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Post date: Jan 16, 2016 4:44:43 AM
Babylon in the Revelation of Jesus Christ
In the Book of Revelation the world in rebellion against God is called “Babylon.”
The Hebrew prophets often prophesied the fall of Babylon, the capital of an empire that destroyed God’s city, Jerusalem, and carried His people away as captives. So in Revelation, Babylon is a word-picture for a society that persecuted God’s people but that God will eventually destroy.
When the Book of Revelation was written, Babylon may have been a kind of code name for pre-Christian Rome, which was built on seven hills (Rev. 17:9) and which was already persecuting the church. Since that time, generations of Christians have been able to identify their own Babylons and have found reassurance in Revelation’s message.
In Revelation 14:8 Babylon’s power to make people resist God’s claims in the gospel is admitted, but its doom is certain.
8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8
In Revelation 16:19 Babylon is a “great city” that falls because God remembers its sin and brings His punishment.
19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.Revelation 16:19
Throughout chapters 17–18 Babylon is prominent, pictured as a prostitute because it seduces people away from God with its glamor. But it is a false union that cannot satisfy.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.5 “For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’
8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. Revelation 18:4-8
“Babylon” stands over against the church, the “New Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:2), which is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21:9).
God reveals the “mystery” or divine truth (Rev. 17:5) about it and all such man-made societies that are organized independently of God.
Its fall is celebrated by God’s people (Rev. 18:20; 19:1–5).
1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying,
“Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
2 “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”
3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”
Revelation 19:1-3
In Matthew 1:11–12, 17, Judah’s captivity in Babylon is mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy. In Acts 7:43 Babylon appears in Stephen’s famous speech about the history of the Jewish people. In 1 Peter 5:13 “Babylon” probably refers to the city of Rome.
Youngblood, R. F. (1997, c1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary : An authoritative one-volume reference work on the Bible with full color illustrations (F. Bruce, Ed.) (electronic edition of the revised edition of Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
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