REVELATION'S BABYLON THE GREAT WHORE : PART 2
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Identity Of Babylon The Great, Seal Of God, The Household Of
God, The Name Of God, The Mark Of Satan, Significance Of The
666, Persecution And A Test Of Faith, An Unholy Wedding, The
Pagan Origins Of Israel, Ishtar, The Mother Of Harlots And
Her Evil Spawn, Spiritual Virgins, More On Rome, Babylon And
Baghdad, New York City, The Heavenly New Jerusalem
I concluded part one of this article by presenting several
examples of the Lord's faithful virgin Bride. Having
established that point as being Scripturally sound, let us
now consider the negative aspect of a rebellious Bride who
has forsaken her spiritual Husband and gone after other
lovers, that is, after other gods. What follows are examples
of the many verses found in the Old Testament which depict
Israel's waywardness, and her rejection of the one true God.
The Lord refers to this as spiritual whoredom, or playing
the harlot:
"And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they
went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto
them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers
walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they
did not so." (Judges 2:17)
"And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the
children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after
Baalim, and made Baalberith their god." (Judges 8:33)
"And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and
went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land,
whom God destroyed before them." (1 Chronicles 5:25)
"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet
my people have forgotten me days without number."
(Jeremiah 2:32)
"They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him,
and become another man's, shall he return unto her again?
Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast
played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me,
saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 3:1)
"The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king,
Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she
is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green
tree, and there hath played the harlot." (Jeremiah 3:6)
"And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding
Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her
a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared
not, but went and played the harlot also." (Jeremiah 3:8)
"My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff
declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused
them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their
God." (Hosea 4:12)
While the above verses are strong in content and may be
offensive to some, they are nevertheless a clear depiction
of a nation and a Bride who has rejected her true spiritual
Husband. For an even more graphic picture of the spiritual
whoredoms committed by both Jerusalem and Samaria, you might
want to read the twenty-third chapter of the Book of the
Prophet Ezekiel. That chapter describes how the spiritual
fornication of Israel began in Egypt, and continued all the
way to the time of the conquests by both the Assyrians and
the Babylonians. What is important to note here is that the
Lord considers the rebellion of His Bride to be a very
serious matter. When the Prophet Samuel rebuked King Saul
and informed him that God had rejected him in the fifteenth
chapter of the first Book of Samuel, he compared Saul's
stubborn rebellious heart to witchcraft and idolatry:
"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the
LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath
also rejected thee from being king." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
On another occasion, when prophesying against Nineveh, the
ancient capital of Assyria, the Prophet Nahum described the
city as being the 'mistress of witchcrafts':
"Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the
well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that
selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through
her witchcrafts." (Nahum 3:4)
While the above three verses apply to other events in the
Bible, they are nevertheless important because they help us
to better understand the Lord's attitude concerning the
unfaithfulness of His disbelieving rebellious Wife. As far
as He is concerned, she is guilty of performing witchcraft.
As an interesting side note, the ruins of Nineveh and
Babylon, both of which were heavily steeped into witchcraft,
are located in modern-day Iraq.
To reiterate what I stated earlier, once ancient Israel
rejected the Lord as her true King, and went astray in
building pagan temples to other gods, she lost the Spirit.
When the True Lamb of God arrived in the First Century, the
Jewish Elders still wanted to continue with their dead
rituals and traditions. Amongst students of eschatology,
there is the widely-held belief that possibly in the near
future, the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt. This will
of course result in the resumption of the continual burnt
offering, that is, the evening and the morning oblations as
prescribed by Moses. According to the above verses, surely
this will be the epitome of blasphemy and self-righteous
rebellion. After all, the True Lamb of God has already been
sacrificed for the sins of the world once and for all; and
there is no longer any need for animal sacrifices in our
modern day. I discuss this topic in more detail in the
article 'Jesus Christ: Son Of God, High Priest Of
Melchizedek'.
Thus far, I have presented a preponderance of verses to show
the difference between God's submissive spiritual Bride, and
the nation of Israel which for a long time now has committed
spiritual whoredoms by rejecting her true Husband, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and gone after other gods. I have also shown
how she is guilty of murder by not only killing her own
Saviour, but also by killing many of the Prophets which the
Lord has seen fit to send to her. In the beginning of his
prophesying against Jerusalem and the kings of Judah, the
Prophet Isaiah wrote:
"How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of
judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers."
(Isaiah 1:21)
While previous verses I have shared have spoken of the
whoredoms of Israel in general, the above verse clearly
defines Jerusalem herself as a harlot. Notice that we are
also told that she is full of murderers. The significance of
these words is much deeper than you may realize. Not only
did she kill her Saviour and the Prophets of old, but during
the height of their apostasy in the Old Testament, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem also sacrificed their young
children to the fires of the idol Molech in the Valley of
Hinnom, a steep gorge located to the south of Jerusalem. I
discuss the Valley of Hinnom in more detail in the article
'Hell And The Lake Of Fire: Part One'. With these thoughts
in mind, the following verses from the Book of Ezekiel make
a lot more sense:
"Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the
bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations
...Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody
city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is
not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot
fall upon it...Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the
bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great."
(Ezekiel 22:2, 24:6, 9)
This idea of being a 'bloody city' is the very same
accusation that Jesus levelled against the city of Jerusalem
in the Gospel of Matthew. Consider the extremely harsh words
He used when He exposed the sins of the Scribes and the
Pharisees:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye
build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres
of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our
fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto
yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed
the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you
prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye
shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in
your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple
and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall
come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
(Matthew 23:29-38)
Can there be any doubt as to why the Scribes and Pharisees
hated Jesus as much as they did? The Lord very pointedly
told them that they were 'the children of them which killed
the prophets'. He then said that upon them would come 'all
the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of
righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias...'. In other
words, they were guilty of it all; from A to Z, from Abel to
Zacharias. Amazing as it may seem, despite the Lord's strong
rebuke of these false religionists, do you recall what they
said when Pontius Pilate gave them an opportunity to release
Jesus? The answer is found in the following verses:
"When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that
rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his
hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all
the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our
children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he
had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."
(Matthew 27:24-26)
Isn't that absolutely amazing? Only four chapters after
Jesus exposed their heinous sin of cold-blooded murder, they
shouted 'His blood be on us, and on our children!', thus
fulfilling the very things of which He had accused them! If
there is one thing we know, it is that Jesus was a burning
Light which exposed the darkest corners of men's evil
hearts. In the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, the
Lord fully explained why He and His Disciples were hated by
the Jewish religious leaders:
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will
keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you
for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that
hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among
them the works which none other man did, they had not had
sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my
Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be
fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me
without a cause." (John 15:18-25)
Through His words and His actions, Jesus completely ripped
away the cloak of spiritual darkness under which the Jewish
Elders were trying to conceal their wicked deeds. This Truth
was symbolized in a physical sense a short time later when
the veil of the Temple was torn in half at the time of our
Saviour's Death upon the Cross:
"And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent;" (Matthew 27:51)
As I mentioned earlier, just as Jesus exposed Jerusalem for
her hand in slaying the Prophets which had been sent to her,
the Apostle John did the very same thing in the seventeenth
and eighteenth chapters of the Book of Revelation when he
exposed the sins of the mysterious city, Babylon the Great
Whore:
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw
her, I wondered with great admiration." (Revelation 17:6)
"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints,
and of all that were slain upon the earth."
(Revelation 18:24)
The above verses demonstrate a very striking similarity
between these two cities. As you will hopefully see by the
time you have finished reading this article, this is not
simply a matter of coincidence. The Prophet Jeremiah also
wrote extensively concerning the spiritual whoredoms of the
Lord's once-faithful Bride. Consider the following verses:
"Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Go and
cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I
remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in
a land that was not sown...Therefore the showers have been
withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou
hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed."
(Jeremiah 2:1-2, 3:3)
These verses are another clue which point to the identity of
Babylon the Great of the Book of Revelation. Jeremiah
specifically tells us that Jerusalem has a WHORE'S FOREHEAD.
Advancing about seven hundred years into the future to about
the year 90 A.D., let's look again at what the Apostle John
said regarding the whore that sits upon many waters:
"And UPON HER FOREHEAD was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON
THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH" (Revelation 17:5)
This issue of having a marked forehead is a predominant
theme throughout the Bible, so it must be very important. In
fact, from studying various Scriptures, we find that there
are actually two types of marks which can be placed upon a
person. One is a curse, while the other is a mark of
blessing and protection. Cain was the first person in the
Biblical record to receive such a mark:
"And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the
LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill
him." (Genesis 4:15)
As a close reading of Genesis chapter four will reveal, this
mark was meant to serve as a curse; but at the same time, it
was meant to prevent people from killing Cain. It may be
that the Lord simply wanted Cain to suffer for his sins, and
to feel remorse, but not to pay with his life. The question
then arises: Exactly what was the nature of this mark? In my
view, unless this mark was some kind of a physical mark, I
don't see how people would have known not to kill him. As
such, it seems to me that this mark would have had to have
been some kind of a visible mark on his body. Of course, I
cannot prove this conclusively, so it remains in the realm
of speculation. In the Book of Ezekiel, the Prophet has a
vision in which the Lord orders that a mark be placed on the
foreheads of those in Jerusalem who are righteous. He then
orders that the remaining people be slain:
"And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the
city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon
the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the
abominations that be done in the midst thereof, And to the
others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the
city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye
pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little
children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is
the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the
ancient men which were before the house." (Ezekiel 9:4-6)
In the Book of Revelation, we also find the Lord marking His
children. In the seventh chapter, just prior to the opening
of the seventh seal which contains the Seven Trumpets, we
discover one angel of the Lord speaking to four others
concerning the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four
thousand servants of the Lord. This will be a mark of
blessing and protection:
"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand
of all the tribes of the children of Israel."
(Revelation 7:3-4)
In the fourteenth chapter, we witness this same group of
people with the seal of God in their foreheads, standing
before the Lamb of God on Mount Zion:
"And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and
with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his
Father's name written in their foreheads."
(Revelation 14:1)
Notice that in the previous verse, we are told exactly what
is the nature of the Seal of God. It is nothing less than
the very Name of God Himself! As the Apostle Paul wrote, by
accepting the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we become God's
adopted children; and He wants everyone to know it. God
wants everyone to be aware of the fact that we are now a
part of His Family and His Household; so He sets His Seal,
His very Name, upon our foreheads:
"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father." (Romans 8:15)
"To redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:5)
"Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of
his will," (Ephesians 1:5)
"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of
God;" (Ephesians 2:19)
If the Lord is going to seal His servants in their
foreheads, the next logical question might then be the
following: Exactly what is the correct name for the Lord?
Based on the following two verses, the Jehovah's Witnesses
won't hestitate to tell you that it is Jehovah and no other.
They have built a whole legalistic religion around this one
name:
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by
the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not
known to them." (Exodus 6:3)
"That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH,
art the most high over all the earth." (Psalms 83:18)
While this is indeed true, a closer study of the Scriptures
will reveal that the Lord is referred to by so many names in
the Bible, that it is difficult to know which one might be
used to seal His servants. In the above verse, the term 'God
Almighty' is derived from the Hebrew 'El Shadday' which is
another one of His names. I once saw a list which mentioned
all of the various names applied to the Lord in the Bible.
It was quite long and included such names as I AM, El, JAH,
Eli, LORD, Wonderful, Counsellor, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace, Melchizedek, King of Salem, King of Righteousness,
King of Peace, Jesus, Emmanuel, etc. It is even possible
that the name used to seal the Lord's servants might be one
we have never even heard before! For example, in Revelation
chapter nineteen which discusses the Battle of Armageddon,
we are told in one place that His name is the Word of God.
This is the same name John used in his Gospel. You will
notice though that a few verses later, we are also told that
His name is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. However, if we
go back a few verses before these, we read the following:
"His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many
crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he
himself." (Revelation 19:12)
This verse seems to imply that in spite of all of the names
by which we do know the Lord, He may have another one which
only He Himself knows. The Jehovah's Witnesses also believe
that Jesus and the Archangel Michael are one and the same
person. I have seen these possible links in the Bible
myself, and have written about them; yet we still cannot
just ignore the above verse. I wonder how the Jehovah
Witnesses reconcile their belief with this verse. It must be
interesting.
Of course, being the impersonator, the liar, the copycat and
the usurper that he is, we are told that in the Endtime,
Satan is also going to use this very same technique to mark
his children as well. Many people of the world, including
quite a few non-Christians, are familiar with the following
shocking verses:
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he
that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number
of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a
man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
(Revelation 13:16-18)
This is indeed one sobering thought! A lot of people have
procrastinated in accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour
for a very long time. In fact, some have done it all of
their lives! However, according to the above Scriptures,
everyone is going to have to make a decision sooner or
later. There will no longer be any neutral ground to stand
upon. You will either have to receive the Seal of God by
accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, or else you
will have to accept the Mark of Satan. God will be done
wasting His time with half-hearts and lukewarm people. It
will be all or nothing at all. You will either bow down to
God in humble submission, or else you will bow down to the
satanic Beast and his evil Kingdom of Darkness.
As I have stated in such articles as 'The Seven Heads' and
'Mondex And The Mark Of The Beast', given the descriptive
terminology used in the previous verses, it is generally
believed that the Mark of the Beast may represent a personal
identification code assigned to each person in the form of a
bio-chip implant. This code may possibly incorporate a
system which utiltizes three six-digit numbers. With such a
wide range of numbers at their disposal, it would be very
easy for The Controllers to 'tag' every single person in the
world! However, there are other possibile interpretations as
well. It is believed that the Bible was written in a concise
numerical code so that important words and phrases would not
lose their proper meaning or become corrupted with the
passage of time due to human error or intentional mischief.
As an example of this, based on the individual letters used
to write them, Biblical names each add up to a certain
numerical value. Thus, what may be implied in Revelation
chapter thirteen, is that the numerical value of the actual
name of the Beast adds up to the infamous '666'.
One problem with this belief is that ever since John wrote
the above verses, people have been using all kinds of crazy
methods to try to properly identify the Beast. This is
becoming even more of an obsession as we draw closer to the
end of this current Millennium when many Christians are
expecting the Return of Christ. I have heard such names
mentioned as Emperor Nero, Queen Elizabeth II of England,
Prince Charles of England, Pope John Paul II, Lord Maitreya,
and Tariq Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq. According
to those who support these views, all of these people have
names, titles or some other characteristic which associates
them with the evil '666'. Obviously, they cannot all be
right. Of course, I also have my personal speculations
regarding this issue which I discuss in such articles as
'The Kings Of The North And The South' and 'The Seven
Heads'; however, it has nothing to do with the numerical
value of a person's name. I encourage you to read these
articles and 'Mondex And The Mark Of The Beast' for a more
in-depth look at my views concerning this topic.
Let us consider one final question concerning these various
marks mentioned in the Bible: If we assume that the mark of
Cain was a physical mark, and that the Mark of the Beast
will also be a physical mark or implant, is it possible that
the Seal of the Saints will follow this same pattern? As I
thought on this possibility, what came to my mind is the
example found in the Old Testament where the ancient
Israelites were required to physically manifest their faith
in the God of Israel by painting lamb's blood on their
doorposts the night of the first Passover in Egypt:
"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two
side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein
they shall eat it...For I will pass through the land of
Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the
land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods
of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the
blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye
are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite
the land of Egypt." (Exodus 12:7, 12-13)
Of course, we know that this lamb's blood was a symbol and a
foreshadow of the Blood of the true Lamb of God to come Who
would shed His innocent Blood for the sins of the world
almost two thousand years later. The point I wish to make is
that throughout the Bible, the Lord has tested the faith of
His people. He has tried them like gold in the fire. When
the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, it was not a
five-minute affair. They had to have faith that those
towering walls of water were not going to come crashing back
down upon them. The Lord also tested His own Disciples on a
number of occasions to see how far they had advanced in
their spiritual growth. After all, He was preparing them for
a very important task. Consider the example of when Jesus
called Peter out of the boat to walk on top of the choppy
waves of the Sea of Galilee:
"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them,
walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and
they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And
Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me
come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when
Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water,
to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save
me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt?" (Matthew 14:25-31)
While we modern Christians may sometimes wonder how the
First Disciples could have had such little faith on certain
occasions, in spite of the fact that as they were in the
presence of the Saviour of the world, we must humbly ask
ourselves if we really would have been any different had we
been in their shoes. While they may have had their moments
of weakness, when their appointed time came, and they were
filled with the Holy Ghost, they became powerful beacons of
spiritual Light. The future evangelization of the world
rested upon their shoulders, and they didn't fail. The
Apostle James clarified the connection between faith and
works when he said:
"For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is dead also." (James 2:26)
Is it possible then that the members of God's Endtime Church
will face a similar test of faith by having to receive some
kind of a physical Seal from the Lord which will clearly
identify them as His children? Such a Mark or Seal would
obviously expose us as enemies of the state. Perhaps this
Seal is meant to be understood in a purely symbolic sense;
however, I believe it is wise to prepare ourselves for the
unexpected. Speculation aside, one thing we do know with
absolute certainty, is that without the blessing of the
Beast's regime, which means accepting his infamous Mark, no
one will be able to buy or sell anything, to own property,
to hold a job, nothing! A person will be deemed a misfit and
a social outcast; and ultimately he will be marked for
extermination! In the final years of Satan's earthly rule,
God's Endtime Church will be hunted down and slain by the
forces of the Beast and his followers.
If you are one who is under the false impression that the
Lord's Church will be raptured up to Heaven before this
period of persecution known as the Great Tribulation begins,
then in addition to the following verses, I encourage you to
read some of my other Endtime articles such as 'The Great
Tribulation And The Rapture'. The series of verses you are
about to read make it very clear that God's children will be
the subject of Satan's wrath despite what some erroneous
religionists teach and believe:
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and
prevailed against them;...And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the
most High, and think to change times and laws: and they
shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the
dividing of time." (Daniel 7:21, 25)
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce
countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand
up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:
and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and
practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people."
(Daniel 8:23-24)
"And they that understand among the people shall instruct
many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by
captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall
fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many
shall cleave to them with flatteries. 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." (Daniel 11:33-35)
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place,
(whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be
in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take
his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your
flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For
then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened." (Matthew 24:15-22)
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God,
and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a
loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost
thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on
the earth? "And white robes were given unto every one of
them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet
for a little season, until their fellowservants also and
their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should
be fulfilled." (Revelation 6:9-11)
"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are
these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came
they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to
me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and
serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth
on the throne shall dwell among them." (Revelation 7:13-15)
"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night. And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death...And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ." (Revelation 12:10-11, 17)
"And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds,
and tongues, and nations...And he had power to give life
unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast
should both speak, and cause that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed."
(Revelation 13:7, 15)
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will
keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you
for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."
(John 15:18-21)
"They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God service...These things I have spoken unto you, that in
me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world." (John 16:2, 33)
"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12)
It is naive to think that God's people of the Endtime will
somehow escape the wrath of the Beast. The above verses
clearly contradict such a false notion. As in times past,
this persecution may begin in Jerusalem where the Beast will
set up his powerbase. As he extends his influence through
successful military maneuvers, the persecution will spread.
As we saw in part one, ancient Israel forsook her True
Husband and married the false gods of the heathen people and
nations around her. When the Lord's Prophets tried to warn
her of her wickedness, they were persecuted; and some of
them were killed. Babylon the Great Whore is also married to
the Beast. In the Book of Revelation, John tells us that she
will ride the Beast which rises up out of the sea of the
world's people, and that she will commit spiritual
fornication with it, just as the whores of old had sexual
intercourse with wild beasts:
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise
up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and
upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
blasphemy." (Revelation 13:1)
"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven
vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I
will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that
sitteth upon many waters:...So he carried me away in the
spirit into the wilderness: and 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:...And he
saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore
sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues." (Revelation 17:1, 3-4, 15)
Because Babylon is married to the Beast, she will also
participate in the persecution against God's true Endtime
children. The Jewish leadership of the New Testament did the
very same thing when they courted the rulers of the Roman
Empire and began persecuting the Early Church. Only a few
centuries later, the early Christian Church also compromised
with the Roman government; and it is estimated that millions
have been slain by her since that time. The Inquisition is
one good example of this. Thus we see that throughout
history, the Lord's children have been persecuted by this
unholy union of the religious Whore and the political Beast.
Towards the beginning of this article, I shared a variety of
verses which showed a Scriptural link between the bloody
sins of Jerusalem, and Babylon the Great Whore. In the
following paragraphs I am going to share additional
Scriptures, and show even more similarities between the two.
As we have already seen, long ago Jerusalem rejected her
true God and Saviour; yet even today, Judaism still claims
to worship the one true God. This, of course, is in direct
contradiction to Jesus' own words in such verses as the
following:
"Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus
answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known
me, ye should have known my Father also." (John 8:19)
"Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We
be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love
me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I
of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my
speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a
lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it." (John 8:41-44)
"Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth
not on me, but on him that sent me." (John 12:44)
It is common sense that if a woman leaves her husband and
has sexual intercourse with other lovers, then she cannot
possibly say that she still loves or respects her husband.
Such a claim would not hold up very well in a court of law.
Therefore, if Jerusalem has forsaken the one true God,
despite her claims, then she must be worshipping some other
god or gods. One point I brought out in 'The Children Of God
And Politics', is that the children of Israel did not always
worship the one true God. Abram, or Abraham, the father of
the Hebrew children, may have been of Babylonian descent.
The Biblical record is not very clear on this. While his
father, Terah, and his father's family dwelt in Ur of the
Chaldees, this does not necessarily mean that they were of
Chaldean blood:
"And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his
nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees...And Terah took Abram his
son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his
daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth
with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there."
(Genesis 11:28, 31)
Thus we see that the ancestors of the Hebrews were from the
land of the Chaldees. This land area was located on the
Persian Gulf just below ancient Babylonia, or what is today
known as Iraq. The Chaldees, or Chaldeans, actually became
the rulers of Babylonia. They worshipped other gods, and not
the God which later became known as YHWH, Yahweh, Jehovah,
or the God of Israel. They were adherents of astrology,
witchcraft, and other occult practices. Some people have
referred to this as the mystery religion. According to the
Book of Genesis, it was after Terah had left Ur and taken
his family to Haran, that the Lord first called Abram to
forsake his father's house, to forsake his father's
religion, and to accept Jehovah as the one true God:
"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a
great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them
that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram
departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with
him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he
departed out of Haran." (Genesis 12:1-4)
Even after Abraham had left his father's house, he, his son
Isaac, and his grandson Jacob still had problems with their
families embracing the pagan gods and idols of the past. I
discuss this in more detail in 'The Children Of God And
Politics'. If we can prove that Jerusalem, and the Jews in
general, remained in this backslidden state by continuing to
worship the false gods of their Babylonian forefathers, then
we will have an even stronger case to show why the Lord may
refer to Jerusalem as spiritual Babylon in the Book of
Revelation. Such a connection can indeed be made by studying
the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah who prophesied for
forty years until the day that Jerusalem was destroyed by
the forces of King Nebuchadnezzar. In four different places,
the Lord used Jeremiah to rebuke the Israelites for their
sin of worshipping the Queen of Heaven. The very first place
is in the following verse:
"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire,
and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen
of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods,
that they may provoke me to anger." (Jeremiah 7:18)
Exactly who is this Queen of Heaven that the children of
Israel were worshipping? As I explain in 'The Fruits Of
Disobedience', the Queen of Heaven is none other than the
Babylonian goddess Ishtar. She was the goddess of love,
fertility, and war; and also the consort of Baal. She was
also known by other cultures as Astarte, Ashtoreth, and
Isis. This fact is confirmed by reading some of the
apocryphal writings where the Queen of Heaven is also
mentioned. Now, here is an astounding connection with the
Book of Revelation. Notice the interesting numerology here.
We just read Jeremiah 7:18. We will now read Revelation 18:7
in which Babylon the Whore gloats about herself:
"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously,
so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her
heart, I sit a QUEEN, and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow." (Revelation 18:7)
This Babylon the Whore is the very same Queen of Heaven
mentioned in the previous verse from the Book of Jeremiah!
Another interesting point worth noting is that according to
one source I read quite some time ago, eighteen is the
numerical value assigned to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.
Is it a coincidence that 6 X 3 or 6 + 6 + 6 = 18, and that
the destruction of this spiritual whore occurs in Revelation
chapter eighteen? Is it even possible that there might be a
connection with the 666 of the Beast? The fact that they are
married to each other seems very likely. Another startling
similarity can be found in the way Jeremiah describes the
destruction of Jerusalem. The following verse is repeated
over and over again throughout his book of prophecy:
"Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the
voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the
light of the candle." (Jeremiah 25:10)
Over six hundred years later, the Apostle John described the
destruction of Babylon the Great in very much the same
manner. Consider the following verses:
"And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and
trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no
craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any
more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no
more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine
no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and
of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy
merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries were all nations deceived." (Revelation 18:22-23)
In my view, there is simply no way to dismiss the fact that
these two Prophets, who lived hundreds of years apart, used
almost the same exact words to describe the destruction of
Jerusalem, and the fall of Babylon the Great. Clearly, this
was no accident. These prophecies were inspired by one and
the same Spirit. As the Apostle Peter wrote:
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man:
but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21)
The whoredoms and detailed descriptions of wayward Jerusalem
in the books of the Old Testament are identical to those
found in the seventeenth and the eighteenth chapters of the
Book of Revelation. Considering then that much of the Book
of Revelation is shrouded in heavy symbolism, we should not
ignore the possibility that Babylon the Great Whore is
merely a picture of the spiritual condition of Jerusalem in
the Endtime. The descriptive similarities and the Scriptural
connections between the writings of these ancient sages is
something which I personally cannot dismiss as being a mere
coincidence. In chapter sixteen of the Book of Ezekiel, the
Prophet described the soon-coming destruction of Jerusalem
at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar in the following manner:
"Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy
nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers,
and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood
of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; Behold,
therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast
taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all
them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round
about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto
them, that they may see all thy nakedness. And I will judge
thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged;
and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy, And I will
also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down
thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places:
they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take
thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare. They shall
also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone
thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords,
And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute
judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will
cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also
shalt give no hire any more." (Ezekiel 16:35-41)
As I stated earlier, the spilled blood of which Jerusalem
was guilty, was not only that of her own Prophets which the
Lord had sent to her, but it was also the blood of her own
children which were sacrificed in the fires of Molech, as
well as to other pagan gods on the high hills of Jerusalem,
and throughout Israel. If we turn again to the Book of
Revelation, we find similar pronouncements being made
against Babylon the Great Whore. As with Jerusalem, she is
likewise burned with fire and made desolate and naked:
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings
one hour with the beast...And the ten horns which thou
sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall
make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and
burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to
fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto
the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And
the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth."
(Revelation 17:12, 16-18)
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and
mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with
fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."
(Revelation 18:8)
"For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath
judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her
fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at
her hand." (Revelation 19:2)
In the above verses we witness the ten nations who will join
forces with the Beast to destroy Babylon the Great Whore
with fire. As I state in 'The Seven Heads' and other Endtime
articles, given the current developments in the Middle East,
I believe that this burning with fire may possibly symbolize
a one-hour pre-emptive nuclear strike against Jerusalem by
ten Islamic nations led by the Beast towards the end of the
Great Tribulation. Contrary to my own beliefs, one school
of thought suggests that the burning of Babylon the Great
Whore was fulfilled during the latter half of the First
Century when the crazed Emperor Nero burned the city of
Rome. As I mention in 'The Kings Of The North And South:
Part One', in my view, this is a faulty interpretation. My
reason for stating this is quite simple: John was clearly
writing of a future event at the end of the world, and not
of something which had already occurred. The verb tense of
the previous verses make that quite evident in my view.
I would also like to call your attention to the reason we
are given for why the Lord is going to judge Jerusalem: to
avenge 'the blood of his servants at her hand'. This phrase
reflects back on everything I said earlier. Jerusalem was
not only filled with the innocent blood of her own children
who were cold-bloodedly given to the sacrificial fires of
Molech and other false gods of the heathen nations, but she
was also guilty of slaying the many Prophets the Lord had
sent to her in His effort to get her to turn away from her
spiritual whoredoms.
Another point of interest concerning John's writings in the
Book of Revelation is that he does not refer to Jerusalem as
being the only harlot, but rather he calls her the Mother of
Harlots. This of course implies that there are others as
well, but that she is the worst of the lot. Considering that
Jerusalem is not only guilty of killing the Prophets which
were sent to her, but also the very Son of God, and His
Disciples which followed in His footsteps, Mother of Harlots
seems like an appropriate title for her. However, there is
another interesting point regarding the fact that she is
called by this name; and that is the implication that the
other harlots are her evil spawn. How can this be? If we
take a brief look at Jewish history, the connection becomes
easy to understand. The Diaspora refers to the Jews who were
dispersed following the invasion and occupation of Israel by
King Nebuchadnezzar; although in reality, the dispersion
actually began several hundred years before with the
Assyrian invasions. Consider the words of the Prophet
Ezekiel:
"And they that escape of you shall remember me among the
nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am
broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from
me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their
idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which
they have committed in all their abominations."
(Ezekiel 6:9)
With the Assyrian, and then the Babylonian invasions which
began over seven hundred years before the time of Christ,
the Jews began to spread out into other parts of the world.
Initially, this included the Middle East, North Africa, Asia
and Europe. However, today they are also found in Russia,
North and South America, and many other parts of the globe.
As they dispersed, they took their religion and their
culture with them, including their talent for making vast
sums of money. Some suggest that they also exported their
worship of the Babylonian mystery religion. In our modern
day, no one can deny that the Jews have become very powerful
in both a financial and a political sense. Depending on what
you read and who you talk to, it is basically said that they
control the world. While the Protocols of the Wise Elders of
Zion have been dismissed as an anti-semetic fabrication,
there are those who firmly believe that the Jews have just
about accomplished exactly what was put forth in the
controversial documents.
Within conspiracy circles, one hears and reads of heavy
Jewish involvement in such organizations as the Fortune 500,
the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Bilderberger Group,
the Jesuits, the Trilateral Commission, the Council on
Foreign Relations, the Freemasons, Skull and Bones, the
Jason Society (or Jason Scholars), and other secretive
societies. All of these organizations are said to be bent on
creating a One World Government, or a New World Order. If
these things are true, then the major cities of the world
which they control, could in fact be considered offspring of
Babylon the Great Whore; thus truly making Jerusalem the
Mother of Harlots. Notice that in one of the previous verses
I quoted from the prophecies of Ezekiel, it says:
"And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute
judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will
cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also
shalt give no hire any more." (Ezekiel 16:41)
This phrase 'many women' is apparently speaking in a
symbolic context. Just as Jerusalem/Babylon is referred to
as a harlot or whore, 'many women' may be referring to other
cities and nations which have also polluted themselves with
the idolatrous worship of false gods. This also helps to
better explain a verse I shared earlier regarding the Lord's
multiple virgin bride:
"These are they which were not defiled with women; for they
are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men,
being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."
(Revelation 14:4)
The implication here is that the one hundred and forty-four
thousands servants of the Lord are spiritual virgins who
have not been defiled by the things of the world; that is,
by the ungodly worship of wealth and the materialistic
living offered by the cities, or harlots, of the Earth who
have fallen under the evil influence of Babylon the Great
Whore. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul in several of
his Epistles:
"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for
ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)
"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of
this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be
a soldier." (2 Timothy 2:4)
The Apostle James was quite clear in his condemnation of
those who try to maintain a friendship with the world while
at the same time claiming to serve the Lord. In the fourth
chapter of his Epistle he wrote:
"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of
God." (James 4:4)
Here again is another clear example of the symbolism of
marital unfaithfulness as it is used throughout the Bible.
The people James is addressing are obviously not the
spiritual virgins mentioned by John, but rather those who
have succumbed to the ways of the world. At the conclusion
of his short Epistle, Jude also spoke of remaining undefiled
by the things of the world and the sins of the flesh when he
wrote:
"But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a
difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of
the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory
and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."
(Jude 1:20-25)
In part one of this article, I presented four different
perspectives concerning the possible identity of Babylon the
Great Whore. In light of the wealth of Scriptural evidence I
have presented, I am of the view that the city of Jerusalem
best qualifies for fulfilling the description and prophecies
concerning this Endtime metropolis. If this is indeed the
case, then the other cities of the world which she controls
through religious, financial and political manipulation,
would be considered her offspring; thus truly making her the
Mother of Harlots. While this interpretation does seem to be
the most plausible to me, before concluding this article, I
would like to add a few additional comments regarding the
other three perspectives.
Concerning the city of Rome, we know that she was indeed
responsible for the martyrdom of literally thousands of the
Lord's children during the First Century. As I stated in
part one of 'The Kings Of The North And The South', to this
day, beneath the streets of modern Rome can be found rows
upon rows of the sepulchres of the Saints. While this is
indeed compelling evidence, I have already shown through the
Scriptures that both Jesus and John were referring to the
Old Testament Prophets who were murdered by their Jewish
brethren, and not to those killed due to the Jewish-Roman
compromise of the First Century or later. Remember, Jesus
very pointedly referred to the Scribes and the Pharisees as
the children of those who had slain the Prophets. He was
very clear in identifying the guilty party. At the time the
Old Testament Prophets were killed, Rome had not even become
a dominant power yet.
In like manner, while some eschatologists are quick to
recognize the blatant sins and shortcomings of the Roman
Catholic church, they fail to recognize that Judaism is even
more of a false religion because, while the Jews have openly
rejected the Saviour, they still have the audacity to claim
that they are the chosen people of God. This is an even
greater deception than Roman Catholicism. Unfortunately,
even some Christians have fallen for this evil lie. Despite
her many sins, distorted doctrines and compromises with the
world, at least the Roman Catholic hierarchy does confess
faith in Jesus Christ. This is confirmed when I speak with
Catholics. On the other hand, show me one devout Jew who
accepts Jesus Christ. There is no such thing. The minute
they accept Jesus Christ, in a technical sense, they are no
longer of the Jewish faith. They are Christian. Thus, while
I have also written of the many shortcomings of Roman
Catholicism, I consider it the lesser of two evils when
compared to Judaism. If I were to rank Rome among the four
perspectives I have mentioned in this article, I would say
that it falls in second place after Jerusalem.
For those who suggest that the ancient city of Babylon may
be the Great Whore referred to by John, I believe that this
is also inaccurate. As I pointed out earlier, John was
writing primarily about future events, and NOT about the
past. The burning of Babylon is an Endtime event; and thus
cannot be referring to the burning of Rome by Nero. In
addition, the Babylonians did not kill the Prophets of old
as is ascribed to Babylon the Great Whore. Based upon the
example of Jeremiah, the Prophets were treated with honor
and favor by the Babylonians due to the fact that not only
did they not resist the occupation, but they also warned the
Jewish leadership and people to humbly surrender to King
Nebuchadnezzar. The Prophets told them to accept it as a
chastisement from the Lord. It was because of this unpopular
message that Jeremiah was thrown in prison on more than one
occasion by his own Jewish brethren after being accused of
being a traitor and a spy. I discuss this in more detail in
other articles.
As I stated towards the beginning of this article, Saddam
Hussein of Iraq is currently reconstructing the ruins of
ancient Babylon. However, what he has done thus far is a far
cry from the ancient glories of this once-proud city. Unless
my understanding of Endtime events is seriously flawed, I
honestly don't believe that there is enough time for Babylon
to develop into a 'magnificent' and powerful city of world
importance as is described in the Book of Revelation. In
fact, unless Iraq is able to pull itself out from under the
United Nations sanctions levelled against it for the past
seven years; as well as free itself from the belligerent
threat of the American war machine, it is very unlikely that
we will see much serious development there any time soon. On
the other hand, if events do take a turn for the better, the
government of Iraq has already taken steps to increase its
sources of revenue following the lifting of the sanctions.
Thus, it may yet enjoy prosperity in the years to come.
There is only one other possibility that I see which might
connect Babylon the Great Whore to Iraq; and it is indeed a
remote one. Just as Babylon was the powerbase of the ancient
Babylonian Empire, today that same power rests in the city
of Baghdad. This modern city is located on the Tigris River
about an hour's drive northeast of the ruins of Babylon. The
Tigris River continues on its southerly course where it
joins with the Euphrates River to form the Shatt-al-Arab
waterway which flows into the Persian Gulf. This waterway and
the Persian Gulf are extremely important as through them
flows a major portion of the world's oil supply. Exactly how
does all of this relate to Babylon the Great Whore? In
reading of the destruction of Babylon, we find the following
descriptive verses:
"...And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and
sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And
cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What
city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on
their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas,
alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had
ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one
hour is she made desolate." (Revelation 18:17b-19)
Here we are given another possible clue to help us to try to
identify Babylon the Great Whore. It appears that she is a
city which is accessible by ships. In other words, she may
be either a riverport, or else a seaport. If there is one
thing we know about Arab oil, it is that it has been the
black genie of wealth for quite a few Arab nations and
shiekdoms. Could it be then that these shipmasters are
actually the captains of oil tankers which witness the
destruction of Baghdad from afar? To add to the possibility
of such a scenario, consider the fact that Baghdad was
indeed burned with fire during the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War
by the government of the United States of America and her
allies; and there is a very strong possibility that it will
happen again in an even more destructive way in the near
future; despite current United Nations attempts to prevent
another American military strike.
As I said earlier, I personally view this interpretation as
being very weak because Baghdad certainly does not fulfill
the primary requirement of being filled with the blood of
the ancient Prophets. At the same time, you will probably
notice that this interpretation also creates a problem for
accepting Jerusalem as the fulfillment of Babylon the Great
Whore. After all, Jerusalem is a mountainous city. It is by
no means accessible by river-going or seafaring vessels. In
light of this fact, the only way I can currently justify my
position of accepting Jerusalem as Babylon the Whore, is by
stating that, while she is not directly accessible by the
captains of ships, through worldwide Jewish financial and
political influences, many shipping companies are indeed
controlled by her. It is also worth considering the
possibility that boat captains in the Mediterranean Sea
might indeed stand afar off and witness the destruction of
Jerusalem by nuclear fire. Time will certainly tell.
We are now left with one final possible interpretation of
Babylon the Great Whore; and that is that it is represented
by New York City. In some respects, this dirty sprawling
metropolis is the perfect candidate; while in others it
fails miserably. No one can doubt that it is indeed Jewish
controlled. Neither can anyone deny that it ranks among the
other financial capitals of the world such as Jerusalem,
London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. This would definitely fulfill
the requirement of the following verse:
"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:18)
Another point in her favor is that New York Harbour
certainly makes her accessible by ship captains from all
over the world. Millions of dollars worth of merchandise
flow into and out of New York City every single day!
However, beyond these points, according to my understanding,
New York City falls flat on her pollution-smeared face as a
candidate for Babylon the Great Whore. Again we must
consider the primary requisite as described by both Jesus
and the Apostle John. New York City did not even exist
twenty-five hundred years ago; thus, she cannot possibly be
responsible for the death of the Old Testament Prophets, or
for the death of the First Century Christians. Furthermore,
geographically-speaking, it is my view that New York is
completely in the wrong part of the world. As my other
Endtime articles make clear, I believe that Babylon the
Great Whore may suffer a pre-emptive nuclear strike by ten
Arab nations led by the Beast. Unless those Arab nations
dramatically increase their current fire power, I don't see
New York City being a likely target; unless of course, it is
by locally-assembled miniature bombs as in the case of the
World Trade Center incident of several years ago.
This article has indeed been long; and we have covered a lot
of important areas; however, before bringing it to a close,
I think it is important that we 'switch gears' so-to-speak,
and briefly discuss the positive future for those who do
follow the Lord Jesus Christ. While physical Jerusalem, the
symbol of false religion, is going to be destroyed by the
Lord's future judgments, this should by no means be viewed
as a defeat for the Lord. While this is difficult for even
some Christians to understand, particularly those who
sympathize with Israel, the truth of the matter is that the
Lord is no longer concerned with physical Earthly Jerusalem.
Allow me to clarify for those who may jump to erroneous
conclusions or misinterpret my words. Jesus is concerned for
the souls of the Jews, just as He is concerned for the souls
of all men. Peter made this very clear when he wrote the
following:
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
However, inasmuch as Earthly cities and worldly powers are
concerned, they mean very little to the Lord. Consider what
Jesus said when He was questioned by Pontius Pilate in the
Gospel of John:
"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my
kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36)
In fact, as I have pointed out in other articles, when the
Lord returns to set up His Father's Kingdom on Earth,
exactly as He taught us to pray, He is going to crush all of
these other Earthly kingdoms and powers, including the false
kingdom of the Jews and their worldwide financial/political
empire. This is precisely what King Nebuchadnezzar and the
Prophet Daniel saw in a vision:
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44)
Because the Jews rejected the Lord long ago, by their own
choice, He has left them to their fate. In fact, He very
pointedly told them that the Kingdom would be taken from
them, the supposed Children of the Kingdom, and given to
those who truly deserved it because of their faith in Him:
"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and
west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom
shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:11-12)
"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures,
The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become
the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever
it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the
chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they
perceived that he spake of them." (Matthew 21:42-45)
Thus we see that the Lord has much greater things prepared
for those who love Him. Exactly what might those things be?
I believe the following thrilling verses make it quite
evident:
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him."
(1 Corinthians 2:9)
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there
ye may be also." (John 14:1-3)
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they
had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now
they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he
hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:13-16)
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband...And there came unto me one of the seven angels
which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,
and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee
the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven
from God," (Revelation 21:2, 9-10)
Thus we read the beginning of the description of the
beautiful city of New Jerusalem descending from Heaven in
the final chapters of the Book of Revelation. It will make
Emerald City of the Wizard of Oz look like a second-rate
imitation. This is what the future holds for those who truly
trust in Jesus as their only Lord and Saviour. For a
complete picture of this wonderful Heavenly City, please
read the final two chapters of the Book of Revelation. It
will truly thrill your heart! With these verses I am going
to bring this article to a close. As always, I trust that it
has been informative, and an inspiration and a blessing in
your life. Please keep your eyes on Jesus! It won't be long!