Mystery Babylon

[Mazra]

Revelation 17:5 This title was written on her forehead:

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Who is the Mother of Prostitutes? She was referred to as Babylon. Was she ancient Babylon? Or was she something different? She was given the additional title Mystery. Using the Bible and an our knowledge of history, let us attempt to solve this mystery.

Babylon was a great empire during the time of Nebuchadnezzer. In 586 BC Nebuchadnezzer sacked Jerusalem and took the people of Judah captive (2 Kings 24). By 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia captures Babylon, putting an end to what historians call the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The empire fell at this time, never to rise to power again.

The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation in the 1st century AD, around 600 years after the fall of Babylon, yet he wrote:

Revelation 18:2 With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.

This can not be ancient Babylon. It had already fallen. This is something new. Look back at Revelation 17:5 and the title given to the Apostle John by Heaven itself, was for something yet to come. Something in the Apostle John=s future, a Mystery Babylon.

How are mysteries solved? There must be clues. Revelation 17 and 18 provides us with many clues as to the identity of this Mystery Babylon. Let us take the clues that the Holy Scripture provides. Let us accept the revelation that is provided; for it is the title of the book.

Rev. 17:18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

This clue reveals what Mystery Babylon is. It is like ancient Babylon. It is a city.

Rev. 18:10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'

In chapter 18 Mystery Babylon is identified as a city. This identification is further revealed in verses 16, 18 , 19 and 21. Time and again, the book of Revelation, reveals Mystery Babylon as a city. It is not a nation. It is not a person. It is not a religion, or an institution. It is not some New World Order. It is not the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church as many believe. It is a city.

If it is a city, then which city is it? Does the scriptures give us any clues. Yes! There are plenty of them.

Rev. 18:18 "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?'

This verse reveals to us that when Mystery Babylon is set afire, sea captains and sailors will lament about the city. Mystery Babylon must be a port city, a regular port-of-call to those who earn their living by the sea. This clue allows us to rule out cities that are not a port city. This would rule out such cities as Paris and Moscow, the site of Ancient Babylon and even Rome.

Let us look at other clues about Mystery Babylon.

Rev. 18:11 "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more-- 12cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.

During the time of the Apostle John, these commodities were the richest and most valued of items. This verse indicates a city of tremendous wealth. It even says in Revelation 18:23 AYour merchants were the world's great men. The city will be renown for its leaders of commerce and industry, and not politicians, admirals, or generals.

In Rev. 18:3 it reads, Athe merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries. The city will have such great wealth that the Holy scriptures will refer to its luxuries as excessive.

There is more! Back at the beginning of Revelation 17 one of the seven angels mentions Amany waters.

Rev. 17:1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.

And later in the chapter the many waters is revealed.

Rev. 17:15 Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.

The city will contain peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. How can a singular city contain such? Yet, there is such a city.

And finally a most revealing clue:

Rev. 17:18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

The city will rule over the kings of the earth. How can a singular city rule over, in other words, the leaders of the earth? Yet again, there is such a city.

There is only one city that fulfills this prophecy. Since the prophecy was written in the first century AD only one city could have fulfilled it. New York City contains a government that passes resolutions that affects every leader or government on earth. The United Nations, whose headquarters are in New York City, was founded in 1945 and no government has had such a global authority. Some may say the United Nations is often ineffective as a government, but the prophecy does not mention the quality of the government, only that it will rule. The United Nations does pass rulings over the governments of the earth. Each United Nation Decree is capable of leveling severe consequences to any nation on the face of the earth! None are exempt.

Looking further, New York City is a melting pot, a multitude of peoples from many nations and with many languages. It fulfills Rev. 17:15. The United Nations itself is a collection of most of the nations of the earth. The representatives of these nations, come with their many languages, and pass their resolutions at the United Nations. They require many translators. And with these translators, they become as one tongue. This offers us a clue to why the title Mystery Babylon is given. This is not a reference to the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzer, but of a far more ancient Babylon.

Genesis 11:6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

This verse is a reference to the construction of the tower of Babel at Babylon. Mystery Babylon, New York City, is a place where the peoples of the earth gather Aas one people speaking.

New York City fulfills the clue about being a seaport. It fulfills the clue about the merchants being great men. It fulfills the clue about wealth and excessive luxuries. Consider this, New York City is the largest city in the wealthiest nation the world has EVER known. New York City fulfills all the clues, and no other city has ever done so.

Why is this so important?

There is a command from the LORD:

Rev. 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

We are to know that the her is New York City, and we are commanded to leave her.

What is to come of her? In Revelation 18:10 it say, AIn one hour your doom has come!

Rev. 17:16 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.

The beast will bring her to ruin. Then who is the beast? Just as Revelation chapter 17 gave us clues about the woman, it gives us clues about the beast.

Rev. 17:8 - 11 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come. 9 "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

Many Bible scholars have pointed to the seven hills reference in verse 9 as being Rome, for it is known as the city that sits on seven hills. However, look at verse 10, it says five of the hills have fallen. Rome=s hills have not fallen. In the New International Version (NIV) verse 9 uses the word hill. In the King James Version (KJV) and New American Standard Bible (NASB) the translation is mountains. The Apostle John did not have a word we use today, and that word is empire. Could the Apostle John be referring to a vast land area that was ruled by kings? In verse 10 it refers to the hills as being seven kings. Hills do not fall, but empires do. Could the seven hills reference be talking about empires?

The Apostle John=s primary reference point is Israel. The Bible is centered around Israel; and Bible Prophecy is based on the nation. History tells us that since the beginning of the formation of the state of Israel up to the time of the Apostle John, five empires had come against the Jewish people. They were the following:

1.) Egyptians (1 Kings 14:25; 2 Chronicles 12:2)

2.) Assyrians (2 Kings 17:6) (722 BC)

3.) Babylonians (2 Kings Chapter 25) (605 BC)

4.) Persians (2 Chronicles 36:23) Persian King Cyrus captures Babylon takes control over Judah (539 BC)

5.) Greeks (Alexander the Great conquered much of the Middle East, including all of the Persian Empire. The Greek general Ptolemy captures Jerusalem in 320 BC)

By the 1st century AD these five empires had fallen, never to rise again. Coincidence?

In verse 10 it also says, one is. Could there been an empire that existed during the Apostle John=s time? Yes! In 63 BC the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem. Rome ruled over the Holy Land during the life and times of the Apostle John, and during the entire life of our Messiah.

Then verse 10 says, the other has not yet come, but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.

Who followed Rome=s rule over the Holy Land. The Roman empire ruled the Holy Land from Rome from 63 BC until around 330 AD, and then from Eastern Roman empire capital of Constantinople through 638 AD, when Arab Muslim followers of Muhammad captures Jerusalem. The Muslims have been ruling over some or all of the Holy Land ever since. The Muslims are the seventh head of the beast.

Rev. 17:11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

This eighth king will be a Muslim, he belongs to the seven, and the last empire of the beast is the Muslims.

Look back at Rev. 17:16. The eighth king will hate the prostitute eating her flesh and burning her with fire. Eat her flesh? Is this eighth king a cannibal? No. The prostitute is a city. New York City. What is the flesh of a city? Our flesh is our outer covering. You see the flesh on our face when you take a picture of us. When you taka a picture of a city, what do you see? The buildings! The flesh of a city are buildings. The buildings will be eaten and burned with fire.

This has already happened. It occurred on September the 11th.

NOTE: PLEASE FORGIVE! AT THIS POINT, YOU SHOULD SEE A PICTURE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER TOWERS TAKEN AT THE TIME THE SECOND PLANE HIT ONE OF THE TOWERS. FOR SOME REASON THE IMAGE WOULD NOT LOAD INTO THIS POST.

Will we ever forget that day?

Osama Bin Laden looks to be this eighth king,, a king of Terror. He is not dead. He seems to keep evading all of our efforts to kill him. The beast of Revelation keeps surviving even possibly fatal wounds.

Rev. 13:3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.

It is interesting to note that Osama Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, the same place that the first king of the Muslims, Muhammad, came from.

We are nearing the time of the second coming of the Messiah. We must prepare our self for His coming and heed His warnings:

Rev. 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues:

September 11th may only be the first of many

Edited February 29, 2008 by Mazra

[stan4257]

We are nearing the time of the second coming of the Messiah. We must prepare our self for His coming and heed His warnings:

I just want to thank my Lord and my G-d of Israel, Yeshua (Jesus) for His great eternal blessings.

Two things with which I wholeheartedly agree, the first because in my life it could happen at any time, and the second because if God's blessing were not eternal the fact of a second coming would be less than a final solution.

And I also admire those scholars who know so much about the bible that they can prophesy so accurately. I cannot. Haven't a hope, so I leave it to others who can and concentrate on loving my neighbour as if the need of my neighbour was my need.

I bought a book this week from a second hand shop, at five books for a dollar, because the title intrigued me after some discussion recently in Worthy Boards. The title was, 'The Bible Code 2. The Countdown.'

On reading the last two lines of the introduction to the book, which said:

"And now the search has become urgent. Because the Bible code warns that we may have only four years to survive."

there didn't seem much point in reading any further because the book had been published in 2002.

[MorningGlory]

P.S. I wrote this originally back in 1992 but at the time, thought that NYC would be destroyed by a nuclear attack by possilbly Saddam Hussein. I missed that one. However, it wasn't long after 911 that I saw how this fulfilled the prophecy.

You wrote this??? I have read it several times in different places on the internet. Do you use other names?

[Mazra]

P.S. I wrote this originally back in 1992 but at the time, thought that NYC would be destroyed by a nuclear attack by possilbly Saddam Hussein. I missed that one. However, it wasn't long after 911 that I saw how this fulfilled the prophecy.

You wrote this??? I have read it several times in different places on the internet. Do you use other names?

Hi glory2000,

Yes! I originally wrote about Mystery Babylon being New York City back in 1992, and started putting out articles on the web around 1994. It is with no surprise that many have come to the same conclusions that I have in my Bible study. This is only a confirmation to me that New York City is indeed Mystery Babylon. This is great news since it is important that we understand the fulfillment of this prophecy. It is both a clear indication of the fact we are in the days predicted in Revelaiton and elsewhere in the Bible and more importantly in the sovereignty and glory of the living G-d.

Shalom,

Mazra

[Mazra]

And I also admire those scholars who know so much about the bible that they can prophesy so accurately. I cannot. Haven't a hope, so I leave it to others who can and concentrate on loving my neighbour as if the need of my neighbour was my need.

I bought a book this week from a second hand shop, at five books for a dollar, because the title intrigued me after some discussion recently in Worthy Boards. The title was, 'The Bible Code 2. The Countdown.'

On reading the last two lines of the introduction to the book, which said:

"And now the search has become urgent. Because the Bible code warns that we may have only four years to survive."

there didn't seem much point in reading any further because the book had been published in 2002.

Hi stan4257.

You know something far more valuable than understanding any element of prophecy, and that is to love your neighbor as yourself. This is far more imporatant than any words posted on this message board. Because words are nice; but action is better and providing for your neighbor's need is doing unto G-d. May G-d Bless You for that.

The one thing I try very hard to stay away from is predicting a time. The events of 911 have already occurred, and I beieve they are a fulfillment of Bible Prophecy. This is not the return of our Messiah though. Of that, I have no idea of the day or hour. However, I do believe we are in the season. And that we are to know.

Shalom,

Mazra

[stan4257]

However, I do believe we are in the season. And that we are to know.

About the season, me too. No time to waste.

About the knowing part, I am not so sure because in the expectation that it could be any time lies a sense of urgency to do things now instead of tomorrow, though that is obviously a personal reaction. Others see things differently and I have no argument with them, only love that they are concerned.

It is the same Messiah we are expecting to meet.

[nebula]

Mazra -

Unless my eyes skipped over it, there is one element about Babylon that hasn't been addressed, and does put a monkey-wrench in your theory.

Rev. 17:5 - THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS

Rev. 17:6 - I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

I fail to see how NYC can be considered "the mother" of harlots, and I fail to see how NYC is "drunk with the blood of the saints."

As for 9-11, there's another problem.

Rev. 18:21 - Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.

Last I checked, New York City is still kicking and thriving.

[~pearl]

It has been my assumption from studies that Babylon is somewhere in the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, but most definetly a predominate Muslim country.

I think part of our problem when trying to interpret prophecy is thinking it is centered around the US. I have been guilty of this myself and while I think America is very much corrupt and evil, I think its more likely its focused in the middle east.

[nebula]

I agree Pearl -

God's purposes and plans on Earth (since the time of Abraham-Jacob) have always been through Israel. Egypt - Rome have been nations that had rule over the people of Israel.

[Old Timer]

Mystery Babylon is the false church.

Rev 17 and 18 is the same woman.

She does not know she is the false church.