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The System of Babylon
Aug 2nd, 2016
CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Prophecy

The Babylonian System

The following article is intended to help you understand the Babylonian System that will dominate the world of the tribulation period. Today the moves toward a “One World Religion” and a “One World Government” are setting the stage for the establishment of the Babylonian System on which the Revived Roman Empire will be based.

Two Babylon’s

The First Babylon was on the Euphrates River in Iraq.  It was there that the Babylonian system had its birth.

The Second Babylon is the city of Rome, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church which has attempted to perpetuate the Babylonian System for a thousand years. It is now launching its final attempt.

As the religions of the world come together in a union with the Catholic Church the Babylonian System will dominate the world.

Babylon is not just a city, but a system, a religious, political, economic system. A government and religion united to make a kingdom for Satan and his man Antichrist, of which Nimrod was a type.

We need to understand the tribulation period revolves around these two entities. We need to understand the two aspects of the Babylonian System.

In the tribulation period there will be a world-wide political/economic system in union with a universal religion to unite the world. This world religion will be the fruit of the present ecumenical movement. It will be apostate Christianity in bed with all of the religions of the world.

Today we see this movement of all religions on the road to Rome. Evangelicals are also compromising with the Catholic Church as they depart from the sound doctrine on which they have stood in the past.

The whole world is now positioned to join hands with Rome in the vain hope of bringing peace and prosperity to the world.

The pope is now opening the doors of the church to all. He has begun the move to open the doors to homosexuals. He is now opening up the possibility of ordaining women. These are huge steps that will make it possible to bring the whole world into the church. At the same time Francis is calling for Evangelicals to come home to Rome and many are excitedly responding.

Meanwhile Contemplative Meditation has moved deeply into Protestantism, Evangelicalism and the Catholic Church. This is a unifying force with eastern religions and is a giant step toward the one world religion.

This eastern mysticism is also a powerful force to unify religion with the New Age movement and the secular world in general.

As wars, strife, terrorism, economic collapse and the breakdown of the social order descends upon the world, men will cry out for the peace and safety that a one world religion and a one world government promises.

In Revelation 17 - 18 we have the harlot (church). John calls her the great whore.  We also identify her as Religious Babylon. The subject of these chapters is plainly given in verse one, “.....Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” The many waters represent the people of the earth under the power and influence of religious Babylon, the harlot. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).

The topic of these chapters is the judgment of the harlot. This judgment comes at the Mid-tribulation point. “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (Revelation 17:16).

The harlot is called Mystery Babylon.  Rome’s new catechism explains that liturgy aims…“To initiate souls into the mystery of Christ. Mystery is at the very heart of Catholicism.”

"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5).

In Revelation 19 at the close of the tribulation period, as Christ returns, we have the judgment of the beast, the political kingdom of Antichrist.

These two entities come together as the tribulation period begins. We see this union in Revelation 17:3, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

As the tribulation period begins we see the two aspects of the Babylonian system together. We have religious/economic Babylon and we have political Babylon. We see religious/economic Babylon dominating as typified in the scene of the woman riding the beast and in control.

These two Babylon’s began simultaneously at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The goal of Nimrod in that day was two-fold.                

First - to gather the people together under a one world government.                                                                                                     

Second -  to establish a one world religion.

If you control the money and if you unify religion you have control of the people.

This two-fold system was to bring the lives and the hearts of men under the control of Nimrod and ultimately under Satan’s control. This first attempt by Satan to control the world and the men of the world failed. Satan now is making a final great effort to establish his rule over men and this world.

We see the nature of this kingdom in Genesis 11:4, “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

The World Religion is seen in the clause, “...and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.” Man sought to establish his own religion without God. This was a clear rebellion against God. This rebellion is deeply rooted in every unregenerate heart.

The World Government is seen in the clause, “...lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  Unregenerate man has a deep seated rebellion against God and the order He has established for men to live by in this world. We see this in the cry of the Jews at the cross, “We will not have this man to rule over us.” This rebellion against God is found throughout the entire Bible.  And it is the rallying cry of our world at this very moment. There is not one instruction that God has laid down in His Word that our world is not now rejecting. Our world today is obsessed with the rejection of God’s Word at every possible point. Though men have always rebelled against God, in these last days of the last days this rebellion is coming to a climax.

This was what motivated Nimrod to establish a government in which God would have no place. A world religion and a world government is Satan’s plan to usurp the rule of God over His creation.

The two Babylon’s are closely related. We see this in Revelation 17:3, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” This is the first half of the tribulation period, the harlot (church) and Antichrist come together in an unholy union to gain domination of the whole world.

Satan’s ambition has always been to rule over the world and to cause the world to worship him. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah14:14).

We see this in last half of the tribulation period in Revelation 13:15, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

The religious/economic system controlled by the harlot will bring unprecedented prosperity to the wealthy merchants of the earth. “…and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Revelation 18:3). Verse 17, “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought…”

In contrast the majority will be impoverished. We see this contrast in Revelation 6:6, “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” We see poverty and prosperity.

Chapter 17 & 18 is the total destruction of apostate religion at the mid-tribulation point.  “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (verse 16).

One of the deceptions of Satan today is to draw attention away from His establishment of the Babylonian system involving the Roman Catholic Church and the union of all religions.  It is an allusion that the city of Babylon in Iraq will be rebuilt and become the capitol of Antichrist’s kingdom. It is also an error to suggest that Antichrist will be a Muslim.

This makes the ancient city of Babylon the focus and the object of God’s wrath in the tribulation period. This is a distraction from the truth that the coming world religion now beginning to unfold is the true source of the last day’s rebellion against God. It distracts from need for God’s people to come out of the apostate religious system.

The following material is intended to dispel this false eschatology that teaches that the city of Babylon will be rebuilt as the capital of Antichrist’s Kingdom.

The destruction of the city of Babylon – (not the system).    This was accomplished by the Medo-Persians in 539 BC, "Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple" (Jeremiah 51:11). This was prophesied for the immediate future, not 2500 years later. 

"Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant" (Jeremiah 51:36-37). This is history.

J. Vernon McGhee: “Note that this utter desolation is to follow not some future overthrow, but the sack of the city resulting from the turning aside of the waters of the river. The Euphrates which flowed directly through Babylon was diverted from its course, which left an entryway at each end for warriors of the enemy to enter under the walls in the dry river bed, by this maneuver they were able to appear suddenly in the streets and take the city by surprise.

The destruction was to be complete – "And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant" (Jeremiah 51:29). “Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses; cast her up in heaps, and destroy her utterly: Let nothing be left of her” Jeremiah 50:26.

J. Vernon McGhee: “You can look at Babylon today; it is a heap of ruins. It was utterly destroyed!"

The destruction was to be final (never to be restored again) "Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation" (Jeremiah 50:39). (See also 51:44, 62, 64 -  Isaiah 13:20, 21). Verse 19 in Isaiah 13 is in the context of the destruction of Babylon. It seems to compare the yet future destruction of the second eschatological, religious Babylon with the overthrow of Sodom & Gomorrah. “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah”

This is not an uncommon device in the prophetic scriptures.   For example Isaiah 9:6 is a prophetic reference to two separate events at least 2000 years apart with no explanation given.  Also Isaiah 61:2 is a prophetic reference to two separate events at least 2000 years apart with no explanation.

The city of Babylon has no part to play in the coming end time events. To interpose that is to cloud the place the Roman Catholic Church plays in the tribulation period.

We read about that future destruction of religious Babylon, the harlot, in Revelation 17:16, "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."

This occurs at the mid-tribulation point. The political kingdom of Antichrist turns against the harlot (religious Babylon) and destroys her with fire. The city of Rome is to be burned to the ground, possibly by a nuclear missile? Antichrist then moves his capital to Jerusalem and establishes the worship of Satan by the worship of himself. "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 -Thessalonians 2:4).

The Second (Eschatological) Babylon is not literal historical Babylon 

Excerpts from Feinberg (page 329). “The reason is that the Apostle John is not speaking of literal, historical Babylon.

First - he uses the word 'mystery' with reference to Babylon. This conveys the force of a mystical Babylon.  

Second – The book of Revelation uses proper nouns figuratively: 1- ‘Jezebel’ (2:20); 2- ‘The key of David’ (3:7); 3- ‘Jerusalem’ (the new) comes down out of heaven (21:2, 10); 4- ‘Sodom and Egypt’ (11:8); 5- ‘Gog and Magog’ (20:8); not the same geographical areas of Ezek. 38and 39.  6- ‘Babylon’ chapters 17and 18 not the city of Mesopotamia, which was situated on a plain, (17:9).

H. A. Ironside states, “The chief references to Babylon are in Genesis, the prophetic books and Revelation. The references indicate that the city of old signified spiritual confusion (Gen. 11). The apostle John states that the idolatry of ancient times will come to a head in an ecclesiastical and political colossus with many commercial ramifications (Rev. 17-18).

It will encompass all anti-God systems (cults and religions) concentrated in a vast ecclesiastical system. “Rome alone answers to the description given.”

Excerpts from Ironside- (page 297). ”The federation of the future will be utterly godless and God-defiant. When that league is formed it will be but natural that a confederacy of all religious systems will be wrought out, and this too will be satanic in character. It will be a union of Christless professors, inheriting all the human and demonical mysteries of Babylon. In other words all sects will be swallowed up in one distinctively Babylonian system that has ever maintained the cult of the mother and the child. This system will for the first part of the tribulation period dominate the civil power. Thus the woman will be in the saddle again and ride the beast. He who has eyes to see and a heart to understand can readily discern the preparations now in progress, with this very end in view.

Identification of Eschatological Religious Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church which is called the Harlot                               

 We see six identifying marks:

Fornication with the kings of the earth, "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (Revelation17:2). "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies" (Revelation 18:3).

There is no other city in the world which can claim a special relationship with global, political Leaders, yet being in nature itself strictly religious. Over many centuries the Roman Catholic Church has committed spiritual fornication because it claims to be the church of Christ and yet it has entered into union with anti-God political entities.

Wealth and splendour of the Church of Rome - "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" (Revelation17:4). The Roman Catholic Church is one of the wealthiest organization in the world. Much of that wealth came from the sale of salvation (indulgences).  

---“…arrayed in purple and scarlet color and clothed and decked with gold and precious stones”. If you have seen Roman Catholic ritual, you will recognize this verse.

---“…having a golden cup in her hand”. There are many thousands of gold chalices in Catholic Churches around the world.

The immorality of the Church of Rome -  The unnatural vow of celibacy has filled the Catholic Priesthood with sexual fornication for a thousand years. Today, billions of dollars have been paid out by the Catholic church to settle claims of sexual abuse by her priests."....Full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication” (Revelation 17:4).

Mystery Babylon - Rome’s new catechism explains that liturgy aims, “To initiate souls into the mystery of Christ”. Mystery is at the very heart of Catholicism. "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5).

The Martyrs of Jesus – "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration (amazement) (Revelation 17:6). There is no city in the world where the blood of the martyrs of Jesus was shed more than in Rome or by Rome. Only Rome qualifies, not Historical Babylon.

The Seven Hills – "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth"
(Revelation 17:9). From verse 18, we learn that the woman was a city or identified with a city on seven hills. Rome is the city that sits on seven hills. “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

Is there not a cause for judgment?  With whom does God have a controversy? Ancient Babylon which has not existed for 2300 years, or Religious Babylon (Rome) who has martyred millions of God’s dear children over the last 1500 years, and who will martyr multiplied millions more, in the tribulation period.

How does this apply today?  The last day’s apostasy of the Laodicean/Evangelical church is now upon us. A part of that apostasy is a widespread ecumenical movement among evangelicals. It has swept through the Evangelical Church bringing Evangelicals and Catholics together. Today there is a massive move to bring Evangelicals back to Rome and Evangelicals have no idea of what is going on and they do not seem to care.

If you are involved in a New Evangelical Church or a church that is involved with the ecumenical movement, you need to remove yourself as quickly as possible. "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). This is serious warning for this present hour as well as for a future day.

The future of the ecumenical movement is in a union with all religions which will in essence become the Harlot Church, which Antichrist will use to come to power. The infrastructure for the World Church and the World Government has now been laid and awaits the removal of the bride of Christ. The trumpet is soon to sound and the last act of the “day of man” is soon to begin.    

The Judgment of Babylon

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird" (Revelation 18: 2). This is prophecy which is looking forward to the future judgment of religious Babylon, the harlot.

During the last half of the tribulation period Antichrist works to consolidate his domination of the world. After destroying the harlot church (at the mid-tribulation point) he establishes a new religion, the worship of Satan, through the worship of himself.

After the harlot church has been destroyed, the worship of Antichrist, as a false Christ, will carry on and reach its climax in the form of Satan worship that dominates the last three and half years. The Babylonian system is always in union with a religion. Here it is casting off one religious system for another.

In Revelation 19 at the end of the tribulation period as Christ returns in judgment we see the destruction of political Babylon, the kingdom of Antichrist.

In Revelation 18:2 we have the proclamation that this economic, religious monstrosity (the harlot) has now been brought crashing down. This monstrosity has just reached the point where it totally dominates the entire world of men and nations. No one can buy or sell unless they worship the beast, the Antichrist. Just as Satan appears to have reached his goal of ruling the world and having the world worship him, God crushes the whole thing!

"…and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." The kingdom of Antichrist is of the essence of Satan, it is all that is opposite to what God is. The essence of the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace. The essence of the kingdom of Satan is given, "foul, unclean and hateful." Before God's kingdom can be established the kingdom of Satan must be destroyed. It must be revealed that Satan cannot rule the kingdom of God as he had boasted (See Isaiah 14: 12-16).

All of mankind must be separated; the righteous from the unrighteous.  There could be no heaven without a hell. There could be no righteous kingdom unless and until Satan’s evil kingdom is destroyed and Satan bound in the pit.

At this point God has allowed Satan and evil to run its course to the full. Satan and evil are revealed for what they really are. Satan cannot rule the kingdom, and God has proven this by allowing him to try. The question is now settled forever.

Verse 3  "…are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."  Materialism has a tremendous pull on our hearts. It draws the hearts of men and nations away from God. "Things" have repeatedly usurped the place God desires to have in the hearts of men. All down through the long age of man, man has worshipped "things" in place of the worship of God. Materialism has always been the tool of Satan to draw men's hearts from God. Materialism has always been at the center of human government. The anger of God is therefore kindled against human government. God is a jealous God who loves man and does not want anything to come between Himself and man.

Today the biggest excuse for having no time for God is business and possessions and the activities that will gain money. "Things" can become a great curse in our lives, though we do not often see it until it is too late.

All of these things will reach a great climax in the tribulation period. There will be unprecedented material prosperity such as the world has never known.

Verse 4, " And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

During the last three and a half years of the tribulation period the World Empire of Antichrist will be occupied with several things.

First we have the slaughter of those people who are being saved and coming to Christ (tribulation saints). These believers will turn away from the kingdom of Antichrist and refuse to worship him or to take his mark upon them.

Second there is the slaughter of Israelis.  We read in Zechariah 13 that two thirds of all living Israelis will be killed during that time. Perhaps as many as ten million Jews will die (Zachariah 13:8). The God of Israel will bring His chastening of Israel to a final conclusion before her restoration.

Third it will be a time when the judgment of God will fall on the world. It will be a time when men will go on a rampage of lawlessness. More than two thirds of the world’s population will be destroyed in the judgment of God.

"Come out of her, my people…'' (Verse 4). How could there be God's people found in the system of Antichrist? I believe the answer is in the realization that during that time multitudes of men and women will be saved and they will be saved as they are found within the system of Antichrist. They will not have taken the mark of the beast, yet they will be found within the system. It is they who will come out of her when they are saved.

From another aspect I believe that this verse is written to our day. As we see the day approaching, we see the Babylonian system forming. We see the growing ecumenical movement and we see the world government forming; the warning is not to be caught in either.

In that future day the choice will be;

A - Not receiving the mark of the beast and the resulting Martyrdom that will follow for refusing.

B - Receiving the mark of the beast and plunging into the great material prosperity and ultimate destruction.

"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (verse 5).

God keeps a record of sins and God judges sin.

The Babylonian system began at Babel nearly 4,500 years ago and it has continued ever since. It has striven to establish a political-economic system in harmony with a world religion that is based on man’s efforts instead of God’s grace. It has been practiced in harmony with Satan and has been occupied with persecuting the true people of God.

God has been writing, and he has kept a record of the sins of Babylon. Now as the age draws to a close -- God is going to judge Babylon.

"Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double" (verse 6).

We have here an emphasis on the extent of God's wrath and judgment on the sins of Babylon. What is true of Babylon is also true of every person who rejects Christ as Saviour. We remind you that the greatest single hindrance to the reception of Christ is counterfeit religion. Multitudes believe they have no need of the gospel because they have their own religion. Religion has occupied itself with deceiving men and women and leading them to believe they are somehow safe within the religion they embrace.

The double judgment is no doubt also tied to the great persecution and slaughter that Babylonianism has poured out on the people of God down over the long centuries.

We are today standing on the threshold of the unfolding of all these things. May I ask you, what are you living for? Are you living for material things? Are you living in the light of the soon coming of Christ to take His people home to heaven?

Are you standing on the threshold of God’s judgment or on the threshold of eternal glory?