Some of the symbols or metaphors in Revelation are different ways to illuminate the same things. For example, the false church is called “The Great Harlot” and “Mystery Babylon” because each of these titles reflect a basic aspect of its nature.

       The false church is called “the Great Harlot” because she was to be the pure, chaste virgin espoused to Christ, but she could not wait for Him and played the harlot with those of this world. It is called “Mystery Babylon” because it is built by those with the same motivation as the men of Shinar, whose motives are revealed in Genesis 11:4 when they said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

       As foolish as this may sound, people have not quit trying to build this tower, especially religious people who are trying to make it to heaven by their own works. They may use His name, but their true motives are to make names for themselves and use their projects to gather others. They may claim to be leading people to Christ, but all the people get are those leaders and the church they are building. Those who truly lead the people to Him and the church He is building will soon stand out as the few true shepherds of His “little flock” who will be given the kingdom.

       The Lord said that He would build His church. He will use people to do the work, but they are spiritual people who will work by the Holy Spirit, not just human strategies and methods. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (see Zechariah 4:6).

       What would the church look like that was built by Him and for Him instead of being built to attract people? If He was in our church, there would be a lot more people than there are now. Where He is truly lifted up, all men will be drawn. But we tend to substitute almost anything for His presence, because we don’t know how to let Him do the building, be the Head, and be the whole purpose for which we’re gathering.

       We can be sure that if God is in our church, it will not be the church, the preacher, the worship, or anything else that is drawing the people. If He is in our midst, the people will not care for any of the things now being used to attract them. Compared to His presence, these are demeaning and silly. What good is the most glorious temple if God is not in it? If He is in it, it will not be the temple that is getting our attention.

       The antithesis to the Tower of Babel is the city that God is building. This is what Abraham was shown that was so marvelous that he left everything he had known in the greatest culture on earth at the time, to seek God’s city. This is essentially what has become the vision and drive of every sojourner. They are the ones who pursue the things of God more than the things of this present world. True God-seekers follow a vision of what God is doing, not men.

       It is noteworthy that Abraham was given by God everything that the men of Shinar had vainly sought when building the Tower of Babel: a name that would last forever and a city that would ultimately unify all men. From this devotion, all of the families on the earth would be blessed through him. It is in our heart to seek these things, but until our spiritual eyes are opened, we will often seek them in the wrong places.

       Whether it is a church, a mission, or a city, every project that is built with the motives of the men of Shinar—to make names for ourselves and gather people around our projects—will ultimately end up scattering people instead. History is basically a story about these unfinished towers built by selfish ambition.

       We can make names for ourselves on earth for a fleeting moment, but this will not last. It’s having our names written in God’s Book of Life that counts. Those who may be famous on earth are usually little-known in heaven. Likewise, those who are well-known in heaven are usually little-known on earth.

       God looked down on how people were building the church in the Middle Ages, saw it had the same evil intent as the men of Shinar, and did the same thing He did to the men of Shinar. He scattered their languages, and now we have almost 20,000 denominations.

       However, the true work of God on His true church has never ceased. It is being built in heaven—the spiritual realm—which is why it will come down out of heaven to the earth, unlike man’s church which “comes up out of the earth,” or is earthly-minded. Few Christians see or understand this, thinking like most do that the church is what the world and the worldly see and think it is. The true seekers—the true sojourners who are more at home in the heavenly realm than they are on the earth—not only see His city, which is also His bride, but they’re becoming part of it.

 

© 2025 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.