MYSTERY OF THE GREAT BABYLON
John saw the mysterious
Thirdly, John saw the woman
“drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of
Jesus” (Rev.17:4-6).
John reveals in the chapters 17th and 18th of
Revelation on the mystery of
Babylon in the Bible Prophecy
In order to appreciate the significance of Babylon in light of Bible prophecy, one must understand something of Hebrew history. The northern kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians in 722-721 B.C. The southern kingdom (Judah) had been spared that catastrophe (see Isaiah 37) but, due to her progressive apostasy, was on a clear collision course with Babylon. The prophets warned that if Judah continued her rebellion, Jehovah would raise up Nebuchadnezzar as His “servant” to punish the wayward Hebrews. Many of them would be killed; others would be captured and taken away as prisoners by the marauding Babylonians (Jeremiah 25:9). The Chaldean monarch, however, would not be commended or rewarded for this endeavor; rather, after his subjugation of Judah, the Lord would punish him, and the Babylon regime would commence a journey toward oblivion. Jeremiah summed up the history of this affair in the following way:
It is seen from the above that the destruction of the physical Babylon took place much before the New Testament period. But John sees through his prophetic eyes the great whore Babylon sitting upon many waters with the blood of martyrs in her hands. According to the vision of John, it is a Babylonian kingdom represented first by the Rome. This is the dividing line between the Old Testament Babylon which was destroyed by God and the New Testament Babylon which was born through a kingdom that suppresses and persecutes the Body of Christ.
There is a good reason why the connection was made between the Babylonian and Roman Empires. Rome is called Babylon because her forces, like those of Babylon at an earlier time, destroyed the temple. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in the 580s B.C. and sent its people into captivity (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 52). The Roman Empire did essentially the same thing in A.D. 66-70. Thus, Rome was Babylon all over again.
Babylon the Great, however, stands for a world system more universal than that of the old Roman Empire. Here I quote the words of a biblical scholar Robert W. Wall, she is "The ‘global village’ of godless power, which determines daily life for every person at any time in human history" (Revelation, New International Biblical Commentary, p. 202).
"The great city is every city and no city," said Leon Morris, another scholar, of this Babylon the Great. "It is civilized man, mankind organized apart from God. It has its embodiment in every age" (Revelation, revised edition, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, p. 203).
What does Babylon the Great represent? It is a symbol that stands for all the ungodly religious-political-social-economic systems that humans have created. As John might put it in his letters, Babylon is simply "the world" (1 John 2:15). The world system depicted under this symbol would be that one that does not reflect God’s nature of love, and which in turn enslaves mankind.
Babylon the Great may have represented the mother goddess of the ancient Near East, Athena, or the goddess Roma, or the power structure of Assyria – to mention three ancient examples. She may be state-sponsored religion or ideology in the service of worship of the state at any time in human history. If we extend the metaphor to its limits, Babylon can also be found wherever men and women use religion, ideology or political-economic power to further their ungodly aims in opposition to the things of God. But these are all just types or precursors.
In Old Testament Scripture the ancient city of Babylon stood for the power structure of evil that opposed God. That image is carried over into the book of Revelation. One commentator summarizes the book as "A Tale of Two Cities." It is Babylon the Great versus the New Jerusalem. Just as the New Jerusalem personifies the perfection and eternal state of the kingdom of God, Babylon the Great personifies the kingdom of humanity, which was to be destroyed.
Revelation’s image of Babylon the Great is a timeless one. While it can be seen in every civilization – no human empire to date has been the Babylon. John through his prophetic eyes saw a fallen Babylon. God has already judged this kingdom.
Economic, materialistic and religious kingdom
There is purely an economic, materialistic and religious kingdom in this world,
being established on the foundation of money and wealth, and not on the laws of
God, especially the doctrines of Christ and His apostles. It is well entrenched
on religious practices and customs. In other words, it is a kingdom of trade
and industry with a religious covering. Every ruler has committed fornication
with her and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of
her delicacies (18:3). This materialistic and religious kingdom is quite
opposed to the
This unseen, materialistic and religious kingdom still exists today. How does it exist today? It exists in every form of worship of idols and in every religious system that persecutes the Body of Christ. It is the great whore that sits upon many waters with her hands stained by the blood of the martyrs of Christian faith.
Wealth and Religion
It we read the church history, the rulers of this world who worshipped the god
of materialism, and who did not worship the true living God and Christ killed
many believers. The gospel of Christ did not allow them to lead a sumptuous and
materialistic life. Nor did it allow them to help the needy because Christ
preached that the rich cannot enter the
Apart from materialism, we find that the
Babylonian system consists of religious rites and practices which are repugnant
to the doctrines of Christ and His apostles. Religion is one of the mighty arms
of the Babylonian system. Perusal of the
Church history shows that the Babylonian system persecuted the members of the
Body of Christ.
Babylonian Religion with men-made practices
The Babylonian religion is the one that is based
on suppression of the truth and on certain religious customs and men-made
practices which are repugnant to the doctrines of Christ and His apostles. It
has a religion which allows religious freedom but prevents the people from understanding
the truth with their minds.
It allows worship of God and Christ but blinds
the people so as not to see the universal Body of Christ, the real Church. It
always persecutes the Body of Christ. It
does allow the people to worship God and Christ but with idols in their hearts.
If we look at this religion from close quarters, we find that this system leads
the people to the worship of a christ who is different
from the One as mentioned in the Word.
This religious system mixes the truth with the untruth so that the people may not be able to perceive the truth through their eyes. False doctrines are the pedal on which this whole religious system operates in a surreptitious manner. The scepter of this religious kingdom is the pride. They do not accept the truth because their hearts are full of pride and hypocrisy. They are Pharisees, worshipping God outwardly and looking like whited sepulchers which indeed appear beautiful but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. They outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within they are full of hypocrisy and iniquity (Matt.23:27-28).
The truth is that there is Phareeism in one way or the other in all these denominational churches today. Jesus condemned the Phareeism as the leaven. It is this religious kingdom that opposes the truth of the Word and persecutes the Body of Christ. It is the great whore that sits upon the waters with her hands stained with the blood of the martyrs. It is the materialistic and religious system or the kingdom that causes the martyrdom of the true followers of Christ Jesus. Be it the Ancient Rome or the Muslim fundamentalists.
The Catholic Church persecuted the followers of
Christ Jesus. Then the Protestant Churches separated themselves from the
Babylonian religion of the Catholic Church. The Protestant Churches had not
fully come out of this Babylonian religion. Then the Pentecostal Churches
separated themselves from the Protestant Churches. But the Pentecostal Churches
also, though separated from the Protestant Churches, have not fully come out of
the Babylonian religion. Today the Pentecostal Churches persecute the Body of
Christ. False doctrines and religious practices rule the roost in all these
denominational churches including the Pentecostal churches. THIS IS THE
MYSTERY OF THE GREAT
It does allow the people to worship God and
Christ but with idols in their hearts. The Catholic Church allowed worship of
God and Christ but also set the idols of worshipping mother Mary and the dead
saints in their hearts. It had also set
out many doctrines which were against the Word of God. Such doctrines formed
part of the idolatrous system of the Catholic Church. The Protestant Churches threw away these
idols but did not come out of many such false doctrines. Then the Pentecostal
Churches which separated themselves from the Protestant Churches also did not
come out of religious practices and customs which were repugnant to the Word of
God.
False doctrines and
religious practices
Certain false doctrines rule the roost in most of the Pentecostal
Churches. These doctrines have become their idols. Certain personal experiences in the Spirit
realm experienced by the founding fathers of the Pentecostal movement have
become the idols of these churches. These experiences have become their religious
practices over the years. These personal experiences have since taken the place
of the Word of God.
The gifts of the Spirit were given undue
importance with the result that the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy
were misused. The spiritual experience of speaking in tongues was over
emphasized with the result that those who did not receive this experience were
condemned.
The truth concerning the gift of prophecy was not
properly understood with the result that many started prophesying under the Old
Covenant, saying, “Thus saith the Lord thy God”. They speak words purported to
be from the mouth of God the Father. We should note that God the Father
has spoken to us through His Son only, and does not speak to the world through
any person (Heb.1:1-2). No prophecy under the New Testament would reveal a new
way of salvation. “For all the prophets and the law prophesied
until John” (Matt.11:13).
The truth concerning the five-fold ministry and
the truth concerning ministry to the saints, especially the poor saints,
widows, etc. were relegated to the background. But the doctrine of giving of
tithes and offerings was overemphasized with a view to amassing wealth by the
pastors. The apostolic doctrines of ministering to the saints, especially the
poor saints, were thrown to the wind. The doctrine of material prosperity, one
of the tools of the Babylonian system, has permeated all these churches. The
people are taught to become rich and to give more to the churches. Poor saints, widows and women forsaken by
their husbands are not ministered to in many of these churches. The Babylonian
doctrine of materialism is brought into these churches. Cross-bearing,
suffering, etc. have taken the back-seat in most of these churches. Sins like
remarriage of divorced spouses during the life-time of the spouses of the
opposite sex, pre-marital relationship between boys and girls, etc. are
condoned with the result that these churches have become the
citadel of “every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird” (Rev.18:2).
Nationalism or patriotism has become an idol in many churches in
The truth concerning the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit was overemphasized and twisted with the result that those who had
received this spiritual experience started glorying in this experience but
failed to evangelize the world.
Evangelism and burden for lost souls have become anonymous in these
churches. Most of the churches preach mainly on the subject of rapture and
are reported to be preparing themselves for the rapture.
The truth concerning the universal Body of
Christ was ignored with the result that most of these churches started condemning the
churches of other denominations who did not subscribe to their doctrines and
beliefs. They started condemning the
individual evangelists who were used by God mightily through signs and wonders
and even asked their congregations not to give money to these evangelists.
Without loving the members of the Body of Christ in other churches in their own
nations and in other nations, they worship God and Christ. How can they love the Christ Whose Body they
do not love? They worship another Christ – a christ
sans the body. The apostles and prophets who are the foundation of the Church,
the Body of Christ are not received in these churches. The pastors have themselves usurped the
apostolic and prophetic ministries. The
same Levitical priesthood that existed during the Old Testament period and that
was revived during the Roman Catholic Church period is still being followed in
these churches. The pastors covet
obeisance of their congregations to their leaderships and not to the truth of
the Word. If there is any dissent from
any quarters, the pastors excommunicate the sheep concerned from their
churches.
Those who question the leaders of these churches
on the above doctrinal errors are being persecuted and driven out of their
churches. They stone the prophets sent by God to them. Does not this amount to
persecution of the Body of Christ that the early Catholic Church did? The idols
of false doctrines still rule the roost in these churches.
Most of these churches have since become part of the
MOTHER OF HARLOTS because the Holy Spirit has left many of these churches.
Through the ages God has been
exposing this Babylonian system ever since the birth of the Church. God has
already judged the great
This Babylonian stands already
judged by God. It is the habitation of devils. The Holy Spirit cannot cohabit
with His people in the den of devils, and in the hold of every foul spirit and
a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
John 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” (Rev.18:4)
We have to come out of this
religious and materialistic kingdom of the
Glorious Church without spot or blemish
Christ comes for His Bride, the Body of Christ, a glorious church which is without spot or blemish. If we claim the Roman Catholic Church to be the true universal Body of Christ, it cannot be so because this Church is blemished by the blood of martyrs and by the idol worships. If we claim the Protestant Church to be the true universal Body of Christ, it cannot be so because this denominational church has also its inherent weaknesses and blemishes. The same is applicable to the Pentecostal Church also.
(T.Job Anbalagan)