Who/What/Where is Babylon in Revelation 17 & 18

The most amazing thing about Dubai is how suddenly this city has risen. It was almost barren desert just 20 years ago.

Check out the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world at present, three times the height of the Empire State Building! And they are already building a building that will be even taller. This absolutely reminds me of the Tower of Babel.



You know, the Muslims may indeed take over the world soon.

 

I must admit I'm impressed. I don't know if Dubai is the Babylon of Revelation but I can't rule it out.

 

Well, if you look at ancient maps, Dubai was not part of the Babylonian empire, but it is shown as part of the Persian empire that conquered Babylon later. There are records of this area trading with Babylon in ancient times. I believe it may have been part of the empire after all.

Here is a map of the Babylonian empire. Dubai would be in the bottom right hand corner of this map, just below the name "Persian Gulf"



So, you can see that the area Dubai occupies could easily have been part of the ancient Babylonian empire.

I have been reading in Daniel lately, and it speaks of the king of the South. This has made me wonder, what great civilization is there that is south of Israel? Well, Dubai and the UAE are south (actually southeast) of Israel.

Dan 11:5 And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.

I could be completely off on all of this, but it does fit in many ways, something to keep our eyes on in the near future.

 

The king of the south there is the king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt. The king of the north mentioned shortly thereafter is the king of the Seleucid Kingdom in Syria.

 

Wow! What a mess we make of things when we try and stuff ancient texts into the news and geography of today.

 

I have seen these explanations before, but Daniel says these things will happen at the end of time.

Dan 11:6 And in the end of years they shall join themselves together; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement: but she shall not retain the power of the arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm: but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times.

Dan 11:35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

Dan 11:40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

This is speaking of the tribulation and when the Lord returns as shown in the next chapter which is a continuation of chapter 11.

Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

I agree with KYredneck. I have been a student of New Tesatment history and archaeology for over 30 years now and I agree that "Mystery Babylon" was indeed the Jerusalem of the Old Covenant, the only city on earth which was guilty of the blood of both the Old Testament prophets AND the New Testament saints. The details in the Revelation about the fall and destruction of this apostate city describe down to the least jot and tittle the "apostasia" (falling away) of the Jewish nation and the eventual 7-year war that decimated the entire nation, killed millions of Jews, and destroyed the city and the sanctuary, bringing the Old Covenant to a violent and bloody end, just as Moses and the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles, all foretold.

The Revelation is not a book about the future. The Revelation is a book about the "unveiling" (apocalupsis) of Jesus Christ, the "revelation" of God's plan of salvation ordained before the world began and come to pass during the generation of Jesus' advent into the world. It is Jesus Christ who is revealed in this book, his coming, his work, and especially his triumph over Satan and his victory over the world. Our faith rests upon the truth of His victory.

The fufillment of the Law and the Prophets did not end with Jesus' ascension, nor did it end with the birth of the Church, nor yet did it end with the death of the Apostles. The fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets ended with the destruction of the Old Covenant which God had ordained to be a type and a figure to point to and teach about the New Covenant, the fulfillment of the Old.

If you read the Revelation of Jesus Christ and you do not see the triumphant, ascendant, glorified Christ, and the victory he has won over all the power of the enemy, you are missing the whole message of this book.

"For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

 

P.S. In the Revelation, Rome is not the harlot, Rome is the beast.

 

Everyone seems to be forgetting that the city is MYSTERY BABYLON.

Strong's

3466 musth,rion

musterion {moos-tay'-ree-on} ​

Meaning: ​

1) hidden thing, secret, mystery 1a) generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals 1b) a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding 1c) a hidden purpose or counsel 1c1) secret will 1c1a) of men 1c1b) of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly 3) in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense: of an OT saying, of an image or form seen in a vision, of a dream ​

At the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation "mystery" was used in reference to the helenistic "mystery" cults. Do a google (helenistic mysteries) and read for yourselves what was involved.​

It had to do with secret initiation, immoral sexual practices, drugs. astrology, sorcery, all mentioned concerning MYSTERY BABYLON.​

All these things are alive and well and growing globally in the non third world nations and some of them as well.​

"Mystery" Babylon has had no geographic location on earth just as "secular humanism" and "elitism" has no geographic center. ​

Second, the Book of Revelation calls itself a book of signs (semaino).​

Babylon has always been a sign of false GENTILE religion going back to the Tower of Babel built by Nimrod and company.​

Being "Mystery Babylon" it is hidden from the eyes of flesh. In the very end of this age it will take on a visible manifestation and at that time may very well have a "place" with XY coordinates to house the personages of the secular humanistic ruling society. ​

It will be the true and visible (at that time) representation of those who follow after the beast (satan) and accept his philosophy (mark of the beast) of uncompromising hatred toward God and His children whether Jew or Gentile.

At the final hour satan will destroy the harlot, the "religion" aspect of MYSTERY BABYLON and take to himself the worship of the inhabited world at the cost of death destroying all who will not give him worship.

Then Christ will come...​

2 Thessalonians 2
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.​

Zechariah 14
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and themount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.​

Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.​

 

[/QUOTE]
You definately make a good point. Note that the chapter about Mystery babylon says its a city. Very likely Jerusalem. And look at what he Jews have done not only to the prophets but to the scriptures themselves. they hold to Talmud which is mystical. They have Kabbala which I'm not sure is Zoroasteranism takes from them or the other way around. So there are some significant evidence in favor of your view. Note the reason Rome is sited is because Christians like children always think they are the most important thing going on and for US Rome played a significant Role but not necissarily for the whole world. This is why many Christians believe the United States is God's chosen nation.

 

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

 

Excellent post. Thanks.

Agreed. At the time of the writing which was during the SIXTH HEAD OF THE BEAST, Rome reigned. At the time of the writing the beast was Rome.

 

I asked:

You replied:

I reiterate:

The Jews, not the Romans, are the convicted ones.

 

How do we know that this is a woman and not Jesus Christ holding the cup He offered at the Last Supper? Couldn't it be Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and holding the cross upon which He was crucified?
The other side appears to be Pope Leo XII who was the head of the Catholic Church in 1829.

 

Click on that link to read The Two Babylons and you will see many familiar symbols used today that came from ancient Babylon.

 

Yes it could be and that is just what they want you to believe.

Mimickery and disguise are the hallmark of the evil one and his children.

2 Corinthians 11

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.​

The difference between the wheat and the tares is the fruit they produce.
The fruit of the Church of Rome has been a river of blood.
True, other elements of Christendom have been equally as wicked but Rome is the mother.

It is not the laity but the leadership of the RCC that has the blood on their hands.

In reality there are only two "religions" God's -typified by the New Jerusalem, the evil one's typified by MYSTERY BABYLON.

Right now the membership is mingled together which is part of the mystery. The mystery of iniquity.

That will end soon:

Matthew 13

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.​

HankD

 

i agree with your post except for this comment. as it is true, that the leaders of the catholic church have blood on their hands...

you have to remember, did the pope actually go out and slay millions, or did he deceive others (laity) to do it for him...?

he deceived others with promises of forgiveness of sins, indulgences, relief from purgatory, promises of heaven, 70 virgins... oh wait, thats islam... sorry...
spoils from war, etc etc...

all of those things and many others i am sure were promised to the deceived catholics who went out and murdered (against the commands of Christ) others who did not bow the knee to papa... papa ordered the murders... and the deceived went out and murdered...

what a shame that such religious folks would go out and murder others, to escape the flames of hell or a purgatory that did not even exist... and were actually just sealing their fate in eternal punishment...

satan is crafty. satan is a liar and a deceiver... if folks would just follow the Word of God and obey the commands of God... how much simpler their lives would be, not to mention, how glorious their eternal lives could be...

anyway, my point is, the murderers were usually the laity who were just obeying their master, lord satan...

it would be hard for lord satan to deceive people to go out and murder today... people would be easily caught and thrown in jail... so lord satan has changed his tactics... instead of getting his lost religious to go out and murder... lord satan gets them to:

partake in a murder Jesus, thru a spiritual sacrifice (mass), 200,000x a day of the year in every catholic church.
teaches them to call the priests and cardinals, '(holy) father' when it is forbidden by Jesus.
teaches them to call the papa, the Holy Father... which is reserved for God Himself.
eat foods sacrificed to idols.
pray to dead saints in heaven like mary, joseph, etc, thus becoming necromancers.
abstain from foods that were given for the glory of the Lord.
pray like the heathens with beads.
put the mark of the beast (ashes) on their forehead every lent which is based on astrology which is forbidden.
bow down to idols, statues and crucifixes.
revere tradition higher than Scripture.
to follow the catechism over the Scripture.
to obey the church instead of the Bible.
to put faith in the church as their 'gate' to heaven instead of Christ.
and on and on... lord satan has some many false religions. where do we begin?

"the pope is not a mere man, but is Christ under a veil of flesh..."
"the Bible is a dead book"
"only the church can interpret God's Word"
"there is no other way that we know where one gains entrance into heaven than thru (infant) baptism.
"grace is given to the church (only) and you can only gain God's grace by partaking in all of the RC sacraments
"the only way into heaven is thru the one and only roman catholic church.
"all heretics, must be tortured if they will not recant of their errors and bow the knee to the pope.

when folks fail to realize that lord satan has his nasty claws in EVERY single thing and place on the whole earth... he is the god of thid world... people will look at something that is deadly and evil and they will embrace it because it "appeals" to them... hence you end up with cults, false religion, etc... leading to deception and ultimately, hellfire, forever and forever....

 

Hi Bruce, I speak of modern catholicism. Most Catholics are unaware of the history of their church.

I am a former cradle Catholic and in my youth I also was unaware of the blood drenched history of the RCC.

This was one of many (besides the obvious doctrinal errors) of the reasons I left the RCC after my rebirth having begun a life long study of the Bible and Church History.

Yes, I was saved while a Catholic. I left the Church of Rome after 2 years of reading the Bible.


HankD

 

There is no point in describing Jerusalem in such language as John could just say "jerusalem." However, if this "city" which now reigns over the kingdoms of this earth (Rev. 17:18) was Rome and John was on the isle of Patmos for failing to acknowledge "Ceasar is Lord" on the "kuraikos" day (Rev. 1:10) then there is every reason to describe Rome in such language.

Jerusalem did not reign over the kingdoms of this world in A.D. 69 any more than it did in A.D. 96.

 

I am agreeing with you Dr. Walter.

In other posts I show that I believe MYSTERY BABYLON has a much wider scope than "Jerusalem".

HankD