze 6:4)
In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. (Eze 6:6)
So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 6:14)
The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 7:27)
And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. (Eze 12:19)
And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 12:20)
If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts (Eze 14:15)
Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate. (Eze 14:16)
And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD. (Eze 15:8)
And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. (Eze 19:7)
And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD. (Eze 20:26)
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria. (Eze 23:33)
And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; (Eze 25:3)
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. (Eze 25:13)
For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; (Eze 26:19)
When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living; (Eze 26:20)
And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it. (Eze 29:9)
Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia. (Eze 29:10)
And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. (Eze 29:12)
And they shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate, and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. (Eze 30:7)
And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments in No. (Eze 30:14)
When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD. (Eze 32:15)
For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. (Eze 33:28)
Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed. (Eze 33:29)
And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. (Eze 35:3)
I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. (Eze 35:4)
Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. (Eze 35:7)
I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 35:9)
And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume. (Eze 35:12)
Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. (Eze 35:14)
As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 35:15)
Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people: (Eze 36:3)
Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; (Eze 36:4)
And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. (Eze 36:34)
And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. (Eze 36:35)
Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. (Eze 36:36)
To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. (Eze 38:12)
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? (Dan 8:13)
In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. (Dan 9:2)
Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. (Dan 9:17)
my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. (Dan 9:18)
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Dan 9:26)
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Dan 9:27)
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
(Dan 11:31)
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Dan 12:11)