In the Old Testament the battle was clearly between the literal nation of Israel and literal Babylon (Dan. 1). In Revelation we also find a struggle between Israel and Babylon (7:4; 14:1, 8). As many of us well know, the majority of prophecy teachers apply this, at least the Israel part, to literal Jews on the West Bank. But lets be consistent: What about Babylon? Does this apply to a rebuilt city south of Baghdad? Some say yes. The evidence suggests otherwise. In Revelation 17 a shiny angel beckoned to John: Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters (verse 1, NKJV). So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy having in her hand a golden cup (verses 3, 4, NKJV). And on her forehead a name was written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (verses 3-5). John was in the Spirit (verse 3) when he received this prophecy. So must we be in the Spirit to interpret it correctly. The womans name is Mystery, Babylon. The word Mystery is significant. In Revelation 1 the true interpreter, Jesus Christ, used the same word as He applied the Jewish imagery of seven golden candlesticks to His church. In Revelation 17 the same word is applied to the enemy of His church, to Mystery, Babylon. And this Babylon has no application to the ancient city whose sun-cracked bricks are now whitening south of Baghdad. In Old Testament days literal Babylon sat on the literal river Euphrates. In the Revelation of Jesus Christ Mystery Babylon also sits on many waters (Rev. 17:1, NKJV), yet these waters dont refer to the literal murky Euphrates River now trickling through modern Iraq. For Johns angel interpreter gives this explosive divine interpretation: The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues (verse 15, NKJV). According to the angel interpreter, the many waters of Revelations Euphrates represent people all over Planet Earth who now support Mystery, Babylon. They are drunk with the wine of her fornication (verse 2), wine being obviously symbolic-as is her fornication. The wine stands for Babylons false doctrines, while her fornication applies to her unlawful union with the kings of the earth (verse 2). Mystery, Babylon is also a woman (verse 3), which in prophecy represents a church. God likens His people to a wife that has made herself ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9, NKJV). The Babylonian woman has also fallen (Rev. 14:8). This must mean that Mystery, Babylon in Revelation represents a globally supported church that has fallen away from her true lover, Jesus Christ, and from Bible truth. Yet God still has people inside of Babylon, whom He calls my people. Before the last act of historys drama, He calls them to come out (Rev. 18:4). Why? Because the river Euphrates is destined to run dry. youtu.be/Z5Z2E0eX9RU
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:09:15 +0000