There are probably as man interpretations as to who Babylon
is as there are as to who the Antichrist is. We will not give a lengthy
disortation as to who we believe she is but we will let Scripture speak for
itself and let the read carefully examine the verses and see for themselves.
Many think that either Roman Catholicism or the world system
is Babylon . They seem to be the most common of views today. The Reformers and
the Purtians were big on applying it to the Roman Catholic church but is that
supported by the Word of God.
Here are a few verses
of Scripture to look at and then ask yourself who she is.
Revelation 18
20 Rejoice over
her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for
God hath
avenged you on her.
Who persecuted the Apostles? Since that was a first century
office can it be the Roman Catholic Church? Were they around to persecute the
apostles? This is something vastly overlooked by many when the try to
decypher who this city is. One need
only to look closely at these verses and they will easily be able to rule out
many possible candidates. From this verse we can see that it has to be a city
that was around at the time of the apostles and actually persecuted them that is
why they are venged by her demise.
Here is our next verse:
23
And the
light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and
of the bride shall be
heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth;
for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Was
the voice of the bride and the bridegroom ever come forth from the Roman
Catholic Church or the world system? What is the voice of the bride and the
bridegroom. If Christ is the groom then his church must be the bride. There are
a number of things the voice of the bride can be. The voice of both the
Bride and the Bridgegroom could be the very gospel of our Lord. Is that not
what they proclaiming to sinners? Is that not the voice of her? Or maybe her
voice is one in prayer to the Lord himself. The voice of the bride is sometimes
crys or intercession and adoration to the Bridegroom. Some times the voice of
the Bride and the Groom are such things
as we find in the Song of Solomon. In any case these are not things that are
heard in the Roman Catholic Church nor the world system. They have neither the
gospel nor the prayers of adoration and praise to our Redeemer. So both are
ruled out by this verse. But lets now look at the following verse in chapter 18
of Revelation and compare it to a passage in Matthew 23.
24 And in her was found the blood
of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
35 That
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the
blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the
altar.
Now comparing these to scriptures from Matt 23 and Rev 18 who does it look like Babylon is? The similarity of these two passages are more than mere coincidence. We will let the reader prayerfully see for him or herself.
In our next 2 set
of verses we need to back up a chapter
in Matthew to chapter 22. In this chapter Jesus is telling a parable of the kingdom of heaven being like a king
which made a marriage feast for his son. None come for all have excuses as to
why they cannot come to the feast. We must keep in mind that this is a parable
about the kingdom of heaven. What does the
say and do after those who were bidden to the wedding refuse? Inverse 7
we read: But when the king heard thereof,
he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding
is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. After the city
was burned in Matt 22 parable comes the wedding feast. What was that city in
Matt 22? The answer is quite clear but we will let the reader see for him or
herself as we read on. Look at the verse that follows the parable of the marriage
feast: 15 ¶ Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle
him in his talk.
The very
fact of the reaction of the Pharisees give support as to whom Jesus was
referring to.
But note the comparison of that to Rev 18-19.
Rev 18:17 For
in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all
the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And
cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 19:7 Let
us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb
is come, and his wife
hath made herself ready.
Note that in both these
sections of Scripture the city is burned
and then comes the marriage feast. Is there any doubt now as to the
reality of whom the great city is? The comparison of Matthew 22 with Revelation
18-19 is very striking.
No study of Babylon’s
indentification is complete without looking at
chapter 11 in Revelation.
Re 11:8 And their dead bodies shall
lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
The city where our Lord
was crucified speaks for itself as to who that is. But the term “great city”
also sheds some light on it. A passage
in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah helps us here.
Jer 22:8 And many nations shall pass by this city,
and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done
thus unto this great city? 9 Then they shall answer, Because
they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and
worshipped other gods, and served them.
Now who is Jeremiah referring to?
Now in the light of these
passages of Scripture what is the more likely candidate for Babylon that Great
City? We will let the reader answer in the theater of his or her own
conscience.
Please direct your comments to Mike
Krall.