We identify Babylon the Great - 2 part
WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL?
The only nation that perhaps it will be more difficult to look at is the nation of Israel.
This is because It is considered, in the Bible, the "Beautiful country".
It is the land chosen by God for His Name to dwell there.
It is the land that is part of the promise that cannot fail as God does not change his mind.
She is the "virgin daughter of Zion", certainly not a prostitute!
At this point, however, let's try to really see what the Bible says without precluding any possibility.
Meanwhile we must distinguish the nation as such from "the one who sits on it" ... and if we understand this fundamental difference perhaps we can understand that there is no contradiction with what has just been said.
Indeed, if the Scripture says "Come out of it, my people..." it is also evident that the people of God are right there.
If we don't shut down our mental faculties because of a certain religious upbringing we can begin to see that the God of Israel compared his people to his woman time and time again.
Indeed, first to a girlfriend and then to a wife - Jeremiah 2:1-3
God was her husband's owner - Isaiah 54:5
Of course this woman is also said to "have children" so it is clear that He is addressing in particular those who had a certain authority over the people - Isaiah 54:1
It is no coincidence that the teachers of the Law were held most responsible for any transgressions - Ezekiel 34:1, 2; James 3:1
So if Babylon were modern Israel, this would not affect the people as such (often unaware of what happens on the upper floors) but those who take the directive or the political, military, religious leaders and prominent men in general.
These would be the ones who occupy Beautiful Country (NOT Beautiful Country), so they sit in it.
So we can understand why, this nation more than others, could be compared to a prostitute.
If the act of unfaithfulness to the Marital Owner is occasional she would be unfaithful - Jeremiah 3:6
However, if this act were repeated over and over again and with an infinite number of different partners, she would be called for what she is: a prostitute - Jeremiah 3:1, 2
But let's proceed in order in our examination.
If we accept the possibility that Babylon the Great is a literal place we must consider that the mountains, on which the woman sits, are also literal.
We never talk about the seven mountains because the political powers, they say, ARE the seven mountains.
Yet the writing of Revelation 17 explains that there are seven kings... and (conjunction, in Italian, i.e. "and there are also") seven mountains, and this conjunction could suggest that, even if the mountains represent powers as we well know , there are actually seven mountains as an object of similitude with the number of kings.
It would appear to be a literal clue to identifying Babylon the Great.
Obviously Israel is a predominantly mountainous nation and includes many mountains and mountains, many more than seven, but we should also ask ourselves whether the mountains referred to refer to the entire nation or to the city of Jerusalem.
Jews know very well that Jerusalem is known as the city on seven mountains and they are:
1) Mount of the city of David. 2) Mount Moriah (or of the Temple) 3) Mount Zion 4) Mount of the upper city 5) Har Hamishkha 6) Mount of Olives 7) Mount Scopus This is mainly the reason why Babylon has been identified, incorrectly,
with Rome, Istanbul , Moscow and others… while this parallel is simply impossible to make with the world empire of false religion, Christianity or Catholicism.
We never talk about the seven mountains because the political powers, they say, ARE the seven mountains.
Yet the writing of Revelation 17 explains that there are seven kings... and (conjunction, in Italian, i.e. "and there are also") seven mountains, and this conjunction could suggest that, even if the mountains represent powers as we well know , there are actually seven mountains as an object of similitude with the number of kings.
It would appear to be a literal clue to identifying Babylon the Great.
Obviously Israel is a predominantly mountainous nation and includes many mountains and mountains, many more than seven, but we should also ask ourselves whether the mountains referred to refer to the entire nation or to the city of Jerusalem.
Jews know very well that Jerusalem is known as the city on seven mountains and they are:
1) Mount of the city of David. 2) Mount Moriah (or of the Temple) 3) Mount Zion 4) Mount of the upper city 5) Har Hamishkha 6) Mount of Olives 7) Mount Scopus This is mainly the reason why Babylon has been identified, incorrectly,
with Rome, Istanbul , Moscow and others… while this parallel is simply impossible to make with the world empire of false religion, Christianity or Catholicism.
We are not categorically sure whether it is necessary to seek out these mountains in an attempt to reveal the subject's identity, but coincidentally or not Jerusalem was built on seven mountains and if this parallel is not correct... seven hills of Rome, of Istanbul or of Moscow, isn't it?
The book of Revelation is also full of contrasts that need to be pondered and Revelation 3:12, as well as other scriptures that are fulfilled after the Sabbath day, mentioning New Jerusalem seems to be emphasizing a distinction with Old Jerusalem.
In Revelation chapter 18, Babylon the Great is destroyed.
In chapter 19 verses 7 and 8 the marriage of the lamb is being prepared, therefore... the prostitute who was posing as a bride dies and the marriage can finally begin.
The marriage takes place with the "New Jerusalem": was the prostitute perhaps the "Old Jerusalem" that is, the carnal, impure, disobedient, idolatrous one? - I Corinthians 9:6-8; 10:18 - Galatians 4:26-29
If you were looking for a single people and a single nation that would have all the credentials to pass itself off as the people of God, which nation would I arrive at?
Perhaps to Saudi Arabia, Mount Everest or the city of Calcutta?
Only the people who are actually God's people by Abrahamic descent would have what it takes, so to speak, to consider themselves queen and pass themselves off as legitimate spouses.
In Revelation chapter 18, Babylon the Great is destroyed.
In chapter 19 verses 7 and 8 the marriage of the lamb is being prepared, therefore... the prostitute who was posing as a bride dies and the marriage can finally begin.
The marriage takes place with the "New Jerusalem": was the prostitute perhaps the "Old Jerusalem" that is, the carnal, impure, disobedient, idolatrous one? - I Corinthians 9:6-8; 10:18 - Galatians 4:26-29
If you were looking for a single people and a single nation that would have all the credentials to pass itself off as the people of God, which nation would I arrive at?
Perhaps to Saudi Arabia, Mount Everest or the city of Calcutta?
Only the people who are actually God's people by Abrahamic descent would have what it takes, so to speak, to consider themselves queen and pass themselves off as legitimate spouses.
Of the two witnesses dressed in sackcloth described in chapter 11 of Revelation it is said that, once they were killed, "their corpses will be on the broad street of the great city which in a spiritual sense is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was put into cross" - Revelation 11:8
To which nation is the scripture of Isaiah 1:10 addressing, when God calls them "dictators of Sodom" and "people of Gomorrah"?
And also, in which "big city" was the Lord Jesus crucified?
To which nation is the scripture of Isaiah 1:10 addressing, when God calls them "dictators of Sodom" and "people of Gomorrah"?
And also, in which "big city" was the Lord Jesus crucified?
Also why does the writer of Revelation, after seeing terrifying wild beasts, incredible heavenly visions both beautiful and terrifying, thundering pronouncements, and so much more, just at the sight of the woman “wonder so much”? – Revelation 17:6, 7
Why should he be surprised to see the world empire of false religion when he knew full well it existed and was already infiltrating the first-century congregation?
Why should he be surprised to see the world empire of false religion when he knew full well it existed and was already infiltrating the first-century congregation?
And why should he be surprised to see Rome?
And if it was any other city… why should he wonder?
Let's make a guess.
Could he have "marveled exceedingly" to see the same people and nation who, at the time of the writing of the scroll of Revelation, had been destroyed thirty years earlier?
Let's make a guess.
Could he have "marveled exceedingly" to see the same people and nation who, at the time of the writing of the scroll of Revelation, had been destroyed thirty years earlier?
Could seeing the city that had been destroyed almost thirty years before be a valid reason to be amazed?
Ever since the prophesied great apostasy (2 Thessalonians chapter 2) spread, passages of the Holy Bible were distorted in order to glorify the power of the new clerical class.
The elders of the local churches became "priests" calling themselves "Fathers" (and then "patriarchs", "popes", "archbishops" etc.), effectively becoming the arrogant masters of the faith of all other Christians - compare Matthew 23: 8.9.
The words of Christ and the Apostles were deliberately and skilfully distorted: among others, those concerning the position and the future that God would have assigned to the people of Israel, that is, to the natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
From then until today, the majority of religious denominations have taught that Jews individually could have been saved (by being baptized) but that as "God's people" they had been irretrievably condemned forever and replaced by the Christian church in God's Plan of Salvation.
In fact all the theologians and church fathers of the first centuries wrote at least one work against Israel: Dialogue with Tryphon by Justin martyr (100-165 AD), Epistle of Barnabas (130-140 AD), Against the Jews by Tertullian (160-225AD), Expository treatise against the Jews by Hippolytus of Rome (170-236AD), three books of testimony against the Jews by Cyprian (205-258 AD), Eight homilies against the Jews by Chrysostom (347-407AD), Treaty against the Jews by Augustine (354-430AD) etc.
The thesis, solemnized at the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), has always been only one: because of the killing of Christ, the Jewish people was worthy of eternal contempt and condemned by God forever.
The elders of the local churches became "priests" calling themselves "Fathers" (and then "patriarchs", "popes", "archbishops" etc.), effectively becoming the arrogant masters of the faith of all other Christians - compare Matthew 23: 8.9.
The words of Christ and the Apostles were deliberately and skilfully distorted: among others, those concerning the position and the future that God would have assigned to the people of Israel, that is, to the natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
From then until today, the majority of religious denominations have taught that Jews individually could have been saved (by being baptized) but that as "God's people" they had been irretrievably condemned forever and replaced by the Christian church in God's Plan of Salvation.
In fact all the theologians and church fathers of the first centuries wrote at least one work against Israel: Dialogue with Tryphon by Justin martyr (100-165 AD), Epistle of Barnabas (130-140 AD), Against the Jews by Tertullian (160-225AD), Expository treatise against the Jews by Hippolytus of Rome (170-236AD), three books of testimony against the Jews by Cyprian (205-258 AD), Eight homilies against the Jews by Chrysostom (347-407AD), Treaty against the Jews by Augustine (354-430AD) etc.
The thesis, solemnized at the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), has always been only one: because of the killing of Christ, the Jewish people was worthy of eternal contempt and condemned by God forever.
This attitude has persisted over time and until the Second World War the extermination of the Jews was approved or at least belittled by the exponents of the main "Christian" religions.
Isn't it at least strange that instead the birth of the nation of Israel, which took place in 1948, was welcomed with great enthusiasm by the exponents of these religions themselves?
Nearly all ministers poured out words of appreciation, mentioning their love for the founding fathers of the nation of Israel and referring to that event as “fulfilled prophecy” – compare Isaiah 66:7, 8
At the very least, two questions should be asked.
Either all these ministers gave a resounding "mea culpa" having truly repented and having changed their attitude and conduct (remember that according to some of them "killing a Jew was not a sin") or it is possible to hypothesize that this Israel is not exactly that Israel through which all nations would be blessed?
Now, regardless of those who would have formed the people, many of whom survived a war and with the desire to start over, those who wrote and recited the constitution of Israel did not show at all that they "trembled at His word" since in that declaration there was no neither the Name of God nor the word God appeared - 1 Kings 11:36; 2 Kings 21:7
Regarding the final draft of the document, a Jewish history book says: “Until 1 in the afternoon, when the National Council met, its members had not been able to agree on the wording of the declaration of independence. . . . Observant Jews wanted reference to the 'God of Israel'. The laity objected. Finding a compromise, Ben Gurion opted for the word 'Rock' instead of the word 'God'”. — Great Moments in Jewish History.
This clearly highlights the political, non-biblical goal of rebuilding this nation.
Did they show “trembling at the Word of God” or rather a desire to please everyone, including secularists and atheists?
Can we really think that the God of Holiness can approve "this Israel" and consider it the True Israel and not call it by another name? - Deuteronomy 32:4; Malachi 2:10-12
Are there other clues that allow us to shed light on the subject?
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| Babylon the Great: Are You Sure You Know Her Identity? |
"Get out of it, my people"
Revelation 18:4 says, "And I heard another voice from heaven say, 'Come out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.'"
One of the reasons why this subject cannot relate to "false religion" is precisely because God cannot call such exponents "his people."
Anyone who belongs to false religion, even if they have the best of intentions, cannot call themselves "God's people."
But what about Israel?
Anyone who belongs to false religion, even if they have the best of intentions, cannot call themselves "God's people."
But what about Israel?
If we understood that the promise made to Abraham was eternal, where could the majority of God's people be and where should they come from?
Here too it is evident that God is inviting His People to temporarily leave that nation which is indeed the Splendid Country but which is currently occupied by the abusive prostitute.
If they stayed there, they would "receive part of his plagues."
This prompts us to reflect on a very significant biblical precedent.
When the Lord told his followers that the time would come "to do justice," that is, the time when the Roman army would destroy that disobedient, apostate nation, did he tell them to separate themselves from Judaism or simply flee to the mountains? - Matthew 24:15-22; Luke 21:20-22
Absurdly... if Babylon the Great was the Roman Empire, how could a Christian get out of it? Maybe he should have emigrated to America or Australia?
If Babylon the Great, on the other hand, is the modern nation of Israel then there isn't much to interpret but we really have to be of "noble mind" to accept such a profound change of views.
True worship will start right where it began, which is Israel, and it is only logical to expect Almighty God to encourage the faithful remnant of His People to come out before the judgment - 1 Peter 4:17 (compare Romans 9:27)
If Babylon the Great, on the other hand, is the modern nation of Israel then there isn't much to interpret but we really have to be of "noble mind" to accept such a profound change of views.
True worship will start right where it began, which is Israel, and it is only logical to expect Almighty God to encourage the faithful remnant of His People to come out before the judgment - 1 Peter 4:17 (compare Romans 9:27)
This also means that the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in 537 BCE and then in 70 CE, would have a further and definitive fulfillment : the third - Revelation 4:8; 8:13; 16:13, 19 – Ezekiel 21:14
In Revelation 16:16-21 we approach Armageddon and the great city divides into three parts.
If we go to Zechariah 13:3-5 it speaks of the Mount of Olives which "must be divided in the middle, from the east to the west" and in the middle "there will be a very great valley".
So, according to Zechariah, what is that city that is divided into three parts?
After the fall of the nations Babylon "was remembered."
It is related to the fall of other nations (including it among themselves and thus clearly showing a literal city) but as if it were a "special" nation, something to pay attention to, to remember - compare Zechariah 5 :9-11
Which of all the nations of the earth could be considered "special" by God?
It is related to the fall of other nations (including it among themselves and thus clearly showing a literal city) but as if it were a "special" nation, something to pay attention to, to remember - compare Zechariah 5 :9-11
Which of all the nations of the earth could be considered "special" by God?
Doesn't the golden cup full of "disgusting things" held in the hand of the great harlot resemble the utensils of God's temple? - Compare Daniel 5:1-4
There are many other passages for those who really want to look them up.
Finally, let us ask ourselves a series of questions.
The whore sits and will sit on many waters because, in the time of the end, she will become the center of aggregation of the whole world (this is also thanks to the false prophet).
For those wishing to learn more about the order of events and how she will ride the scarlet colored beast, perhaps they will find the articles linked in the first footnote 1 interesting .
Who better than her, as the only nation tied in a marriage bond with God, can be defined as "mother of all whores"?
Of her it is said that she lives in unbridled luxury and who owns almost all the banks in the world, of the largest corporations in the world, of gold and oil wells, weapons and world organizations of various kinds?
After the great war these riches will be even more centralized towards a single nation. Guess which one?
At its fall, rulers and merchants will cry out "misfortune".
Can we now understand why?
Which nation, already today, has important contacts and trading partners scattered across the major world powers?
If Satan offered “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” to the Lord, it is evident that he did indeed have that authority.
Indeed, he said, “ It has been delivered to me, and I will give it to whomever I wish” – Luke 4:6
Is it so hard to imagine that Satan, as ruler of the world, had special designs on the "Beautiful Country" and gave those he put in charge of it power over all other kingdoms on earth?
And is it so strange to note that, since demons are at the head of nations, that nation can mislead all others with its "spiritual parties" without bringing up a symbolic "religious empire"? - compare Daniel 10:13
Revelation 18:24 says that "in her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth"
Jesus identified Israel as responsible for shedding "all righteous blood" - Matthew 23:35 – Luke 11:50, 51
We understand from the Bible that God and Jesus hold especially responsible those who have known God and yet commit unspeakable crimes – compare Hosea 8:2; Amos 3:2
Finally, to which people was Stephen referring when he said “Obstinate men and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye always resist the holy spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not persecute your ancestors? Yes, they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, whose traitors and murderers you have now been, you who received the Law as if it were transmitted by angels, but have not observed it"? – Acts 7:51-53
Perhaps he was talking about the Egyptians or the Ninevites?
Yes, who were responsible for the murder of all the prophets and saints? - compare Matthew 21:33-41
In the time of the end, moreover, this nation will become all the more guilty of this blood as it will be the real cause of the outbreak of war – Matthew 24:7, 8; Daniel 8:13
After carefully reading the scriptures in this article, what do you think?
Understanding the true identity of Babylon the Great is very important because many will believe they are in the right place, that they are on the right side – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3; Revelation 4:15 pm
May each of us strip ourselves of the conditioning of our religion and ascertain the good and perfect and acceptable will of God - Romans 12:2
Whoever understands and does God's will by then will abide forever - 1 John 2:17
Footnotes
1 The 70-week articles help shed light on the order of events
2 These other articles supplement the information about Babylon the Great
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