In my last post I asked, how does a harlot sitting upon a Satanic beast become transformed into the Bride of Christ? I quickly answered, “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, `Who then can be saved?’ 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, `With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'” (Matthew 19:25-26) Now let’s try to understand this according to the prophetic word.

Isaiah begins chapter 51 saying,

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the Lord:
look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
2 Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you…

First, each of us needs to ask ourselves, “Do I personally pursue righteousness? Do I seek the Lord?” If you are reading this, then you probably will answer “yes” to these questions. Then we must “look to the rock from which we were hewn.” We must look “to the quarry from which we were dug.” This points us back to Solomon’s temple and to the quarry far away from the temple site from which the temple stones were both dug and then hewn. First those temple stones were mined or cut out of the earth. Then they were hewn, that is, they were carved and shaped to fit exactly into the temple structure.

1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord. …

7 When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. (1 Kings 6:1, 7)

In the same way God dug us from the earth. He created us from the dust of the earth. Since then he has been hewing us, fashioning us, into that individual perfect stone he has planned for each one of us from the beginning.

Next, Isaiah tells us to “look to Abraham our father and to Sarah who bore you.” (Isaiah 51:2) First, let’s look to Abraham and consider where he came from.

And Terah took Abram . . . and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees.’ The city Abraham left behind him – a city with good claims to being the oldest in the world – was rediscovered in 1854 by the then British Consul at Basra. But not until the end of World War I was serious excavation undertaken there. The results were so encouraging that four years later a joint British-American expedition, directed by the author of this book, worked on the site. The story of their discoveries made during years of work and covering the successive cities which were built on the site from days far beyond the flood until Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, is here told, and the daily life of the peoples who lived through more than four millennia beside the Euphrates recreated in word and picture. (Quote from Ur of the Chaldees by Sir Leonard Woolley, 1950)

Thus we see that God called Abram, whom he later named Abraham, out of the ancient nation of Babylon, out of the famed area of the Tower of Babel, the land of confusion. Isn’t it interesting that we find a woman sitting on a Satanic beast at the end of time with this name written upon her forehead: “Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.” When we look to Abraham, therefore, we look to our natural source. We are products of Babylon. No wonder we’ve often been so confused!

But Isaiah also tells us to look to Sarah for, he says, she actually “bore us,” or gave birth to us. What does that mean?

Paul teaches that Sarah represents New Jerusalem. Then the prophet John reveals that New Jerusalem is actually the Bride of Christ. First Paul says,

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;[e] she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,

28 Now you,[f] brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:22-31)

Note that Paul quotes from Isaiah 54 in the above passage. Now consider John’s portrayal of New Jerusalem as the Bride of Christ:

9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  (Revelation 21:9-14 ESV)

As we continue studying Isaiah’s depiction of the barren bride we will find even more allusions to her as New Jerusalem. Man cannot make himself into that type of jewel which may dwell in or become part of New Jerusalem, for as Jesus said, we must be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. No, God must do it for us. He hews us, disciplines us, perfects us, and then places us exactly where he wants us within his temple. Remember, all historical accounts of Scripture both happened in reality and will happen in spiritual reality, for God teaches nothing without teaching it in a parable! Solomon prepared the stones for God’s temple outside of Jerusalem. God prepares his stones for the true temple outside of New Jerusalem. All of us once were rough and unhewn, steeped in sin as is the harlot on the beast. But, God will not leave us there, not if we hunger and thirst for righteousness.