“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” begins A Tale of Two Cities. The same could be said for the end of Revelation. John is talking about the city of man (Babylon/Rome) and the city of God (Jerusalem). For one city, the end will be the worst of times; for another, the best. But the punchline of John’s visions was that the cities he has in mind will have very different outcomes than what his readers were now experiencing; their fortunes would be exactly reversed. Those who were clinging to the most powerful and glorious city on earth (Rome, the new Babylon) will be doomed to suffer its fate. 

Scripture: Revelation 17-22