biblestudying.net

Printer Friendly Version

Particulars of Christianity:
314 End Times Prophecy (Eschatology)

Prophetic Symbols:
Several Possible Scenarios (Part 2)

Prophetic Symbols: Several Possible Scenarios (Part 1)
Prophetic Symbols: Several Possible Scenarios (Part 2)
Prophetic Symbols: Several Possible Scenarios (Part 3)

Articles 7-12
Articles 13-18
Articles 19-25
Articles 26-29

Which city is Mystery Babylon?

I.) Jerusalem - The primary evidence for this scenario is as follows.

A.) The city of Mystery Babylon is said to be responsible for killing the apostles and prophets of God (Revelation 17:6, 18:24, 19:2).

Jesus called Jerusalem the city that kills the prophets and apostles (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:33-34).

B.) The city of Mystery Babylon is described as a "harlot" (Revelation 17:1, 5).

Jerusalem is also symbolized by a harlot at times in scripture (Isaiah 1:1, 8-11, 21, Ezekiel 16:2-3, 15-16, 22-23).

C.) The city of Mystery Babylon is described in the book of Revelation as "the great city" or "that great city" (Revelation 14:8, 16:19, 17:18, 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21).

Jerusalem is also called "the great city" in Revelation (Revelation 11:8).

II.) Rome - The primary evidence for this scenario is as follows.

A.) The city of Mystery Babylon is said to be "the city which reigns over the earth" (Revelation 17:18).

At the time John wrote the Book of Revelation that was Rome, Italy.

B.) The city of Mystery Babylon is said to be responsible for killing the apostles and prophets of God (Revelation 17:6, 18:24, 19:2).

And Rome presided over not only the death of Jesus Christ through Pontius Pilate but also over the persecution and death of many Christian martyrs including the apostles Peter and Paul.

C.) Mystery Babylon is said to be a woman who is a city that sits on a beast, whose 7 heads are 7 hills (Revelation 17:3, 9, 18).

Rome is a city that is famously described as being founded on 7 hills.

III.) New York City - The primary evidence for this scenario is as follows.

1. Mystery Babylon is a center of vast economic power and commerce (Revelation 18:3, 11-13, 15-17, 19).

The headquarters for World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve Bank of the U.S., and Wall Street, are all in New York.

2. Mystery Babylon is a center from which global deception is generated (Revelation 18:23).

New York is a global center of world news, media, and entertainment.

3. Mystery Babylon is a city of rule over the kings of the earth (Revelation 17:15, 18).

The United Nations headquarters is in New York.

4. Mystery Babylon is a city, which is diverse in terms of the ethnicity of its population (Revelation 17:1, 15).

New York is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in the world.

5. Mystery Babylon is a center of import, export, and trade, and is held as an important city to the shipmasters and sailors of the world. (Revelation 18:3, 11-13, 15-17, 19).

New York is a very important seaport on the East Coast and a center of import, export, and trade for the United States and for the world. (It is also the only one of the more common speculative candidates that is a seaport city.)

6. Mystery Babylon is a wealthy city (Revelation 18:7, 9, 17).

New York, the headquarters for some of the world's largest and richest financial institutions (World Bank, The International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve Bank of the U.S., and Wall Street) is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States and the World.

7. Mystery Babylon is a city, which is hated by the 10 horns, which we will see in a moment may be Middle Eastern countries (Revelation 17:16-17).

New York is hated by many Middle Eastern countries because it is a symbol of American and Western decadence, corruption, wealth, culture, power, etc. New York has at least twice in the past been a target of international terrorism that involved the Middle East.

8. Mystery Babylon is most likely to be the leading city of the empire of the False Prophet, which is depicted as an empire of clay and as a beast that has two horns like a lamb, meaning that its power base is derived from two cooperating kingdoms or nations.

Momentarily we will suggest that these representations may indicate an American/British or NATO/European empire. New York is perhaps the leading city of western civilization in modern times and would therefore be a likely candidate to be the great city, Mystery Babylon, of an American/British or NATO/European empire.

Who is the False Prophet / What is the False Prophet's empire?

I.) The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church - The primary evidence for this scenario is as follows.

A.) The city of Mystery Babylon is described as "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Revelation 17:18), which at the time John wrote Revelation 17 was the city of Rome.

Despite the fact that Constantine the Great moved the capital of the Roman empire to Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey), some believe that Rome emerged as the heir of the historic empire through the Holy Roman Empire of the middle ages, which was headed by the pope. Speculations abound that, in addition to its vast wealth, the Roman Catholic Church still wields controlling political power over the governments of the world from behind the scenes.

B.) The city of Mystery Babylon is described as excessively wealthy and having financial control and influence (Revelation 13:16-18, 18:3, 11-13, 15-17).

The Roman Catholic Church possesses vast sums of commercial wealth.

C.) The False Prophet is a religious title and he is not only able to perform lying miracles but he also orchestrates worship toward the beast. (Revelation 13:11-15, 19:20).

The Pope is a prominent religious figure and possibly even the most powerful religious figure in the world. The Roman Catholic Church today still validates alleged miraculous events around the world such as appearances of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. And the Roman Catholic Church is also a religion that prominently features statues of religious figures, which could have correlations to the setting up of an image in the likeness of the beast (Revelation 13:14-15).

D.) The False Prophet is said to have "two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon" (Revelation 13:11).

This phrase "like a lamb, and spoke as a dragon" is taken by some to indicate that the False Prophet is "like a lamb" in the sense that he appears to be a Christian but is really an agent of the Adversary, Satan. Since the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church appear on the surface to be Christian, the Pope is a taken to be the prime candidate for the position of the False Prophet. Also, the Pope wears a hat that has two peaks on it, which some correlate to the "two horns" of the False Prophet.

II. America/Britain or NATO/Europe - The primary evidence for this scenario is as follows.

A.) According to our prophetic symbol legend the seventh empire is a two-horned empire whose power base is derived from two cooperative, joined kingdoms similar to Media-Persia (Revelation 13:11).

America and Britain are in many ways integrated and cooperate both militarily, culturally, and economically. Alternatively, the European Union and the U.S. also share much in common and work together in many similar ways. In fact, the overlapping membership between NATO and the E.U. is profound. As of 1997, of the total 16 nations in NATO, 11 were also members of the European Union, which at the time had a total of 15 members.

B.) If lamb-like is meant to imply the Christian nature of this final empire, a western empire comprised of the United States and Britain or Europe would fit nicely since Christianity is the dominant religion of the west and has been a prominent feature of their culture and society for seventeen hundred years.

C.) The empire of the False Prophet is represented in Daniel 2 as the clay in the feet of the statue. As opposed to the other materials that are used to represent the other empires that are depicted in the statue, clay has two characteristics that may represent the west, specifically American and Britain or Europe.

When compared to the iron quality that is used to represent Rome's brutality, clay conveys shaping through manipulation not brutal force and overt control. In contrast to the militant dictatorships, like Rome under the Caesars and the current Middle East, represented by metals in the statue, the seventh kingdom is depicted as clay. Unlike the iron, which is shown as dominating through brutality and destruction, clay may represent control through simple manipulation.

Additionally, the manner in which political authority is established in the West may fit well with the symbol of clay. In western governments (such as those in America, Britain, and Europe) political authority is not a monarchy or a military dictatorship, but by democracy or in some cases social democracy. Consider the following.

The first three kingdoms of Daniel 2's statue were represented by precious metals, gold, silver, and brass (copper or bronze, according to Hebrew Lexicons). Accordingly, Babylon, Media-Persia, and Greece were all ruled by dynastic monarchies. The fourth kingdom, Rome, is represented by iron, which is not a precious metal but is noted in Daniel for its brutal strength. Rome was not a monarchy, but the Caesars' power was generated from their military prowess, making Rome a military dictatorship. Therefore, the movement away from precious metals and metal altogether to the substance of clay may indicate a similar type of shift in government away from the kingship of precious metals and the military dictatorship of iron to a more democratic style of rule represented by common clay.

This may convey how government leadership in America and Britain (or Europe) are not established through nobility, divine right, or military power, but are said to be derived from and by the common people.