Babylon the Great: Rome or Babylon?

   Prophecy describes a future fulfilment for a great city which sits in the wilderness with her companion, a beast with seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17 details a great city, metaphorically depicted as a woman, full of spiritual depravity, who has kingship over the kings of the earth in the last days. The woman is economically corrupt, a habitation of foul spirits, regulating a religious merchant system of buying and selling. 

   Her name is Babylon the Great, indicating a city located in the heart of the ancient Babylon kingdom. 

   During the time period of great tribulation, those who wonder after the beast: R 13:3b; 17:8b, will bow in submission before its image, its name, or the number of the name of it, and receive a mark. The mark is worn on the right hand or the forehead, granting privilege to buy and sell: 13:15-17. Those who refuse this global ordinance will be killed. 

   The woman, that great city who rules over the kings of the earth, will be a global economic powerhouse, regulating the flow of merchandise tied to the global spiritual harlotry of buying and selling: 17:1; 18:3,11-19. And, for this harlotry, she faces judgement.

   ...  Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath: Revelation 16:19b

    John is literally in the midst of great tribulation, serving as a witness, watching it unfold,  when an Angel appears. The Angel arrives to explain why Babylon has been singled out by God for judgement. The Angel will show John the judgement of the woman arrayed in scarlet and purple, adorned with the riches of the world. In order for a judgement to occur, there needs to be a city in the land of Shinar, the ancient Babylonian kingdom. 

   The Al Faw Grand Port, in Basra, Iraq is nearing completion and, will be one of the largest merchant ports in the world. Not only is the shipping port being prepared, but the next phase is being planned - a system of roads and rail connecting Basra to Turkey which will continue into Asia and Europe. The Development Road will be a series of tunneled highways and rail systems, creating a gateway for global shipping... right through the heart of the ancient Babylonian kingdom. 

   But, somewhere down the line, Babylon was relocated to Europe; altering scripture, removing the authority of the Bible. 

Revelation 18: Babylon the Great, The Merchant Port City

   Babylon the Great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His  fierce wrath...  

   Revelation 17 began with an interlude; a pause from the events of the great tribulation period. One of the seven angels with one of the seven bowls took John into the wilderness, a barren and desolate desert to show John why Babylon was singled out for judgement. Here John sees a woman dressed in scarlet and purple, adorned with the riches of the world; sitting upon a scarlet beast kingdom with seven heads and ten horns. The beast is full of blasphemy - blasphemous men and women who mock the God of heaven, while worshiping a false and malicious god. From this location, the woman demonstrates her ruling power over the kings of the earth, and the many waters - peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. 

   The golden cup in her hands is full of vile things. The name written on her forehead was a mystery; Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth; suggesting a middle east location. John also witnessed a plot of vengeance, a conspiracy, against the woman, organized by ten kings who control the affairs of the beast kingdom. The angel identifies the woman named Babylon the Great, as that great city, who rules over the kings of the earth. (how much more obvious can it be?)

   After John is shown all these things, a second angel comes down from heaven having great power and, lightens the earth with his glory:18:1. John isn't taken in the spirit, when the second angel arrives, indicating that John and the first angel, are still in the wilderness, where the beast, and the woman are located: 17:3. 

Revelation 4: God's Heavenly Throne Room:

    After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. Revelation 4:1,2 

   John is taken in the spirit: 

   Chapter 4 begins with an open door and a voice like a trumpet which says: "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this". This is the second time John has heard the voice 'like that of a trumpet'; the first was in Revelation 1:10, when he was in the spirit on the Lord's Day. John was then given a very specific task; to serve as a witness and record future events: Rev 1:19. 

   Now, the voice as a trumpet speaks again, and John is taken immediately into the heavenly realm, bypassing spiritual dimensions to serve as a witness, recording the events shown to him. He was not given dreams and visions; instead, he becomes spirit, carried into the day of the Lord to see the things which will be.  

The Image and the Mark: Revelation 13:11-17

   Which comes first, the baby or the birth pains? Any mother will tell you, that birth pains arrive before the baby does. What we are witnessing, is the rise of global birth pains; wars and threats of wars, famines and earthquakes, the beginning of sorrows - the birth pains that precede the baby's arrival. The baby represents the birth of a new era; the second coming of Christ Jesus. 

   The same logic applies to the image and the mark. You can not have the mark without the image. The image must be in existence before the mark is enforced. Just as the birth pains come before the baby, the image comes before the mark. 

   So, where is it? 

   We often hear about how this or that is the 'mark of the beast.' It's a barcode, a jab, A.I., a microchip, digital I.D., Sunday law, a fingerprint, an eye scan, our cell phones, a brain implant, an electronic pill.... If 'this and that' is the 'mark of the beast', then, where is the image? What is it and, when was submission to an image required to make everyday purchases? 

Idols of Gold and Silver: Revelation 9:20-21

   And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

 

   These two verses sum up the events following the sixth trumpet judgement, focusing on the unrepentant state of a godless population. The two-thirds 2/3 who are still alive after one-third 1/3 of the population is killed: (Rev 9:13-19), flock to the altar of self-indulgence to worship the Babylon gods of gold, silver, brass, wood and stone. 

   Mankind has turned primal; driven to madness by the demons they worship. They commit mass murders, and are addicted to potions of mind-altering drugs. They remain unrepentant of their evil works: murders, wicked acts of fornication, thefts and sorceries. Sorceries is a translation from the Greek word; pharmakōn - drugs: toxins and poisons used with spirit channeling, demon summoning and spell-binding. Wickedness rules a world where lawlessness abounds.  

Revelation 13 Rise of the False Prophet

Beast Out of the Earth: The False Prophet: 

   The beast out of the earth represents the religion or, religious system of the first beast; the beast out of the sea.  

   The beast out of the sea is a kingdom, specifically recognized by ten kings, and the eleventh king; the little horn or, antichrist. The beast out of the earth is the religion or religious system of the first beast, recognized by its 'king'; the false prophet. The beast out of the earth has the same power of the first beast: the beast out of the sea.

   During the tribulation period, the beast kingdom (iron) is regulated by its religious system (clay). This religious system  is governed by the sorcerer, the false prophet. This is the religious system that attacks Israel and those who have the testimony of Christ Jesus. 

   False prophet is from the Greek: ψευδοπροφητης which means: to prophesize falsely, a medium. This should come as no surprise, as the beast out of the earth, speaks the words of the red dragon: the murderer, the father of lies: John 8:44. The false prophet works as a religious cheerleader, promoting the kingdom of darkness and its king; the little horn. 

   The false prophet is a high priest, a sorcerer, the master magician who rules in the kings court, performing great signs and wonders, deceiving those who dwell upon the earth. These signs and wonders are nothing new, as they have been practiced by sorcerers and magicians for thousands of years, throughout the post-flood Mesopotamia. The courts of the Kings, along with the palaces of the Pharaohs, were filled with false prophets: magicians, sorcerers, seers, diviners, enchanters and necromancers; working in service to their kings. 

   This is what the false prophet represents; a master magician working in service to the king. 

Hermeneutics - Bible Interpretation 101

Bible Interpretation 101:

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” – Proverbs 27:17

   I recently watched an outstanding teaching by Mondo Gonzales from Prophecy Watchers entitled "Walking into the Antichrist's Trap." While I listened, I noticed a consistent pattern of Hermeneutics concerning Israel, the future covenant and the role of antichrist in the end days. He flawlessly weaved prophecy together in harmony with scripture; intertwining Daniel with Revelation in unity. This is how interpretive scripture works.

   I had done an independent study on the 'principles of Hermeneutics' eons ago, so I dug out those old notes, and walked down memory lane. These principles had guided my studies of prophecy, which has been ongoing for nearly four decades. I investigate, analyze and scrutinize prophetic scripture, always have, always will. The most amazing thing with this method of interpretation is, the more you analyze and scrutinize, the more the Bible reveals. 

   When studying prophecy, “I think" or, "I believe" is a great way to begin a brainstorming session or, in-depth study but, they are not proper biblical hermeneutical principles.

  Hermeneutics is a big word for a simple principle; it is the theory and methodology of interpretation; the 'how' of interpretation. It is based upon scripture and methodical interpretation; not assumptions or general beliefs that lack proof or scriptural support - scripture interprets scripture.