[PDF]Babylon

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2010


Babylon

Bible prophecy uses Babylon as a symbol for the power that would rise against God
in the end times. Studying ancient and modern Babylon will help us understand the
prophecies about the coming end-time Babylon.


Babylon through History

Ancient Babylon

Ancient Babylon, according to the Scriptures, was the center of ancient worship. It
was larger and more impressive than any other city of its time. Babylon reached the
height of its power and glory under Nebuchadnezzar.

Ancient inscriptions tell how Nebuchadnezzar and his father Nabopolasser restored
the ancient tower of Babel, a monument to the power of humanity. Nabopolasser
said this:

At the time Marduk commanded me to build the tower of Babel, which had become
weakened by time and fallen into disrepair; he commanded me to ground its base
securely on the breast of the underworld, whereas its pinnacles should strain towards
the skies.

Approximately 300 years before King Xerxes of Persia destroyed Babylon, the
prophet Isaiah predicted its fall:

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there;
neither shall the shepherds make their fold there (Isaiah 13:19-20).

Modern Babylon

In spite of Isaiah's prophecy, there have been attempts to rebuild Babylon.

Alexander the Great tried to restore the tower of Babel to its original glory and make
the city his capital in 330 BC, but he died before he could begin.

More recently, Saddam Hussein of Iraq was also restoring Babylon, a work he began
in the 1980s. He used approximately 60 million bricks in the process and had his
name engraved every three meters so that he would be remembered.

However, Hussein must have read the prophecies of Isaiah. His restorations were
not an attempt to inhabit the city. Instead, he had his palace built on the other side
of the Euphrates River.


End-Time Babylon

Babylon, the great city we read about in the book of Revelation, does not refer to
literal Babylon, as that was never to be inhabited again. Rather, Revelation is
referring to end-time Babylon, a much greater fulfillment of all that ancient Babylon
stood for.

End-time Babylon will be a confederacy of intolerance and false doctrine. This end-
time confederacy, however, will fall just like ancient Babylon did. It will even fall for
the same reasons—because it will seduce all the nations of the earth into following
its false doctrines (Revelation 14:8). Christ will put an end once and for all to all the
lies, deception, and hatred when He comes.


Who is End-Time Babylon?

In Revelation 14:6-13, the Bible tells us about three mighty angels that have three
very important messages for the people living in the last days. The Second Angel
mentions Babylon in its message saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication"
(Revelation 14:8).

In order to understand this message, it is essential that we identify end-time
Babylon. Numerous verses in the book of Revelation warn against Babylon, and
admonish God’s people to come out of Babylon. How can those wishing to align
themselves with God come out of Babylon if they don’t know what it is? The
message in Revelation 14:8 is repeated more forcefully in Revelation 18:2 and
reveals the spiritual decay of this system:

And he cried mightily with a strong voice saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and has become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of
every unclean and hateful bird.

The unclean and hateful birds are a reference to a counterfeit Holy Spirit that would
power the system, leading people to believe that they are working with the power of
God.

Revelation 18:4 holds an even stronger admonition:

Come out of her My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues.

God would not warn His people to come out of Babylon if it were impossible for
them to identify Babylon. During the early Christian centuries, Jewish and Christian
literature referred to the city of Rome as Babylon. 1 Peter 5:13 also refers to Rome
as Babylon. Peter wrote these words while in Rome, at a time when literal Babylon
no longer existed:


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2010


The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, salutethyou; and so doth
Marcus my son.

Surprisingly enough, even Roman Catholics acknowledge this association:

"Babylon," from which Peter addresses his first Epistle, is understood by learned
annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome - the word Babylon being
symbolic of the corruption then prevailing in the city of the Caesars:<


The Woman of Revelation 17

Revelation 17 gives us a glimpse of what Babylon will be like. Using prophetic
language, it describes a woman who rejects God with her whole being:

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH (Revelation 17:4-5],

The woman that rides the Beast in Revelation 17 has all the identifying features of
Rome. In fact, Rome applies the very symbolism employed in this chapter to herself.
Remember that the name "Babylon" refers to papal Rome and its allies.

In the Bible, a woman represents a church:

I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman (Jeremiah 6:2).

Isaiah the prophet extends the symbol of a woman to that of a bride. The pure bride
represents the pure Church:

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the
bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee (Isaiah 62:5).

Hosea describes the union of God and His people:

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies (Hosea 2:19).

The same symbolism is employed in the New Testament:

...for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2).

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such


thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27).

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is
come, and his wife hath made herself ready (Revelation 19:7).

This beautiful picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church, is marred by the image of
a church, "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the
inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication"
(Revelation 17:2).

The Roman Catholic Church is the only church on Earth that fulfills these identifiers
of the woman called Babylon in Revelation 17:


The Mother

Babylon is described in Revelation 17:5 as the "mother of harlots,” which refers to
apostate religious systems or churches. If the Church is the chaste woman faithful to
her husband, then Babylon is the opposite: that system of worship that is unfaithful
to God, has a mystery religion, and teaches and practices abominations.

The harlot daughters must then represent those churches that follow her false
teachings and subject themselves to her rule or, even worse, officially accept Rome’s
leadership as authoritative.

Rome claims to be the mother of all the churches. At the entrance of St. John Lateran
Cathedral in Rome there is a huge Latin inscription Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia
omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput, which translated into English
reads, "Sacred Lateran Church. Church mother and head of all the churches of the
city and the world."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the Church, "Mother and Teacher" 11 The
"Dominus Iesus" faith declaration says, “It must be always clear that the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic universal church is not the sister, but the mother of all the
churches.” 111


The Great City

The word Vatican is derived from the words vatis, which means "diviner,” and can,
which means "serpent.” Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica were built on the
ancient pagan site called in Latin vaticanus mons, which means "hill of prophecy."

Coins minted in Vatican City often bear the inscription CITTA DEL VATICANO, which
means "City of Prophecy." The Church of Rome thus applies the title of "City" to its
structure. The full title of the Vatican State is Stato Delle Citta Del Vaticano, which is
the combination of church and state.

There is also a woman on the reverse side of the coin, and at her feet is her title,


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FIDES, which means faith. This woman is symbolic of the Roman Catholic Church,
which claims power over all governments on Earth.

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of
the earth (Revelation 17:18).

Rome claims to control all governments on Earth. The Jesuit oath says this:

...by the virtue of the keys binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Saviour,
Jesus Christ, he has power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths
and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation, and they may be
safely destroyed. iv

The description of the woman of Revelation 17 fits all the aspects of Rome. We are
told in Revelation 17:1 that she "sits on many waters" (NKJV). These waters
represent the nations of the world:

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are
peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (Revelation 17:15).

The fallen Church, represented by the woman, must therefore be a universal Church.
The word "catholic" actually means "universal." The Roman Catholic Church claims
to be the universal or worldwide Church and, as we have seen, she claims to have
authority over all nations.


The Chalice

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication (Revelation 17:4).

The woman with the golden chalice in her hand is a common symbol in Roman
Catholic sculptures and paintings. No other Christian denomination has depicted
itself in this manner. According to Revelation 17, the cup is full of abominations and
the filthiness of her fornication, which represent false doctrine that she has made all
the nations drink.

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication
(Revelation 14:8).

The reformers exposed these misguided doctrines during the Reformation, but
sadly, the Protestant churches of today are willing to set aside their doctrinal
differences with Rome in order to achieve Christian unity. However, unity achieved
through sacrificing truth will not last.


Following is a list of the main doctrines challenged by the reformers and
reconfirmed by Rome during the Council of Trent:

1. Transubstantiation

2. Justification by faith and works

3. The medieval mass

4. The seven sacraments

5. Celibacy

6. Purgatory

7. Indulgences

8. Papal authority to enforce the decrees of the Council, and promised obedience to
the Pope from church officials. v

The veneration of Mary has also been upheld and, in fact, increased.

Transubstantiation is the claim that Jesus’ physical body is offered every time the
mass is held:

Marvellous dignity of the priests, in their hands as in the womb of the blessed virgin
Mary the Son of God becomes incarnate. Behold, the power of the priest! The tongue of
the priest makes God from a morsel of bread, it is more than creating the worlds

Canon 1: If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are
contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with soul and
divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is
in it only as in a sign, or a figure or force, let him be anathema .™

The Bible, however, clearly says, "by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those
who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14 NIV).


The Colours and the Riches

I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication (Revelation 17:4-5).

Catholic cardinals frequently wear scarlet. Catholic priests wear red on
Good Friday, Palm Sunday, Pentecost, and other special occasions. They
wear purple on Advent, Lent, and at funerals. On some of those days,
other colors are also worn, including white, green, black, rose, and gold.

Riches are lavished on the icons of Catholicism. Gold, pearls, and precious
stones and pearls deck the statues of Mary and the saints in the Vatican.
The rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in the 16th century involved the
genius skill of Michelangelo, Bernini, Raphael, and the other great artists
of the day. The riches and treasures lavished on the stately buildings of the Roman



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2010


Catholic Church are beyond description.

The official clothing worn by the Pope on special occasions is richer in gold and
jewelry than any earthly crown. The papal tiara on display in the Vatican Museum is
valuable beyond comprehension.


Seven Hills

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on
which the woman sitteth (Revelation 17:9).

There is more than one interpretation for this text. Literally speaking, Rome is
known as the city of seven hills. The Vatican sits on one side of the Tiber River,
facing the seven hills.

In ancient times, hills were sacred high places, used to worship and offer sacrifices
to deities. The systems of worship were based on salvation by works, and also
included a counterfeit saviour or Messiah and mediators of both sexes. The gods
that were worshiped in these places were manifestations of the sun god who was
androgenic in that he/she could manifest himself/herself in the male or the female
form.

One further reason why the end-time religious confederacy, under the leadership of
the Papacy, is called "Babylon" is that the Babylonian system of worship is has been
passed down through history. Its rituals and doctrines are present in Catholicism, as
well as religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, earth religions, and even Islam.


On Her Forehead is Written Mystery

On her forehead was a name written: "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of
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