Woe To You, Great Babylon

Babylon, the Great City, is a prominent theme in Revelation as the prophecies begin to hone in on the very last days. It is referred to by other names, as well – Babylon the Great, the prostitute, and Mother of prostitutes. It is visualized to John, “in the spirit”, as a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, glittering 

with gold, precious stones, and pearls, and holding a golden cup filled with her filthy abominations and adulteries (Rev 17:3-4).

The mention of Babylon the Great is scattered over chapters 14 to 19 in Revelation. It is very helpful to bring these together in one flowing compilation to see and understand what God has to say about this great city of the end of the age, New York City.

A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” (14:8).  God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. (16:19). The name written on her forehead was a mystery: babylon the great; the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. (17:5). The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. (17:16). With a mighty voice {the angel} shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit….  For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” (18:2-3). Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!” (18:10). The merchants… will weep and mourn and cry out…  When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’….  “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.” Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again” (18:15-21).

Babylon the Great is not merely symbolic. It is a literal, specific city of the last days. The name may be symbolic, obviously, but not the city. Just as historical Babylon was the capital city of the Babylonian empire, each of the seven beast nations has had a capital. The seventh beast, the beast of the last days, has as its “de facto” capital New York City. NYC is the great city that has dominated the world for the last century or more. NYC is the great city being spoken of in Revelation. NYC will be destroyed, both by the eighth beast (Rev 17:16), and by the hand of God (Rev 18:8). Its destruction is judgment for the adulteries, abominations, and bloodshed that brought it such great wealth and power. Hard to believe, yes! When it happens, though, we should not be surprised. Americans, are we ready for the judgment that God has ordained? Are we ready for death, mourning, and famine?

The Rapture

 

The Rapture is eagerly anticipated by Christians around the world. It is the incredible event when the dead in Christ will be resurrected and those still alive in Christ will be caught up to be with the Lord forever (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). It is a mystery that is almost inconceivable. That much we all agree upon. Unfortunately, though, there is a whole lot of false teaching about the rapture. Christians are being misled into a false sense of security and bliss.

Christians are told that the rapture is the next thing on God’s agenda. Not so -- suffering and turmoil comes first. The rapture is not a blissful escape before tribulation, rather, it will be a rescue, a blessed redemption from the midst of great suffering.

Christians are told that the rapture is when Jesus will return for His church, while the Second Coming is when He will return with His church. Not so -- nowhere does the Bible say that the second coming of Jesus will be split into two parts, first in hover mode, then seven years later to plant His feet on the Mount of Olives. Jesus didn’t say that, Paul didn’t even hint at that, nor the Apostle John in all of Revelation.

Christians are told that the rapture is not mentioned in Revelation, because Revelation is all about the unbelievers who are left behind to endure the Great Tribulation. Not so -- Paul said that the rapture would occur at the last trumpet (I Cor 15:52). And there it is, in Revelation 14:14-15, exactly like Jesus described His second coming (Mt 24:30-31). And there it is again in Revelation 16:15, right before the seventh bowl, which parallels the seventh trumpet. I really think a person has to be somewhat blinded, or brainwashed, not to see the rapture in Revelation.

Christians are told that they are not destined for the judgment of God, so Jesus raptures the Church prior to the judgments of the Great Tribulation. Not so -- that is wishful thinking, predominant only in America. Jesus wants a pure bride, not a lukewarm, idolatrous bride. Only suffering will produce that. If the Jews were never exempt from judgment, why would we expect God to spare the Church (I Pet 4:17)? Furthermore, the trumpets are not judgments upon wicked unbelievers, during a fictitious Great Tribulation. They are warnings to all mankind of impending doom and destruction, and they are already happening.

And there you have it. The rapture is not an early installment of Christ’s second coming, a blissful escape before suffering and tribulation unfolds in the last days. That is a fabrication, in partnership with the Great Tribulation hoax. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you need to know the truth.

 

What If?

 

 

 

What if the theory of a Great Tribulation had not been hatched in 1830? Do you suppose that anyone else down through the years, since 1830, would have come up with the same interpretation of Daniel 9? Probably not. No one else had come up with that theory from the time of Daniel all the way until John Darby got his brainstorm. Not even Jesus. The prevailing consensus for over 2000 years was that the “seventy weeks” prophecy was for the Jews in captivity. It was all about Messiah and the holy city, Jerusalem.

What if Darby’s Tribulation hoax had not caught on like wildfire? If Darby had not been such a dominating preacher and self-promoter, perhaps his theory would have never caught on at the Niagara Bible Conferences, or been endorsed by Scofield in his ubiquitous Bible study notes, or propagated by Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Seminary, and eventually popularized by the “Left Behind” series. False teachings are generally like that – they spread fast, because they are so attractive. Like the false prophets of old, they rule the day. Truth becomes obscure once falsehoods get established.

What if the Tribulation hoax had not been hatched, would we have come up with the theory of a rapture occurring seven years before the second coming? Nonsense – if there’s no Tribulation then there cannot be a pre-tribulation rapture. Besides, a two-part version of Christ’s return is not even hinted at anywhere in the New Testament – not by Jesus himself, or by Paul, or in Revelation.

What if the Tribulation hoax did not hold sway in America? Would Bible teachers interpret the end times differently, inductively, rather than buying into the hoax “hook, line, and sinker”? Would anyone wake up and realize that the seven trumpets are warnings that are already sounding, not judgments relegated to the seven-year period of the Tribulation? Might it be easier to see that America is the seventh head of the Revelation 13 beast? And that America will be destroyed by the eighth beast? Could we let go of Antichrist being a world leader during the Tribulation? Would the man of lawlessness take on more relevance, the Arab leader who will lead a ten-nation alliance against Israel in the battle of Armageddon?

What if we did not believe the hoax that the rapture is the next thing on God’s prophetic calendar? What, then, would be the dominant message of “end times” teaching? Would we see the urgent need to prepare for sword, famine, and plague? Would we prepare to endure suffering as God’s means of purifying the bride of Christ? Would we perceive the rapture to be a blessed hope of redemption from cataclysmic turmoil, rather than a blissful escape beforehand?

And there you have it. What if the Tribulation hoax had never been hatched?