The Reconcliation of the Imagery in Rev 21 & 22

 📘 Preface

This study explores the final chapters of Revelation through the lens of divine unity, priestly symbolism, and heavenly architecture. Drawing from the Greek text, Torah patterns, and prophetic visions, it reveals how the throne, the Lamb, the tree of life, and the measurements of the New Yerushalayim all point to one singular reality: the fullness of Elohim embodied in Messiah.

Rather than presenting contradictions, Revelation offers a layered vision — one that reflects divine truths through crystal-like imagery, where distinction and unity coexist. This work invites readers to see beyond surface dualities and behold the consummate harmony of Father and Son, Temple and City, Measure and Messenger.

📖 Rev 22:1   And he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb. 

📖Rev 22:2  In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

When we read Rev 22 we see plural and singular language For example: the above verses state throne of Elohim and the Lamb. Here reader would see two thrones from where the water of life flows. Similarly, it says tree of life in the middle of the street and either side of the river (that makes it three trees of life). But when we read Rev 22:4 we read 

📖Rev 22:4  And they shall see His face, and His Name shall be upon their foreheads. His face and His name is singular. 

This shows a singular language, so what is it?

1) Grammar / style first — one throne, two possessors

Greek (and English) often place two genitives after one noun to show shared possession rather than two separate objects. “the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb” names one throne and then identifies two who possess or share it. In John’s apocalyptic idiom this does two things at once:

📖Rev 22:1 literally:

ποταμὸν ὕδατος ζωῆς … ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀρνίου

• it insists on the unity of authority (the throne is the seat of divine rule), and

• it honours both Persons (Father and Lamb) as the revealed locus of that rule.

Grammatically:

• τοῦ θρόνου = singular, “the throne” (not thrones).

Here’s a breakdown of each word:

• ἐκπορευόμενον – proceeding, going out, flowing forth
• ἐκ – out of, from
• τοῦ θρόνου – the throne (genitive case, indicating possession or origin)
• τοῦ θεοῦ – of Elohim
• καὶ – and
• τοῦ ἀρνίου – of the Lamb

So the whole phrase =
“proceeding from the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb"

So it is one throne shared by “Elohim and the Lamb.” The text never says “thrones” in the plural.

So the language “of Elohim and of the Lamb” points to one enthronement, expressed with two personal references. That aligns with other Johannine/Revelatory patterns where the Father and Son are co-present around the same divine center (the throne) — not two separate thrones.

📜 Greek Text (Revelation 22:2)

Here is the original Greek phrase from 📖Revelation 22:2:

ἐν μέσῳ τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν, ξύλον ζωῆς

📖 Word-for-Word Translation

• ἐν μέσῳ – in the middle
• τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς – of its street
• καὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ – and of the river
• ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐκεῖθεν – on this side and on that side (i.e., on both sides)
• ξύλον ζωῆς – tree of life (singular)

✅ Correct English Rendering

"In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life."

Despite the plural geography — middle of the street and both sides of the river — the Greek uses one singular noun: ξύλον (tree), not δένδρα (trees). This supports the idea of one Tree-of-Life with manifold presence, a rich image of unity and multiplicity.

🌳 Symbolism of the Tree of Life in Revelation 22:2

This observation captures a profound shift in biblical imagery:

• Singular name: ξύλον ζωῆς (“tree of life”) — one essence, one source.
• Plural placement: “middle of the street and on either side of the river” — many manifestations, widespread accessibility.

This juxtaposition teaches that:

• What was once exclusive in Eden is now inclusive in the New Yerushalayim
• The tree is no longer hidden or guarded — it’s ubiquitous, perpetual, and sufficient for all.
• It reflects unity in diversity: one divine life, branching into countless blessings.

✨ Theological Echoes

Eden: One tree, one location, limited access.

New Creation: One tree, everywhere, eternal access.

The Messianic reading: The Tree as a symbol of Messiah — singular Savior, universally present.

This is not just botanical poetry — it’s a vision of abundant grace, healing, and restoration.

🔍 Key Symbolic Insights

1. One Throne, One Source, Distinct Manifestation

• The throne is singular — yet the imagery of Elohim and the Lamb seated together invites contemplation of unity with distinction.
• The water of life flowing from this throne suggests a single divine source, yet its distribution reveals the relational dynamic between Father and Son.

2. Street and River: Spatial Revelation of Divine Flow

• The street in the middle and the river on either side evoke a split flow, not of division, but of expansion — life branching outward.
• This mirrors Genesis 2, where the one river in Eden split into four heads (not seven — perhaps referencing a broader symbolic tradition), showing how singular divine life becomes manifold provision.

3. Tree of Life: Singular Essence, Plural Presence

• The Greek uses ξύλον ζωῆς (tree of life) — singular — even though it appears on both sides of the river. This is not botanical confusion; it's symbolic precision.
• It teaches that eternal life is one reality, not many. The Son is that reality — the embodied source of divine life.

📖 Scriptural Resonance

“Just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.” — John 5:26

This verse is the theological anchor of our reflection:

• Life is not borrowed — it is intrinsic to the Son, just as it is to the Father.
• The Son is not a secondary conduit; He is the express image (Hebrews 1:3) and the fullness of Elohim bodily (Colossians 2:9).

🕊️ Theological Implication

• The Father is not found apart from the Son — this is the mystery of incarnational fullness.
• The river, the tree, the throne — all point to one life, one source, one person through whom all is revealed and distributed.

📜 Greek Text (Revelation 22:4)

📖 καὶ ὄψονται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν.

🔤 Transliteration + Meaning

• kai — and
• opsontai — they shall see
• to prosōpon autou — His face (singular)
• kai — and
• to onoma autou — His name (singular)
• epi — upon
• tōn metōpōn autōn — their foreheads
  

✨ Theological Emphasis

• Singular face: prosōpon — the unveiled presence of the One.
• Singular name: onoma — the divine identity sealed upon the redeemed.
• This reinforces our earlier insight: one throne, one tree, one source of life, and one person in whom the fullness of Elohim dwells bodily.

🪔 Exodus 28:36–38 — The High Priest’s Tzitz

In the Torah, the tzitz (צִיץ) was a golden plate worn on the High Priest’s forehead. Its interesting to see that even that golden plate was termed as tzizt apart from the one on the hem of the garments:

“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: ‘Set Apart to Yahuah’.” — Exodus 28:36

• It was fastened to the turban with a blue cord.
• It rested on the forehead of the High Priest.
• It bore the Name and set-apartness of Yahuah.
• It made atonement for the sacred offerings of YasharEL.

🔗 Revelation 22:4 — The Name on the Forehead

📖“They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.”
— Revelation 22:4

This echoes the tzitz in several profound ways:

| Exodus (Tzitz)                                       | Revelation (Forehead Seal)                               |

|------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

| “Set Apart to Yahuah” engraved on gold | “His name” written on the redeemed                   |

| Worn by one High Priest                         | Worn by all who overcome — a royal priesthood |

| Sign of consecration and atonement      | Sign of belonging and eternal life                         |

| Forehead as place of divine identity       | Forehead as place of divine sealing                     |

✨ Theological Significance

• The tzitz was a shadow — Revelation reveals the substance.
• In Exodus, one man bore the name for the people. In Revelation, all the redeemed bear the name as priests and kings with His name written on their foreheads.
• The forehead becomes the seat of identity, devotion, and divine ownership.

🕊️ Messiah as the Fulfillment

Yahusha, our High Priest:

• Bears the name of Yahuah in fullness as His embodiment.

• Makes atonement not just for offerings, but for souls.

• Grants access to the tree of life, the face of Elohim, and the name above every name.

This is not just typology — it’s transformation. The redeemed don’t just serve in the temple; they become the temple, sealed with the name of the One who dwells within.

🌟 Important Context

Observation on a seeming tension between (a first blush meaning):

• Revelation 21:23: “The glory of Elohim lightens it, and the Lamb is its lamp.”

• Revelation 22:5: “They shall have no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, because Yahuah Elohim shall give them light.”

The Question arising is:

If the Lamb is the lamp in Rev 21, why does Rev 22 say there's no need of a lamp?

There is also a suggestion that the vision may have been seen through crystal-clear water or glass, which causes reflections — a metaphor

🔍 Textual Harmony: Not Contradiction, But Progression

Let’s reconcile these passages by understanding their symbolic progression:

1. Revelation 21:23 — The Lamb as Lamp

• The Lamb is the lamp — not in contrast to Elohim, but as the visible vessel of divine light.
• This reflects John 1:4–5: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
• The lamp is not artificial or external — it is the Lamb Himself, bearing and revealing the glory of Elohim.

2. Revelation 22:5 — No Need of Lamp

• This verse speaks of a state beyond mediation — the redeemed now dwell in unmediated light.

• The lamp (symbol of mediation or revelation) is no longer “needed” because the light source is fully present.

• It’s not a denial of the Lamb’s role — it’s the culmination of it. The Lamb has brought them into direct communion with Elohim.

💎 Vision Through Crystal: Duality as Reflection

The insight about crystal glass or water is deeply perceptive. 📖Revelation 22:1 describes:

“A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of Elohim and of the Lamb.”

This suggests:

• The vision is seen through transparent purity — like a prism, it reflects and refracts divine realities.
• One source may appear as two — not because of division, but because of relational distinction.
• Just as light through crystal can show multiple rays, the oneness of Elohim is revealed in Father and Son.

🕊️ Theological Resolution

Here’s how we can reconcile the imagery:

🪔 Parallel: Revelation 21 vs. Revelation 22

Symbol: Light source
Revelation 21: Glory of Elohim
Revelation 22: Yahuah Elohim gives light
Meaning: One divine source

Symbol: Mediating vessel
Revelation 21: Lamb is the lamp
Revelation 22: No need of lamp
Meaning: Full communion, mediation eternal in a visible image where the iris of the eye doesn't blink when seeing His esteem. e.g. John saw His face as shinning bright as the sun and he fell down as a dead man being in this earthy body.

📖Rev 1:16...and His face was as the sun shining in its strength.
📖Rev 1:17  And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last

When we read 📖1Ti 6:16  we see He still retains Himself beyond creation as an unapproachable light eternally, whereas 'The Ruler is ONE'

"Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or is able to see, to whom be respect and everlasting might. Aměn".

📖1Ti 6:15  which in His own seasons He shall reveal – the blessed and only Ruler, the Sovereign of sovereigns and Master of masters,

Rev 22:5 when it says "...no need of a lamp or the light of the sun, because Elohim shall give them light..." it means we will be seeing the source of the light unified in a body with a complete revelation of who He is.

Symbol: Dwelling place
Revelation 21: Elohim and the Lamb
Revelation 22: Reign with Him forever
Meaning: Reign is bodily, Fatherhood in Messiah

Symbol: Vision medium
Revelation 21: City illuminated, Lamb as lamp
Revelation 22: Crystal-clear river, tree of life
Meaning: Transparent revelation, unity in distinction

✨ Insight

This is not contradiction — it’s consummation.

• The Lamb as lamp is the means by which we see.
• The light of Elohim is the source we are drawn into.
• In the end, the redeemed still need the lamp — because they see His face (Rev 22:4), and His name is on their foreheads seeing the source of the light,  but yet no creation can't approach Him in His beyond all realms dwelling.

The vision is multi-faceted, like light through crystal — but the reality is singular:
One throne, one light, one life, one Lamb — and we reign with Him forever.

📏The Measurement of the Man = Messenger

Revelation 21:16–17 — Measurements and Symbolism

📖 Verse 16:

“The city lies four-cornered, and its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the rod: twelve thousand stadia.”

• 12,000 stadia: A stadion (Greek: στάδιον) is roughly 185 meters. So 12,000 stadia ≈ 2,220 kilometers — but this is symbolic, not architectural.
• The cube shape (equal length, breadth, height) mirrors the Most Set-Apart Place in the Tabernacle (1 Kings 6:20), which was also a perfect cube — a symbol of divine perfection and presence.

📖1Ki 6:20  And the front of the Speaking Place was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high. And he overlaid it with refined gold, and overlaid the slaughter-place of cedar. 

📐 The Cube of 80 Cubits — Symbolism in 1 Kings 6:20

📖 Verse:

“And the front of the Speaking Place/debir was twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high…”

This describes a perfect cube — 20 × 20 × 20 = 80 cubits total when summed. But why 80?

🔢 Numerical Significance of 80

In Hebrew thought, numbers are never just measurements — they are messages. Here's how 80 unfolds:

1. Etymology and Symbolism of אמה (Amah / Cubit)

(Amah) = cubit, but also “mother” — the source, the nurturer of life, the measure of amah (אמה) 

The cubit is traditionally measured from the elbow to the fingertip — the arm of action, strength, and reach. 

Thus, the cube of 80 cubits becomes a symbol of divine nurture and strength — a sanctuary measured by maternal grace and purposeful power. 

2. Gematria and Meaning

• 80 = פ (Peh) in Hebrew — the letter for mouth, speech, declaration.
• The Speaking Place (Debir) is where Elohim’s voice dwells — and 80 connects to divine utterance.
• The cube is not just spatial — it’s vocal, relational, revelatory.

📖 Scriptural Echoes of 80

| Person/Event                        | Age/Measure| Symbolic Meaning                                  |

|----------------------------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|

| Moses (Exodus 7:7)               | 80 years        | Strength matured for divine mission         |

| Anna (Luke 2:37)                    | 84 years        | Faithful witness, prophetic endurance     |

| Barzillai (2 Samuel 19)           | 80 years        | Generosity, wisdom, provision                 |

| Psalm 90:10                           | 80 years        | Human strength at its peak                      |

| Dishonest Steward (Luke 16:7) | 80 measures | Symbolic reduction — mercy over judgment|         

Each instance of 80 marks a threshold — a point where strength meets purpose, where age meets revelation, where measure meets meaning.

🧱 80 Cubits as Divine Architecture

So in 1 Kings 6:20, the 80 cubits of the Most Set-Apart Place are not just dimensions — they are a numerical sermon:

• Mother (אמה): The sanctuary is womb-like — a place of divine gestation and birth of revelation.

• Peh (פ): It is the mouth of Elohim — the place of speech, covenant, and communion.

• Strength and Reason: It is the culmination of human capacity aligned with divine presence.

🔄 Linking Back to Revelation 21

The 12,000 stadia cube in Revelation mirrors this — but on a cosmic scale. If 80 cubits is the microcosm, then 12,000 stadia is the macrocosm. Both are perfect cubes, both are dwelling places of Elohim, both are measured by divine intent.

Symbolic scale (12,000 × 185 = 2,220 km) evokes ends of the earth completeness — the city that encompasses all nations, all tribes, all tongues.

🧱 Microcosm vs. Macrocosm — What Does It Mean?

We are looking at two perfect cubes in scripture:

1. The Most Set-Apart Place (1 Kings 6:20) — 20 (length) × 20 (breadth) × 20 cubits = 80 cubits total
2. New Yerushalayim (Revelation 21:16) — 12,000 (length) × 12,000 (breadth) × 12,000 (height) stadia ≈ 2,220 km cube

These aren’t just architectural — they’re symbolic containers of divine presence.

🔍 Microcosm: 80 Cubits

• Small scale: A confined, intimate space — the innermost sanctuary of the Tabernacle/Temple.

• Human-accessible: Only the High Priest entered once a year.

• Symbol of concentrated holiness: Like the womb, the heart, or the mouth (remember פ = 80 = “mouth”).

• Measured in cubits (אמה): The unit tied to the human body and maternal symbolism.

This is the microcosm — a miniature model of divine dwelling, hidden and sacred.

🌍 Macrocosm: 12,000 Stadia

• Cosmic scale: A city-sized cube stretching thousands of kilometers.

• Universal access: The gates are open to all nations (Rev. 21:24).

• Symbol of expansive holiness: Not hidden, but revealed — the fullness of Elohim dwelling with humanity.

• Measured in stadia: A Greco-Roman unit, suggesting global scope and Gentile inclusion.

This is the macrocosm — the expanded fulfillment of the microcosm, now encompassing all creation.

Microcosm: The Most Set-Apart Place (1 Kings 6:20)

• Dimensions: 20 cubits × 20 cubits × 20 cubits

• Total: 80 cubits when summed

• Measurement unit: Cubits (Hebrew: amah, also meaning “mother”)

• Symbolism: Intimate, hidden set apartness; divine speech (80 = Hebrew letter peh, “mouth”)

• Access: Only the High Priest, once a year

• Function: Earthly dwelling of Elohim’s presence — a womb-like sanctuary.

Macrocosm: New Yerushalayim (Revelation 21:16)

• Dimensions: 12,000 stadia × 12,000 × 12,000

• Approximate size: 2,220 kilometers per side

• Measurement unit: Stadia (Greek unit, expansive and global)

• Symbolism: Universal holiness; divine presence revealed to all

• Access: Open gates to all nations

• Function: Cosmic fulfillment of the sanctuary — Elohim dwelling with humanity.

So when we say “microcosm vs. macrocosm,” we’re pointing to a theological pattern:

• The Most Set-Apart Place is the prototype — small, sacred, hidden.

• New Yerushalayim is the fulfillment — vast, glorious, open.

Both are perfect cubes, both are measured, and both are dwelling places of Elohim — one in shadow, the other in fullness.

📖 Verse 17:

📖Rev 21:17  And he measured its wall: hundred and forty-four forearms, according to the measure of a man, that is, of a messenger

• 144 forearms (cubits) = 12 × 12 — a clear symbol of governmental fullness (12 tribes × 12 apostles).

• The phrase “measure of a man — that is, of a messenger” is cryptic but rich:

• It suggests that the human measure is equal to angelic measure — pointing to the transfigured stature of redeemed humanity.

• It may also imply that the standard of measurement is Messiah Himself, the perfect man and heavenly messenger.

🔢 Number 6 vs. Number 12 — Stature and Governance

“Measure of man is 6, but Messiah is 6 × 2 = 12 — the number of governance.”

This is a compelling symbolic interpretation:

• 6 often represents man (created on the sixth day), but also incompleteness.
• 12 represents divine government — tribes, apostles, gates, foundations.
• Messiah as 6 × 2 = 12 suggests:

• Perfected humanity (man × divine fullness).
• Messiah as the bridge between man and Elohim — the embodied governance of heaven on earth.

So the wall of the city — 144 cubits — reflects the corporate stature of Messiah’s body, the governed and governing people, measured by His fullness.

🕊️ Theological Implication

• The city is not just a place — it’s a people.
• The measure is not just distance — it’s spiritual stature.
• The messenger’s rod is not just a tool — it’s a standard of divine governance, embodied in Yahusha.

✨ Insight

This vision is not architectural, but eschatological. It reveals:

• A perfectly governed people, built on the foundation of Messiah.
• A heavenly city whose dimensions reflect the fullness of divine presence.
• A wall whose measure is not exclusion, but identity — the stature of those who reign with Him.

🏔️ Moses vs. John — Two Mountains, Two Patterns

Moses on Sinai

📖Exodus 25:40: “See that you make them after their pattern, which was shown you on the mountain.”

• Moses was shown the heavenly pattern and commanded to replicate it — the responsibility was his.

• The Tabernacle was a shadow, a copy, a microcosm of heavenly realities (Hebrews 8:5).

• The measurements were earthly, but divinely inspired — built by human hands, yet echoing divine design.

John on the High Mountain

📖Revelation 21:10: “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city…”

• John was shown the New Yerushalayim — but unlike Moses, he was not tasked to build it.
• The city was already measured by Elohim (Rev. 21:15–17) — the angel measures it, not John.
• This is the macrocosm, the heavenly fulfillment, the Messianic reality — not built by man, but revealed by Elohim.

📐 Messiah Yahusha as the Measure

Both models are measured in Messiah.

• Ephesians 4:13 speaks of “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah.”
• The Tabernacle and the New Yerushalayim are not just spatial — they are spiritual embodiments of Yahusha’s fullness.
• The earthly sanctuary was a shadow (Hebrews 10:1); the New Yerushalayim is the substance — the dwelling of Elohim with man (Rev. 21:3).

🔄 Earthly as Shadow, Heavenly as Fulfillment

This echoes the Hebraic pattern of type and antitype:

• Tabernacle = Type → built by Moses, temporary, veiled

• New Yerushalayim = Antitype → revealed to John, eternal, unveiled

The responsibility shifts:

• Moses: “Make it according to the pattern” → human obedience

• John: “Behold what Elohim has prepared” → divine revelation

🏕️ 1. Tabernacle Pattern — Measured into the Lamb

In 📖Exodus 25:9, Yahuah tells Moses:

“Make everything according to the pattern I show you on the mountain.”

This heavenly pattern includes:

• The Most Set Apart Place — cube-shaped, like the New Yerushalayim (Rev 21:16)
• The Ark — seat of divine presence, flanked by cherubim
• The High Priest — bearing the stones of the tribes, mediating between Elohim and man

In Revelation:

• The One on the throne appears as Jasper and Sardius (Ruby) — stones from the High Priest’s breastplate
• The Lamb takes the scroll — the pattern, the measure, the destiny
• The city is measured — and only those measured in Him are included

Conclusion: The Lamb is not just the High Priest — He is the living Tabernacle, the embodied pattern, the measuring rod.

👑 2. Melchizedek Priesthood — Eternal Governance

📖Psalm 110:4 declares: “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek is:

• King of Salem (peace)
• Priest of El Elyon (Most High)
• Without genealogy — eternal, mysterious, sovereign.

In Revelation:

• The Lamb is slain yet standing — death conquered
• He is worshiped with the One on the throne — priest and king
• He opens the scroll — judicial authority, covenantal mediation

Conclusion: The Lamb fulfills the Melchizedek pattern — eternal priesthood, divine kingship, and unmediated access to Elohim.

🏛️ 3. Ezekiel’s Temple — Measured Glory

Ezekiel 40–48 describes a visionary temple:

• Measured in detail by a man with a measuring rod
• Filled with glory — the return of the Shekinah
• Flowing with living water from the threshold (Ezekiel 47)

In Revelation:

• The messenger measures the city — but the temple is not found (Rev 21:22)
• Why? Because Yahuah El Shaddai and the Lamb are its temple
• The river of life flows from the throne — echoing Ezekiel’s stream

Conclusion: Ezekiel’s temple is fulfilled in the Lamb — He is the measured man, the source of living water, the dwelling place of glory.

✨ Unified Insight

You said it best:

“The imagery gives us two (to show distinction) but collapses them into one throne (to show unity) — even in measurements.”

This is the mystery of Messiah:

• He is the pattern (Tabernacle)
• He is the priest-king (Melchizedek)
• He is the temple (Ezekiel)
• He is the throne (Revelation)

All measurements, all worship, all governance — are measured into Him.

🔍 Revelation 4–5: Distinction in Vision

📖Rev 4:2  And immediately I came to be in the Spirit and saw a throne set in the heaven, and One sat on the throne. 

• Singular presence — Elohim enthroned, radiant in glory.

• Described as Jasper and Sardius (Ruby) — stones from the High Priest’s breastplate:

• Sardius (Odem) — first stone (Reuben: “Behold, a son”)

• Jasper (Yashpheh) — last stone (Benjamin: “Son of the right hand”)

This mirror effect — first and last — evokes:

• Aleph and Tav

• Beginning and End

• Priestly fullness in the One seated

Revelation 5:6–7

📖Rev 5:6  And I looked and saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing, as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of Elohim sent out into all the earth. 

📖Rev 5:7  And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him sitting on the throne.

• The Lamb approaches — a moment of distinction.

• He is described as having seven horns and seven eyes — complete authority and vision.

• He takes the scroll — the pattern, the measure, the destiny.

This is the Messianic moment:

• The Lamb is not separate, but sent — the express image of the invisible Elohim.

• He is the Measurer — all things are measured into Him (cf. John 5:22, Hebrews 1:3).

🕊️ Revelation 22:1, 22:3 — Unity in Fulfillment

From this point forward:

• The throne is singular.

• The worship is unified.

• The distinction collapses into communion.

This reflects:

• John 10:30 — “I and the Father are one.”

• Colossians 2:9 — “In Him dwells all the fullness of Elohim bodily.”

• Revelation’s climax — not two thrones, but one reign.

📐 Measurements as Theological Symbol

Even the measurements reflect this unity.

• The scroll is sealed — only the Lamb can open it.

• The city is measured — by a messenger whose measure is equal to a man, i.e., Messiah.

• The pattern is not external — it is embodied in the Lamb.

• Matthew 22:11–13 — the guest without wedding garments.

• John 15:6 — branches not abiding in Him are cast out

✨ Insight: Mirror and Merging

 Jasper and Sardius (Ruby) is profound:

• The mirror effect shows distinction — Father and Son.

• The merging into one throne shows unity — one divine presence.

This is not contradiction — it’s revelation:

• The Lamb is distinct in role, but one in essence.

• The throne is One, because the glory is undivided.

📚 Summary

• One Throne, Two Names, One Source

Revelation 22:1–3 uses singular grammar to describe the throne “of Elohim and of the Lamb,” emphasizing shared authority and unified reign. The Greek syntax confirms one throne, not two.

• Tree of Life: Singular Essence, Plural Presence

Though the tree appears on both sides of the river, the Greek uses a singular noun — symbolizing one source of life manifesting in many ways. This reflects the universal accessibility of Messiah’s life.

• Name on the Forehead: Tzitz Fulfilled

Revelation 22:4 echoes Exodus 28:36–38, where the High Priest wore a golden plate inscribed “Set Apart to Yahuah.” In Revelation, all the redeemed bear His name — a sign of consecration, identity, and eternal belonging.

• Light and Lamp: Progression, Not Contradiction

Revelation 21:23 calls the Lamb the lamp, while 22:5 says no lamp is needed. This reflects a movement from mediated light to unmediated communion — the Lamb brings us into direct encounter with Elohim.

• Measurements: Symbolic Stature and Governance

The city’s dimensions (12,000 stadia) and wall (144 cubits) reflect divine governance (12×12). The “measure of a man — that is, of a messenger” points to Messiah as the standard of spiritual stature.

• Microcosm vs. Macrocosm

The Most Set-Apart Place (80 cubits) in 1 Kings 6:20 is a microcosm of divine dwelling. The New Yerushalayim (12,000 stadia cube) is the macrocosm — the cosmic fulfillment of that sanctuary, open to all nations.

• Messiah as the Pattern

The Lamb is the fulfillment of the Tabernacle (Exodus), the Melchizedek priesthood (Psalm 110), and Ezekiel’s temple. He is the measured man, the source of living water, and the dwelling place of glory.

• Revelation 4–5: Distinction and Unity

The One on the throne appears as Jasper and Sardius (Ruby) — stones from the High Priest’s breastplate. The Lamb approaches, takes the scroll, and joins the worship. From that point, the throne is singular — revealing unity in divine essence.

The Covenant Woman vs the Harlot

Preface

The book of Revelation, saturated with vivid symbolism, presents two contrasting female figures: the faithful covenant woman and the seductive harlot. This study guides readers through the prophetic imagery of these women, primarily as depicted in Revelation 12 and 17, unveiling the biblical and spiritual significance woven into their descriptions. Amid the wilderness—a setting of both divine refuge and deception—the difference between authentic covenant relationship and counterfeit spirituality comes sharply into focus. This preface lays the foundation for a journey bridging ancient prophetic warnings with the realities of spiritual allegiance and apostasy, calling today’s reader to discernment amid competing religious systems

🏜️The Wilderness:

📖Rev 17:3  And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast covered with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

 Yahuchanan/John says he was carried in the Ruach into the wilderness. The location is given to us as Wilderness.

📖Rev 17:18  “And the woman whom you saw is that great city having sovereignty over the sovereigns of the earth.” 

We are told that the woman whom John saw 'is that great city'. 

📖Rev 11:8  and their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Seḏom and Mitsrayim, where also our Master was impaled,

In Revelation 11:8 we are told that the great city is where our Adon was impaled i.e. Yerushalayim which is spiritually called as Sodom and Egypt.

John was carried in the Ruach into the wilderness where he saw the Harlot termed as Mystery Babylon and he marveled.

📖Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the set-apart ones, and with the blood of the witnesses of יהושע. And having seen her, I marvelled – greatly marvelled! 

❔1. Why did John marvel?

John was astonished because what he saw looked like a counterfeit of the true woman and both were in the wilderness

• In Rev 12, the woman is covenant YasharEL, clothed with the sun (covered in righteousness), fleeing into the wilderness where Yahuah had prepared a place for her.

📖Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Elohim, to be nourished there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. 

• In Rev 17, another woman (the harlot) is also in the wilderness—but she is riding on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemy.

This dual imagery means John is being shown a contrast between the true covenant bride and a counterfeit bride. That’s why the messenger asks John, “Why do you marvel?”—because the vision looks like the covenant woman, but is in fact a deception.

Part of John’s marvel is the shock of seeing some who appeared to be covenantal (seed of Abraham) but who have joined themselves to Mystery Babylon. This mirrors Shaul’s teaching that not all YasharEL is truly YasharEL (Rom 9:6–8).

2. The imagery of dragon vs covenant (Rev 12 vs Rev 17)

• In Rev 12, the dragon persecutes the covenant woman = the carnal seed warring against the spiritual seed, just as Yishmael mocked Yitshaq (Gal 4:29).

📖Gal 4:29  But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him born according to the Spirit, so also now.

• In Rev 17, the woman is no longer persecuted but instead enthroned upon the living creature= she has compromised and allied with the dragon system.

• The marvel is in this shift from suffering to power—the persecuted bride (Rev 12) becoming the harlot enthroned on the beast (Rev 17).

This shows the danger: persecution refines the faithful, but compromise elevates the unfaithful into Babylon’s system. Carnal mind views a huge creature termed as Satan chasing a woman in the wilderness but its the Harlot woman and her seed within her, driven by ha shatan is persecuting the Covenant woman and her seed IN THE WILDERNESS!

3. The Seven Kings (Rev 17:10)

“Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while.”

If we read these as world empires that persecuted YasharEL, our list is close. One way to frame it:

1. Egypt – the first to enslave YasharEL (Exodus).

2. Assyria – destroyed the northern kingdom.

3. Babylon – destroyed Yerushalayim and the Temple.

4. Medo-Persia – oppressed, though also allowed rebuilding (Ezra, Nehemiah).

Daniel 10, where the malak (messenger) tells Daniel:

“But the prince of the reign of Persia withstood me twenty-one days. But see, Mikael, one of the chief heads, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” (Dan 10:13).

• Persia was both an earthly reign and a spiritual principality. Gabriel’s delay shows that behind the human throne of Persia was a territorial principality opposing Yahuah’s purposes for His people.

• This was the same period when Persia had conquered Babylon and allowed some restoration (Cyrus’ decree), yet also carried delay in adherence to Cyrus decree, road block when temple work was stopped during Daraveyash’s reign, oppression and spiritual resistance (Ezra, Nehemiah received opposition to the rebuilding).

5. Greece – Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple, Maccabean persecution.

6. Rome (the one “that is”) – active in John’s day; Rome destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD.

7. The one yet to come (the little while) – this is the most debated. Some see it as:

• A later phase of Rome (Byzantine or Papal)

• Or a revived beast-kingdom in the last days which is part of Rome which was the dreaded beast which Daniel saw who made pagan Babylon a state religion forming Christianity, or a specific short-lived ruler (little horn) which  revives Judaism (carnal YasharEL) and takes it to its peak where it says “ the eighth is of the seven” where number eight in Hebrew comes from the word ‘shemen’ which means ‘oil’, that is what we are seeing today as the Hebrew roots movement as the extension of the little horn is part of the ten horns which we will see a bit later. 

So each kingdom is not just political but has spiritual powers behind it, which Shaul later calls archons and principalities (Eph 6:12).

That means John’s vision of the seven kings (Rev 17:10) is both history and spiritual warfare—the fall of empires is the fall of their ruling principalities.

Both Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23 use the language of Yerushalayim as an unfaithful woman, and Yahuah declares that her very “lovers” (the nations she turned to) will be the ones who rise up against her and destroy her.

Here are the key passages:

📖Ezekiel 16:37–39 

“therefore, see, I am gathering all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you hated. And I shall gather them against you from all around and shall uncover your nakedness to them, and they shall see all your nakedness.

And I shall judge you as women who commit adultery and who shed blood are judged. And I shall bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.

And I shall give you into their hand, and they shall throw down your arched place, and they shall break down your high places. And they shall strip you of your garments, and they shall take your splendid adornments, and leave you naked and bare.”

📖Ezekiel 23:9–10 (about Oholah = Samaria)

“Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Ashshur, with whom she lusted.

They uncovered her nakedness, they took her sons and daughters and slew her with the sword. And she became a byword among women, when judgments were executed on her.”

📖Ezekiel 23:22, 25–26 (about Oholibah = Yerushalayim)

“Therefore, Oholibah, thus said the Master Yahuah, ‘See, I am stirring up your lovers against you, from whom you turned away in disgust. And I shall bring them against you from every side…

And I shall set My jealousy against you, and they shall deal with you in wrath. They shall remove your nose and your ears, and your remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, and the remnant shall be consumed by fire.

They shall also strip you of your garments and take away your splendid jewels.’”

📖 These passages are exactly what John’s vision in Rev 17:16 echoes:

“And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and lay her waste and naked, and eat her flesh and burn her with fire.”

So the harlot of Revelation is described in the same covenantal-adultery language as Yerushalayim in Ezekiel.

1. Scarlet Beast = Yerushalayim in Carnal Blood System

• Scarlet = red like blood.

• Yerushalayim, under the old covenant system, was “covered with blood of bulls and goats” (Heb 9:12–13; 10:4).

• But not with the eternal blood of Messiah. This is why John sees the beast “covered with names of blasphemy” (Rev 17:3) — because continuing sacrifices after Messiah’s offering is a denial of His once-for-all atonement.

Most English translations translate Hebrew : chayah and Greek: therion as ‘beast’ instead of ‘living creature’

1. Hebrew – חיה (chayah)

• Root: chayah = to live, to be alive.

• Noun: chayah = living thing, living creature.

• Usage: Genesis 1:24 → “Let the earth bring forth the living creature (חיה) after its kind.”

• Ezekiel 1:5 → the “living creatures” (chayot) around the throne.

• Neutral term: It can mean animals, humans, or heavenly beings — anything living.

2. Greek – θηρίον (therion)

• Diminutive of thēr = wild beast.

• Usage in LXX and NT:

• Usually negative: wild animals, dangerous beasts (Acts 28:4; Titus 1:12).

• In Revelation: therion = “beast” from the sea (Rev 13), “beast” from the land, etc.

• Connotation: something untamed, destructive, savage.

3. How they connect

• In Revelation it’s translated in Greek as therion , but the imagery is steeped in Hebrew Scriptures (chayah).

• In Hebrew, chayah can describe both holy living beings (Ezekiel’s throne-chariot creatures) and earthly animals.

• When carried into Greek, the translators chose therion for chayah in many places of the Septuagint (LXX).

Example:

• Genesis 1:24 — “living creature” (chayah) → LXX: θηρίον (therion).

• So the LXX sometimes uses therion as a straight equivalent for chayah, even though therion feels more negative.

4. Prophetic nuance in Revelation

• By choosing therion, John is not merely saying “living creature” but emphasizing its wild, destructive, untamed aspect.

• In Hebrew thought, the “living creature” (chayah) could be:

• A throne guardian (Ezekiel 1–10).

• A beast of prey (Genesis 37:20, Joseph’s brothers fearing a chayah devoured him).

• So in Revelation 13 & 17, therion = “living creature” (chayah) but in its fallen/corrupted sense → a creature animated with life, but bestial, savage, carnal.

📖Rev 17:3  And he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet living creature/chayah covered with names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 

5. Ten Horns = Sovereigns + Completeness

• Horns = ruling power, exaltation, authority.

• The messenger says: “The ten horns which you saw are ten sovereigns” (Rev 17:12).

• Scripturally, the number 10 = completeness / fullness (10 commandments, 10 virgins, 10 plagues, etc.).

• So here, the “ten sovereigns” = the complete set of the end time principality powers that Yahuah will allow to align with the living creature system for judgment.

3. Horns in the Old Covenant System

Qaran קרן — horns are not only symbols of kings but also built into the priestly/temple service:

• Bronze altar → had 4 horns on its corners (Exod 27:2). Blood of the sin offering was applied to these horns (Lev 4:7).

• Incense altar → also had 4 horns (Exod 30:2–3). Blood was applied to these on Yom Kippur (Exod 30:10).

• Horn of oil for priestly anointing → “Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the Tent and anointed Solomon” (1 Kings 1:39).

• Horn of oil for prophetic/kingship anointing → “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers” (1 Sam 16:13, anointing David).

Eight horns on both altars and one horn with the chief priest for anointing and one with a chief prophet make a ten horns imagery of Revelation which once was a symbol of mercy and anointing 

Symbol of mercy: 

There are no verses in the Torah itself (Genesis–Deuteronomy) that describe a man taking hold of the horns of the altar to plead for mercy.

What we do see in Torah is:

• Blood on the horns for atonement:

• Exodus 29:12 – blood of the bull put on horns.

• Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34 – sin offering blood applied to horns.

• Leviticus 16:18 – Day of Atonement, blood on incense altar’s horns.

• The altar as “most set apart” (Exodus 29:37), meaning untouchable except through priestly service.

So Torah gives the legal ritual of horns = blood/atonement, but it does not provide a statute about men grasping the horns.

👉 The first recorded examples of grabbing the horns for asylum/mercy are historical narratives outside Torah:

• Adoniyah (1 Kings 1:50–51)

• Yoab (1 Kings 2:28)

That practice seems to have grown from the understood meaning of the horns — they were the very points where blood secured mercy/atonement, so a desperate man clung to them as a last hope.

📌 In short:

• Torah = blood on horns for atonement.

• Later narratives = men appealing to horns for mercy.

In the Torah itself (Genesis–Deuteronomy), we only directly find horns on the two altars:

• Brazen altar → “make horns on its four corners” (Exod 27:2).

• Incense altar → “its horns shall be of one piece with it” (Exod 30:2).

That gives 8 horns total in the tabernacle structure.

The Other Two Horns (Oil Anointing)

The horn of oil (used for anointing priests and kings) is not mentioned in Torah. It appears later in the Former Prophets (Joshua–Kings):

• Priests → “Tsadok the priest took the horn of oil from the Tent and anointed Solomon” (1 Kings 1:39).

Torah portion speaks of anointing priests as well

📖 Exo 29:7  and shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him.

📖Lev 8:12  And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aharon’s head and anointed him, to set him apart.

Why did Tsadok the chief priest anoint Shelemoh/Solomon and not a prophet?

1. Background

• Adoniyahu tried to make himself king (1 Kgs 1:5–10).

• Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba warn David.

• David orders Tsadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah to anoint Solomon.

📖 1 Kgs 1:39: “And Tzadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. And they blew the ram’s horn, and all the people said, ‘Let King Solomon live!’”

2. Why did the priest anoint and not the prophet?

Normally, in Torah-history:

• Prophets anointed kings (Samuel anointed Saul & David with the horn of oil, 1 Sam 10:1; 16:13).

• Priests anointed priests (Lev 8:12).

But in Solomon’s case, the high priest himself anointed him. Why? 

1. Because the order was in haste 

📖1Ki 1:32  And Sovereign Dawiḏ said, “Call me Tsaḏoq the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benayahu son of Yehoyaḏa.” And they came before the sovereign.

📖1Ki 1:33  And the sovereign said to them, “Take with you the servants of your master, and you shall have Shelomoh my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Giḥon.

📖1Ki 1:34  “And there Tsaḏoq the priest and Nathan the prophet shall anoint him sovereign over Yisra’ěl. And blow the shophar, and say, ‘Let Sovereign Shelomoh live!’

The command was that Tsadok the priest and Nathan the prophet together would anoint Shelemoh as king. 

2. Legitimacy against Adoniyahu’s rebellion

• Adoniyahu had gathered priests (Abiathar) and officials to support him.

• Having Tsadok the high priest anoint Solomon made it a public priestly validation, impossible to contest.

3. The anointing oil was from the Sanctuary 

📖1Ki 1:39  And Tsaḏoq the priest took a horn of oil from the Tent and anointed Shelomoh. And they blew with the shophar, and all the people said, “Let Sovereign Shelomoh live!” 

4. Prophet still present 

• Nathan didn’t anoint, but he was there to bear witness and speak Yah’s word.

• This shows priest + prophet both confirmed Solomon — a dual witness.

• Kings/Prophets → “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers” (1 Sam 16:13).

5. Prophetic layer 

• In David’s dynasty, priestly anointing of the king prefigured the uniting of the three offices in Messiah:

• Priest (Tsadok) → priesthood.

• Prophet (Nathan) → prophetic word.

• King (Solomon) → throne.

The threefold witness came together here, pointing to Yahusha who is Prophet, Priest, and King.

These references are post-Torah, but still flow out of the tabernacle system. The Torah commands oil for anointing (Exod 30:22–33), but does not specify the horn container — that detail appears later when the priesthood and monarchy were firmly established in the land.

The living creature is said to be that was (was in the past), is not (as was restrained when the two witnesses basharah went to the ends of  the earth).

📖Rev 17:11  “And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction.

📖Rev 17:12  “And the ten horns which you saw are ten sovereigns who have not yet received a reign, but receive authority as sovereigns with the beast for one hour.

📖Rev 17:8 says …and is about to come up out of the pit of the deep and goes to destruction. 

And 📖Revelation 17:11 it says … “And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction. 

Once the living creature comes from the tahum, he is the eighth of the seven. 

1. Eight and Oil

• שמנה (shemoneh = eight)

• שמן (shemen = oil)

Both share the same root שמן.

2. Altar Horns

• 4 on the brazen altar

• 4 on the incense altar

= 8 horns

3. Two Horns of Oil

• With the kohen to anoint priests (Ex 30, Lev 8)

• With the nabi to anoint kings (1 Sam 16, 1 Kgs 19)

Together with the altar horns = 10 horns.

4. The Eighth living creature (Rev 17:11)

• The living creature is the eighth but “of the seven.”

• Hebrew thought: 8 = shemen (oil) → newness, consecration.

• Here it is a false shemen (carnal Torah, blood of animals, false messiah).

The 8 is the shemen (oil) of the 7 (oath/covenant). 

• שבע  — seven (root ש־ב־ע).

• שבועה — oath / covenant (same root ש־ב־ע).

→ seven = covenantal completeness / oath-cycle (shemitah logic, covenant rounds).

• שמונה — eight.

• שמן — oil / anointing (root ש־מ־ן).

→ eight (= שמונה) carries the idea of shemen — anointing, newness, consecration beyond the seven.

So when Revelation calls the living creature “the eighth” (Rev 17:11) John is invoking that Hebraic wordplay: the “eighth” reads as an anointing (shemen) that issues from the seven-oath — a sort of “anointed continuation.” That can be fulfilled two ways:

1. True 8 (positive) — Messiah: the genuine shemen that issues from the covenantal seven (new creation, priest+king anointing, life beyond the cycle).

2. False 8 (negative) — the beast: a counterfeit shemen, an anointing that borrows the language of the covenant but is produced by the carnal/abyssal system (the scarlet chayah), a mock “new beginning.”

Brief implications: circumcision on the eighth day, resurrection/new-creation symbolism, and priestly/kingship anointing all point to the positive shemen. Revelation’s “eighth” twists that expectation into a false anointing — hence “eighth and of the seven.”

Here it is a false shemen (carnal Torah, blood of animals, false messiah). So,  the eighth beast is like a false Messiah, anointed not by Yahuah’s shemen, but by the carnal horns of the old system.

How This Connects in Revelation 17

• The ten horns of the living creature revive the carnal religious authority — an abandoned corrupted worship as our altar is now the stake where we find mercy.

📖Heb 13:10  We have a slaughter-place from which those serving the Tent have no authority to eat. 

📖Heb 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Set-apart Place by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 

📖Heb 13:12  And so יהושע also suffered outside the gate, to set apart the people with His own blood.

📖Heb 13:13  Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

📖Heb 13:14  For we have no lasting city here, but we seek the one coming. 

• The woman (Yerushalayim) is seated on this system, intoxicated with its blood (Rev 17:6).

• This is why she is judged as a harlot, because she has perverted herself by mingling with the old carnal ceremonial system.

1. The Seven Heads = Seven Rashayim (Principles / Rulers)

• Rev 17:9–10 says the heads are “seven mountains” (harayim) and “seven sovereigns.”

📖Rev 17:9  “Here is the mind having wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. 

• In Hebrew thought:

• Rosh = head, chief, beginning, authority.

• Har = mountain, but also symbol of a principality or high place of rule.

• Sheba (seven) = oath, covenantal cycle (esp. shemitah).

So, these “seven heads” are principalities of carnal covenant authority—mountain-like strongholds of Torah interpreted in the flesh, not in the Ruach. The woman sits enthroned on these mountains = she is propped up by Judaic principality, a carnal Torah mindset divorced from Messiah.

2. The Purple and Scarlet Robe

• Rev 17:4 — the woman is clothed in purple and scarlet.

• Purple = covenantal wealth, royal privilege (cf. rich man in Luke 16, representing YasharEL after the flesh).

• Scarlet = blood — but here it is the blood of bulls and goats (Heb 10:4), not Messiah’s atonement.

• Typology: Yahusha was clothed in purple by the Romans and mocked (Mark 15:17, John 19:2). His blood made the robe scarlet. The harlot copies this imagery but in counterfeit form—covered with carnal sacrifices blood, not the blood of the Lamb.

3. The Scarlet Beast (HaChayah)

• Rev 17:8 calls it the beast from the tahum (abyss, deep).

• This is not behemah (domestic animal) but chayah (living creature/beast of prey, wild).

• The tahum = deep waters = chaos, abyss, pit (Gen 1:2, Rev 9:1–3). Out of this arise locusts, satanic powers, Abaddon (Rev 9:11), the king over the abyss.

• Paul parallels this in 2 Thess 2 — the “man of sin” sitting in the heykal as if Elohim, a son of perdition.

Thus the scarlet living = demonic principality arising from the abyss, clothed in covenantal imagery, but empowered by satanic spirits.

4. The Seven Sovereigns (Rev 17:10–11)

• “Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come…”

• Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece = fallen.

• Rome = “the one that is” (in John’s day).

• Little horn (final phase of  the extension of Carnal YasharEL ) = to come for a short time.

• The living creature = “the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes to destruction.”

→ This is the full satanic reanimation of the old persecuting systems in their final demonic form coming in covenantal imagery.

5. The Ten Horns (Rev 17:12–13)

• Ten = completeness.

• Horns = rule, authority, anointing, altar, atonement.

• We saw : 4 horns on bronze altar + 4 horns on incense altar = 8; plus 2 horns of oil (priest + king) = 10.

• So the horns = complete covenant authority (altar + priest + king).

• In Revelation, this is inverted: they are carnal horns giving their strength to the living creature for “one hour” = the short season of Great Tribulation.

6. The Waters (Rev 17:15)

• “The waters… are peoples, nations, tongues.”

• The scarlet beast is not just a demon but a collective body: scattered carnal YasharEL, nations, tongues coming together in a carnal Torah system.

• This is a global counterfeit covenant people—a carnal “YasharEL” driven by abyssal spirits, not by Ruach.

📖Rev 17:15  And he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and crowds, and nations, and tongues. 

7. The Woman’s End (Rev 17:16–18, Rev 18:7)

📖Rev 17:16  “And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and lay her waste and naked, and eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

📖Rev 17:17  “For Elohim did give it into their hearts to do His mind, to be of one mind, and to give their reign to the beast, until the words of Elohim shall be accomplished.

📖Rev 17:18  “And the woman whom you saw is that great city having sovereignty over the sovereigns of the earth.”

📖Rev 18:7  “As much as she esteemed herself and lived riotously, so much torture and grief give to her, because in her heart she says, ‘I sit as sovereigness, and I am not a widow, and I do not see mourning at all.’

• The ten horns (carnal authority of the temple system ) turn on the harlot and strip her bare.

• This echoes Ezek 16:37–39; 23:22–26 — Yahuah causes her lovers to hate her and destroy her.

• She says: “I sit as queen, I am not a widow, I will see no sorrow” (Rev 18:7).

• But in truth she is a harlot as she denied her Husband (Messiah) clinging to the carnal system which were shadows pointing to Him, she boasts of sovereignty but is judged as a harlot.

✅ So the flow is:

• Seven heads = carnal covenant principalities (harayim).

• Ten horns = completeness of corrupted covenant authority.

• Scarlet living creature = abyss-driven counterfeit body of an animal sacrifice covered in its blood. 

• Woman = Yerushalayim after the flesh, clothed in covenant wealth and blood of bulls, boasting she is queen, but destined for burning.

📖Rev 18:9  “And the sovereigns of the earth who committed whoring and lived riotously with her shall weep and mourn over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

📖Rev 18:10  standing at a distance for fear of her torture, saying, ‘Woe! Woe, the great city Baḇel, the mighty city, because your judgment has come in one hour!’

📖Rev 18:11  “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their merchandise any more –

📖Rev 18:12  merchandise of gold and silver, and precious stone and pearls, and fine linen and purple, and silk and scarlet, and all citron wood, and every object of ivory, and every object of most precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, 

📖Rev 18:13  and cinnamon and incense, and fragrant oil and frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, and horses and carriages, and bodies and lives of men.

Who are the kings of the earth and merchants of the earth weeping over Mystery Babylon?

The merchandise of the merchants are what is stated in Torah 

1. Kings of the earth (מלכי הארץ)

• These are the principality rulers being controlled by Judaism beliefs (Hebrew roots movement) who allied themselves with the harlot system—first with Yerushalayim after the flesh (blood of bulls/goats), not transitioning to Messiah and turning themselves into the Babylonian religious-network.

• They are said to have “committed whoring with her” (Rev 18:9), meaning they benefitted from her priesthood, sacrifices, festivals, and trade linked to the temple economy and beyond.

• In Torah, YasharEL was meant to be kings and priests (Exod 19:6), but here the carnal system corrupts the would be rulers into being involved with rulership in Judaism Hebrew roots. Only by transitioning into Mashiyach people becomes kings and priests 

📖Rev 1:6  and has made us kings and priests to His Elohim and Father, to Him be esteem and rule forever and ever. Aměn. 

2. Merchants of the earth (סוחרי הארץ)

• The merchants are not economic traders but religious brokers of the religious system—the priesthood, temple officials, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, out of which converted to Mashiyach but and large chunk were carnal and didn’t transition but enforced the Judaic-Babylonian religion but some transitioned and the transitioned ones are mourning here. 

• Previously they “sold” Torah, sacrifices, incense, oil, and other things prescribed in the sanctuary service for profit (think of Yahusha overturning tables in John 2 / Matt 21).

• Their mourning is though “no one buys their merchandise anymore” (Rev 18:11), they themselves were saved from Mystery Babylon when the harlot system is judged.

Who do we suppose are called to come out of Mystery Babylon? 

📖Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from the heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 

This voice is distinct:

• “My people” are within her system, participating in her economy (religiously).

• They are called to separate before judgment falls so that they do not share in her plagues.

• This parallels Lot leaving Sodom (Gen 19:12–17) and the great city is termed as Sodom in Rev 11.

They are outside her judgment

• Rev 18:9–10, 15–17 → the kings and merchants “stand afar off”.

• If they were part of her destruction, they wouldn’t be able to witness her burning; they’d be inside the flames.

• Their position is separated. This is where this insight matters: why are they outside?

Deceived by the system, but not identical with it:

• They were entangled with her trade — just like many were entangled in Temple trade in Yahusha’s day (John 2:16).

• Their “merchandise” (gold, incense, oil, wheat, cattle, sheep, etc., Rev 18:12–13) is the very Torah inventory of the old covenant order.

• They are trading a false gospel — a carnal system of sacrifice and ritual, rather than Messiah’s blood.

Use of ὅτι (hoti, G3754): 

• 📖Rev 18:11 literally reads: “the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because (Greek: hoti) no one buys their merchandise anymore.”

• But hoti can also function as “that” (introducing a statement), not only “because.”

• That means the text could read: “the merchants weep and mourn… that no one buys their merchandise anymore.” 

This shows they saw the false merchandise they earlier sold and heard the call of Yahusha and came out of Mystery Babylon and warned those within with the true merchandise but no one was buying their merchandise anymore. In that sense, they are lamenting.

The Merchandise List in Torah terms which was sold earlier : 

Every item mentioned corresponds to things commanded or used in the Torah worship system:

• Gold, silver, precious stones, pearls → Temple vessels, priestly garments (Exod 28, 1 Chron 29).

• Fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet → Priestly ephod, veil, coverings of the Mishkan (Exod 25–28).

• Citron wood, ivory, precious wood, bronze, iron, marble → Temple construction (1 Kings 6–7, Exod 27).

• Cinnamon, incense, fragrant oil, frankincense → The holy anointing oil and incense altar (Exod 30:22–38).

• Wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep → Daily offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, sin offerings (Lev 2–7, Num 28–29).

• Horses and carriages → Echo Solomon’s wealth and military pride (Deut 17:16; 1 Kings 10:26–29).

• Bodies and souls of men → The ultimate corruption: buying/selling of lives, enslaving men through temple taxation, vows, debts, and even indulgence-like practices.

Thus, the merchandise catalog is Torah worship items which once were in force before Mashiyach died. Now It’s a “Torah economy without Messiah,” still trafficking in the shadows after the substance (Yahusha) has come.

Prophetic echo — Ezekiel 27 (Tyre’s merchants)

• Tyre’s merchants wept when her trading empire collapsed (Ezek 27:27, 31).

• They “stood afar off” as ships mourned her fall (Ezek 27:29–32).

• Revelation borrows this imagery — but adds the covenant layer: here the merchandise is not just trade goods, but Torah goods, showing a fallen spiritual economy.

Jeremiah vs Revelation comparison:

Jeremiah 7, 16, 25, 33 (all use this “voice of bride/bridegroom, sound of millstone” imagery) side by side with Rev 18 — so you can see John’s vision as a direct prophetic continuation of Jeremiah’s warnings? That would make the case airtight that this is Yerushalayim.

1. Voice of Bride & Bridegroom

📖Jeremiah 7:34 “Then I shall cause to cease from the cities of Yehudah and from the streets of Yerushalayim the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be a ruin.”

📖Jeremiah 16:9 “For thus said Yahuah of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’el: ‘See, I am causing to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.’”

📖Jeremiah 25:10 “And I shall take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.”

📖Jeremiah 33:11 (promise of restoration after judgment)

“The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride… For I shall turn back the captivity of the land.”

📖Revelation 18:23 “And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more at all. And the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you any more at all.”

➡️ John is quoting Jeremiah almost directly.

2. Sound of the Millstone 

📖Jer 25:10  And I shall banish from them the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 

📖Revelation 18:22 “…And the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more at all.”

➡️ The daily sound of grinding flour = daily bread, life, normalcy → cut off.

3. Light of the Lamp 

📖Jeremiah 25:10 “…and the light of the lamp.”

📖Revelation 18:23 “And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more at all.”

➡️ Removal of Yahuah’s presence, covenant lamp extinguished (cf. Prov 20:27, Ps 18:28).

4. Prophets’ Blood 

📖Jeremiah 26:7–9 (Jeremiah was nearly killed in the Temple by priests for prophesying)

📖2 Chronicles 36:15–16 “But they mocked the messengers of Elohim, and despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of Yahuah arose against His people, till there was no remedy.”

📖Revelation 18:24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and set-apart ones, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

➡️ Yahusha confirms: “It is not right that a prophet perish outside Yerushalayim” (Luke 13:33).

🔑Revelation 18 is Jeremiah’s warnings replayed in John’s vision:

Bride & bridegroom silenced.

Harpists, millstone, lamp extinguished.

Blood of prophets found in the city.

This isn’t Rome or generic Babylon — it is covenantal Yerushalayim, judged because she rejected Messiah and clung to a carnal, blood-drenched system. 

1. The Woman’s Place Under Torah 

📖 Ex 28:1 “And you, bring near Aharon your brother and his sons with him, from among the children of Yisra’el, for serving as priests to Me—Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, El’azar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon.”

Under the Torah system, the woman was not given priestly office or equal access to the sanctuary.

➡️ Only males from Aharon’s line served as priests.No provision existed for a daughter or wife of Levi to serve. She was also restricted during her monthly cycle.

📖 Lev 15:19 — “And when a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her flesh is blood, she shall be put apart seven days; and whoever touches her is unclean until evening.”

➡️ She could not enter the set apart place nor participate in communal worship.

📖 Lev 12:2–5 — “…If a woman has conceived, and has given birth to a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days… and thirty-three days she shall remain… But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks… and sixty-six days she shall remain.”

➡️ Double separation if she bore a daughter.

Thus, under Torah the woman’s worship was mediated, her body considered a source of impurity, and her approach to Elohim limited. Even childbirth placed her in isolation.

2. The Covenant Promise of Redemption 

But from the beginning, Yahuah promised that the woman’s place would be redeemed through her seed.

📖 Gen 3:15–16 — “I put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel… To the woman He said, I greatly increase your sorrow and your conception.”

➡️ Even in judgment, there is promise: her seed (Messiah) would overthrow the serpent.

Shaul ties this to salvation.

📖 1 Tim 2:14–15 — “Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, fell into transgression. But she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in belief, and love, and set-apartness, with sensibleness.”

➡️ The woman is restored through the birth of Messiah and abiding in Him.

And Shaul clarifies Messiah’s fulfillment:

📖 Gal 4:4 — “But when the completion of time came, Elohim sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under Torah.”

➡️ He entered her condition to redeem it.

3. Mashiach Cleansing and Restoring Women 

Messiah reverses every exclusion written in Torah by restoring women publicly and personally.

• The woman with the flow of blood:

📖 Mark 5:25–29 — “A woman had a flow of blood for twelve years… she touched His garment… Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up.”

➡️ A woman permanently unclean under Lev 15 is cleansed instantly.

• The woman caught in adultery:

📖 John 8:10–11 — “‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? … Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.’”

➡️ Torah demanded death (Lev 20:10), but Messiah gave mercy and restoration.

📖Lev 20:10  ‘And a man who commits adultery with the wife of another man, who commits adultery with the wife of his neighbour: the adulterer and the adulteress shall certainly be put to death. 

• The Samaritan woman:

📖 John 4:9–10, 28–29 — “‘How is it that You, being a Yehudi, ask a drink from me, a Shomeronite woman?’ … The woman left her water-jug and said, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all that I have done. Could this be the Messiah?’”

➡️ A double outcast (gender + Samaritan), yet chosen as first evangelist to her city.

• Miriam at the tomb:

📖 John 20:16–18 — “‘Miryam!’ … ‘Go to My brothers and say to them…’ Miryam came announcing… that she had seen the Master.”

➡️ The first witness of resurrection is not Peter or John, but a woman.

Messiah deliberately redeems and elevates women where Torah had limited them.

4. The Woman of Revelation (False vs True)

When the covenant woman (assembly) rejects Messiah’s cleansing and returns to the carnal Torah-system righteousness, she becomes the harlot.

📖 Rev 17:4–5 — “The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet… having in her hand a golden cup filled with abominations… Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Whores…”

➡️ She bears covenant colors but is filled with corruption.

📖 Rev 17:16 — “The ten horns… shall hate the whore, and lay her waste and naked, and eat her flesh and burn her with fire.”

➡️ She who rejected her Husband (Messiah) is stripped bare.

📖 Rev 18:7 — “She says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and I am not a widow…’”

➡️ But in truth, she is a harlot — forsaken by her true Bridegroom.

📖 Rev 18:23 — “The voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore…”

➡️ The covenant joy is extinguished.

Thus the true covenant woman is redeemed in childbearing (Messiah), but the false covenant woman is judged for rejecting Him.

1. The Woman’s Desire and Birth Pangs 

After the fall, Yahuah set both a judgment and a prophecy upon the woman:

📖 Gen 3:16 — “To the woman He said, ‘I greatly increase your sorrow and your conception – bring forth children in pain. And your desire is for your husband, and he does rule over you.’”

• Physical level: sorrow in conception, pain in childbirth, subjection to her husband.

• Spiritual level: the “husband” points to Mashiyach, who is the true Head (Eph 5:23). The woman (assembly) was meant to long for Him and come under His rule.

But instead of desiring Him, she often turns to rule herself — “I sit as queen, and am no widow” (Rev 18:7). This rebellion is the spirit of the harlot.

And the birth pangs stretch forward to Revelation:

📖 Rev 12:2 — “And being pregnant, she cried out in labour and in pain to give birth.”

➡️ The covenant woman is travailing until she brings forth the male child — Yahusha and His body, the firstborn new creation.

2. The Widow State Until the Marriage

Until the marriage supper of the Lamb, the assembly is pictured as a widow, waiting in sorrow and longing:

📖 Isa 54:4–5 — “Fear not, for you shall not be put to shame… For your Maker is your husband, Yahuah of hosts is His Name; and the Set-apart One of Yisrael is your Redeemer.”

➡️ Though forsaken for a while, she will be taken again as Bride.

📖 Rev 19:7 — “Let us be glad and rejoice… because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife prepared herself.”

➡️ Fulfillment comes at the wedding feast, not before.

But the harlot refuses widowhood.

📖 Rev 18:7 — “She says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am not a widow, and I do not see mourning at all.’”

➡️ She claims she is already enthroned, already reigning — but outside her Husband.

3. Shaul’s Instruction on Widows

Shaul lays down order for widows in the assembly:

📖 1 Tim 5:9–10 — “Let a widow be enrolled not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported for good works, if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the feet of the set-apart ones, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has followed after every good work.”

• The sixty years is not random:

• Yitshaq was sixty when he fathered Esau and Jacob (Gen 25:26), marking the covenant passing through Jacob, not Esau.

• Sixty animals at the dedication of the altar (Num 7:88), a complete and abundant offering.

• Solomon’s provision included sixty cors of meal daily (1 Kgs 4:22), a sign of royal prosperity.

So “sixty” = completeness, maturity, and covenant continuation.

A widow of sixty has endured time, trial, and faith, making her a picture of the mature covenant woman waiting faithfully for her Husband.

By contrast, younger widows are warned:

📖 1 Tim 5:11–12 — “But refuse the younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Messiah, they desire to marry, having judgment because they cast off their first belief.”

➡️ Spiritually, their desire strays from Messiah to earthly fulfillment.

4. The Harlot vs the Faithful Widow

• The widow faithful: waits in sorrow, her desire fixed on Mashiyach her Husband, washing the feet of the set-apart ones, walking in good works.

• The harlot: refuses widowhood, says “I sit as queen,” chases other lovers, and traffics in carnal worship.

So the true covenant woman = travailing, longing, widowed until marriage supper.

The false covenant woman = queenly pride, refusing to wait, no desire for her Husband.

✨ That’s why Shaul ties “saved in childbearing” (1 Tim 2:15) to the woman’s redemption — the elect woman embraces widowhood and birth pangs until Messiah, while the harlot rejects both, claiming present reign.

Summary 

Wilderness Setting and the Two Women

The note shows that both the covenant woman and the harlot appear in the wilderness in Revelation, but with profoundly different spiritual meanings. The wilderness for the covenant woman (Revelation 12) is a place of refuge, where Elohim protects and nurtures her—she represents faithful YasharEL, or the true assembly, sustained by Elohim through persecution and trial. The harlot, by contrast, is seen in the wilderness enthroned upon the beast, standing for a system of compromise and spiritual adultery, cut off from true covenant relationship and allied with worldly, blasphemous powers.

The Identity of the Covenant Woman

The covenant woman is the image of true YasharEL, depicted as clothed with the sun and fleeing into the wilderness for 1,260 days (symbolic of a time of tribulation or testing).  Her seed are “those who keep the commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Yahusha,” marking them as faithful to the covenant . Scripturally, she reflects the consistent image of YasharEL as Elohim’s bride—enduring suffering yet ultimately remaining loyal to Elohim.

The Identity and Meaning of the Harlot

The harlot is portrayed clothed in luxury, riding the scarlet living creature , and titled “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots.” She represents an unfaithful system, usually identified as apostate Yerushalayim or a global counterfeit of the covenant community—religious in form, but compromised in spirit by alliance with secular and demonic power. Her image draws from Old Testament judgments against unfaithful Yerushalayim in Ezekiel and Jeremiah, emphasizing that she is “drunk with the blood of the set-apart ones,” persecuting the true faithful of Elohim.

Symbolism of the Living Creature , Seven Heads, and Ten Horns

The scarlet living creature is not a political empire but a symbol of spiritual forces hostile to Elohim and YasharEL. The seven heads and ten horns echo ancient world empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and a final phase), representing corrupted authority and principalities. The ten horns are also tied to the ritual imagery of the Temple and anointing in YasharEL, reimagined in Revelation as a corrupted and counterfeit spiritual system.

The Judgments and the Call to “Come Out”

Ultimately, the harlot is destroyed: the kings and nations she fornicates with turn on her in judgment, fulfilling prophecies of destruction found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and Revelation itself (chapters 17–18, Ezekiel, Jeremiah). The “merchandise” of the harlot—items relating to the Temple and worship—illustrate that her system operates with forms of Torah but without true allegiance to Messiah. Elohim calls His people: “Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins,” commanding separation from every false and compromised system that mimics covenant but lacks faithfulness.

Theological and Prophetic Implications

This note makes clear that this dual imagery is not just ancient history but an ongoing spiritual reality: not all who appear as YasharEL are truly so, and not all religious systems represent Elohim’s will. The covenant woman and the harlot represent two opposing communities—one persecuted but genuine, the other powerful but spiritually compromised and destined for judgment. In the wilderness of exile or testing, Elohim’s true people (YasharEL) are refined, while counterfeit systems are ultimately exposed and judged