In Revelation, the Great Harlot is also called Mystery Babylon. In Scripture, names are given to people, or entities, to identify their nature. We’ve covered why this system is called the Great Harlot, and this week we will cover in a little more depth why it is called Mystery Babylon, as the message in Revelation about these seems to be beginning to unfold.

       An identifying feature of this tragic folly is men trying to get to heaven on their own. In Revelation, Mystery Babylon is a metaphor for the church that men tried to build to get to heaven. However, their motives were the same as the motives of the men of Shinar, who built the Tower of Babel. These are described in Genesis 11:3-4: "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 much as we may claim that our buildings and projects are “for God,” He is not fooled. That may be a motive, but it is not the motive. He is the Head of His church and the King of His kingdom, and He will initiate—and lead—what is His.

       When the true motive of our religious works is to gather people around our project and to make a name for ourselves, God knows this. He will ultimately do to our works what He did to the men who tried to build the Tower of Babel: He confused their languages and scattered the people abroad so that they could not continue to build.

       The destruction of this counterfeit will come in the same way as the Tower of Babel—and this is beginning to happen to institutionalized Christianity now. Already, the church has thousands of “languages,” or doctrines, and has been divided into denominations, so that we cannot continue to build this great folly.

       As we’re exhorted in the book of Hebrews, Jesus suffered “outside the camp,” and we’re exhorted to go to Him outside the camp. Jesus never became a part of “the camp,” or the establishment, and His people are exhorted to follow Him in this.

       Revelation 18 is mostly about the destruction of the counterfeit church that men tried to build. In verse 21, we’re told, “Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.’” As Jesus said in Matthew 15:13, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.”

       Knowing this is determined, we must consider what we were told in Revelation—that many of God’s people are in this system built by men and not God. We know this because Revelation 18:4 says there is a time when He says to them, “Come out of her, My people!” Why would any of God’s people be in this system? Like most unbelievers, many Christians think that the institutional church that men have built is God’s church. It is not. Over half have already left, and the exodus will continue until it no longer exists.  

       Another reason some of God’s people are in the counterfeit church is that the blessing of God is on it even though God did not initiate it or build it. How is His blessing on something He will destroy? The Lord will bless things His people do that are not His purpose—just as He blessed Ishmael—but He will not inhabit them. He will only inhabit the church that He builds.

       His church, His kingdom, is not of this world and cannot be seen by those who do not have the eyes of their hearts open to see by the Spirit but can only see from the earthly perspective. When Jesus was born, the only way He could be found was by revelation. This is still true with everything He is bringing forth. What is born of the Spirit must also be revealed by the Spirit.

       I was born again in a home group over 55 years ago. This group, like Abraham, was seeking to be a part of what God is building, not men. They were not being reactionary to the institutional church; they just had a higher vision. That small group, which was mostly composed of college students, had more of the presence and activity of God than I have found in any institutional church or ministry—and I have been in many all over the world. I have continued to visit many such small groups that gathered in pursuit of God and have often found a similar presence and activity of the Lord.

       However, it is not just being small and not institutionalized that so attracts the presence of the Lord. It begins with being something He initiates and builds. He is building a family, not just an organization. This is reflected in the hunger and love for Him and focus on Him, not just strategies for organizing and building.

 

© 2026 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.