Disciples Digital Library

Human society and institutions are part of Babylon’s domain, but God is summoning His children to separate from her while there is time . ‘Come out from her and be separate, and do not touch the unholy thing!’ This is the command of Scripture to the followers of Jesus Christ, to leave the Great Whore, Babylon, not to rush into the defiled city and embrace her evil ways. Without holiness, we will never see the Lord!

La société humaine et les institutions font partie du domaine de Babylone, mais Dieu appelle Ses enfants à se séparer d'elle pendant qu'il en est temps . ‘Sortez d'elle et soyez séparés, et ne touchez pas à la chose impie!’ C'est le commandement de l'Écriture aux disciples de Jésus-Christ, de quitter la Grande Prostituée, Babylone, de ne pas se précipiter dans la ville souillée et d'embrasser ses mauvaises voies. Sans sainteté, nous ne verrons jamais le Seigneur!

Babylon is the source of the ideologies and structures of this world. God is calling His saints to come out of the defiled city before it is too late . The Bible teaches disciples of Jesus to live holy lives separated from the existing world order, not physically, but morally and spiritually. They are “ in the world but not of it ,” and the mission of the Church is to call others to “ save themselves from this crooked generation ” before judgment comes.

Babylone est la source des idéologies et des structures de ce monde. Dieu appelle Ses saints à sortir de la ville souillée avant qu'il ne soit trop tard . La Bible enseigne aux disciples de Jésus à mener une vie sainte séparés de l'ordre mondial existant, non pas physiquement, mais moralement et spirituellement. Ils sont “ dans le monde mais n'en font pas partie ”, et la mission de l'Église est d'appeler les autres à “ se sauver de cette génération tordue ” avant que le jugement ne vienne.

Imperial arrogance and idolatry are the legacies of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first, but certainly not its last attempt, to create a world empire . Human history is full of tyrants and empires set on subjugating nations and populations, and this has been the case since time immemorial. This sorry situation will reach its climax shortly before Jesus Christ returns, when Satan gathers his earthly forces in his final attempt to annihilate the true people of God. It will be the final act of the war between the  World Empire  and the Kingdom of God .

L'arrogance impériale et l'idolâtrie sont les héritages de la Tour de Babel, la première tentative de l'humanité, mais certainement pas sa dernière, de créer un empire mondial . L'histoire humaine est pleine de tyrans et d'empires déterminés à soumettre les nations et les populations, et cela a été le cas depuis des temps immémoriaux. Cette triste situation atteindra son paroxysme peu de temps avant le retour de Jésus-Christ, lorsque Satan rassemblera ses forces terrestres dans sa dernière tentative d'anéantir le vrai peuple de Dieu. Ce sera l'acte final de la guerre entre  l'Empire Mondial  et le Royaume de Dieu.

The contrast between two incompatible cities, New Jerusalem and Babylon, is foundational to understanding Revelation’s message . The  Book of Revelation  uses different terms to portray God’s People. For example, they are the “ servants of God ,” the “ saints ,” and the “ brethren .” Churches are “ lampstands ” and “ witnesses .” The servants of the “ Dragon ” are contrasted with the followers of the “ Lamb ” as cities, “ Babylon ” and “ New Jerusalem .”

Imperial arrogance and idolatry are the legacies of the Tower of Babel, humanity’s first but not last attempt to build a world empire . Human history is dominated by tyrants and empires determined to subjugate nations and populations.  This plan has been underway since time immemorial. It will reach its climax shortly before Christ’s return when Satan gathers his earthly forces in his final attempt to annihilate the saints of God. It will be the final act of the war between the  World Empire  and the Kingdom of God.

“Babylon” symbolizes the recurring rise of the world empire and its self-appointed kings and tyrants, and it strides across the Earth even today . There is a much older story behind the visions of the  Book of Daniel . It presents the  World Empire  as it attempted to rule Daniel’s world. However, this imperial power has been striving to subjugate humanity since the dawn of human history. We ignore this biblical narrative at our peril since it is rising once more in our day using its economic and military might to impose its will on nations and peoples.

Babylon is called the “ Land of Shinar ” in Daniel , a link to the Tower of Babel incident in Genesis and the founding of the original imperial city in Mesopotamia. The same story is alluded to in Chapter 3 when the Babylonian king gathered all the nations of his realm to pay homage to the great and “ high ” golden image that he built in the “ Plain of Dura .”

Next, the Book of Revelation presents a detailed description of the destruction of the “ Great City, ” and the justification for it. Her demise is caused, in part, by the hatred of the “ Ten Kings ” who are allied with the “ Beast from the Sea .” They are driven by God to desolate and “ burn her utterly with fire ” for her dominance of world commerce, “ sorcery ,” and especially her persecution of the “ saints .”

The first paragraph of Daniel introduces its key theme - God reigns supreme over the kingdoms of the Earth . This proposition is presented in explicit statements and demonstrated by the accurate predictions of the Prophet to pagan rulers. The Book begins by announcing the overthrow of Judah and the removal of the golden vessels from the “ House of God ” to the “ Land of Shinar .”

The “ Beast ” is a single  history-spanning entity  that has existed since the dawn of human civilization, beginning when Babel “ SET UP a high tower to make us a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth .” That incident is alluded to by Daniel when describing how Nebuchadnezzar subjugated Jerusalem and took the “ vessels of the house of God into the land of Shinar to the house of his god .”

Upon his arrival in the imperial city, Daniel was confronted with a predicament. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would violate his ritual purity. While he might have wished to avoid eating “unclean” meats, more likely, his concern was that consuming the royal “delicacies” would mean his participation in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and religion. Either way, the young man's decision could have dire consequences.

The interpreting angel exposes Babylon’s true nature – She is a seductive whore stained with the blood of martyrs . Chapter 17 of Revelation presents the reader with an impressive female figure, “ Babylon, the Great City .” Her outward appearance is so appealing that even John is mesmerized by her, at least, for the moment (“ I was astonished when I beheld her, with great astonishment! ”). Yet the interpreting angel identifies her as a “ whore ” and links her to the violent deaths of the “ witnesses ” of Jesus.

On the eve of the city’s conquest by the “ Medes and Persians ,” the Babylonian crown prince, Belshazzar, gave a feast “ for a thousand of his lords ” and “ tasted wine ” from the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Temple in Jerusalem, thereby disrespecting the God of Israel while also praising the false gods of Babylon.

John saw a vision of a female figure identified as “ Babylon, the Great Harlot .” She was carried by the “ Beast with Ten Horns and Seven Heads .” She deceived the “ Kings of the Earth ” along with its “ Inhabitants ” with her “ fornications ,” and she was “ drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus .” She was (and remains) the “ Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth .” Her powers of seduction were so great that even John found himself momentarily “ marveling ” after her.

End-Time “ Babylon ” sits on the same beastly entity that John saw “ ascending from the Sea ” in Chapter 13, but it combines the four “ Beasts ” of  Daniel  into one final malignant creature bent on destroying the saints. In Chapter 17, its “lineage” and inevitable destruction are described with language from Daniel’s vision of the “ Little Horn ” and the “ Fourth Beast .”

Babylon is revealed as a bejeweled harlot dripping with the shed blood of martyred saints  –  Revelation 17:1-6 .  In chapter 17,  Revelation  presents the impressive figure of “ Babylon .” She is labeled “ harlot ” and identified as the “ great city ,” and she is responsible for the deaths of the martyrs. “ Babylon ” is also closely associated with the deceptions and economic power of the “ Beast .” In her, the book’s first audience would see the city of Rome.

The seventh “ bowl of wrath ” anticipates the fuller description of the destruction of “ Babylon ” in chapters 17 and 18. It echoes the Old Testament story of the plague of hail inflicted on Egypt at the word of Moses. Emptying the bowl “ on the air ” prepares for the “ great hail ” that will conclude this last “ plague ” and seal Babylon’s doom.