"As we approach chapter seventeen of the Revelation the visions of John move rapidly toward a double climax. We are in the ascending foothills beyond which are the towering twin peaks of the Revelation — the fall of Mystery Babylon and the ascendancy of New Jerusalem. This seventeenth chapter has sometimes been called a "twisted rope" or a "tangled web," for there are many ambiguous, puzzling, and somewhat perplexing and bewildering scenes which seem beyond comprehension or understanding. However, we will not find the chapter too difficult if we proceed with patience and holy waiting upon the Spirit of Truth to quicken our hearts and enlighten our minds with that wisdom which is from above. Let us pray for the spirit of understanding to understand that which is written for our blessing and edification!"
"No word given to a prophet from the Lord by the Holy Spirit can be truthfully understood or interpreted unless the same spiritual understanding is given to the reader by the Holy Spirit that gave it originally to the prophet. God’s elect in this hour is being given the ability to "Hear what the Spirit saith," and it is the same anointing wherein it was spoken and written. The book of Revelation, like any other part of the scriptures and prophecies, must be "spiritually" understood. Understanding came to the disciples of Jesus when He "opened unto them the scriptures." Before that their natural understanding was unfruitful. They didn’t have a clue! They read all the scriptures and never saw Jesus there until He "opened" the scriptures to them. And it wasn’t a doctrine that He shared with them, it was spiritual illumination that burst forth within their hearts!"
"We must remember that what John is writing is prophecy, and prophecy is not merely history written beforehand. The prophet’s distinguishing characteristic is not foresight but insight. He peers behind the appearance of things to the spiritual realities they represent and he announces the things that he sees in the most vivid and arresting ways as they are communicated to him in signs and symbols. This does often involve prediction as to the future yet the vindication of the truth of his message does not lie in the exact correspondence of event with prediction but in the true apprehension of the eternal principles and spiritual realities revealed therein. O that the saints of the Lord might see that the value of any prophecy of scripture does not lie in the ability of the prophet to forecast the future, but in the insight it shows into the purposes of God and the power it has to quicken discernment and understanding in the spiritual realities of the kingdom of God."
Much more in the link:
"Of all the contrasts in this book of weird opposites the most remarkable one is that of the two women and the two cities. One thread of golden thought runs through the entire drama. The two women are contrasted in every particular that is mentioned about them; the one is pure as purity itself, "made ready," clothed in heaven’s unsullied holiness. The other, foul as corruption could make her, fit only for the burning fires of judgment. The one belongs to the Lamb, who loves her as the bridegroom loves his bride; the other is associated with a wild beast, and with the kings of the earth, who ultimately hate and destroy her. The one is clothed in fine linen, clean and white, and in another place is portrayed as clothed with the dazzling brilliance of the sun, and crowned with a coronet of stars, that is, robed in divine righteousness as her state of being, and resplendent with heavenly glory and power; the other is attired in scarlet and gold, in jewels and pearls, gorgeous indeed but with earthly splendor only, who, being increased with this world’s goods and having need of nothing has made herself drunk with the blood of the saints and thrust Christ Himself outside her doors."
Which one was John referring to in JOHN 8:10-11 ?
Both are within us. Babylon is within, the new Jerusalem is within us.........and we are in them, We are to "go and sin no more", that is coming out of the flesh and into the Spirit.
Really that author writes on these things much better than I, that is why I am posting the Revelation series, it is outstanding for a Spiritual interpretation of Revelation. I started at the first one, and we are now on #189
Here is the index:
https://www.godfire.net/eby/
"Babylon is the aggregation or collection, the bringing together of everything that suits and appeals to man, while New Jerusalem is the exhibition of the divine beauty and the excellencies and virtues of Christ by the Spirit."