Coming Out of Spiritual Babylon
Peter and Rohnel, servants of God, feeding the Gospel to the scattered saints to bring them into the holy city. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many Scriptures that speak about the city of the Lord, a spiritual realm, and a holy city wherein righteousness dwells. The Lord is found here, that is also in the mountain of His holiness.
Psa 48:1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
The chosen of God are pilgrims in this carnal world, being in the world but not being of it. We are passing through as sojourners seeking the eternal city of God. We abide our days pursuing the Living Christ, by believing and obeying the Gospel that is the Commandments. As a consequence, we bear the reproach and persecution from those of the world who the Lord blinds and are not given to hear our words. Abiding in clay vessels, we do not yet abide in a continuing eternal city, but we seek the one promised to come. We follow the example of the Lord, being sent as He was, in seeking the lost sheep of Israel. As the small remnant separated from our brethren, we preach Christ and seek the continuing city of God where the elect saints are being gathered.
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Heb 13:14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
The Lord, through Christ, who are His angels, builds the true Jerusalem and gathers the chosen outcasts into His city.
Psa 147:2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
Eze 34:13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
Flesh and blood that we now abide does not inherit the kingdom of God, and thus the eternal city of God is a spiritual place, not an outward or physical one. The eternal city of God comes down out of our heaven, meaning our mind, in our day of the Lord, when the revelation of Jesus Christ in us is being revealed.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God
We are connected to Christ and one another [His Christ], being one Spirit and one mind. The Spirit of Christ that is the Living Word of the Commandments that defines our faith and baptisms, is how we are all connected, being One Spirit, One Mind, and One Church by the Promise that lives in all of us.
1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
We are connected in Spirit to the little flock we gather with now, but also to all the elect who have walked the walk before us. The original Apostles speak to us today; their letters and epistles, like Christ’s words, are alive, and the Spirit of Christ that is in them edifies us to this day. Those who are baptized into Christ, receiving the Promise, are the true Jews who are One with all who are in Christ. We walk in lockstep, following and obeying the Commandments, not looking to the right or the left as we are Jesus Christ in the world.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Eze 1:12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
The Living Christ that is the Word of God, “ is, was, and will be”, as Christ comes little by little to us as we grow from newborn babes into the fullness and stature of the mature man. This is why it can be said that we are coming into the holy city of Heavenly Jerusalem, yet we also seek the continuing city to come. Both are true in the mystery of God, who speaks of things that are not as if they already were established in full. Having received the Gospel and the Promise, we are entering into the Mt. Zion [Sion], the city of the Living God, little by little as we are being perfected.
Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Our entering into the city “is, was, and will be” means the more we mature, the further we enter into the spiritual realm as we near the end of our race in these clay vessels. All those who went before us, who never tasted of physical death, live today, and are gathered with the Lord and His Christ, who are the innumerable company of angels we are promised to see at the end of the age. We are united with them in the fullness of the Spirit at the end of the age to judge the world and the nations.
Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints
To preach and obey the Gospel is the work of Jesus Christ in us, who builds His church and the city of God, ready to be revealed in the last days. We joyfully suffer the reproach of the world, knowing the enduring substance reserved for us in heaven and the manifestation of all of God’s elect who are the sons of God and firstfruits. As the children of God, we have an earnest deposit and connection to the city of God, but the fullness awaits the redemption of our bodies, when we are transformed fully into spirit, when our race in the clay is done.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Our understanding of the various cities and gatherings we experience on the journey has grown as the Lord continues to show mercy. Clarity on these cities strengthens our faith as we see ourselves fulfilling Scriptures and being transformed into the sons of the Living God. When Christ is revealed in us, we see new Jerusalem coming down out of our heaven, which is the congregation of the saints, the bride of Christ, the elect, the firstfruits unto salvation. John saw visions of the fullness, where there is no more sea, symbolizing the end of flesh and its carnal mindset.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
The everlasting city of God is built on the Wisdom of God, Christ, who is the Living Commandments, which are also called the holy mountains. The Lord loves us as the apple of His eye, as we are the entry way, the gates into the Holy city.
Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
When the Promise comes, we are raised with Christ and grow to become a pillar through which all others come to Christ and approach the holy city. By the laying on of hands, those who hear the Gospel receive the Holy Spirit, their baptism of fire, and thus their escape from spiritual Babylon begins. The Gospel is thus spread and the Lord builds His church one saint at a time.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Joh 10:2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Entering new Jerusalem is the opposite side of the two-edged sword of leaving spiritual Jerusalem, also known as spiritual Babylon. The eternal city of God is established in us as we are coming out of Babylon, the harlot city, which hears the Gospel and claims His name but does not obey and continues to fornicate with other gods, hating and killing Christ spiritually in their hearts. Spiritual Babylon is a very convincing deception that has all who come out of her in amazement at the Lord’s ways.
Rev 17:4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
Rev 17:5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
All first err in believing our gatherings with the many called is the true Israel of God and the Lord’s Body until the Lord reveals greater truth by the brightness of His coming. The false prophets, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Scribes, within ourselves and without, having a form of godliness but deny the power to overcome sins and eventually turn and crucify Christ and part His garments.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Jerusalem], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Jer 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Only a tiny remnant is ordained to escape from spiritual Babylon, that is, spiritual Jerusalem, in every generation, and become the elect of God.
Isa 10:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
Isa 10:21 The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
The Lord’s harvest comes by the application of an agricultural process known as winnowing. This means by way of division, separation, and purging the clean from the unclean of those that claim the Lord’s name “Israel”.
Luk 3:17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The criterion used to separate the people of God is the Commandments, also known as the plumbline. When the Commandments are placed in the middle of us, the separation, the harvest has begun within ourselves and without.
Amo 7:8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
The angels of God are the resurrected Christ in the world, who preach the Gospel, and are the instruments by which the wheat is separated from the tares and the sheep from the goats.
Mat 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
We are entering into the Holy City of New Jerusalem simultaneously to our coming out of the harlot city, when one hears the angels preach the everlasting Gospel. We tarry in spiritual Jerusalem until we are born again, meaning when the Promises come, and then we enter new Jerusalem.
Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 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 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
The names of Jerusalem and Zion in the Scriptures symbolize the gathering and assemblies of the many called to be saints who claim the Lord’s name. These spiritual cities are only a shadow of the true city of God, as we learn by living them and looking behind ourselves. We come to see there are many things that defile and are unclean in these cities and gatherings, as the Lord reveals His Gospel to us in the last days. It is through the mercy of the Lord that we are given to escape. Two angels rescuing Lot from Sodom is a type and example of how those ordained of God are led out of spiritual Babylon and born again in the Spirit. We depart and do not look back from whence the Lord has delivered us. Remember Lot’s wife.
Gen 19:15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
Gen 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
All come through Babylon to find our wife, the true Christ, and enter into marriage with our Husband. There is no other way. We are caused to go into spiritual Babylon that is likened unto Sodom, and we are caused to come out of her in the appointed time.
Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The Lord commands us to tarry in spiritual Jerusalem, having John’s baptism and wait for the power on high, the Promise of the Living Spirit of the Father and the Son to come. While we tarry, we are in the womb, the woman in childbirth waiting to be born again.
Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Isaiah spoke of our pregnancy period, where we now know the Commandments, yet struggle to overcome, lacking the power of the indwelling Spirit of Grace.
Isa 26:17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
Isa 26:18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
The remnant of Israel coming out of Babylon is also known as the daughters of Jerusalem, Zion, and/or Judah. All of our time trying to overcome without the Promise, still being under the schoolmaster, waiting for our promised deliverance and overcoming of sin. The Promise coming is the Kingdom of God coming to us. It is through much tribulation that we come out of Babylon and enter into the Kingdom.
Mic 4:7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
Mic 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
Mic 4:9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
Mic 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
The Lord builds His church and establishes the true city of God by severing and separating those chosen for salvation from their brethren, who are the many called. The enemies of the Gospel are those of our own household. The wicked and unjust are severed from those chosen to be faithful and do not continue with Christ and are cut off from the city of the living.
Psa 101:8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.
Nothing unclean remains or is allowed to enter the holy city of God that is known as new Jerusalem and heavenly Jerusalem. Only those written in the Lamb’s book of life before the worlds were formed enter in, as they have been made righteous through the work of the Living Christ.
Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
All the spiritual dogs, and sorcerers, whoremongers, and idolaters, who corrupt the Commandments are kept outside and do not enter in.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Those who despised Christ, His Christ, and the Commandments, within and without, come bow before our feet, knowing we are the city of the Lord and that He loves us. The Lord does not release these brethren from the carnal law that binds them, and while they worship with their lips, their hearts remain far from the Gospel. We pray the Father to forgive them, who reject and crucify us, as they know not what they are doing.
Isa 60:14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
The chosen few ordained to be faithful come out of the many called who are the professing Israel of God. We dwell together, the wheat and the tares, in Jerusalem and in Mt. Zion, fulfilling the prophecies and living by every Word God spoke. Here are some more examples of the remnant, the daughters of these cities being separated for salvation.
Isa 62:11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Isa 62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Psa 48:11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. [chastening thru the Commandments]
We come to understand this and grasp its relevance to our journey only after we have lived it out and fulfilled the prophecies. We look behind ourselves and see the Lord’s hand in orchestrating every jot and title of our life experience. All things were for our sakes, the elect of God, chosen before the world was formed.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
Christ told those who followed and bewailed Him to weep for themselves and for our children who would be raised in Christ from our preaching. At the appointed time, all chosen for salvation follow the Lord, carrying their cross, laying down their lives for the brethren.
Luk 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
Luk 23:28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
The daughters of Zion and the daughters of Jerusalem come out of the daughters of Babylon. It is a miracle if the Lord has mercy and one is given to see the hand of the Lord of the Universe working His purposes in election and blinding everyone else. Here is a great promise given to the precious few.
Zec 2:7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Zep 3:14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Zep 3:15 The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
A remnant escapes the deception and allure of spiritual Babylon and bears the fruits unto God when they leave the harlot city that deceived them, and which is not the true continuing city of the Lord.
2Ki 19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
2Ki 19:31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
The escaped remnant finishes their race and fully enter into the Holy City of new Jerusalem when they leave these clay vessels, never tasting of death anymore. By the mercy and will of God, we are coming out of spiritual Babylon, leaving the great harlot and all her carnal merchandising behind. Those not given to come out of her are destroyed by the flood of lies from the evil one, which is spiritual violence marked by carnal reasoning, and the accusing and excusing thoughts of the wicked one. Those who did not know the day of their visitation are drowned in their fleshly reasonings.
Rev 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Unlike the true Holy City, in spiritual Jerusalem, which is actually spiritual Babylon, there are many things that are unclean and that defile us, which we are blind to when we abide there. The two-edged sword contains both a positive Jerusalem and a negative one, and we live and fulfill both.
Jos 15:63 As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.
2Ki 21:4 And he [Manasseh] built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
2Ki 21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
We know we have found the eternal city of new Jerusalem in earnest when we have learned to discern between the holy and the profane and are drinking only the pure water of life, the Commandments devoid of all carnal reasonings.
Rev 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The coming of the Promise is the coming into the city of new Jerusalem. The throne of grace is established in our hearts and minds, and the indwelling Spirit of Christ is now judging us and reproving us in all things. There is no more darkness; we have been set free from it and now dwell and walk in the eternal light of the Living Commandments.
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
We are now singing the new song that only those chosen for salvation and receiving the Promise can sing. We are coming out of spiritual Babylon and are dwelling in the Holy City, waiting for the fullness to come.
Isa 52:9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
Isa 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.
The inhabitants of heavenly Jerusalem come to the wedding feast when called and leave the harlot city behind.
Isa 62:1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Isa 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
The Lord returns to the true Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and there He dwells and establishes His Holy mountain. This is the city of Truth, the eternal city wherein the Commandments of the Lord are known and obeyed. We are entering the Holy City by the mercy of the Lord.
Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
All of us are born and raised unto maturity in heavenly Jerusalem, as even the cities of God are made new when the Living Christ comes to us.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
We are entering into the true Sion, the city of Truth, the dwelling place of the Living God, little by little, as we are coming out of spiritual Babylon. All those who went before us, who never died, are alive, and gathered with the Lord and His Christ, having been married in Spirit. We partake of our deposit yearning for the fullness to come and the redemption of our clay bodies.
Remember that the knowledge about these cities and seeing ourselves fulfilling the Scriptures is useful, to expand our understanding and even strengthen our faith, but this knowledge itself means nothing unless we obey the Commandments and love God. Praise ye the Lord.
1Co 13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
