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Who is Mystery, Babylon the Great?

"And upon her forehead was a name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"
(Revelation 17:5).


by Tom Stewart

Preface

hy should the "Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding" (Isaiah 11:2) inspire the Apostle John to record that Babylon the Great is "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (17:5)? The ziggurats of the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and the Mayan people of Central America indicate the antiquity of such structures as the Tower of Babel-- built like the Egyptian pyramids in receding tiers, often of sun-baked bricks, e.g., "Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter" (Genesis 11:3). These ziggurats normally had shrines at the top, which indicated their use for religious worship. One of the most ancient examples of these ziggurats was discovered in Erech, i.e., "And the beginning of [Nimrod's] kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar" (10:10), dating more than 3,000 years before Christ. For this reason, Babylon the Great would be viewed as the Fountainhead of Idolatry and Spiritual Harlotry and "ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (17:5), since the time of Noah's Flood.



Ancient Babylon: The Mother of Harlots

he very name Babylon is also translated as Babel in the Old Testament. "8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the Earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod [literally, rebellion] the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel [literally, confusion], and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar" (Genesis 10:8-10). Subsequently, the building on a "plain in the land of Shinar" (11:2). of a "city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven" (11:4); was devised to exalt man and not God. "11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish" (Psalm 49:11-12). Jehovah's judgment was to scatter and confuse them, because the intent of the builders of the Tower of Babel was not only to exalt the name of man, i.e., "let us make us a name" (Genesis 11:4), but to refuse obedience to the Almighty's command to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth" (9:1)-- which implies populating and overspreading the Earth-- as can be seen in their concern that they would "be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole Earth" (11:4).



Papal Rome: Babylon's Tradition

t is typical of a prostitute to know "no shame" (Zephaniah 3:5), inasmuch that Scripture speaks of a "whore's forehead" (Jeremiah 3:3), i.e., "Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush" (Jeremiah 6:15). John Gill (1809) recorded that some harlots of ancient times impudently advertised their names over their doors, as well as upon their foreheads. But, the name emblazoned by God upon the forehead of the Whore, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (17:5), makes simple her identification. "Knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth" (Proverbs 14:6). The Greek word musterion, which is translated "MYSTERY" (17:5), is capitalized by the translators of the King James Version as part of the title "BABYLON THE GREAT" (17:5); however, it may only be an adjective describing the woman's title, e.g., "Babylon the great" (18:2). John Wesley also reminds us, "This very word ['MYSTERY'] was inscribed on the front of the Pope's mitre, till some of the Reformers took public notice of it" (from Wesley's comments on Revelation 17:5 in his "Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament" [1765].) [See our article, "An Earnest Appeal to Roman Catholics: Or, Roman Catholicism Examined in Light of the Scriptures" ---New Window, for a realistic look at Catholicism.] In his classic expose on Romanism, Alexander Hislop (1809-1865), a Scottish Free Church minister, wrote, "There never has been any difficulty in the mind of any enlightened Protestant in identifying the woman 'sitting on seven mountains,' and having on her forehead the name written, 'Mystery, Babylon the Great,' with the Roman apostacy" (from the Introduction to "The Two Babylons: Or, The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife" [1853].) It has been a common position of Christians since the Reformation to view Roman Catholicism as a corruption of the Primitive Church, and a torch bearer of the "mystery of iniquity" (2Thessalonians 2:7) that has polluted the world from Ancient Babylon to the present. Henry Alford (1857) saw Roman Catholicism in the BABYLON THE GREAT of this passage: "I do not hesitate therefore, induced mainly by these considerations, which will be confirmed as we proceed step by step in the prophecy, to maintain that interpretation which regards papal and not pagan Rome as pointed out by the harlot of this vision" (from "Alford's Greek Testament: An Exegetical and Critical Commentary," IV, p. 705.) [See "The Reformation and the Church of Rome" ---New Window from our in-depth series of articles on "Babylon the Great" ---New Window for Martin Luther's perspective of Rome's connection to Babylon ---New Window.]



America: A Type of Babylon the Great

uke the physician recorded the Apostle Peter's Pentecostal Sermon in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. The Apostle cited Joel 2:28-32 as the explanation for the strange and wonderful events that accompanied the birth of the Church. "16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 and it shall come to pass in the Last Days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 and I will shew wonders in Heaven above, and signs in the Earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the LORD come: 21 and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the LORD shall be saved" (Acts 2:16-21). In particular, Peter's citation of Joel's ancient prophecy connects these End Times with Pentecost, allowing for the appearance of Modern Prophets, i.e., "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" (2:17), before the end of the Church Age. And, as always, their prophecies cannot contradict the already completed Canon of Scripture, for the "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

Dumitru Duduman (1932-1997) was a Romanian Christian prophet, whom the LORD sent to America to warn especially the American Christians of God's plan to judge America's sins, i.e., "'The Russian spies have discovered where the nuclear warehouses are in America. When the Americans will think that it is peace and safety - from the middle of the country, some of the people will start fighting against the government. The government will be busy with internal problems. Then from the ocean, from Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico...' (He told me two other countries, but I didn't remember what they were.) '...they will bomb the nuclear warehouses. When they explode, America will burn!'" (excerpted from "America Will Burn" ---New Window.) Duduman was given Jeremiah 51:8-15, Revelation 18, and Zechariah 14 as the explanation for the identification of America as Babylon the Great. "Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon [the United States of America], make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which He spake against the inhabitants of Babylon" (Jeremiah 51:12).

Though it is accurate to designate the One World Church as the "Babylon the Great" (Revelation 18:2) that is destroyed in Revelation 18, it is not a misappropriation to view the judgment of America as a precursor fulfillment of the Revelation 18 destruction. "2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 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, and the merchants of the Earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies... 5 For her sins have reached unto Heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities... 8 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" (Revelation 18:2, 3, 5, 8). [See our articles, "The Conversion of Dumitru Duduman" ---New Window and "Dumitru Duduman: A Prophet to the United States of America" ---New Window, for a more complete look at the life and ministry of this modern prophet. Our editorial, "The Danger of Modern Prophets" ---New Window, attempts to give a brief presentation of the concept of modern prophets.] In explanation of "Why did God name America MYSTERY BABYLON?", Duduman was told, "Tell them, because all the nations of the world immigrated to America with their own gods and were not stopped. Encouraged by the freedom here, the wickedness began to increase. Later on, even though America was established as a Christian nation, the American people began to follow the strange gods that the immigrants had brought in, and also turned their backs on the God who had built and prospered this country" (from Duduman's prophecy, "Why did God name America MYSTERY BABYLON?" ---New Window [1984].) "1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel" (Numbers 25:1-3).



One World Worship: The False Prophet's Final Stage

What will be the final form of Babylon the Great? We can be sure that the Whore:

(1) Will be personified as "the False Prophet" (Revelation 16:13). Since Babylon the Great only rides the Beast, i.e., "I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast [the Antichrist]" (17:3), she is not to be confused with the Beast himself. Her intimacy with the Beast stems from her need for the governmental power of the Beast to assure her a monopolistic religious franchise, i.e., "as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed" (13:15).

(2) Will promote the worship of the Antichrist., i.e., Babylon the Great "exerciseth all the power of the first beast [the Antichrist] before him, and causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed" (Revelation 13:12). Babylon the Great's ingenious device will be forcing the world to take the Mark of the Beast, which assures the participation of every human being in the religion of Babylon the Great, in exchange for life and its physical necessities. "16 And [the False Prophet] causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (13:16-17).

(3) Will spiritually fornicate with the kings of the Earth, i.e., "With whom the kings of the Earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (17:2), because, as with the Antichrist, she needs their help to force her religion upon the world. Her spiritual fornication is that she will champion the violation of the Most High God's Law of Love. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind... Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:37, 39).

(4) Will be blasphemous, i.e., "And [Babylon the Great] had power to give life unto the image of the Beast, that the image of the Beast should both speak... full of names of blasphemy" (13:15; 17:3). "10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart... 21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him" (Proverbs 7:10, 21).

(5) Will be materially rich, i.e., "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" (Revelation 17:4).

(6) Will be a murderer of the True Saints, i.e., "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints, and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus" (Revelation 17:6).

(7) Will reign over the people of the world, i.e., the "inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication... The waters which thou sawest, where the Whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Revelation 17:2, 15).

(8) Will be characterized as a city, i.e., "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the Earth" (Revelation 17:18). Alexander Hislop recorded: "No other city in the world has ever been celebrated, as the city of Rome has, for its situation on seven hills. Pagan poets and orators, who had not thought of elucidating prophecy, have alike characterised it as 'the seven hilled city.' Thus Virgil refers to it: 'Rome has both become the most beautiful (city) in the world, and alone has surrounded for herself seven heights with a wall.' Propertius, in the same strain, speaks of it (only adding another trait, which completes the Apocalyptic picture) as 'The lofty city on seven hills, which governs the whole world.' Its 'governing the whole world' is just the counterpart of the Divine statement--'which reigneth over the kings of the earth' (Rev 17:18). To call Rome the city 'of the seven hills' was by its citizens held to be as descriptive as to call it by its own proper name. Hence Horace speaks of it by reference to its seven hills alone, when he addresses, 'The gods who have set their affections on the seven hills.' Martial, in like manner, speaks of 'The seven dominating mountains.' In times long subsequent, the same kind of language was in current use; for when Symmachus, the prefect of the city, and the last acting Pagan Pontifex Maximus, as the Imperial substitute, introduces by letter one friend of his to another, he calls him 'De septem montibus virum'--'a man from the seven mountains,' meaning thereby, as the commentators interpret it, 'Civem Romanum,' 'A Roman Citizen.' Now, while this characteristic of Rome has ever been well marked and defined, it has always been easy to show, that the Church which has its seat and headquarters on the seven hills of Rome might most appropriately be called 'Babylon,' inasmuch as it is the chief seat of idolatry under the New Testament, as the ancient Babylon was the chief seat of idolatry under the Old" (from the Introduction to "The Two Babylons: Or, The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife" [1853].)

(9) Will be destroyed by the Antichrist, i.e., "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast, these shall hate the Whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire" (Revelation 17:16).

(10) Will be judged by the Almighty God. i.e., "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (Revelation 17:17). [Read our "Commentary on the Book of Revelation" ---New Window for more about these not-so-future events.]

Conclusion

ho is Babylon the Great? The evidence of Scripture and the support of history indicate that Ancient Babylon has continued her whorish tradition through Roman Catholicism, inundating and polluting America, but still awaiting a final vehicle to forcibly include all people and all religious traditions in the ultimate worship of the Antichrist. "[Antichrist] opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2Thessalonians 2:4). Though the Roman Pontiff has adopted the wait-and-see Gamaliel approach to the chartering of the United Religions Initiative (URI), if the Almighty soon chooses to remove His watching and waiting Saints by Pre-Tribulational Rapture, then the events of the ensuing Tribulation Week will take away the necessity of a voluntary, interfaith URI. [Read our editorial, "United Religions (2000): A Tower Unto Heaven" ---New Window, for more background on the URI.] Of course, the events of the Tribulation Week will mean that the Pope must mandate the worship of the Antichrist "in the midst of the week" (Daniel 9:27), if he continues to pursue the headship of world worship, namely as the False Prophet. "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; He will render unto her a recompence" (Jeremiah 51:6).

Wisdom is known by the company we keep. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20). The purpose and benefit of the study of prophecy is to affect the decisions we make for the future, as well as impact the way we live today. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished" (Proverbs 27:12). Wisely Walking Saints will avoid the fellowship of those who knowingly walk in the darkness of Babylon the Great. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). Holy living demands not only walking with Christ apart from known sin, but departing from the company of those whose purpose is to cause us to sin. "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" (Revelation 18:4). If we know that we are rapidly approaching the events of the Tribulation Week, then we ought to pray that we will walk worthy of the LORD, who has promised to deliver us from the Tribulation Week. "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36). [See our article, "Must There Be a Pre-Tribulational Rapture?" ---New Window, to investigate the Scriptural prospects of such an event.]

Maranatha!

Related Topic:

Commentary on the BOOK of REVELATION
Chapter 17: Revealing the Mystery of Babylon the Great and the Beast ---New Window
by Tom Stewart
"Both Chapter 17 and the following chapter describe the destruction of "Babylon the Great" (17:5), i.e., "I will shew unto thee the judgment of the Great Whore" (17:1); but, this chapter sets the stage for that destruction by revealing to us the identities of both Babylon the Great and the Beast, i.e., "I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the Beast that carrieth her" (17:7). Many commentators agree that ecclesiastical, political, and economic Babylon are described in this pair of chapters. However, the difficulty of interpreting the two chapters lies in distinguishing the spheres of influence of both the Great Whore and the Antichrist, since they overlap and are intertwined through their spiritual fornication. "Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts" (Nahum 3:4). That their conduct is illicit, can be seen through the name given by the Holy Spirit to Babylon the Great, i.e., the "Great Whore [Greek, porne, also translated as harlot]" (17:1). "17 There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. 18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God" (Deuteronomy 23:17-18)."



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