Is America the Great Babylon?

[Jedi4Yahweh]

Whats your take about who the the Great Babylon spoken of in Revelations is referring too:

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Revelation 18:21-24)

The destruction of this country will be so severe that it will be uninhabitable. Not even the light of one lamp will be found in this place. For in one day it will be reduced to rubble.

This one is a no brainer. The Book of Revelation (no 's') uses figures and clips from the Old Testament and from early New Testament letters as well. In this case, John gives a clue as to the city in the last line of the passage. Here is what Jesus said in Matthew 23:

Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

He's rebuking the Jewish leadership for their complicity in the killing of the prophets down through the ages. Where do these people live? J E R U S A L E M. Where is the temple located? J E R U S A L E M. What city was destroyed during THAT generation? J E R U S A L E M.

The writer is speaking of Jerusalem. You can't project the past into the future. Learn Church, I beg of you, learn.

Good point but most Jews live in America then in Israel. So those scriptures can still point to American.

http://www.nationmas...stimated-number

Besides according to Rev. Great Babylon ruled over many nations. I don’t see how Jerusalem fits that picture. and another point is Jerusalem is not known for its commerce and music. American music and commerce dominates in most every country.

[nebula]

In speaking of Babylon the Great -

I still am not hearing anyone give a reasonable explanation for what "Mother of Harlots" means and how that fits with any interpretations.

Rev 13-19, there are 4 divisions mentioned. . . .

OK, but I'm still failing to see how any of these fits the "Mother of Harlots" title.

[nebula]

The sun never sets on the British Empire - an old quote (it has set by now)

But South Africa was colonised by the British, so was India, Egypt, Palestine?, (hmmmm.....), Zimbabwe, and a host of smaller places.

Let's see -

USA

Canada

Australia

South Africa

India

Egypt

Palestine

Zimbabwe

That's 8.

Are there 2 more? Is there a perfect 10?

That would be weird if there is.

[nebula]

Okay, there is no justification here for the two thousand (+/-) gap in time. Why not the Holy Roman Empire or Charlemagne? They were much closer in time than Great Britain. Serious question.

Ditto the question

[~candice~]

New Zealand

[nebula]

But "the woman" (Gen.3:15, Rev.12: 1) in Hebrew is "ishah" and in ancient Chaldean (Babylonian) "the woman" is ishtar. Ishtar was also worshipped as the great Babylonian mother-goddess, and she is indeed the mother of harlots and of the (religious) abominations of the earth.

The contents of the cup we drink represents the only Way to God. The contents of the cup in the hand of Babylon the Great is "full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication" (17:4). She is also "a prison of every unclean spirit, and a cage of every unclean bird which has been hated" (18:2). We have to remember that the Revelation is a very ancient book, and the symbolism comes from way back - even further back than 2,000 years ago when the Revelation was written.

Babylon the great was in a marriage with the political authorities of the world, "carried by the beast". Not a mono-theocracy but a poly-theocracy. The emperors were normally regarded as the incarnation of the king of the gods/father of the gods.

This is why I am more inclined to believe that this Babylon is a religion or religious system or a ruling spirit or the like rather than an actual city or nation.

Ishtar was worshipped all over the known world under different names. Ashtarte, Ashta Easter, etc are all variations of the name of the ancient Babylonian mother-goddess.

And "The Virgin Mary" is often referred to as "the Queen of Heaven" - Ishtar's title.

[nebula]

New Zealand

OK, that's 9.

[BlindSeeker]

THE SEVEN HEADED BEAST OF REVELATION

What or who is it?

[Fez]

I hate it when a plan does not come together

Britain had many colonies in Africa: in British West Africa there was Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Southern Cameroon, and Sierra Leone; in British East Africa there was Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar); and in British South Africa there was South Africa, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Nyasaland (Malawi), Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland. Britain had a strange and unique colonial history with Egypt. The Sudan, formerly known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, was jointly ruled by Egypt and Britain, because they had jointly colonized the area. The joint colonial administration of the Sudan by Egypt and Britain was known as the condominium government. The British system of government affected the type of racial or ethnic problems that all of Britain

[nebula]

Guesss that kind of blows the theory we were building out the water

Yeah, well, one does have to dig!