[18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Revelation 16:18-19.

Birth Pang Numbers 2 and 3 contained a lengthy exposition of Revelation 16:18-21.  Therefore, to preclude repetitions, I will attempt to limit myself, as much as possible, to verse 19, but I do recommend a review of the aforementioned birth pang numbers for a better understanding of Birth Pang Number 27.  We are advised that a great worldwide quake, which affects not only the Jordan Rift Valley but also all the “cities” of the “nations,” will also divide “the great city” into three parts.  The great city that will be divided is not Rome.  It is the great city we identify as Jerusalem.  I will not dispute that the “great Babylon” of the latter part of this verse will have its ecclesiastical headquarters in Rome, but these are two different cities, which are separated grammatically by “the cities of the nations.”  The Jordan Rift Valley connects with the east-west fault line across the northern coastline of Turkey, which in turn moves between the toe of the Italian Boot and Sicily up to a point off the coast of Rome, and then westward through the Straits of Gibraltar.  The world’s greatest earthquake since God placed man on this planet will occur in the Jordan River near the southern end of the Dead Sea, but it will eventually send a rippling effect to set off a chain of worldwide earthquake activity, and one of the greatest will be off the coast of Rome on the Mediterranean Sea Floor.  This chain of earthquakes will eventually affect most of the “cities” of most of the “nations.”  Some believe “the great city” is Rome, but the same inspired Koine Greek construction for “the great city” is also used by John in Revelation 11:8.

[8] And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Revelation 11:8.

The Apostle John wrote Revelation about AD 96, some 26 years after the leveling of Jerusalem by Titus and his Roman Legion.  Once this happened in AD 70 to fulfill the Olivet prophecy Jesus had made 40 years before it happened, the living disciples began to refer to the great city of Jerusalem as “Sodom and Egypt.” So

“The great city” of Revelation 11:8, and of 16:19, is one and the same.  Jesus was not crucified outside Rome, but outside the city of Jerusalem.  John had looked down on Jerusalem many times as he approached it from a higher elevation coming west on the Jericho Road.  He recognized it once again as he looked down on it from above in his vision from heaven, and he saw it divided into three parts from the earthquake activity.

Throughout the Bible, when God makes divisions of physical things, He invariably uses land and water to make separations.  He uses mountains and valleys in the landscape, and rivers, seas, oceans, creeks, or streams in the hydrological pattern.  When all the changes of the previous birth pangs have been completed, Jerusalem will have been divided into three parts by land, elevation, and water.  In Figure 46  (See top of this Birth Pang for menu) you may view all three topographical divisions of Jerusalem.  Part 1 will be the down faulted section north of Ezekiel’s stream, Part 2 will be the section south of the stream, and part 3 will be the uplifted western section of “the great city.”