END TIMES: DARKNESS DESCENDING BY END TIMES: DARKNEWSS DESCENDING
In this posting, I’m going to present two sides of the great debate of the identification of Revelation’s MYSTERY BABYLON. The first one is probably a little less discussed or even considered, but when the evidence is looked at closely, it becomes a top contender. The second possibility will look at Vatican City in Rome as being a very viable candidate. Further, it may be possible that the second candidate may actually be involved with the first candidate and prove to be intimately tied to it. It is often assumed by many that The United States of America is MYSTERY BABYLON. But for a few reasons that shall be explored in this posting, I do not believe that it is. In a previous posting, I’ve already shared the reasons why I believe that America displays all of the tell-tale signs that it is none other than the Vineyard in Matthew 21:33-43 (see posting here). With that said, let’s now take a look at the two candidates for MYSTERY BABYLON.
CANDIDATE 1: THE GLOBAL SYSTEM OF MEGALOPOLIS
When the history of “Mystery Babylon The Great” from Revelation 17 and 18 are examined from it’s commercial history perspective, we discover that it was the ancient merchants of Tarshish that were headquartered first in Tyre, then later in Carthage, Rome and other parts of Europe. In Ezekiel 27, they provide the prophetic model for the last days “merchant bankers” of our era. Today, these men control the world’s commerce, operating under the ancient premise that their transactions supersede the laws of the various nations that they use to promote their global profiteering. These men have always operated under the so-called “Law Merchant,” which gives them a kind of immunity from the strictures of local practice. Rather, they are a law unto themselves, and their credo is global citizenship. It was always so. Even in the days of Tyre, the market was considered to be worldwide:
“The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas” (Ezekiel 27:25).
Furthermore, their ethics are derived from the pagan religion of Babylon and it’s worship of Baal and Ishtar. This “mystery religion” has taken many forms over the ages, from the Babylonian mother-and-child mythology of Ishtar and Tammuz, through the Egyptian Isis and Osiris, the Greek Diana and Dionysus, and the Roman Venus and Adonis. However, at it’s heart, it relies upon an initiation into a secret brotherhood. It’s members are an exclusive club that worships at the twin altars money and the occultic forces – the gods of business and power. It’s banks are it’s temples. This is the key to understanding the mystery of Babylon. Down through time, the names of it’s deities changes from culture to culture, but their goals and ideas remain the same. With the expansion of Christian missions in the 19th and early 20th centuries, their pagan influence dropped into relative obscurity. But now, the religion of the “goddess” is once again quickly emerging, even within mainline Christian denominations, where she is called “Sophia,” the goddess of wisdom.
THE “GREAT CITY”
The Bible predicts that both spiritually and monetarily, Babylon will die a spectacular death. It seems that God has reserved a special measure of his wrath for this system. In Revelation 17 and 18, the merchants and their occultic system of worship are witnessed as they come to a state of total collapse. However, the angelic announcement of Babylon’s destruction is given in Revelation 14, where she is associated with the beast and his diabolical system of market controls.
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation … ” (Revelation 14:8-10).
In this passage and several others which follow it (Revelation 16:19/17:18/18:10/18:16/18:18/18:19 and 18:21), the Babylonian system is referred to as “that great city.” With the pouring of the seventh vial in Revelation 16:19, the city is addressed in a way that suggests that it is an actual geographic location:
“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).
This raises a very large question. Namely, what city on earth is so large and important that it’s destruction can totally halt the merchant traffic, international finance and false worship of the entire world system? For indeed, that is what “Mystery Babylon the Great” actually is – a well orchestrated global operation. The answer seems to be no answer at all. If New York fell, the system would continue. Or if Tokyo, or Rome, or London, or Sydney, or Babylon in Iraq fell, other parts of the market would quickly take up the slack. So what, and where, is the city?
MEGALOPOLIS
Many have attempted to answer this difficult question. But no single answer has thus far seemed satisfactory. For some, their answer is indeed satisfactory, but when the answer is looked at closer, holes exist. But perhaps we can get closer to the solution if we consider the actual designation of the city, as given in the original New Testament Greek language.
