The great whore and the bride, the Lamb's wife

Study:

Have you noticed the introductions to the great whore of Revelation 17 and the bride, the Lamb's wife, the holy Jerusalem, of Revelation 21:9 etc.?

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: 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. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:1-3
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 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, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; Revelation 21:9-11

Why are the introductions so similar? Are these two women connected in some non-obvious way?

Let's list their similarities and differences and see if we can't solve this puzzle... because it is a puzzle and it does have a solution! 

Notice the similarities:

 
the great whore
the bride
women
"the great whore" Rev. 17:1
"the bride, the Lamb's wife" Rev. 21:9
cities
 
"...that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Rev. 17:18
"...that great city, the holy Jerusalem..." Rev. 21:10
gold, precious stones, and pearls
 
"the woman was ... decked
with gold and precious stones
and pearls..." Rev. 17:4
 
 
"the city was pure gold" "the foun-dations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones" "the twelve gates were twelve pearls" Rev. 21:18,19,21

What can we say about the above similarities? Not much!

  1. The women are two churches, the false and the true?
  2. The cities are the capitals of two kingdoms, Satan's and God's?
  3. Both churches/kingdoms are rich, earthly riches and heavenly?

That was apparently fruitless. Now let's look at a few differences.

 
the great whore
the bride
location
 
in "the wilderness" Rev. 17:3
 
associated with "a great and high mountain" Rev. 21:10
cloth
 
"arrayed in purple and scarlet colour" Rev. 17:4
No cloth mentioned/visible!
 
shape
 
organic (a draped woman)
 
"The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." Rev. 21:16

Does any of this remind you of anything Biblical? Anything in the Old Testament? A woman is a church and a church, according to Paul, is a temple. Any lightbulbs turning on?

Comparing the sanctuary of the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites to the temple of Solomon:

 
wilderness sanctuary
Solomon's temple
God is source of pattern
 
"According to all that I [God] shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle ..., even so shall ye make it." Ex. 25:9
"Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of ... the place of the mercy seat, And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit..." 1 Chr. 28:11,12
location
 
 
"Our fathers [the Israelites] had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness..." Acts 7:44
"Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in mount Moriah..." 2 Chr. 3:1
cloth
 
 
 
"Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet..." Exo. 26:1
No cloth is visible, it being inside the building!
 
 
shape
 
 
organic (a tent of curtains)
 
 
"And the oracle [the most holy place] ... The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." 1 Kings 6:20

Notice the parallel that exists between the two women of Revelation, the great whore and the bride, the Lamb's wife and the two sanctuaries, the wilderness tabernacle and Solomon's temple. There is one big difference between these two. Notice that the tabernacle has blue as well as purple and scarlet while the great whore only has purple and scarlet. Why? Because blue symbolizes commandment keeping. The great whore is antinomian or a lawbreaker because she breaks and teaches others to break God's law, in particular, His Ten Commandments.

The whore is the temporary structure of our oft times rebellious "wilderness wanderings" on this earth. While, New Jerusalem is that permanent structure in the heavenly Canaan that is our destination... our true home, where we no longer wander from our Father.

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