Understanding Who and What is the Babylon of Revelation.

[Mr GLee]

Babylon = "the gate of the gods,"

Babylon "city of the strange woman"

The queen of heaven mother named after our blessed sister in the Lord Mary. . her children a legion of patron saints A hierarchy of dying sinners

Proverbs 22:14The mouth of strange women (false prohecy) is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

Proverbs 23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

 

[Red Baker]

DANIEL 11 INTRODUCTION CONSIDERATIONS TO HELP US.......

This chapter will be a little harder to see than the last. Our Lord spoke in many parables (this chapter without controversy is in a form of a parable) as we all know; it is very important when laboring to understand a parables is this: You do not need to interpret every word within the parable, in order to know the truth behind the parable you are considering. Daniel of all prophets could have the most difficult prophecy of all. He understood secrets; and when asked, revealed them by God's mercy. Daniel writings/visions are just as hard (maybe harder) as the visions he revealed for king Nebuchadnezzar. I believe that is a very fair statement that most would not disagree with. Would not the wisest prophet, have the most difficult writings? It would be very fitting that he would have them.

Daniel 12:8-9 ~"And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words ARE CLOSED UP and SEALED till the TIME OF THE END." Daniel 12:8-9

The end in this verse, is this world as we know it. I know this by many facts revealed to us in this book; but one for now:

Daniel 12:13 ~ "But go thy way (to his fathers, death) TILL the end be: for thou SHALT REST, (death for a child of God is REST/SLEEP, till the resurrection of our bodies) and stand in thy lot (resurrection) at the end of the days.

We understand how some interpret the word end in Daniel's prophecy, to mean: the end of the Jewish nation, their temple, their whole system of worship, the end where God is no longer the God of the Jews only, but also, of the Jews and Gentiles. We agree, that all happens, but for different purposes than what they believe. Their doctrine of those things happening are true, but they are NOT taught here. It is very deceitful to use "sound bites" of words, to teach a doctrine you wish to put forth as truth, when the scriptures in that particular place is not teaching what you wish were there; and it may not be taught no where in the scriptures! You need more than "sound bites" to convince God's children what you are saying is indeed the truth of God's word. The content of the context from where you are drawing your support, must support you! The END in Daniel 12, will not support from the content of Daniel 12, for those people who hold to what I just mentioned above.

The words of Daniel 12 were spoken after the words of chapter eleven. When Daniel heard everything from Daniel 10:18 to Daniel 12:8, he did not understand those dark sayings from the mouth of the angel that SHEWED HIM THAT WHICH IS NOTED IN THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH!

Again, what was said to Daniel by the angel can be found in the scriptures of truth for the angel said that it would be in them.

Daniel 10:21~"But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scriptures of truth." The vision that the prophet Daniel had in Daniel 10 and recorded in Daniel 11, we have assurance from the angel that talked with Daniel, that we can find other scriptures to help us with our understanding of Daniel’s vision. But, we can only find help in the scriptures of truth! With that truth and foundation to work from; Please consider with me....

A few thoughts before looking into chapter eleven:

1. The vision required a special visit from a messenger from heaven to help this gifted prophet to have scriptural understanding of the vision. The prophet had understanding of the CONTEXT of the vision, but NOT the spiritual understanding of it. This is seen by reading Daniel 10:1:
"In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision."

But, the angel was sent from heaven to make him understand the spiritual detail of the overall message. We know that the angel did not go into every little word of explaining it, but did give an overall understanding of it. We have much more light in the New Testament to help us out even farther with the understanding of it, without which, we would still be in the dark to a great degree.

"Now I am come to MAKE THEE understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days." Daniel 10:14 And there is enough information to guide us in the RIGHT DIRECTION of understanding Daniel’s vision of the END TIME and that which SHALL BEFALL the HOLY PEOPLE, which were DANIEL'S PEOPLE, whose names were written in the book of life.

This is the sum of all that is in Daniel chapter eleven. After considering the chapter, we must leave that chapter seeing the same truth, and it is this: That which shall befall Daniel's people in the latter days of this earth, just before the resurrection of all that has ever lived in this earth.

2. Daniel's vision will come to pass....Daniel 10:1 "....and the thing IS TRUE..."

3. The TIME APPOINTED for this vision was LONG. It would be many years before the vision comes to pass....Daniel 10:2..and the thing is true, BUT the time appointed was LONG."

4. The vision was revealing a secret that shall BEFALL Daniel's PEOPLE in the LATTER DAY of this world, at the TIME OF THE END.

Please consider the next point, for it is most important to understand; miss this point, and you are going to end up in serious error; with a doctrine that will force you to look at the scriptures in the New Testament with a very limited vision; forcing most of the New Testament in our day into the distant past; with most of the New Testament fulfilled; with nothing left, but the coming of the Lord at the last day; and we will add: a day in which they have no seasons or signs revealing to us of that day of our Lord's coming for us.

We will add: many of these folk have even taken away the resurrection of our bodies and left the believers with NO BLESSED HOPE. They have taken whole books and many chapters in the New Testament and have STAMPED them: FULFILLED IN 70 A.D.! The Book of Revelation: FULFILLED in 70 A.D. or SHORTY afterward! Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21: FULFILLED 70 A.D.! 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12: FULFILLED in the fall of the Roman Empire!

They have removed MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT from being a secret hidden in the scripture, that has its ultimate fulfillment in the book Revelation and the END OF TIME; of which (the book of Revelation), reveals to us the last days of this world; from the death of Christ to the end of this world; and much concerning the LITTLE SEASON at the very end of this world. All this being said, let us consider now:

A. Daniel's TRUE people were not fleshly Jews but the RIGHTEOUS/HOLY/WISE of this world, BOTH Jews AND Gentiles . We know that the angel was only referring to them by the words he carefully spoke to Daniel.

Daniel 12:1~ "And at THAT TIME (chapter eleven) shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, (NO angel of heaven has ever stood for ANY of the wicked; they were created as ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for THEM who shall be heirs of salvation. Hebrews 1:14).

B. The angel made it clear that he only stood for EVERY ONE that shall be found written in the book. That book is the book of Life. Revelation 20:12,15

c. The angel only stood for the WISE-v3; the HOLY people-v7; and those that were PURIFIED, and MADE WHITE, and TRIED, and again, WISE-v11. They war against the wicked, whether angels or men; Daniel 10:13,20.

 

[Red Baker]

5. Daniel's people shall suffer trouble in the latter days. ".....and there SHALL BE a time of trouble, such as NEVER was since there was a nation even to that same time..." Daniel 12:1 We see these words again in Matthew 24 spoken by the Lord Jesus. We cannot go there now, but will only say this: Those words have reference to the time just before Christ’s coming back to this world the second time. 70 A.D. doctrine taught by so many, does not fix into Matthew 24, that so many try to force there. There will be a great tribulation time just before this world ends.

6. Daniel's people shall be delivered. Daniel 12:1....Daniel's people shall be delivered, but that does not mean that they will not be tried; they will be tried and overcome by MYSTERY BABYLON the great; Just as they were in the days of Daniel. The saints left in this earth at the end of the little season, will be overcome by mystery Babylon the great, but will NEVER be DESTROYED, but will be delivered by the coming of the Lord Jesus.

2nd Thessalonians 1:-7-9 ~ "....the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In FALMING FIRE taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Revelation 20:9~"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (the city of wrath is Babylon) and FIRE came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Our final deliverance is sure, nevertheless during the little season there will be a period of great suffering and rejecting for God's elect.
"And some of them of UNDERSTANDING SHALL FALL, to try them, and to PURGE, and to make them WHITE, (same as what is said in Daniel 12:10!) even to the TIME OF THE END: because it is yet for a time appointed." Daniel 11:35

Daniel 11:32-33 ~"...but the people (Daniel's people) that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: (this is what we are laboring to do) yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days."

These things just mentioned can happen in a spiritual sense as well as literal. There is more..

"Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a LITTLE HELP: (there will be only a few that will really understand and follow the truth. One will not have many to help them in that day!) but MANY (religious people that are deceived) shall cleave to them with FLATTERIES.” If a man allows another person to use a flattery tongue with him, he is allowing himself to be deceived. When you are being flattered by someone, then you will not be able to see pass that flattering tongue!

7. At the time that these things reach their pinnacle; at the end of the TIME OF TROUBLE, then the resurrection of all men will take place.

Daniel 12:2~"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."

We know how some are bold enough to explain these verses away, but they are easy to understand and should NOT present a problem to God's saints.

"Sleep in the DUST of the EARTH"...is a perfect picture of death and what happens at death. Those (some will be alive at the resurrection) ALL that sleep in the dust of the earth will AWAKE! Some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation.

John 5:28-29~ "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which ALL in the graves (dust of the earth in Daniel) shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

Almost the exact words from Daniel 12:2, which had to be where our Lord got his words from that he spoke in John 5:28-29. As the son of man, he only spoke what he knew from the Old Testament scriptures.

8. We will add this one more thing before Daniel chapter eleven. The angel that shewed Daniel the truth of chapter eleven, told Daniel to “SHUT UP” the words, and “SEAL THE BOOK;” by that statement I take those words from the angel to mean this: that the words WILL BE SHUT UP AND SEALED BY GOD. Let us consider these words.

Daniel 12:4 "But thou, O Daniel, SHUT UP the words, and SEAL the book, EVEN TO the TIME OF THE END: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

In the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we read: "And he saith unto me, Seal NOT the sayings of the prophecy of this book: the TIME is at HAND." Revelation 22:10

There is a part missing in the book of Revelation that is in Daniel 12:4! Many shall run to and fro, and KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE INCREASED!

Daniel's prophecy was shut and sealed to the time of the end. At the end of this world, the God of heaven will increased knowledge IN THE WORD OF GOD for his people concerning the THINGS which are written therein to PREPARE them for those EVIL DAYS that are coming!

From Jesus Christ to the end of this world, we are in the LAST DAYS. The LATTER DAYS of the last days will be the LITTLE SEASON of the book of Revelation!

I have heard Daniel 12:4, misinterpreted every time someone quotes from it. The knowledge that they think will increase will be the intelligent level of natural men!

They need to read the verse very careful. The first part of the verse explain the second part!

It does not concern me too much when I read the church fathers and see how far they are off on many end time teachings or they just did not write too much on them, either way, I understand why, and so should you, after reading Daniel 12:4 carefully and with understanding.

 

[Red Baker]

DANIEL CHAPTER ELEVEN

The angel is ready to shew Daniel the truth of his vision. "And now will I shew the truth." Daniel 11:2 ...The angel was going to shew Daniel NO MORE than what was ALREADY hidden in the scripture of truth. Daniel 10:21

When one considers Daniel chapter eleven and a few summary verses in chapter twelve that give a little light on eleven, then it makes you appreciate the New Testament, where more light is given to us.

When we are finished with chapter eleven of Daniel's prophesy, our doctrine MUST be the SAME as what the angel said he was going to shew Daniel.

Daniel 10:14 ~"Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for the vision is for many days." The angel interprets the latter days and many days, to means AT THE TIME OF THE END. Daniel 12:9 We have Already revealed who are Daniel's people.... we will not repeat ourselves with this point.

We are not going to interpret every little word, we are only after the overall message of this chapter. The Old Testament books written by the prophets are not written like New Testament gospels/letters/books. In the writings of the prophets, ever word is not essential to interpret in order to understand what the prophet is saying or teaching overall. I am not saying that every word is not essential; but only not essential to interpret in order to have a understanding of what the prophet is teaching.

I am going to give you what we believe is the truth in Daniel eleven and then bring out some of the important verses in this chapter to prove our understanding of this chapter.

There are two kings in this chapter that must be identified by using the scriptures; our interpretation must flow with Daniel 12 and agree with it. It MUST agree with New Testament scriptures. By giving our readers our understanding from the start should help them to follow us as we labor to prove our position.

We believe that this chapter is teaching the same truth we saw in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The same truth we will see clearly in Revelation 17 and 18. Here the angel who was speaking to Daniel used King of the North and the King of the South, instead of using the word Babylon and dividing them as the angel in Revelation did with the apostle John.

Even though the head of Satan was bruised at the cross; and the power of his kingdom broken throughout the earth; the mystery of iniquity was still at work; many antichrist still in the world; the man of sin still very active. Man of sin, is a man who lives under the power of sin. The mystery of iniquity works through and in a man who serves sin. This man of sin is a ANTICHRIST; at the END OF TIME, a time appointed by God Himself, he will fill the earth and the outward churches of Christ. These are the two kings we see in Daniel chapter eleven.

The King of the north represents the MEN OF THIS WORLD whose God is, the God of FORCES; he honors a god his fathers knew not, gold, silver, precious stones, and pleasant things, and that many!

Daniel 11:39~"Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom HE SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE and INCREASED with glory:
(a god that he himself builds and worships! It is: THIS WORLD and the things within it that he LOVES and LIVES for, that he himself has built, to SERVE HIM and HIS LUST!) and he shall cause them (strange god) to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain."

These strange gods DO rule the men of this world and they ALL have a piece of the pie, to serve their ungodly lust.

He magnify HIMSELF above ALL. He has no desire for women, (which could only mean, that he has no desire for RELIGION!) He puts HIMSELF above all and does not believe anyone is as wise a MAN. The DEVIL has given this king his throne and power, He has the mark of the devil in his forehead and in his right-hand! HE WILL destroy the king of the south at the END OF TIME. But a GREATER KING and LORD shall destroy him and his army and none shall help him; not even the devil who deceived him in believing that he was above every god! This king hates the righteous and shall make war with them and overcome them. But Michael the great prince that standeth for them, shall deliver them.

King of the south is the religious part of Babylon. "The king's daughter of the south"...We will see more of this in Revelation 17. The Holy Spirit did give us a hint about these two kings when he referred to the king's daughter that went to the king of the north to make agreement. But in verse 10 we read of "his sons" referring the king of the north assembling a multitude of great forces. The men of THIS WORLD have MEN as their leaders for the most part; thereby, we read: "his sons;" the church in the scriptures is always referred to as a WOMAN. more than one, daughters and sister.

These two are a MAJOR part of this world system called BABYLON, that has been here since Abel and Cain and will come to fruition at the END OF TIME. BOTH are God's enemies, thereby, the saints enemies. Both are part of the generation of the wicked, whose father is the devil. They are a generation of vipers from that old serpent. Psalm 12; Matthew 3:7; 23:33-36

These two kings have been at war at times, and at other times, they have enjoyed false peace between them. They both are out for themselves. They both are out to do away with true worship. Both use flattery freely to deceive their followers and each other.

Verse 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; and his dominion shall be a great dominion." This could mean the "POPE" but I do not know this; but it seems to be a perfect fit. Catholicism is a MAJOR part of FALSE RELIGION in BABYLON! She is the greatest whore in Babylon. She has gotten rich spreading her legs for her lovers. The Pope is a PRINCE among them. But we know him as A MAN OF SIN. The ONLY time I have ever saw him excited was when that foul sodomite, Michael Jackson danced before him! Of course, this should not surprise anyone knowing their history.

We will look at some of these verses to help us to understand this chapter.

Daniel 11:2..is only mentioned to bring us to verse three and on our way to the TWO KINGS that shall occupy the whole chapter. The kings mention in verse two, have NO PART of understanding the chapter. Knowing who they are or not knowing them is of no profit of understanding the message behind this chapter. They are ONLY mentioned to get us to where we need to be, in order for us to get the truth of what the angel is going to reveal to us.

Daniel 11:3..."And MIGHTY KING shall stand up, that shall rule with GREAT DOMINION, and do according to his will." This verse DOES NOT tell us that this king came out of Grecia, which most believe. If we read carefully, we will see this mighty king is the king of the north. Reading verse 3, one can see that this mighty king was ALREADY HERE, for the scriptures do not reveal to us that he came out of any particular kingdom, but that he SHALL STAND UP...

The angel is careful to tell us..THAT SHALL RULE with great dominion, and do according to his will. The scripture does not say: AND SHALL BEGIN to rule. NO, that shall rule...To me there is a big difference. This king has always been here, but now will stand up to use his mighty power. (NOT ALMIGHTY)

But his power was BROKEN and divided toward the FOUR WINDS.

Verse 4...But as you read through this chapter there are ONLY TWO KINGS mentioned therein, not four! And for good scriptural reasons that we shall see.

Daniel 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 (first time north is actually mentioned by that name; so we KNOW the mighty king in verse three is the king of the north) to make agreement."

 

[Red Baker]

So, in Daniel eleven, we have for the most part of the chapter, TWO KINGS.

Why did the angel use the phrase, king of the north to describe the men of this world who are in truth, NON-RELIGIOUS and whose portion is IN THIS WORLD ONLY? And, WHY did he use king of the south to describe the RELIGIOUS (not saints) people of this world, who destroyed the truth and fought against the saints from WITHIN? The NON-RELIGIOUS men of this world RULE this world and all things therein, including religion. SO, as the NORTH is ABOVE the SOUTH as far as the four winds of this earth goes, so is the king of the north over the king of the south in the affairs of this world. The analogy is a perfect fit.

One can reads verses 3-30 and know that this cold war has been going on for years. We see it in the scriptures and in our own days, and our church fathers have told us of the same.

As one read through this chapter there are a few things that help us to see the truth behind these words recorded for us in this chapter.

The kings shall POLLUTE the temple where God is worshiped.

"...THEY shall pollute the SANCTUARY OF STRENGTH.." One king does it by being part of it, the other by only acknowledging the wicked within and not the righteous. They shall take away the daily sacrifice..that can be done, when the RIGHTEOUS are NO LONGER accepted within the sanctuary, by those within. ONLY the righteous offer up the ONLY sacrifice that is accepted by God, and they do it DAILY. But once they are gone, it can longer said to be done. They set up the ABOMINATION that maketh DESOLATE. More on this in the NT.

BOTH KINGS will be brought to DESOLATION, because of the ABOMINATIONS within their kingdom. Their ABOMINATIONS are recorded for us in verses 16-24 and 32-39 of Daniel eleven.

The king of the south is DESTROYED by the king of the north.

Daniel 11:40-41... "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 horseman, and with many ships; and shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also in the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown:.."

This is the same thing recorded in Revelation 17:16-18

Notice in Daniel 11:41 the last part pf the verse 41.."BUT these shall escape out of his hand, even EDOM, and MOAB, and the chief of the children of AMMON."

What should we understand by this saying? The NON-ELECT shall escape! The NON-ELECT are the king of the north and his people!
"BUT tidings (he hath BUT A SHORT TIME) out of the east and out of the NORTH (God's dwelling place) shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth WITH GREAT FURY to destroy, and utterly to make away many." Daniel 11:44 ....Revelation 12:12; 20:8-9

After he has destroyed the king of the south, he set his face AGAINST the GLORIOUS HOLY MOUNTAIN-verse 45..The HOLY people of God, that makes up GOD'S kingdom!

YET he (the king of the north) shall come to his END, and none shall help him. Revelation 18!

God's people will suffer much during the "TIME OF TROUBLE" of Daniel 11:30-45 and mentioned in Daniel 12: 1..during the time when the two kings of this world final days are coming to an end. It is the little season of Revelation and it is a time, times, and an half of Daniel 12:7; when the devil through his two kings shall scatter the power of the HOLY PEOPLE. Those two kings, who are the devil's servants, will not leave this world without showing their hatred for the holy people of God. We will see it clearly in Revelation, the Lord willing.

This is my understanding of this chapter, by this, I DO NOT claim to be perfect in my understanding, but do claim to have the "overall" truth, base on what is NOTED IN THE SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH. It flows with chapter 12 and with the rest of scriptures. We will be helped much by our Lord Jesus Christ’s own use of the book of Daniel and with The apostles Paul and John writings with this interpretation; and it will FIT with that which is noted there. I am not saying that we presented this chapter to where it is easy to understand. Many times one can labor to make it as simple as he can possibly make it, and still folk will have trouble following his teaching, or you could have done better making it easy to follow.

I try to be as honest as I can be in presenting God’s truth to you. God is our witness, we have NOT use any help or any man's opinion, but ONLY a open Bible before us as we wrote this paper; that being said; what we have put before our readers is NOT a doctrine defending any denomination, or a doctrine taught to us by man's views, such as:

The historicist: a view that appeals to man's intellect; a view that man believes he can "reason out" and make history FIT with the scriptures, instead of trusting the scriptures ALONE for truth and for its OWN interpretation.

The preterits: a view very close to the historicist, only these blind guides (there are different degrees of preterit’s view) are much more bold to pervert God's word. These men have taken most of the word of God OUT OF your hands and leave a child of God with no warnings to heed; no scriptures to read FOR YOU; there is very little for a child of God now living in the year of 2009, according to most of them.

The futurist is a literalist in the purest meaning of that word! These men and there are many, read their bibles like a man would read a newspaper. I started out in this group many years ago. I am thankful that God delivered us from this false teaching. Their teaching on the book of Revelation would a make a great movie for the science fiction lovers! Their books make good reading for the lovers of mystery (Tim Lehaye and Hal Lindsey). Their motto is: if the literal make sense, seek no other sense. They are void of the needed LIGHT to seek with. They do not know how to read the bible they hold in their hands as they make their way to hear another good science fiction story by Captain "Dr." Kirk from the book of Revelation.

Let us now move on into the New Testament to see if we can make the connection that is needed to reveal this MYSTERY.

We will consider Revelation chapters 17&18. There are many different angles we could continue in searching the scriptures to unfold this mystery of Babylon the great. There are so many different subjects that can be brought forth to go with this subject. There are so many different messages that can be introduced and expounded upon that would go with this. To name just a few:

The abomination of desolation, Daniel and Matthew 24; The man of sin, 2Thessalonians 2; The beast of Revelation 13; His mark, name, and image; This generation, of Matthew 24; The perilous times in the last day, 2Timothy 3:-4:5; The little season of Revelation 20:1-3,7-9; The great tribulation period of the last days at the end of time, Daniel 12; Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21; to name just a few.

For now, we only want to reveal the mystery, Babylon the great, with this paper; even though, these other subject are connected with them in many ways.

Have you ever heard a minister preach on a certain subject and then another one and then another; and after a while you say to yourself: he is actually preaching on the SAME thing, but using different sermon titles and different verses but the message is the same. You can do that with this subject.

 

[Red Baker]

REVELATION CHAPTER 17-MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The main reason we started with the Old Testament and worked our way to Revelation 17 is this: Stephen and Paul in the NT did the same; Acts 7; 13:16-39. We thought it would be easier to understand Revelation 17&18 after explaining the OT scriptures that are connected with these two chapters in Revelation. Let us now consider these two chapters.

Revelation 17:1....Tells us plainly that what is recorded in this chapter is dealing with the judgment of the great whore...Who is PART OF Mystery, Babylon the great.

The angel said that this whore sitteth upon many waters. Verse 15, tells us: "And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues."

This whore had committed fornication with people from every nation under heaven. She had not committed fornication with every person from every nation, but with people from every nation. Many were virgins in these nations under heaven.

Revelation 14:4 ~"These are they which were not defiled with women; (the world and the whore) for they are virgins~(spiritual virgins) These follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth, theses were redeemed from among men, (so these are ALL of the redeemed) being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb."

Verse 2..."With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.." The kings of the earth rolls the red carpet... (NOT because they love her, but it is just good politics to do so, and for no other reason)

...and take counsel from her and embrace her as their own. They believe her lies and she believes their lies. Remember Daniel 11:27?

She does not have the same spirit as John the Baptist: "But Herod the tetrarch being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done." Luke 3:19

We all know John the Baptist would not be invited to a prayer breakfast in Washington D.C., or to be a special guest on TV news talk sessions/ show; those spotlights are reserved for the false prophets of Babylon, and there are many of them from the many different sects of Babylon.

They have their "astrologers, stargazers, and monthly prognosticators, along with the multitudes of false prophets;" (Isaiah 13:10-13) That CANNOT save them from the things that SHALL come upon them!

"....the inhabitants of the earth have been made DRUNK with the wine of her fornication." Not only has she committed fornication with the kings of the earth, through her LOVE OF POWER and the ATTENTION it brings with it, by fornicating with the powers that be; she has made the world (all whose names were not written in the Lamb's book of life from the beginning of the world) DRUNK with her promise of peace and life and liberty, while SHE and THEY are still living in their sins! Read 1st Kings 22:1-40; 2nd Peter 2 and the book of Jude.

Verse 3..."So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."

Verse 4-5.."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." Please consider a few points:

The woman in Revelation 17:4, sits upon the beast, or was carried by the beast, verse 7. (which we will talk about shortly) The woman of Revelation 12:13 was persecuted by the devil/dragon. Both lived in Babylon, one OF Babylon, one persecuted by Babylon's king and his people. This woman of Revelation 17 was drunken with the blood of saints (Revelation 17:6) and the martyrs of Jesus that lived there but refused to be part of them. These godly saints tormented them that lived in Babylon, by their godly life and by the words that proceedeth out of their mouth. See Revelation 11:5,10

Revelation 12:17~"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."

One of the tools that the devil uses to make war with the saints is his great whore, called Mystery, Babylon the great. This whore has other family members that are not religious, that we will see later in chapter 18 of Revelation.

This woman that is called Mystery, Babylon the great is only PART of Babylon that GREAT CITY that the devil has built. It is only a small part of the whole. Just like the White House is not Washington, D.C., but part of that which makes up Washington, D.C. The major part of Babylon is found in Revelation 18.

This great whore is the RELIGIOUS part of this great city called Babylon. The devil has many of his children IN RELIGION to better war against the saints and the God of heaven. He has a great multitude outside of religion, and that number will increase at the very end, as we will see.

The devil's whore is very seductive with her wealth and social standing in Babylon. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls and she has a golden cup in her hand. Revelation 17:4

I am not convinced that these things should be taken literal; why should we, when we KNOW that the beast, the woman and the waters are not literal? By literal, I mean: monetary wealth; Some may be, many may not be.

This great whore deceived her followers (2nd Cor. 11:12-14) by the art of her seductions and sorceries and lies to allure her VICTIMS, and VICTIMS they ARE!

What she had and what she offered to her followers in comparison to the those who kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, was like: gold, precious stones, and pearls to wood, hay and stubble, to those who saw her and heard her. But those who keep the commandments of God are kept from this whore;

She has the beautiful temples; with multitudes of followers, But, with no commitments; Christianity only a part of their life, instead of ALL of their life; I might need to add this: RELIGION might be part of their whole life for many of them; BUT, they have set the commandments of God aside for their OWN traditions; and they have corrupted the HOLY SCRIPTURES by refusing to preach what the Bible actually says, and have put their opinions/commandments in the place of THUS SAITH THE LORD. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4)

They refuse to earnestly contend with the wicked; and speak out against those saints that do contend for the truth. They allow the wicked to set the standard for what is acceptable and what is not. There is no difference between them and the world; if there is any difference, it is very little. On and on we could go. You can add to the list just as easy as I could.

All natural men are impressed with a religion like this. Most men are willing to accept a religion that requires nothing from them, but their presence occasionally and their deep pockets often, and the more the better. What natural man would not love a religion like this whore offers; knowing that he can have eternal life and live according to his own fleshly desire, without committing his life totally to the word of God. They allude through the lust of the flesh with such things. 2nd Peter 2 and Jude.

She has a GOLDEN CUP in her hand. who would not love to drink from this cup! This cup is one of her enticements that she uses on her followers. Men of this world think they are special if someone offers them a drink from such a cup.

What is within this cup reveals that she is a whore with every intention to destroy those who drink thereof!

Revelation 17:4 "......having a golden cup in her hand FULL of ABOMINATIONS and FILTHINESS of her fornication."

This great whore does not only have a few abominations, but she is FULL of them, along with the filthiness of her fornication. These abominations that she is full of, will be the cause of her being made DESOLATE, by the kings of the earth; as they are being used by God, as his servants. (verse 16)

But, very shortly afterward, these kings and the rest of their people shall be destroyed by the Lord Jesus and his army. Revelation 19:11-21; 20:7-9. AMEN!

 

[Red Baker]

Let us consider at this point in our teaching on this subject, what are some of the MANY ABOMINATIONS that are in this whore's golden cup that she has gotten the people of this world to drink of. They were made drunk with the wine of her fornication and by the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Was she ashamed? No! She boldly displayed her wickedness, by having on her forehead a name written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. There is nothing humble about this whore. The beast that carried this whore hath deceived her, yet she does not know she is deceived.

That is the very nature of deception, you do not know that you are being deceived. The love of praise and being accepted by this world blinds us and takes away our power to know the truth and destroys a honest heart before God. There is nothing more sacred to an honest heart than truth; but that honest heart can be destroyed by our great enemy so quickly!

"...having a golden cup in her hand FULL of ABOMINATIONS," I am sure you can add to the list that we will give.

Before giving a list of some you will find in our day, we must make the proper connection from the Old Testament to the New concerning the word abomination. We will not give a long definition of the word as defined by the Spirit in the scriptures.

When the word abomination is used by the prophets, apostles and Jesus Christ in the scriptures, by its definition, means: that which is ABHORRENT to God that WILL bring total ruin or devastation. Anything in thought, word or deed that is against the holy, infinite pure nature of the Most High. It can be summed up in the ten commandments given to Moses his servant; but, those commandments when understood properly, are exceedingly deep and broad in their scope and they are holy and just, good and spiritual.

In Daniel the prophet, we find the word used a few times: Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; and in Daniel 8:13, we read: "......the transgression of desolation" instead of abomination of desolation in other places. So by that we understand that abomination is a transgression AGAINST God's express will to us concerning what he accepts or what he hates. If God hates anything, then he will bring it to total ruin and desolation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ PERFECTLY understood Daniel's prophesy when he used the words ABOMINATION of desolation. Matthew 24:15..

"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".... The Spirit said: whoso readeth, let him understand; the Spirit is speaking of whom ever reads Daniel’s words on the abomination of desolation, then let him understand as he is hearing or reading what is recorded in Matthew 24.

Christ is NOT SAYING by understanding Daniel you will understand Matthew 24. NO! Matthew 24 is a COMMENTARY on the BOOK OF DANIEL! Furthermore, we have two words that are very important for us in Mark 13:14..

"But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it OUGHT NOT, (let him that readeth understand,)" again, as you read THIS, then you need to UNDERSTAND what this means! Matthew 24 said that he is in the HOLY PLACE and Mark 13 said it OUGHT NOT to be there!

Our Lord WOULD NEVER refer to the temple in Jerusalem HOLY forty years after his death! That's unthinkable and abominable to even consider that he would; he KNEW that the temple in Jerusalem had served its purpose and was NOT needed anymore and neither was Jerusalem needed to be the city to worship in, See John 4:21-22. The ONLY two places that was HOLY to God and to saints after the death of Christ are the churches of Christ and the body of believers. You should know the scriptures to follow this simple teaching.

The abomination that is in the holy place in our day that we should see abominations abounding, is recorded for us in 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-12. Here he is called the MAN OF SIN. What is recorded in verse 4.... "Who OPPOSETH and EXALTETH himself (man of sin is used as a collective pronoun, which means MANY; to prove this, see verses 10,11,12, the word THEM and THEY! the apostle changes the pronouns he and him to they and them, WITHOUT CHANGING THE SUBJECT and not only that, we know that it includes ALL of the wicked because of verses 10 and 11, which we will not quote but you should earnestly consider) above ALL that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he AS GOD sitteth in the temple of God, (HOLY PLACE, where he OUGHT NOT) shewing himself that he IS GOD."

…..Is also recorded in Daniel 7:25 and in Daniel 11:36. "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: (God word) and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and dividing of time. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall MAGNIFY HIMSELF (man of sin) ABOVE every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of god, and shall prosper till indignation be accomplished: (the abomination of desolation) for that is determined shall be done.” Much of what is determined is found in Matthew 24 and Revelation.

To sum up what is in Daniel and Matthew 24; Mark13; Luke 21; 2nd Thessalonians 2; Revelation 11; 13; 17; and 18; that, at the time of the end of the world, the latter days of this world, know as the "little season” of Revelation; the MAN OF SIN shall rule in the HOLY PLACE; and we will add this: the world will be even MORE wicked than ever before; the reason why, will be that the Spirit of God will withdraw his power from hindering the mystery of iniquity from abounding. At the end of the thousand years (a time of totality that is determined by God and only known by him) are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and a great multitude of evil spirits loosed with him upon the world of proud reprobates that are in churches and out of them. Revelation 20:7-9; Revelation 9:1-11 (the locusts are evil spirits loose upon the world for five months or a little season) The world shall abound with false prophets and false cults, called the great whore of Revelation 17.

This allows us to continue on in Revelation 17 to better understand as we work our way through this chapter.

 

[Red Baker]

THE MANY ABOMINATIONS OF THE LAST DAYS

As evil spirits are legions, so are abominations in the churches and out of them.

1. GENESIS 13:13~ "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly."

Sodomy is abounding in this world, but not in the world only, but in churches! This is one of the abominations that is in the whore's golden cup. The Catholic church is FULL of sodomites. Forbidding men and women to marry, encourage this sin, even though it is in their heart to begin with, which is seen by the profession they have chosen. Only a very, very few have that calling to forebear marriage. It is against nature to do so. Sodomy is by no means limited to the Catholic church, it is in other churches. I wonder what is going through their wicked minds as they read Jude 7: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cites about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

2. LUKE 16:15~"And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

The churches are full of men would who rather seek to be accepted before men, than to seek praise that comes ONLY from heaven. IF the world loves you and accepts your opinions and teaching, then you are an abomination in God sight, and these are not my words, but God's.

I could name thousands of false prophets that are highly esteemed by MUTITUDES of simple minded (I am using the word just the way king Solomon did in his proverbs) followers and the world likewise accepts them as bright successful religious “SUPERSTARS;” and if they need spiritual advice, they would seek them out. The men of the world DO NOT know where wisdom is found. It is NOT in the “smiles of Joel Osteen!" Nor is it at Harvard, Yale or any school that may be considered the elites of higher learning. The wisdom we are speaking of is far above those fools who reject their Creator and exalt their wisdom above Him.

3. MATTHEW 15:7-9~"Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me, In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Mark 7:8~"For LAYING ASIDE THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, ye hold to the tradition of men, as washing of pots and cups: and MANY other such things ye do."

MARK 7:9~"And he said unto them, FULL WELL ye REJECT the commandment of God, that ye may keep your OWN tradition."

MARK 7:13~"Making the word of God of NONE EFFECT through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and MANY such things do ye."

The Catholic church is by far the most guilty of these scriptures we just read; But, many other churches are just as guilty.

They have their "touch not; taste not; handle not; go not; be not; have not; see not;" and on and on we can go. God's saints live by the word of God, we must not add to it or take from it, in order to please self and serve self. If the scripture condemns anything, so do we, if the scriptures are silent on a given thing, so are we. If we cannot find it in the Bible, then we do not hold to it as a commandment of God, and we refuse to accept it as such. NO ONE has the right to teach for doctrine, what they cannot support from the scriptures. That would be standing in the holy place and exalting your wisdom above God's word. WHY would one do that? He is a MAN OF SIN that does so. A MAN OF SIN is any man who lives under the POWER OF SIN, through the spirit of disobedience that lives in him.

4. REVELATION 2:7 and verse 15~"But this thou hast, that thou HATEST the DEEDS of the Nicolaitans, which I ALSO HATE." ........."So hast thou also them that hold THE DOCTRINE of the Nicolaitans, which thing I HATE."

What was first just deeds of the Nicolaitans quickly turned to be THE DOCTRINE of the Nicolaitans!

A few things to consider: If God hates anything, then it is abomination in his sight! It is said twice within chapter two of Revelation, that God HATED the DEEDS and later the DOCTRINE of the Nicolaitans. This should get any Christian attention who cares what pleases his God and not what pleases self or others. If we read your Bibles the only way we should, then we must ask ourselves: why did the Spirit say deeds in verse 6 and doctrine in verse 15? There is a big difference between deed and doctrine. Deeds can be defined as, WHATEVER is DONE, good or bad, great or small....... "And Joseph said unto them, What DEED is this that ye have DONE?....Genesis 46:15

Doctrine can be define in a general sense, whatever is taught; whatever is taught AS TRUTH by an instructor, master, or TEACHER. Instruction and confirmation in the truths of the gospel. 2Timothy 3:16; Mark 4:2; Isaiah 28:9

By definition, we understand what the word Nicolaitans means: To CONQUER the lay people. NICO-to conquer; LAITAN-laity.
We have a man in the scriptures that we all know well, and his name is : NICOdemus, John 3:1-21. His name fit his title: MASTER of Israel, verse 10. The Nicolaitans were men who by their evil deeds sought to have "preeminence over the saints," and it was rejected by the church at Ephesus shortly after the apostles! The apostles, early saints, Christ and God Himself hated this evil deed by some.

The apostle John said, "I wrote unto THE CHURCH: BUT Diotrephes, who LOVETH to have PREEMINENCE among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember HIS DEEDS which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and FORBIDDETH (as though he had that right) them that would, and casteth them OUT OF the church." 2nd John 9-10. This man was doing some evil deeds by placing himself ABOVE other members within the CHURCH. He most likely was a elder/bishop of that church, but wanted to have ALL CONTROL OVER the BODY. The apostle even in this short epistle never mentioned a person by name that would be OVER THEM. His epistle was directed to the CHURCH, NOT to a single man. NO CHURCH EPISTLE in the New Testament was written to a SINGLE bishop/elder/pastor.

The word PASTOR in our day is used freely by most as describing a single man over a body of saints. The word is NEVER used in the scripture in that way. Pastor is NOT an office of the New Testament church. NO ONE can prove that. The word "describes" the duties of a elder/bishop which ARE a office in the New Testament church. We will also add, that NEVER one time is there a instance where we have a church where there is a SINGLE man over it in the scripture. I must move on. There are some honest, sincere, God fearing children, who hold and practice this, but it is still against the scriptures. In our day most churches are guilty of the DEEDS/DOCTRINE of the Nicolaitans. The Catholic church as in most cases lead the way, with their "TIER of authority" within their church. Their practices are a great abomination in God's sight. But, we must not stop with that whore, for there are more; Most churches have their "priest/laity" two class system, where they exalt ONE above the rest and give him total rule in everything.

But, we must not stop there with those whores, there are more; There are MANY individual men who have their OWN MINISTRY outside of the church, who have MULTITUDES following them and supporting them, and looking up to them as a great spiritual leader. MOST OF these men are in the "tongue/healing" movement. I have often wondered why Benny Hinn does not come to our local hospital to help the doctors out instead of renting the BIG arena in town. I KNOW WHY and so do you. These men know nothing about the true churches of Christ. They are out only to fleece the simple minded people, who do not understand the scriptures, or the power of deception. Proverbs 14:18

To sum this part up, we will only add this: any doctrine that is NOT found in the scriptures, that is taught by any man or any church, is an abomination to the Most High.

Anyone who is in a church that has only been here in the last two hundred plus years, should know that his whole system MUST be an abomination in God's sight. The Jehovah Witness, Mormons and Charismatic’s are religious sects that our forefathers DID NOT contend with; these are locusts from the bottomless pit turned loose upon the earth to deceive them whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the earth. Though some have been here longer, such as: the moon worshipper children of the Islamic faith, who exalt their prophet Mohammed over Jesus Christ; and are so radical in their behavior; that most of the world knows that they are insane. Besides, WHO is ALLAH? Where does he live? How many wives does he have? Can he see, hear or talk? Can you buy him at Wal Mart? No where is that name mention in the WORD OF GOD! The Koran does NOT count, no more than the writings of Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon faith. These are children of the devil.

 

[Red Baker]

Revelation 16:14 ~"For they ARE the SPIRITS of DEVILS, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth to gather them to battle of that GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY."

We will say this before leaving: We are NOT saying that your doctrine must be ABSOLUTELY PURE, but it MUST be correct on the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST: And NONE that I just mentioned above are.

That he is the Son of God; he paid for the SINS OF HIS PEOPLE..period; the pleasure of the Lord did prosper in his hand; He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; EVERYONE that he DIED FOR, SHALL be JUSTIFTED; because he bear their sins. HE COMPETELY FINISHED the work God gave him to do. God was and is well satisfied with his Son. God's eternal purposes are right on course, where He ordained it to be! AMEN! The devil knows this, why do many it religion not understand this?

Revelation 12:12 ~ ".....WOE to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he KNOWETH that he hath but a short time."

Revelation 17:5~"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS and ABOMIANTIONS OF THE EARTH."

I know that many interpret the Babylon in Revelation 17 to be the Roman Catholic Church; by using the words: "THE MOTHER OF” and say that ALL that come OUT OF her are her daughters. Though we would agree heartily that she is A GREAT WHORE, and many abominations are therein, more than any other, but I understand it in this way: This whore, I take to means ALL religion that goes against the Holy Scriptures and the teachings therein. This whore is PART OF MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. Mystery Babylon is a GREAT CITY.

Every great city in this world has: RELIGION, SCIENCE, ENTERTAINMENTS and ART and COMMERCE within it; Mystery Babylon of the Bible is NO different. In Revelation 18 we will see more of this great city.

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT IS THE MOTHER of everything that is against the knowledge of the Most HIGH!!! In Revelation 18, Babylon, the great is the MOTHER OF MANY dainty and goodly and delicious things, that she has used to bewitch her followers!

In Revelation 17:5 Mystery, Babylon the great is the MOTHER OF HARLOTS. It is through the WOMB of Mystery, Babylon the great that harlots comes out of; and IN THE NAME OF RELIGION they war with the saints of Jesus Christ (John 8:13-59). The harlots PRETEND to be a worshipper of God and of the seed of Abraham, but she IS A WHORE and a liar. This religious whore has been here from the beginning. It changes name and form and practices. It may be a Pharisees, Sadducees, Baal worshipper, Catholic, Mormon, Jehovah Witness, or whatever; if they speak not according to God's word, IT IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM. Isaiah 8:20 This whore preaches a religion that CAN BE adopted by the people of the world; she quickly learns how to proselyte a man of the world; she spares no pains in doing so. As generations changes, so does she; whatever it takes to corrupt TRUTH and war against the Most High, she does so.

MATTHEW 23:15... "WOE unto you scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! for ye COMPASS sea and LAND to make ONE proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him TWOFOLD more the CHILD OF HELL than yourselves." These are the words of the meek and lowly Jesus! Read all of Matthew 23. I said that the whore of Revelation 17, thus viewed is past, present, and future. Its form changes, its name changes; its ESSENCE ever remains the same; the reason why; it is ever carried by the SAME BEAST.

Let us consider the scarlet colored BEAST; verses 3; 7-15. "And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, (which we have covered- verse 15) and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest WAS, and IS NOT; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that WAS, and IS NOT, and YET IS."

"And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a SHORT SPACE."

"And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 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. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb. and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful." REVELATION 17:7-14

Verse nine said: "And here is the mind which hath wisdom." Anyone who has been given wisdom by the ALL WISE GOD, should be able to follow John's vision that the angel shewed him. The angel said: "The seven heads ARE seven mountains, ON WHICH the woman SITTETH." verse 9

The reason why I KNOW that the woman is NOT the Roman Catholic church, is because of what this verse PLAINLY says: The seven heads ARE MOUNTAINS, on which the woman (whore) SITTETH. Verse 15 said PLAINLY: "And he saith unto me, the WATERS (waters here, mountains in verse 9) which thou saweth, (verse 1) where the whore sitteth ARE peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues."

Peoples, multitudes, and nations and tongues are KINGDOMS of this world; the words mountains and kingdom are used interchangeable in the scriptures.

Daniel 2:35~"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a GREAT MOUNTAIN, (KINGDOM) and filled the earth." Filled the earth with peoples, multitudes and nations; which makes up a GREAT MOUNTAIN.

But there is more; verse 10 tells us that the seven mountains ARE SEVEN KINGS! "And there are seven kings:" Though Rome may be on seven hills and some try to make this whore to be only the Roman Catholic church, by that fact; they are NOT showing wisdom by NOT staying with the flow of the verses. Verse ten said: "And there are seven kings: five are fallen....

Start from the book of Genesis to Revelation and see if you can find "SEVEN KINGS/KINGDOMS that ruled this world for a certain period of time; We can;

In Genesis it was Egypt; in the books of the kings of Israel, it was Assyrian empire and next, the Babylonian empire; next in Daniel we have Medes/Persian then Greece and into the Gospels we have the empire of Rome.

So five are fallen, which were the first five mentioned in order.

"And one IS" would be the Roman empire that was in power at the time these words were spoken to the apostle John. "And the other not yet come;" would be the time the devil is loose from the bottomless pit (another way of saying, when he can use his power without God restraining him as he (God) has during the time the church is being built) and he will RULE the world with full wrath and hatred and build him a paradise on earth, with men giving their devotion and strength unto the beast. The beast IS Babylon and Babylon is the beast; and the devil is king of the beast and Babylon.

"when he cometh, he must continue a SHORT SPACE." or a little season. And then he was cast in the lake of fire. Or go into perdition verses 8 and 11. "And the beast that was (had great power in the Old Testament) and is not (lost much of his power at the cross-Revelation 12) even he is the eight (his last pitch to overthrow God, and Jesus Christ and his people during the little season) and is of the seven (he was the god of those evil kingdom that will be turned into the chaff of the summer threshingfloors) and goeth into perdition.” (he shall become as one of them!)

"All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also became weak as we? art thou become like unto us?" Isaiah 14:11 YES HE WILL!

 

[Red Baker]

"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" verse 12

These ten kings (ten a number for totality) are the nations on the earth when the little season starts at the time of the end. They will have power for a short time! One hour, a little season. They will give their mind and strength to the devil during this time and to the building up of BABYLON, THE GREAT. Even in the last two hundred years, THIS WORLD has made a MAJOR change; the world in many parts of it, looks like a resort that our forefathers could only image in their wildest imaginations. There are places of entertainments everywhere; and every sort of fleshly pleasure you can think of is here in MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT CITY for all WHO WILL FALL DOWN AND WORSHIP THE BEAST! And we will add, most people of the nations of Babylon are MAD on these idols found therein. The truth is: they want more; and we will add, that they are sacrificing their children to these dumb idols is plain to all who has the mind of true wisdom.

These kings will DESTROY the religious PART OF BABYLON just before this world comes to an end! There will be a very short space of time when this world will be free of Religion as we know it. God's saints will be protected, Revelation 12:16-17 But it will be a time of TROUBLE, the which the world has never seen, nor will see.

Read Revelation 17:13-15. She shall be destroyed JUST AS JERUSALEM was by Nebuchadnezzar of old. There is NO WAY to explain those three verses than the way we did and keep the scriptural sense that the Holy Ghost intended.

Revelation 18 next

 

[Red Baker]

REVELATION 18 ...............

We now come to read and see another part of Babylon, that is actually the GLORY of the GREAT city called MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The people of this part of Babylon are NOT drunk with the blood of saints as the great whore was; but she does have blood within her, as we shall see later. She is drunk as well, but not with blood. She is totally absorbed with, luxuries, worldly fame, power, lust of the flesh and the lust of pleasure. This Babylon has more than they can take in.

Let us look at a few things that should help us see what Revelation 18 is teaching us.

The FALL of Babylon in this chapter is certain. This is seen in the perfect tense of the words in verse two. "Babylon the great IS fallen, IS fallen" the words from the angel will reveal the desolation that comes upon Babylon as we read on.

Verse 2.."For all nations have drunk of the wine of the WRATH of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her"

JUST AS they both did with the great whore of Babylon, so have they done with THIS BABYLON as well, but in a totally different way. But as we read on, we will see clearly that there are many things in this PART OF BABYLON that could NOT be applied to what was said of the great whore of Mystery, Babylon the great.

"And the MERCHANTS of the EARTH are waxed RICH through the ABUNDANCE of her DELICACIES." the last part of verse 3

Here is a GOLDEN CUP that has DELICACIES in it, that in OUR FLESH we are STRONGLY TEMPTED to drink of, and the temptations are POWERFUL to our fallen flesh, the old man!

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THAT GREAT CITY, has a golden cup for you to drink of; many have drunk from both the whore's cup AND the WORLD's golden cup. A child of God MUST avoid BOTH! The devil is the father of both! Whoever drinks of either, and CONTINUES to do so and DOES NOT REPENT, WILL be partakers of their evil sins; Or the commands given in Revelation 18:4, are USELESS! It would be like a mother telling her child, if you do not stop what you are doing, then I am going to punish you, when she has no intentions of doing so. When God gives a warning, we had better heed that warning or He WILL do as he said He would. God’s elect hears and follows. Not perfectly, but their OVERALL life is known to be faithful in all things.

Revelation 18:4 .....CHILD OF GOD, THIS CALL IS FOR YOU! AND IT IS "NOT" A CALL TO COME OUT OF FALSE RELIGION! IT IS MUCH MORE SERIOUS AND HARDER TO DO! "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

1. I know that the call to "come out of her" has nothing to do with false religion because of the contents of Revelation 18. False Religion was in Revelation 17; The WORLD SYSTEM and the THINGS THEREIN that the devil is god of, is in Revelation 18. As one reads through this chapter, it should become easy to see; specially to the mind which hath the wisdom of God given to him.

2. The call to come out of her my people is the very SAME warning and call we hear throughout the holy scriptures.

1st John 2:15-17 ~"Love NOT THE WORLD, neither the things that are in the world. IF any man love the world, the love of the father IS NOT in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, (Mystery Babylon has many things in her golden cup) and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, IS NOT of the father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, (you will see in it Revelation 18) and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

2nd Corinthains 6~ "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."

3. We, as Christian’s cannot literally separate ourselves from Babylon, no more than could Daniel and his friends. BUT, we can and must not follow their gods nor bow down to them, nor delight in their dainties, nor seek our happiness therein. We MUST be as Daniel was In Babylon of old.

"Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the LAW OF HIS GOD."

Daniel 6:5,10 ~"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber TOWARD JERUSALEM, (we KNOW where his heart was) he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, AS HE DID AFORETIME."

4. False religion is NOT the MAIN temptation for God’s children, (yes, we can fall into some of their false teachings and hinder our peace and leave us weak before our enemies and unfruitful) but this world system is a greater source of temptation in many more ways than most would ever believe. The main message about the whore and God's saints in Revelation 17 is that she killed them, because they were ENEMIES!

So the devil has another part of Babylon that he labors to corrupt the Israel OF God with. It is the SAME way that Balaam taught Balak to make use of the cunning art of deception in order to ensnare and destroy Israel of old. Numbers 31:16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14
Revelation 18:5-10....

Revelation 14:14-20!~"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." She thinks that there is NO god in the heaven, and she surely does not believe that he knows; BUT he will THRUST IN HIS SICKLE AND REAP.

"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." See 2nd Peter 3:7-10

We believe by verses 9 and 10 that God will FIRST destroy the world as we know it and then cast the wicked into the lake of fire. The wicked will SEE with their eyes the GREAT BABYLON that caused them to say "I sit a QUEEN, and am no widow,( she had a great company of followers) and shall see NO sorrow....... OH, was she deceived by the old serpent, that deceived our mother Eve. She shall receive SO MUCH torment and SO MUCH SORROW, because she glorified herself and lived deliciously, while she lived; whatsoever her flesh wanted, that she did; for Mystery, Babylon the great city built by the devil himself to deceive his followers to follow him, HAD IT ALL and at all times; he would steal EVERY SECOND you had. He would give you so much that you COULD NOT think about your soul and eternity; and those who are the elect, the devil has used his Babylon to hinder us in our journey to our city which hath foundations, who builder and maker is God.

We, as Abraham, can LIFT up our EYES and BEHOLD ALL that we can SEE and AS far as we can see, IS OURS!

Daniel 7:27~"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom UNDER THE WHOLE HEAVEN, SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

This earth shall be taken AWAY from those who are wicked and who have destroyed it and it shall be given to GOD'S SAINTS. Yes, this world as we know it will be burned up, and a NEW EARTH and HEAVEN shall be created for them. It will be as the GARDEN OF EDEN before the fall. It will be FULL of MANSIONS, for ALL of its inhabitants are ALL KINGS and PRIESTS. John 14:1-3; Revelation 1:6; 5:10! These words are more true than gravity.

YES, BABYLON'S WALL ARE COMING DOWN! SING that song and SHOUT as you sing it with understanding. BABYLON IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN, TO RISE NO MORE! Remember those words: NO MORE, AT ALL, for you will read them a few times from verse 11 to 23.

"And the merchants OF THE EARTH shall weep and mourn over her." The children of Babylon shall weep and mourn! WHY? Their playground, where they serve their uncontrollable lust is now DESTROYED!

While they had this world and all things therein; they sang, rejoiced, and laugh; BUT NOW, they are weeping and mourning!

Luke 6:25~"WOE unto you that are FULL! for he SHALL hunger. (this is NOT speaking of food; but of the PLEASURES OF THIS LIFE) WOE unto you that LAUGH NOW! for you SHALL MOURN and WEEP."

Matthew 24:30~"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall ALL the tribes of the EARTH MOURN, and they SHALL SEE the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

Here in Revelation 18, their mourning and weeping is JUST beginning! Read Revelation 14:9-11

"For no man buyeth their merchandise ANY MORE." This world will not last forever, it will soon be destroyed forever.

The merchandise that is mentioned in verse 12, are things that are used in this world to make the things that the people of the earth lust after. The things mentioned in verse 13 are the things used by the people of Babylon to serve them and their untempered appetite. They are the FRUITS that their soul lusted after; ALL things which were DAINTY AND GOODLY. "And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and ALL THINGS which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them NO MORE AT ALL." 18:14

Luke 17:28~"Likewise also as it were in the days of Lot; they did EAT, they DRANK, they BROUGHT, they SOLD, they PLANTED, they BUILDED;"

 

[Red Baker]

Revelation 18:15-16~"The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, WEEPING and WAILING, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in FINE LINEN, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls!"

This beautiful, glorious, playground for the children of Babylon, SHALL FALL TO RISE NO MORE.

The children of Babylon COULD NOT BELIEVE that their GREAT CITY is being destroyed by FIRE. verse 18

She is MADE DESOLATE because of ALL of the ABOMINATIONS therein! Revelation 17:5 with 18:19

The people of Babylon lived HIGH: "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!....." Revelation 18:19

We WILL REJOICE over her in that day, when we see her FALL.

Verse 20~"And a mightily angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown DOWN, and shall be FOUND NO MORE AT ALL."

Verse 21~ "And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; (the world and their music will be forever gone. ALLELUIA!) 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."

Verse 22~They WILL not be needed, for THEIR WORLD IS GONE FOREVER!

"And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; (Babylon will fall, never to rise again, so there will never be a need for lights again) and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard NO MORE AT ALL (HOW MANY TIMES have we read those words? We should KNOW by now; THIS WORLD WILL PASS AWAY FOREVER VERY SOON) for thy merchants were the GREAT MEN of the EARTH; (or BABYLON) for by thy sorceries were ALL NATIONS DECEIVED."

EVERYTHING (verses 12-14) in THIS WORLD is USED by the devil and his children, to deceive ALL the simple ones, who REFUSED the wisdom found ONLY in the HOLY SCRIPTURES. The devil uses SORCERIES through the THINGS IN BABYLON TO SEDUCE PEOPLE INTO FOLOWING HIM.

In Revelation 17 we saw the she was drunken with the blood of SAINTS. In Revelation 18:24, we find here that there were blood of saints as well; but they were not drunken with the blood of saints, as the whore was; But we find something in this Babylon that was not in the whore:

"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and saints, and of ALL that were slain UPON THE EARTH." Many have died through wars; because of sex crime; hatred, accidents, and many others ways, other than religion. ALL of the slain are found in MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT CITY THAT IS AT ENMITY against the God who created all things therein!

SUMMARY OF MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT CITY OF THE BEAST

This beast WAS from the beginning; BUT he was wounded to death, by the Son of man, Jesus Christ, who was also, the Son of the living God; But it WAS the SON of MAN that defeated the devil; the god of BABYLON. This beast will be healed from his deadly wound at the time of the end of this world, and ALL of the world (BABYLON) shall wonder after the beast. The people of Babylon shall be ONE mind, and SHALL give their power and strength unto the beast to make BABYLON the means of their deception. They DO NOT know that their god is using them to deceive themselves and others!! THIS BEAST will make a city that HAS EVERYTHING for his deceived followers. He will deceive them into believing that THEY ARE GREAT, POWERFUL and there is NO ONE like GREAT BABYLON. WHO is BABYLON? This world and the people therein.

We started in the OT and worked our way to Revelation to help you to see and understand, WHO and WHAT is MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. I do not claim perfection, but I KNOW this is the TRUTH concerning this subject before us.

What shall we do as Christians who live in BABYLON?

JEREMIAH 29:5-7~"Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, (NOT of Babylon) and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the CITY whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

“Who is wise, and he shall understand THESE THINGS? Prudent, and he SHALL KNOW THEM?….” Hosea 14:9

Reader, your prayer request to God should be as Daniel’s prayer request to his three friends concerning Nebuchadnezzzar’s dream:

“That they would desire MERCIES of the God of heaven concerning this SECRET;” Daniel 2:18

We will close with this prayer: "Oh, LORD, help us to cleave unto thee while we are strangers in our Babylon. We bless and praise thee, that you have not left us in darkness concerning our life in this world. We will wait upon we thee to come for us to receive us unto thyself, that where thou art, there we shall be forever. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." AMEN! Peace be upon all those saints who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; who exercise themselves to have a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward man.

 

[Mr GLee]

Let us now move on into the New Testament to see if we can make the connection that is needed to reveal this MYSTERY.

We will consider Revelation chapters 17&18. There are many different angles we could continue in searching the scriptures to unfold this mystery of Babylon the great. There are so many different subjects that can be brought forth to go with this subject. There are so many different messages that can be introduced and expounded upon that would go with this. To name just a few:

The abomination of desolation, Daniel and Matthew 24; The man of sin, 2Thessalonians 2; The beast of Revelation 13; His mark, name, and image; This generation, of Matthew 24; The perilous times in the last day, 2Timothy 3:-4:5; The little season of Revelation 20:1-3,7-9; The great tribulation period of the last days at the end of time, Daniel 12; Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke 21; to name just a few.

For now, we only want to reveal the mystery, Babylon the great, with this paper; even though, these other subject are connected with them in many ways.

Have you ever heard a minister preach on a certain subject and then another one and then another; and after a while you say to yourself: he is actually preaching on the SAME thing, but using different sermon titles and different verses but the message is the same. You can do that with this subject.

Thanks.

Yes I would offer.

Without parables . .the comparing of the temporal historical things seen to the invisible things (power) of Christ the husband

Comparing one to another. . Without parables Christ our one good teaching master spoke not

Kings in Israel the "abomination of desolation" .

God is not a Jewish man as King of kings .Satan the spirit of the antichrists (false prophets) failed to establish that lie .

The time of the first century reformation had come. The veil was rent to indicate the circummsion of our bloody husband Christ.

There was no Jewish King of kings siting in the holy of hollies . Satan the legion "many false prophets false apostles" could no longer deceive all the nations of the whole world God is a Jewish man as King of kings

be careful in the using of the word angel (coined in the 12th century). A fake word ,sounds the same as Angelous the Greek word for messenger (Pony express .UPS, Western Union, Amazon. Uber as apostles. But has a entirely different meaning and purpose. venerate dying flesh and blood.

How beautiful are there feet shod with the gospel . Not apostle "highly venerable ones" that lord it over the faith or understanding of the non -venerable pew warmers

Mankind attributing the work of Christ to a invisible creation called angels. It adds to the mystery of the parables by adding another (anti-spirit) called angels( patron saints ). . . other than Christ alone .

The word two is the one witness one has spoken (the invisible father ).demonstrated outwardly by his apostle, Jesus the Son of man.

The original dynamic dual

It is Christ in new creatures, working to both reveal his will and empower dying mankind to do it to his good pleasure. Not a legion of angels .(patron saints) oral traditons of dying mankind .

Parables . . .the signified as outward sign language using metaphor understood by . . taking the temporal historical seen and mixing it with the eternal not seen .

No mixing (temp and eternal) no gospel rest. (Hebrew 4:1-2) Then a parable remains a mystery Historical alone .No spiritual understanding.

Christ has given us the 20/20 prescription for rightly dividing the parables

2 Corinthians 4:18King James Version18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Parables are designed to teach us how to understand the unseen eternal things of Christ . Yoked with Him the believers burdens can be lighter.

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

None of the Spirit of one God, not a legion of gods some call angels. as patron saints . Babylon meaning,,, gate of the gods (the legion.)

Real angels like yourself many on this discussion, study board ..

Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Peter resisted at first to have his feet washed by the water of the word . the gospel of salvation.

 

[Red Baker]

Thanks.

Mr. GLee, thank you for taking your time to read this article, may the Lord reward you accordingly.

Btw, are you saying you do not believe in spirits, angles? Or, is that me just not following you correctly? A straight forward answer from you would be much appreciated.

be careful in the using of the word angel (coined in the 12th century). A fake word ,sounds the same as Angelous the Greek word for messenger (Pony express .UPS, Western Union, Amazon. Uber as apostles. But has a entirely different meaning and purpose. venerate dying flesh and blood. How beautiful are there feet shod with the gospel . Not apostle "highly venerable ones" that lord it over the faith or understanding of the non -venerable pew warmers Mankind attributing the work of Christ to a invisible creation called angels. It adds to the mystery of the parables by adding another (anti-spirit) called angels( patron saints ). . . other than Christ alone .

 

[Mr GLee]

Mr. GLee, thank you for taking your time to read this article, may the Lord reward you accordingly.

Btw, are you saying you do not believe in spirits, angles? Or, is that me just not following you correctly? A straight forward answer from you would be much appreciated.

Hi Thanks

Angels. Something I keep on the back burner as simmer.

I believe in "messengers" sent from God. The Greek word Angelous. Not angel a fake word , or Malak the Hebrew for "messenger". not angel

Apostles sent messenger. How beautiful are their feet shod with the gospel

No third party of disembodied spirits gods called angels. . a fake word used to represent patron saints the living seeking the dead. (necromancy)

Its Christ in us as the hope of His glory not a unknow number of angels (legion). Patron saints 3500 and rising .

Its Catholiscim passed down from the law of the fathers oral traditions of dying mankind that needs a legion of what are called "patron saints" as angels. to make thier false gospel and give the illusion. Idol image needed to put a face on the legion like with Saul in the old testament when it comes up. . 3500 and rising available on line .

It can be seen working out in the propmised demonstration of two. The dynamic dual ,

The Father striking the Son bruising his heel crushing the head of the father of lies.

The Father strengthening the Son of man Jesus .No a legion of angels as if the powerful Father needed help for the peanut gallery.

Angel. . square peg des not fit in round hole (messenger) No biblical sense

Luke 22:42-44King James Version Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
And there appeared an angel (message) unto him from heaven, strengthening him And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Not the sufferings of a legion of angels invisible disembodied spirit gods

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ (Not angels) abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

Angels. . blasphemy. Attributing the invisible things of eternal God to the temporal dying things seen.

The doctrine of necromancy . They must call apostolical succession of dying mankind .Making sola scriptura without efect

 

[Josheb]

Greetings Josheb,

I desire to make some posts on this subject, and this thread is the only one I could find which dealt exclusively with Mystery Babylon.

I highlighted the portion which I agree totally with you, But I must respectfully disagree with these words:

Brother, I must respectfully disagree. Consider:

Ephesians 3:5​

“Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”

Romans 16:25​

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,”

Romans 16:26​

“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:”

Brother, the truth concerning the elect Gentiles being part of the same body with the elect Jews was a truth kept secret from the very persons to whom the scriptures were written to.

While a valid point is made (Revelation is a revealing that was/is intended to be understood), I consider the above to be exegetically wanting because it sampled selectively from the epistolary and neglected whole scripture, especially those scriptures that 1) define Babylon and 2) take into consideration the specifics of Revelation's Babylon. It is good practice to establish context, but doing so begins with the immediate text in question (Rev. 1-17's Babylon, not the epistolary's truth about revelation). We're supposed to work from the text in question outward, not pile other scriptures upon the text in question wantonly, eisegetically, or without connections the scripture in question itself makes.

For example, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were Babylonian. No commentary on Revelation I have ever read has ever noted that fact. Clearly the Babylon (and its inhabitants) are the Hebrews who received God's covenant promises through Christ (because the gospel was preached to Abraham and those promises were made to Abe and Jesus). Similarly, the Babylon of Daniel and the exile was destroyed long, long before the revelation of Revelation was revealed. So it becomes necessary to discern and discriminate which "Babylon" is being referenced.

I believe the same is true concerning the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him, has been kept from Godly men...

And that statement contradicts the facts of scripture and the inherent logic of a revelation. Revelation reveals. It does NOT keep truth from Godly men.

....until the time God was ready to reveal this book to his people. God's timely is His sovereign right to do as He pleases.

The book of Revelation 1) tells its readers the revelation was given for the specific purpose of knowing and understanding and 2) it explicitly admonishes the reader NOT to add to the book. Saying the understanding is later to be revealed and kept from Godly men would be an addition to the text...... and thereby something everyone should immediately discard without reservation. The point of the scriptures employed in Post 26 is that the time of revealing had arrived right then and there in the first century.

 

[Josheb]

Matthew 13:17
“For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

I want to put forth some thoughts on this truth, beginning where God starts with this subject and work our way through the scriptures until we get to Revelation 17,18. I wrote an article of this subject around twenty years ago and have it saved on my computer. Please consider it and comment as I work my way through the scriptures. Let me at least make a few posts before commenting.

First post coming soon.

As long as the posts stick to the op I'll consider them. Where they digress far afield of the op I will ignore them. Personally, I do not think the answer to this title's question is particularly difficult. The word, "Babylon," occurs a half-dozen times in Revelation and the description attending those mentions is where we should start any an answer to the question asked.... but the most telling of those passages is the one that states the whore that is Babylon wears purple and scarlet. In first century Christianity there is only one entity that would have been understood by the original writer and his original readers that qualifies: the Levitical priesthood. Scripture has quite a lot to say about whores. A sampling is below. Consider them to be prophetic.



Proverbs 23:26-28
Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight in my ways. For a harlot is a deep pit and an adulterous woman is a narrow well. Surely, she lurks as a robber and increases the faithless among men.

Proverbs 30:20
This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, "I have done no wrong."

Ezekiel 6:8-10
However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. Then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.

Matthew 12:38-40
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Mark 8:38
For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.




Matthew 3:7-10
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John 8:31-59 (excerpted for the sake of space)
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with my Father; therefore, you also do the things which you heard from your father." They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on my own initiative, but He sent me.... If I speak truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.... The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste of death.' "Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, ".............Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.................... Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at him..............

They were already trying to kill a man they had not tried (which is what the Law required of them). They were a lawless, self-loving, pridefully arrogant and thereby adulterous population who'd for centuries followed other gods, whose Law indicted them prima facie.

Proverbs 30:20
This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, "I have done no wrong."


Babylon's whore was the Levitical priesthood. Revelation's city of Babylon is, therefore, Jerusalem.

 

[Smidge]

Could somebody show me where Babylon refers to anything other than literal Babylon, confusion, or false religion?

 

[LeviR]

Could somebody show me where Babylon refers to anything other than literal Babylon, confusion, or false religion?

Jer 50:41
Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 50:42
They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel,and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

Jer 6:22
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
Jer 6:23
They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

In those prophecies, both Babylon and Zion are related. It might even be said that Zion is spiritually called Babylon and thus they will both suffer they same destruction.

 

[Josheb]

Could somebody show me where Babylon refers to anything other than literal Babylon, confusion, or false religion?

Umm....

The LITERAL Babylon was destroyed many centuries ago. It was non-existent when Revelation was written. That is one reason why Babylon refers to anything other than literal Babylon. The question itself makes literal Babylon non-literal when is adds "confusion, or false religion." LITERAL Babylon would LITERALLY refer ONLY to the city of Babylon or the country of Babylon. The Revelation text even specifies "city."!!!

Revelation 18:9-10
And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'

The verse does not state, "the great confusion, Babylon, the strong confusion." The verse does not state, "...the great city, false religion, the strong false religion." To say the word "Babylon" is indicative of confusion is to make the word non-literal, to treat it figuratively as a symbol of metaphor for confusion (not to mention you've confused Babel with Babylon). Lastly, the literal Babylon and its figurative significance as a place false religion are not mutually exclusive conditions.