<p>21:2 <i>And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God</i>- see on 1 Thess. 4:14. The whole prophetic metanarrative of the Bible is in many ways a tale of two cities- Babylon and Jerusalem. There are times when Babylon masquerades as Zion- a false city of God with a false Messiah leading her. Babylon / Babel was a city built to reach <i>unto</i> Heaven, in contrast to the true city of God which <i>comes down </i>from Heaven (Gen. 11:4 cp. Rev. 21:2). And there are times when Zion in her apostasy has appeared as Babylon. But in the final conflict of the last days, these two cities will be literally pitted against each other. Natural Jerusalem will be where Babylon makes her throne (see on 16:19) and will be destroyed by fire and sulphur; but then the new Jerusalem comes down upon her ruins. It was in Babylon where Nimrod first built the tower of Babel, the first organized rebellion against God; and it was there that God first entered into open judgment of flesh and humanity <i>en masse</i>. And it is here likewise that His purpose with sin and His true people will likewise be fulfilled. Babylon was also called Su-anna, &ldquo;the holy city&rdquo;. Yet &ldquo;the holy city&rdquo; is Jerusalem, thus making Babylon a fake Zion, although she is briefly built on the site of Zion. Herodotus says the city was square, just as new Jerusalem. We have shown elsewhere that the events of the Babylonian invasion are typical of the last days. That invasion was &ldquo;the time of Israel&rsquo;s trouble&rdquo; (Jer. 11:12), clearly typical of Jacob&rsquo;s latter day &ldquo;time of trouble&rdquo;.</p><p><i>Made ready as a bride- </i>&quot;The bride&quot; is married at the marriage supper (19:7-9)- not at the end of the Millennium. Therefore this is about the setting up of the Kingdom at Christ's return. The marriage supper of the lamb is at the Lord's return, not 1,000 years after it. The same words are used in Rev. 19:7 about the preparation of the bride. Therefore this vision, during which it is declared that death has ended (:4), is at the Lord's return. The destruction of death is spoken of in chapter 20 as being when the 1,000 years are established mistranslated with the sense of &quot;expired&quot;. Yet here in chapter 21, death ends at the time of the marriage of the lamb. There is thus no place for any theories of a 'mortal population' in the Kingdom of God. In the 1st century application, John&nbsp;the Baptists attempted to prepare s.w. &quot;made ready&quot; the bride, but this failed in that Israel crucified her Messiah (Lk. 1:17 s.w.). The marriage supper, the Kingdom, has been &quot;prepared&quot; from the beginning of the world (Mt. 22:4; 25:34;) and through the Lord's death (Jn. 14:2,3). It is the bride who is not ready. The implication is surely that once the bride is &quot;prepared / made ready&quot;, then the marriage supper begins. The preparation of the bride is through the baptism of the last converts, and the spiritual preparation of those who are baptized.</p><p>The adornment or making read is surely of good works and spiritual fruits, by which we adorn the teaching of the Gospel (Tit. 2:10; 1 Pet. 3:5). In this we see the significance of works. The Lord will marry us because we are His beloved, of His sovereign choice. But in response, we adorn ourselves as best we can for Him who has so loved us. And yet the greatest adornment is the white garments of imputed righteousness which are given to us (see on 19:8).</p>