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POSTED 01 JANUARY, 2005
The
Babylons of Revelation 17 & 18
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
There are many beliefs and opinions as to what
end-time Babylon comprises among those who study
and examine end-time prophecy. They range from
believing that Ancient Babylon will be rebuilt
to that Babylon is a religious system to even
that Babylon the Great is the United States of
America. Some believe that Babylon represents a
system, while others interpret it as being a
literal city. Some of the views are somewhat
odd, and others are Biblically sound (at least
in their own right) and have points of validity.
In light of current events and the various
opinions surrounding what many believe end-time
Babylon to be, it is important to examine key
Scriptures that give us clues to its potential
identity, and what we should be aware of as we
examine the Last Days and what is to befall it.
We will discuss and examine three common aspects
to the Babylon phenomenon, which many
pre-millennial prophecy teachers will agree
with, based on Scripture references from
Revelation chs. 17 and 18:
1. Babylon as the end-time apostate
religious system
2. Babylon as a literal city on Planet Earth
3. Babylon as the worldwide antimessiah/antichrist
system
Babylon as the End-Time Apostate
Religious System
“And he carried me away in the Spirit into a
wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a
scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having
seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed
in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a
gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean
things of her immorality, and on her forehead a
name was written, a mystery, ‘Babylon
the great, the mother of harlots and of the
abominations of the earth.’ And I saw the
woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and
with the blood of the witnesses of Yeshua. When
I saw her, I wondered greatly” (Revelation
17:3-6).
The most common view in evangelical Christian
circles is that end-time Babylon is the apostate
religious system of the antimessiah/antichrist.
This certainly has merit, and is widely agreed
upon by many Messianics as well. This
interpretation is primarily based on Revelation
17:3-6 focused around the idea that this
religious system is led by the Roman Catholic
Church, and that “Babylon” is a symbolic
representation of Rome. Rome being
representative of “Babylon” is well-attested to
in the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) and
early Church writings. The Apostle Peter writes
his first letter from Rome, stating, “She who is
in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you
greetings, and so does my son, Mark” (1
Peter 5:13). According to Christian tradition
from the Second Century, the Apostle Peter
traveled to the city of Rome with Mark, and it
is from Peter’s account of Yeshua’s life to
Mark, that Mark wrote his Gospel. This is
substantiated by the Fourth Century historian
Eusebius’ remarks in his book Ecclesiastical
History:
“This account is given by Clement in the sixth
book of his Institutions, whose testimony
is corroborated also by that of Papias, bishop
of Hierapolis. But Peter made mention of Mark in
the first epistle, which he is also said to have
composed at the same city of Rome, and that he
showed this fact, by calling the city by an
unusual figure of speech, Babylon…” (2.15.2).[1]
Historically, Christian exegesis of Revelation
has usually equated any reference to “Babylon”
as being associated with the city of Rome. The
New Interpreter’s Study Bible Bible, noting
on 1 Peter 5:13, indicates that “Babylon,
a reference to Rome, identifies the letter’s
probable city of origin and alludes to the
letter’s exile motif.”[2]
Ancient Rome was a symbol of great opulence,
wealth, and corruption for the early Believers,
and Peter’s usage of “Babylon” is likely a
veiled reference to Rome to protect the
Believers from the forthcoming persecution they
would be facing. Understanding Rome’s position
as one of decadence, but also one of spiritual
evil, is important, because for a Jew of the
First Century the only other thing that he knew
to compare Rome to would have been Ancient
Babylon.
The Prophet Jeremiah said to Ancient Babylon,
“Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of
the Lord,
intoxicating all the earth. The nations have
drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are
going mad” (Jeremiah 51:7). John the Apostle
writes in Revelation 17:6, telling us that he
“saw the woman drunk with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of
Yeshua.” Here, Babylon is identified as “the
woman,” which likely distinguishes it from
Ancient Babylon in modern day Iraq, even though
there remain parallels. Consequently,
evangelical Protestants building on the belief
that Babylon is Rome, associate it with being
the Roman Catholic Church and the apostate
religious system that it represents.
For centuries, the
Roman Catholic Church, as a state church, has
persecuted and killed true Believers for their
faith. This occurred during the Reformation, the
Inquisition, Holocaust, or otherwise. It is true
that not all members of Roman Catholic clergy
were responsible for heinous acts of aggression,
because some have tried to be pious servants of
God, but many Catholic cardinals, bishops, and
priests have been responsible for terrible deeds
against the saints. These deeds have had to be
acknowledged in recent times as the Catholic
Church has become more ecumenical, and has
sought some limited reconciliation with Jews and
Protestants.
Theologically
speaking, Roman Catholicism is full of complete
mystery. A great number of Catholicism’s
practices and traditions, while claiming to be
from the Bible, in actuality originate in pagan
sun worship from Ancient Babylon via Rome. When
the Emperor Constantine made Christianity legal
with the Edict of Milan in 313 C.E., Fourth
Century Christian practice had to merge with
religious practices in the Roman Empire, making
the religion palatable to pagans. Some of this
was already taking place in the Christian Church
as early as the Third Century, as clergy sought
to merge Biblical ideas with pagan practice,
giving “Christian” meanings to pagan traditions,
in an effort to convert the heathen. Tertullian,
a mid-Third Century Christian leader, wrote:
“By us, to whom Sabbaths are strange, and the
new moons and festivals formerly beloved by God,
the Saturnalia and New-year’s and Midwinter’s
festivals and Matronalia are frequented—presents
come and go—New-year's gifts—games join their
noise—banquets join their din! Oh better
fidelity of the nations to their own sect, which
claims no solemnity of the Christians for
itself! Not the Lord’s day, not Pentecost, even
it they had known them, would they have shared
with us; for they would fear lest they should
seem to be Christians. We are not
apprehensive lest we seem to be heathens!
If any indulgence is to be granted to the flesh,
you have it” (On Idolatry 14).[3]
Some of the clergy,
being ignorant of the Torah, did not know of the
prohibition of not learning the ways of the
nations (Deuteronomy 18:9), and no doubt
participated in such things in ignorance.
However, as the Protestant Reformation took hold
in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, many
had to recognize (1) the opulence of
Catholicism, and how it could in no way be the
original, simple faith as laid out by the
Apostles, and (2) how many extra-, if not
non-Biblical, traditions, practices, and
theologies had swept into the Church and needed
to be purged. Having limited information at
their disposal, the Reformers eliminated as much
Catholic opulence as could directly see opposed
by the Scriptures. Of course, being humans they
still made errors, but they did attempt to get
Believers to return to the primacy of the Bible
and we as Messianics are in their debt.
One of the most common arguments given for
determining that the end-time Babylon of
Revelation 17 is the Roman Catholic Church is
that Rome is often called the “city on seven
hills.” Babylon is described as sitting on seven
mountains or hills as detailed in Revelation
17:9: “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The
seven heads are seven mountains on which the
woman sits.” Some take issue with this verse,
because the text appears to use “mountains,” as
opposed to “hills,” and thus Rome as a city is
disqualified. Expositors who point this out
sometimes have an allegorical interpretation of
the passage. But the Greek word rendered as
“mountain” or “hill” (NIV), oros ( oroß),
often used in the LXX to render the Hebrew word
har (rh),
is employed in the Gospels speaking of Yeshua
and the crowds going up to the mountain, or
coming down from the mountain, speaking of the
rolling hills of the Galilee, as opposed to a
massive mountain that one must actually “climb.”[4]
Given the description of Babylon in Revelation
17, the opulence that it represents, and the
fact that it is “drunk with the blood of the
saints,” it cannot be Babylon in Iraq.
Understanding that Rome is indeed “the city on
seven hills,” and that oros can mean both
“mountain” and “hill,” referring to rolling
hills and not just giant mountains, is a
qualifier for Babylon here being Rome, and even
more specifically, being the Vatican and Roman
Catholic Church. This is the city that is
prophesied to be destroyed by God in Revelation
17:16:
“And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast,
these will hate the harlot and will make her
desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and
will burn her up with fire.”
If the “prostitute” (NIV)
of Revelation is the city of Rome, here embodied
in an end-time ecumenical, apostate Roman
Catholic Church, that is presumably leading the
world religiously and is indeed “whoring” (to
adopt the KJV rendering) around with other
religions, leading the masses astray from the
truth of the Scriptures, then it would only make
sense for God to judge it. What is interesting,
of course, is that it is said that the “ten
horns” are those who “hate the harlot,” and they
are used by the Lord to exercise His judgment
upon her. Revelation 17:12 describes these ten
horns as having limited power with the beast, or
antimessiah/antichrist:
“The ten horns which
you saw are ten kings who have not yet received
a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings
with the beast for one hour.”
While not stated in
the text directly, why do these ten kings or
rulers only have authority with him for “one
hour”? Whether this represents a year, a month,
a week, a day, or even a literal hour is
unimportant, because it is a very short period
of time in comparison to the beast’s power which
is to last “a time, times, and half a time”
(Daniel 12:7), generally agreed by pre-millennialists
to be three-and-a-half years. Could it be that
these political leaders hate the authority of
the Vatican, because as secularists its
religious authority gets in the way of their
authority? Could it be that in the Last Days
when the globalist agenda takes focus that there
is internal squabbling between secular and
religious powers, each of which has its own
plans for the world? Here, we just might see the
reason why Rome is destroyed. It is interesting
to note that the Scriptures tell us that the
antimessiah will have Roman ancestry (Daniel
9:26), and that if he arises from Europe as many
expect and the “ten horns” are European leaders,
that many Europeans disapprove strongly of
organized religion and the Catholic Church and
Europe is where the Catholic Church is
significantly losing the battle to secularism.
(This is in contrast to Latin America, where
almost 40% of the world’s Catholics live, and
Catholicism has a very strong foothold.) It
would not be surprising if such individuals are
responsible for burning the Vatican with fire as
Revelation 17:16 states. But this, of course,
remains speculation, and we will have to wait
and see.
The view that end-time Babylon is somehow
involved with the Roman Catholic Church is the
most commonly held view among evangelical
Christians and Messianics. However, are there
other aspects to Babylon that must also be
considered that do not directly relate to Roman
Catholicism and the Vatican? Are there aspects
that we have missed, and have applied to
something else that is not necessarily
religious?
Babylon as a Literal City on
Planet Earth
Continuing in Revelation 18, the Apostle John
records more details concerning the destruction
of Babylon. Revelation 17 ends with the words,
“The woman whom you saw is the great city, which
reigns over the kings of the earth.” This would
be in reference to the Vatican. However,
Revelation 18:1 starts another series of
judgments, that while can be applied to the
Catholic Church (we will certainly not deny the
fact that in spite of our interpretations God
will judge the Vatican, as He will judge all
false religions), may not necessarily apply to
the Vatican City and Rome as directly as we may
think. While Babylon is described as a woman and
as a city in Revelation 17:5-18, being the
ecumenical religious system of the antimessiah/antichrist,
headed by the Roman Catholic Church, we see some
different descriptions that do not correlate to
a religious system in Revelation 18. Revelation
18 describes Babylon as a city with traits that
cannot necessarily be fully applied to the
Catholic Church or Vatican.
“After these things I saw another angel coming
down from heaven, having great authority, and
the earth was illumined with his glory. And he
cried out with a mighty voice, saying, ‘Fallen,
fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a
dwelling place of demons and a prison of every
unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean
and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk
of the wine of the passion of her immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed
acts of immorality with her, and the
merchants of the earth have become rich by the
wealth of her sensuality.’ I heard another voice
from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my
people, so that you will not participate in her
sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins
have piled up as high as heaven, and God has
remembered her iniquities’” (Revelation 18:1-5).
Revelation 18:1-5 gives us some interesting
clues about Babylon that can certainly apply to
the Vatican and Catholicism to a certain extent.
Revelation 18:2 describes Babylon as “a dwelling
place of demons and a prison of every unclean
spirit, and a prison of every unclean and
hateful bird.” It can be easily said that the
Vatican is full of paganism, occultic rituals,
and high demonic activity, reminiscent in these
words; but these words could likewise be applied
to any city on Planet Earth that is religiously,
and perhaps ethnically diverse, and a habitation
of evil. Revelation 18:3 says that “all nations
have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and
the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her, and the merchants of the
earth have grown rich with the wealth of her
wantonness” (RSV). Again, some of these
characteristics can be applied to the Vatican,
as many nations have indeed had relations with
the Catholic Church and may be described as
having “fornicated” with it. But at the same
time, not all nations have “fornicated” or
conspired with it as there are countries whose
regimes are secular, or who have no major
Christian tradition to speak of and thus no
significant ties to Catholicism. We are told
that “the merchants of the earth grew rich from
her excessive luxuries” (NIV), implying that
this is a financial center and a place of
luxurious exports, which the Vatican City is
not. These descriptions of Babylon cannot
totally apply to the Vatican, but have to relate
to another city on Planet Earth that is a
financial hub of activity, and is a haven of
great evil.
The text of Revelation 18 cannot be entirely
applied to the Roman Catholic Church or Vatican,
as the Catholic Church has no “power
of…luxurious living” (Revelation 18:3, ESV) to
speak of, as it does not export a lifestyle of
humanistic wantonness, focused on self-pleasure,
entertainment, and sexual fantasy.
Interestingly, Revelation 18:4-5 tells us, “I
heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come
out of her, my people, so that you will not
participate in her sins and receive of her
plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as
heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’”
This Scripture can be applied in any number of
ways, but most importantly it directly relates
to those who are living in the midst of this
city that is to be judged by God because it
represents evil, sin, and the demonic. This can
apply to the Vatican and Rome; but does it
exclusively apply? The Lord is telling those who
are living in this city to leave it because it
will be judged. The Lord is also telling those
that are a part of the system propagated by this
city to leave. Clearly, there are aspects to the
Babylon of Revelation 18 that do not apply to
the Babylon of Revelation 17, and vice versa.
But what does it primarily mean in relation to
the judgment that God is to exact?
“[F]or her sins have piled up as high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her
back even as she has paid, and give back to
her double according to her deeds; in the
cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for
her. To the degree that she glorified herself
and lived sensuously, to the same degree give
her torment and mourning; for she says in her
heart, ‘I
sit as
a queen
and I am not a widow, and will never see
mourning.’ For this reason in one day her
plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and
famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for
the Lord God who judges her is strong. And the
kings of the earth, who committed acts of
immorality and lived sensuously with her, will
weep and lament over her when they see the smoke
of her burning, standing at a distance because
of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe,
the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in
one hour your judgment has come’” (Revelation
18:5-10).
Revelation 18:5-10 gives us important clues as
to what city this might be. The city is
described as being sinful (v. 5), proud and
haughty (v. 7), a center where the leaders of
Planet Earth delight in its pleasures (v. 9),
and it is most certainly deserving of God’s
judgment (v. 6). V. 8 describes this city,
Babylon, as being “utterly burned with fire” (KJV),
and v. 10 further tells us, “For in one hour
your judgment has come.” Looking at this
prophecy today, and the fact that weapons of
mass destruction do exist, the technology is
available for this city to destroyed in a period
of sixty minutes or less.
This text actually describes the fact that some
people are going to be able to physically see
its burning from a distance. The majority of
these people are likely sea merchants, as
indicated in vs. 15, 17-18 (quoted below). The
statement “I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and
I will never mourn” (v. 8, NIV) actually
parallels a similar judgment that is levied by
the Lord against the city of Tyre in Ezekiel
28:2-8:
“Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus
says the Lord
God,
“Because your heart is lifted up and you have
said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods in
the heart of the seas’; yet you are a man and
not God, although you make your heart like the
heart of God—behold, you are wiser than Daniel;
there is no secret that is a match for you. By
your wisdom and understanding you have acquired
riches for yourself and have acquired gold and
silver for your treasuries. By your great
wisdom, by your trade you have increased your
riches and your heart is lifted up because of
your riches—therefore thus says the Lord
God,
‘Because you have made your heart like the heart
of God, therefore, behold, I will bring
strangers upon you, the most ruthless of the
nations. And they will draw their swords against
the beauty of your wisdom and defile your
splendor. They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die the death of those who are
slain in the heart of the seas.’”’”
In this Scripture, the king of Tyre actually
proclaims of himself, “I am a god; I sit
enthroned like a god in the heart of the seas” (NJPS),
and the Lord is forced to judge the king of Tyre
for his arrogance against Him, actually first
comparing him to be as though he were a perfect
angel in the Garden of Eden who fell down and
will be as ashes under the feet of men (Ezekiel
28:11-20). This judgment, while giving us some
important clue as to the attitudes of those in
“Babylon” in Revelation 18, also gives us some
clues regarding what kind of city this “Babylon”
is, as it may be compared to Tyre.
Tyre was part of the Phoenician Empire, located
immediately north of the Land of Israel in what
is modern-day Lebanon. It “was situated on a
small island which was originally unconnected
with the mainland….King Hiram of Tyre (981-947)
sent messengers to David, along with cedar
trees, and carpenters and masons who helped to
build his palace (II Sam. 5:11; I Chr. 14:1).
Hiram, who was considered a friend of David, was
also in contact with his successor, King
Solomon, whom he also supplied with timber of
cedar and cypress (I Kings 5; I Chr. 22:4; II
Chr. 2:3-18)…Hiram sent able seamen to the new
fleet which Solomon built at Ezion-geber to sail
in the Red Sea and to Ophir (I Kings
9:26-28)….It was Hiram who built the big
breakwater in Tyre, which made the harbor one of
the best in the E Mediterranean….Tyre played an
important role in purple production, and its
purple was the most famous and precious of the
dyes in ancient times. Tyrian ships sailed to
Egypt, Cyprus, Rhodes, Sicily, and the colonies
in North Africa and Spain. In addition to dyed
cloths they delivered timber, wheat, oil, and
wine. Also, metal, slaves, and horses were sent
to Egypt” (IDB).[5]
In ancient times, Tyre, being an island somewhat
separated from the mainland (but later
connected), had a strong reputation for being a
center of commerce and a major seaport. A king
of Tyre became so absorbed with the power that
his city had because of its wealth by trading on
the seas, that God saw fit to destroy him.
Understanding what Ancient Tyre represented as a
seaport, may help us understand the Babylon that
God judges in Revelation 18:
“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn
over her, because no one buys their cargoes any
more—cargoes of gold and silver and precious
stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and
silk and scarlet, and every kind of
citron wood and every article of ivory and every
article made from very costly wood and
bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and
spice and incense and perfume and frankincense
and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat
and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of
horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.
The fruit you long for has gone from you, and
all things that were luxurious and splendid have
passed away from you and men will no
longer find them. The merchants of these things,
who became rich from her, will stand at a
distance because of the fear of her torment,
weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the
great city, she who was clothed in fine linen
and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold
and precious stones and pearls’” (Revelation
18:11-16).
Revelation 18:11-16 gives a detailed description
about what type of goods this Babylon trades in.
There are things here that can in no way apply
to the Vatican, or even to the city of Rome that
will be judged by God in the end-times. These
verses tell us that Babylon is a major center of
commerce and trade and that “merchants…became
rich from her” (v. 15); but that later they
“will stand from afar because of the fear of her
torment” (v. 15, KJV). As v. 11 puts it, “the
merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her,
because no one buys their cargoes any more,”
saying that as a result of this city’s
destruction, they lose business. It is notable
that the word gomos ( gomoß)
does not just mean “cargo,” but actually “a
ship's freight, burden, tonnage”
(LS).[6]
This tells us that the merchants who weep over
Babylon’s destruction are sea merchants, and as
we see later on, they are able to watch the city
burning with fire from their ships, seemingly as
they leave or have attempted to enter its port:
“‘[F]or in one hour such great wealth has been
laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every
passenger and sailor, and as many as make their
living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were
crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
saying, ‘What city is like the great
city?’ And they threw dust on their heads and
were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had
ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in
one hour she has been laid waste!’ Rejoice over
her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and
prophets, because God has pronounced judgment
for you against her” (Revelation 18:17-20).
Revelation 18:17-20 concludes with telling us
what comes of this city’s destruction and gives
us further clues as to its potential identity.
This Babylon is clearly a city that can be seen
from the sea, as ships commonly come into its
port and trade (v. 19). The Babylon of
Revelation 18 cannot be describing a rebuilt
Ancient Babylon in the Middle East (although
certain general characteristics can still be
applied). The ancient city of Babylon could not
be seen from the ocean as it was inland, unlike
this end-time counterpart. Some still might say
it is Rome, as ships on the Italian coastline
may be able to see Rome from afar; but even this
is unlikely as Rome is too well inland to be
considered a port city. Regardless, Revelation
18:20 concludes telling us, “Rejoice over her, O
heaven, and you saints and apostles and
prophets, because God has pronounced judgment
for you against her,” confirming that this city
was indeed a haven of wicked deeds and
activities which God has finally exercised His
judgment upon. These sins impeded the spread of
the gospel and work of the Lord’s servants, and
now God is finally able to bring an end to it
and vindicate His followers.
When we consider the evidence before us in
Revelation 18, what city could this be? Does it
exist on Planet Earth today? There are aspects
of this city Babylon in Revelation 18 that
cannot apply to the Babylon in Revelation 17,
even though God will judge “Babylon.” The
Babylon of Revelation 17 (the woman) has
historically been held to be the city of Rome,
and specifically a reference to the Roman
Catholic Church and the Vatican, which likely
will head the prophesied world religious system
of the antimessiah/antichrist (Revelation
13:11-15). However, there are aspects of Babylon
in Revelation 18 that do not necessarily
describe the Vatican City, but can most
certainly be applied to other cites that exist
today. The Babylon of Revelation 18 is described
as being a center of commerce and trade (vs.
11-16), a center of evil (vs. 5-10), and a
seaport (vs. 17-20). Using the ancient city of
Tyre as a point of reference, which was a center
of commerce and trade, a seaport, a center of
evil whose king was judged by God in Ezekiel 28,
and which was located on an island off of the
mainland (but later connected to the mainland),
what city might the Babylon of Revelation 18 be
talking about?
Could the Babylon described in Revelation 18 be
New York City? Consider the fact that New York
is the world’s most important financial center
and it is a major seaport. Like Ancient Tyre, it
sits on an island, but is connected to the
mainland. New York City is the headquarters for
the United Nations where the rulers of Planet
Earth meet, and many of those rulers indeed do
impede and stop the work of Believers in the
world. New York City is most certainly a haven
for demonic evils and perversions and the
luxuries of the flesh. When you look at the
aspects of Babylon in Revelation 18, could the
city spoken of be New York? New York has been a
major target for decades, clearly evident by the
attacks of September 11, 2001, so could New
York’s judgment come in one hour? If the Vatican
were destroyed, would the world mourn its loss
as much as the destruction of what some have
called the “capital of the world” (Revelation
18:9)? Put another way, how would the financial
markets react to the destruction of New York
versus the destruction of Rome? While both would
be bad, which would be worse?
The Babylon of Revelation 18 may be New York
City. I believe this is something that needs to
be considered when examining the end-times and
the rise of the antimessiah/antichrist, and the
potential involvement of the United States in
prophecy. New York certainly fits the criteria
listed, and is generally not a place that we
associate with godliness.
Babylon as the Worldwide
Antimessiah/Antichrist System
Perhaps some of you
are asking why it appears that Revelation is
cryptic about the identity of Babylon. From what
we have discussed, the Babylon of Revelation 17
is different than that of Revelation 18 and vice
versa. There are different qualities regarding
Babylon in each chapter that could very well be
describing two different “Babylons.” Why
did the Apostle John write the Book of
Revelation in such a way that he used terms such
as “Babylon”?
The word translated “Babylon” in the Hebrew
Scriptures is Bavel ( lbB)
and it is transliterated into Greek as
Babulōn (Babulwn).
BDB says that the “name” Bavel is
“connected with
llb
confuse, confound.”[7]
The Hebrew verb balel (llB),
in the Qal stem (simple action, active voice)
means “mix, confuse (languages)” (CHALOT).[8]
Consequently, it should not be surprising that
the Book of Genesis tells us that the world was
first confused at Babel:
“Now the whole earth used the same language and
the same words…They said, ‘Come, let us build
for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top
will reach into heaven, and let us make for
ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered
abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ The
Lord
came down to see the city and the tower which
the sons of men had built. The
Lord
said, ‘Behold, they are one people, and they all
have the same language. And this is what they
began to do, and now nothing which they purpose
to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us
go down and there confuse their language, so
that they will not understand one another's
speech.’ So the
Lord
scattered them abroad from there over the face
of the whole earth; and they stopped building
the city. Therefore its name was called Babel,
because there the
Lord
confused the language of the whole earth; and
from there the
Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth”
(Genesis 1:11, 4-9).
At Ancient Babel or
Babylon, God confused the languages and mankind
was forced to scatter across the face of the
planet. It should also be noted that Ancient
Babylon (and the surrounding region of Sumer) is
the same location that many of the ancient pagan
sun worship and rituals originated that impacted
the Ancient Israelites, the same being
responsible for many of today’s occultic
practices and influences in Roman Catholicism.
It can easily be said that the paganism
originating in Ancient Babylon has been
permeated throughout the globe.
More importantly, by identifying what Ancient
Babylon was, we can more clearly understand why
John used this term to describe the phenomenon
that he saw in Revelation 17 & 18. The Holman
Bible Dictionary describes how elaborate
Ancient Babylon actually was, paralleling the
future Babylonian system that the Apostle John
prophesies about:
“The city spanned the Euphrates and was
surrounded by an eleven-mile long outer wall
which enclosed suburbs and Nebuchadnezzar’s
summer palace. The inner wall was wide enough to
accommodate two chariots abreast. It could be
entered through eight gates, the most famous of
which was the northern Ishtar Gate, used in the
annual New Year Festival and decorated with
reliefs of dragons and bulls in enameled brick.
The road to this gate was bordered by high walls
decorated by lions in glazed brick behind which
were defensive citadels. Inside the gate was the
main palace built by Nebuchadnezzar with its
huge throne room. A cellar with shafts in part
of the palace may have served as the
substructure to the famous ‘Hanging Gardens of
Babylon,’ described by classical authors as one
of the wonders of the ancient world. Babylon
contained many temples, the most important of
which was Esagila, the temple of the city’s
patron god, Marduk. Rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar,
the temple was lavishly decorated with gold.
Just north of Esagila lay the huge stepped tower
of Babylon, a ziggurat called Etemenanki and its
sacred enclosure. Its seven stories perhaps
towered some 300 feet above the city. No doubt
Babylon greatly impressed the Jews taken there
in captivity and provided them with substantial
economic opportunities.”[9]
Metaphorically speaking, we are told, “The city
of Babylon became to the Old Testament writers
the symbol of utter rebellion against God and
remained so even into the New Testament
(Revelation 17:1-5).”[10]
TWOT notes that “It is no wonder that God
took Judah to Babylon so as to preserve a
remnant of Judah by allowing them to experience
first-hand the horrible folly of idolatry.”[11]
In essence, because of what God did at the Tower
of Babel (confusing the languages), has the same
been reversed because we nearing the return of
Yeshua? There are very few language barriers
today with English as the universal language of
business, and various cultural divisions are
being steadily eroded through multiculturalism
and globalization. Just as God led a portion of
His people into Babylon to teach them a lesson,
is He perhaps leading us out of it to do the
same? Are we not seeing the spiritual bankruptcy
of the ways of the world that have influenced
much of the modern Church, by studying the Torah
and seeing more and more of God’s will
implemented in our lives, by entering into a
Messianic walk of faith?
Are there cities or places on Planet Earth today
that instill an anti-God or antimessiah
Babylonian mentality? Yes, and there are
certainly many of them. As it relates to this
study, are the cities of New York and the
Vatican such places? Certainly, characteristics
of Ancient Babylon are prevalent in both
locations, and likely many more. Assuming that
the city Babylon of Revelation 18 is New York,
then the Apostle John could only compare it to
Ancient Babylon, for it was the only city he
knew of to compare it to. Similarly, if
Revelation 17 speaks of the Vatican City, then
John could only describe it as being Babylonian,
as many of the traditions and practices of Roman
Catholicism stem from Ancient Babylon, having
been adopted by intermediaries such as Greece
and Rome.
Overall and ultimately, Babylon must be viewed
as anything opposed to God or to His Son,
Yeshua the Messiah, and the ways of God as laid
out in the Bible. The current world system,
composed of political, economic, and religious
elements is very much like that of Ancient
Babylon and should be considered non-Biblical
and antimessiah, ultimately opposed to the will
of God and His Divine authority. Interestingly,
some interpret prophetic Scriptures relating to
the phrase “king of Babylon” as a reference to
the antimessiah. This is somewhat compelling,
because when the antimessiah comes to power and
establishes his world government—regardless of
where he is from—he will indeed become king of
“Babylon,” i.e., the worldwide anti-God system
that originated on the Plains of Shinar (Genesis
11:2). However, we must also consider the fact
that only God is the One who can fix these
problems.
Overall, Babylon should be taken as composing
the end-time system of the antimessiah/antichrist.
In Revelation 17:5, John describes Babylon as
being a “mystery,” which I personally interpret
as meaning that the Babylonian phenomenon of
confusion is too complex and multifaceted to
figure out completely, composed of political,
economic, and religious elements. In Revelation
18:4, the Believers are told to “Come out of
her, my people, so that you will not participate
in her sins and receive of her plagues.” This
admonishment certainly has multiple meanings.
For those living in the city Babylon of
Revelation 18 in the end-times, perhaps New
York, it is telling them to leave for their own
safety. For those that have deeply partaken in
the Babylonian world system, it telling them
likewise to leave. But have we arrived at that
point yet? Only time will tell.
Is the United States Babylon?
One concept that has
intrigued some prophecy teachers, and certainly
many Americans who study prophecy, is the United
States’ potential involvement in end-time
events. From one perspective, there are those
who have the view that the United States is not
mentioned in Bible prophecy in any way, and from
another, you have the view that the United
States is perhaps at the very center of the
Tribulation period. It would seem unlikely that
the United States is not mentioned at all in the
Bible, as it is the most powerful country or
“empire” that has existed on Planet Earth. But
the United States clearly cannot be the central
focus of the Last Days, which is the restoration
of Israel.
Some believe that the United States of America
is end-time Babylon the Great. Proponents of
this claim that the text of Revelation 18
applies to America (as opposed to a literal city
Babylon as the Scripture clearly indicates), and
that the U.S. is judged in one literal hour
(Revelation 18:10). People believing this
concept may “confirm” their beliefs by
researching out people who claim to have had
extra-Biblical “dreams or visions” detailing the
supposed destruction of the United States.
Although one can certainly draw parallels from
the Babylonian system described in Revelation 18
and apply them to America, I have serious
reservations in believing the claim that Babylon
the Great is the U.S. (Although I will certainly
not dismiss the fact that the United States will
be judged for its sin).
The reason that I do
not believe that the United States is Babylon
the Great of Revelation 18 is two-fold. (1)
Babylon is described in these passages as being
a city, and (2) many proponents of this our
ministry has encountered base their belief on
extra-Biblical dreams and visions which may not
be accurate. Although the technology exists for
every square inch of the United States to be
destroyed in one literal hour, radiation and the
other agents used would spread outside the
borders of the United States, eventually killing
all of humanity in perhaps a number of days or
weeks. One must not forget that the Tribulation
period is seven years, not seven days long! The
concept that America is Babylonian may be
Scriptural, but the belief that the U.S. will be
destroyed in a period of sixty minutes, as
opposed to a single city (New York?) as
Revelation 18 tells us, is highly questionable.
Consistent with the
concept that America is Babylon the Great and
due for “coast-to-coast toast” destruction, in a
short period of time, is the notion that
American Believers must leave the United States.
In Revelation 18:4 we are told to “Come out of
her, my people,” but assuming that the United
States is Babylon the Great as some suggest,
where does one go? Note that Revelation 13:4
plainly tells us, “Who is like the beast, and
who is able to wage war with him?” This
Scripture says that the antimessiah/antichrist
is going to have much power, and no human being
will be able to fight him. This implies that no
place on Planet Earth is safe from the
antimessiah, including the most populated city
of the United States to the most remote region
of the Sahara Desert. Revelation 18:4 primarily
speaks to those in the city Babylon, and
secondly implies that Believers should distance
themselves from the worldwide Babylonian system.
There has to be a proper and Biblical manner in
which to view the United States’ potential role
in Bible prophecy, which is not consistent with
the notion “run for your lives.” Consider the
words of the Apostle Peter, who writes,
“But even if you
should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you
are blessed.
And do not
fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,
but sanctify Messiah as Lord in your hearts,
always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the
hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in
the thing in which you are slandered, those who
revile your good behavior in Messiah will be put
to shame” (1 Peter 3:14-16).
Although we do not believe that the United
States is Babylon the Great, it is a strong
possibility that New York City is perhaps the
city Babylon the Great of Revelation 18.
However, rather than debate the exact identity
of the United States in prophecy, a more
imperative ideological question must be
answered: Will the United States of America
be judged for its sin?
Zechariah 14:2 tells
us that God will “gather all the nations to
Jerusalem for the war,” which is preceded in
Zechariah 12:9 with, “It shall be on that day
that I will seek to destroy all the nations that
come upon Jerusalem.” Surely, among those spoken
include the United States. America does not have
“special status” in the eyes of God. The U.S.
will be judged along with any other country.
Unfortunately, this very concept (the judgment
of America) alone is hard for many American
Christians to accept, but they must. Our
country is no more or less sinful than any other
on Planet Earth.
Conclusion
Are there two
distinct Babylons in Revelation chs. 17 and 18?
Surely, the Babylonian antimessiah/antichrist
system permeates them both and there are
overlapping qualities. There are parts of the
Babylonian phenomenon that are confusing. But
can we know for certain that one is the Vatican
(Revelation 17) and one is New York City
(Revelation 18)? No. We are dealing with future
events and they are open for interpretation. As
students of the Word, we have to know what the
various possibilities are so that if we see the
fulfillment of these things in our lifetimes we
will be ready.
We have just analyzed
only one aspect to the Babylonian phenomenon.
There are others. Will Ancient Babylon be
rebuilt? What will end-time Babylon’s purpose
be? Why should we study these issues?
The subjects regarding Babylon are very complex
and confusing at times (hence the name, Babylon—confusion).
Unfortunately, very few have studied it from the
perspective that it encompasses many things, as
opposed to exclusively this or exclusively that.
There will continue to be a wide variety of
beliefs and views concerning end-time Babylon.
However, from what we have concluded here, it is
ultimately the worldwide antimessiah/antichrist
system composed of political, economic, and
religious aspects—of which the United States of
America is certainly a part.
In the end, Babylon—whatever it is—will be
defeated. The antimessiah and those who
conspired with him will suffer the fate of the
Lake of Fire. The Lord will judge Babylon, and
vindicate His servants who were hindered from
His work because of its existence. The anti-God
Babylonian system running this world will be no
more and Yeshua the Messiah Himself will reign
from Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), not
Bavel (Babylon)! The return of the Lord and
establishment of His eternal reign on Earth is
something that each of us should pray for and
endeavor to see.
J.K. McKee (B.A.,
University of Oklahoma; M.A. Student, Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN
Online (www.tnnonline.net) and is a Messianic
apologist. He is author of several books,
including: The New Testament Validates Torah,
Torah In the Balance, Volume I, and When
Will the Messiah Return?. He has also
written many articles on the Two Houses of
Israel and Biblical theology, and is presently
focusing on Messianic commentaries on various
books of the Bible.
NOTES
[1]
Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical
History, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody,
MA: Hendrickson, 1998), 50.
[2]
Donald Senior, “The First Letter of
Peter,” in Walter J. Harrelson, et. al.,
New Interpreter’s Study Bible,
NRSV (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003),
2188.
[3]
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, P.
Schaff, ed.; Libronix Digital Library
System 1.0d: Church History Collection.
MS Windows XP. Garland, TX: Galaxie
Software. 2002.
[4]
TDNT notes that “The LXX almost
always uses óros for Heb. har,
which also means either a single
mountain or a range…Many sayings reflect
Palestinian geography, e.g., the city on
a hill (Mt. 5:14), the sheep left on the
hills (18:12)…” (W. Foerster, “óros,”
in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed.,
Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, abrid. [Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1985], pp 732-733).
[5]
A.S. Kapelrud, “Tyre,” in George
Buttrick, ed., et. al., The
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible,
4 vols. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1962),
4:721-722.
[6]
H.G. Lidell and R. Scott, An
Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 167.
[7]
Francis Brown, S.R. Driver, and Charles
A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979), 93.
[8]
William L. Holladay, ed., A Concise
Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament (Leiden, the Netherlands:
E.J. Brill, 1988), 41.
[9]
Dan Browning, “Babylon, History and
Religion of,” in Trent C. Butler, ed.,
et. al., Quickverse 6.0: Holman Bible
Dictionary, CD-ROM, Hiawatha IA:
Parsons Technology, 1999.
[10]
Ibid.
[11]
Louis Goldberg, “Babel, Babylon,”
in R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer,
and Bruce K. Waltke, eds.,
Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1980), 1:89.
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