The Wilderness Separation
from
Mystery Babylon
Footsteps of Messiah
Part Two
This week we continue to examine what the Scriptures say about the Footsteps of Messiah and how ancient scholars interpreted these verses. Remarkably, John’s Revelation is often parallel with those ancient views of the texts. For instance, John writes:
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And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls, holding in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality...(Re 17:3-4)
Last week we saw how that woman of Mystery Babylon is identified with the commercial system of Edom, referred to as the “Red One” or Rome. The beast’s golden head of Babylon has joined the iron legs of Rome that are now seen in its “daughter” or mingled clay and iron systems. This would encompass the Medean/Persian and Greek empires, too, each refining political, governmental, medical, military, economic, and religious systems to reinforce their power to be gods or king of kings. The serpent Egypt passed that authority to the first beast kingdom Babylon, and it has been passed down through successive kingdoms and systems.
Ultimately, all those kingdoms rely on their commercial activities to fund their their power and control, which may perhaps contribute to Babylon being identified primarily with commerce. Her ultimate “cargo” is human souls. When the human soul leans upon those systems, identifying first as Americans, Germans, Australians, Koreans, or whatever people group, then they have shifted their weight of faith from the Creator to the creators of the multiple supports supplied by their governments.
It’s not that we can't use those systems wisely. We were prepared in Acts Two how to live in exile with the Word. We need physicians, a protective force, a stable government, etc., but an Israelite never forgets that he is an Israelite in exile FIRST. If an Israelite will not lose that identity, then when those systems are unplugged prior to Messiah’s return, then it will be terrifying or devastating to see each one destroyed until “not a penny is left in a purse” as the ancient sages said of the Footsteps of Messiah. Messiah will not build upon previous structures. He is bringing a renewed Heavens and Earth from the ground up and from the heavens down.
This is not to make light of the serious tribulation of the generation of Footsteps. The prediction is that the righteous will gradually withdraw from wicked society, creating a “pre-wilderness” before the wilderness flight. It will be a kind of conscious unplugging from corrupted systems. The midrash suggests that “the wicked will persecute the few remaining men of truth, forcing them to flee from civilization.” [“wilderness” in footnote] 2§29 It may not be so remarkable because the world is distracted by growing fear and anger. They are too busy railing against truth and inventing it anew each day to really notice.
Believers may change sources from whom they purchase necessary items or begin to barter with one another. They cancel certain media subscriptions. They incorporate alternative medicine. They move to find a like-minded community instead of a better-paying job. Excessive time spent pursuing sports and hobbies is diverted into Word study and fellowship with believers. With no human being at the helm, the righteous unplug here and there from sources of wicked power and find places to plug into righteousness. They can’t come out of the world at this point, but spiritually, they are already moving!
The wilderness between Egypt and Israel is more than a remote place. It was criss-crossed by highways, so it wasn’t completely cut off from other people. It did not have the comforts and conveniences of a city. The great gift of the wilderness, however, was the giving of the Torah and the formation of a nation. This pre-wilderness prepares Israel for the greater Exodus and the next level of testing. The purpose of the wilderness was:
- “And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, in order to humble you, putting you to the test, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (Dt 8:2)
- “In the wilderness it was He who fed you manna which your fathers did not know, in order to humble you and in order to put you to the test, to do good for you in the end. (Dt 8:16)
If the generation of Footsteps goes to the pre-wilderness, it implies that they are clinging to the Torah in spite of heavy testing. They move away from the world’s support (and control) systems and begin to depend upon the Father for their very bread. Reference Yeshua’s three temptations in the wilderness:
Bread
Pride in “Word wrestling”
Control
This generation is learning to refuse a “God competition" like human beings encountered in the Garden. The beast of the field offers economic security, pride in wrestling with the meaning of the Word, and control over everything in one’s life. A beastly view of exaltation.
As in Genesis, Babylon is a “city” and a system of re-coalescing peoples and nations who were scattered at the Tower of Babel, or confused tongues. To understand the origins of a great “city” other than Jerusalem of the righteous, look at the shoresh of “city” (ir-H5782), which is ur. It will take the reader back to the Garden and Adam and Eve’s ”seeing” that the fruit was desirable to touch, taste. The Tower of Babel didn’t have to be that tall physically to reach into Heaven. It was the unity of their purpose in elevating themselves into Heaven that was the threat. It was a war with Adonai.
Like Kain was jealous of Abel’s sacrifice and the serpent was jealous of Adam, so the meaning of a city implies it may be founded for self-elevation just like the King of Babylon, who desired to rule of the “stars of God,” which is Israel. In last week’s newsletter, we saw how the unripe figs of Israel would fall from the sky during the darkness. The “city” mentality of the serpent, the most cunning beast of the field is constantly in conflict with the “city” mentality of Jerusalem above, who serves the Holy One on the Mount of the Moed. Perhaps this is why the Holy One is restoring His holy moedim to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in this generation. Footsteps.
- But you said in your heart,'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly (moed) in the recesses of the north. (Is 14:13)
Here is the root of “city”:
STRONGS H5782:
עוּר verb rouse oneself, awake Late Hebrew id.; Aramaic עוּר; Arabic see עיר, עַיִר, is be jealous, compare Syriac hate, revenge)
עוּר a primitive root (identical with the idea of opening the eyes); to wake (literally or figuratively lift up (self), × master, raise (up), stir up (self).
to rouse oneself, awake, awaken, incite
(Qal) to rouse oneself, awake
(Niphal) to be roused
(Polel) to stir up, rouse, incite
(Hithpolel) to be excited, be triumphant
(Hiphil)
to rouse, stir up
to act in an aroused manner, awake
If these definitions of a “city” sound familiar to our generation, it is because we’ve heard the term in English so often lately. It’s in the news. It’s in the schools. It’s in politics. It’s in business. It’s in literature. Everywhere. The term is “woke.” Mystery Babylon has stirred and excited itself, commandeering the pure principles of social justice as taught in the Word. The jealous, raging, excited Babel-onians are coalescing to replace the Creator. They have capitalized on a vacuum of spiritual commitment on the part of believers and historic abuses to step in and fill it.
They now influence and control every aspect of public life, and they’re doing not so bad a job of invading private life. The problem is that apart from the word, their laws, decrees, and codes of ethical behavior will change daily. Good and evil change daily. Confusion is inherent in their systems. They will turn on one another as well as pursue the righteous. It is this ancient war:
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The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. (Ge 3:4-7)
The first mention of a fig in Scripture is the clue to the death drama of the Footsteps. Adam and Eve woke themselves to death. The fruit didn’t just appeal to the appetite or taste. It wasn’t a desire to satisfy simple hunger or taste something delicious. It was a deeper hunger, a desire for knowledge, beauty, aesthetics, creativity, all the things that attract people to a large city. Competition and jealousy push the envelope of human creativity in each generation, yet rarely is that creativity aimed in a direction that does not elevate the human above Elohim. The cuisine and art are part of a great city’s magnetism, promising wealth because of commercial activity. It is in a continuous state of stimulation and arousal, the opposite of the wilderness.
Even though he was cursed to never settle in them (Ge 4:12), Kain was the first to build a city (4:17). The shoresh of his name means “acquisition, possess, provoke jealousy.” If the “city” of Mystery Babylon goes to the wilderness, it is likely to seek the life of the virtuous woman Jerusalem and her offspring, whom the “city” has murdered from the beginning, the time of Adam and Eve and Kain. Murders and exile began with food and sacrificial feasts. Mystery Babylon will be jealous and enraged with Israel for speaking and doing truth according to the Word.
Remove the testimony of the Word, and there is no “desirable” thing a human is denied and no realm of heaven he can’t rule...at least to the confused mind and tongue.
The modern term “woke” may be a contranym for our generation that signals the righteous to recognize the Footsteps? A wake-up call to the truly woke. The only truly “woke” person is the one who stirs herself to obey the resurrection spirit of the Word. The confusion of Mystery Babylon wants to dominate and eliminate the unity of the Holy City, Jerusalem, even when she is in the wilderness. “In the end,” however, Israel is the truly “woke” city, Jerusalem of Gold, resurrected, restored to the Land of Havilah, where there is Good Gold.
Until her resurrection, however, Israel can follow Yeshua’s final instructions to his disciples, even if they are still in the pre-wilderness of exile: “And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Lk 24:49)
Staying in the “Holy City” is as simple as doing what the disciples did. They assembled on the Mount of the Moed for the feasts, specifically, Shavuot, commemorating the giving of the Torah at Sinai. In their faithfulness to assemble according to the covenant, power from on high descended: “And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.” (Acts 2:3)
Power, or Gvurah, is the fifth spirit of Elohim, the resurrection spirit of the Feast of Trumpets*. The disciples were sealed over from Shavuot to the resurrection Trumpets of the fall. The perils of summer would have no effect on their eternal lives. They were sealed with tongues of fire just as at Mount Sinai, likely in the shape of a Hebrew letter shin, for shon, or tongue. It is the Hebrew letter superimposed into the geography of Jerusalem by its valleys. It is the letter inscribed on every mezuzah, indicating that a little Jerusalem resides inside the home. Even in the wilderness of exile, Israel can “stay in the city” when they obey the Father’s instructions until the resurrection. What they took into the confusion of the earth, they will gather and return to the Ir HaElohim, the City of God.
If this is the “pre-wilderness,” then we are in days of darkness, a type of ninth plague, in which Israel is being judged for ripe and unripe figs, by the presence of the fragrance of vine blossoms as repentance, or the absence of repentance. If there is repentance, then there is light in all our dwellings. Not “wokeness” of the abominable city, but a city awake to and full of the justice of the Word. Its lamp is the Lamb.
Next week, we will look at the next wilderness: Yet, another “woman” goes to the wilderness. She is characterized by virtue:
- “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for 1,260 days.” (Re 12:6)
We will look at why she is in the wilderness and specific predictions about how the serpent will pursue her.
SHABBAT SHALOM!
