WHY IS BABYLON LISTED IN REVELATIO N
By W. G. Guy
Babylon is mentioned six times between Revelation Chapters 14 and 18, yet it clearly is not referring to the ancient city of Babylon which no longer exists. Instead the references to Babylon are actually describing the city of Rome, the Capital of the Roman Empire. The Book of Revelation is about end-time events that take place after Jesus revealed such events to the apostle John and told him to write it.
Revelation 1:19 – Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
So John writes as instructed. First He recorded what he saw; which is the resurrected Christ whom he described in detail.
Revelation 1:13-16 – And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Next John wrote as Jesus instructed, letters to the seven churches that were in Asia Minor, which is now known as the nation of Turkey. This is recorded in Revelation Chapter 2 and 3. Then through visions and messages, John writes about the things that were future to him at that moment in time: the things which shall be hereafter.
The problem that needs to be addressed is, when did the things that shall be hereafter begin? Most teachers of eschatology, (the study of end-times), teach that all the events listed after the letters to the seven churches are still future to us at this date. They fail to realize that those future events began shortly after John wrote the letters to the seven churches. How much of the Book of Revelation has already been fulfilled during the past 1900 years? They fail to recognize that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have already ridden, along with several other events listed in Revelation.
Thus the question, why is Babylon listed toward the end of the Book of Revelation in the following passages?
Revelation 14:8 – And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Note: fornication refers to false worship as used in scripture.)
Revelation 16:19 – And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. (Note: as God looks at His judgment on Rome, He remembers what Babyon did to Jerusalem.)
Revelation 17:5 – And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. (Note: a mother of harlots has daughters, or offspring, that continue in a similar pattern of operation of church.)
Revelation 18:2 – 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. (Obviously the kind of place that no true believer would want to be in.)
Revelation 18:9-11 – And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: (Note: with such a destruction, the people will no longer be able to receive what this false church has been putting out.
Revelation 18:21 – 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. (Note: all of characteristics of this corrupt religious system will be eliminated.)
If we look back in history to the “reformers”, those who brought the church out of the “dark ages”, where there was no or little spiritual light because they were filled with superstition, idolatry, unbiblical rituals and holidays, along with pagan forms of worship in the “established” church.
This was obviously the Roman Catholic Church that took over Rome as the political empire fell apart. The Pope became the Caesar, ruler over Rome in the fourth century. Thus those that teach that the Roman Empire needs to be revived are mistaken, because the Roman Empire never ceased to exist or be defeated as other empires were. The Roman Empire merely changed form, from a political entity to an ecclesiastical entity. Since then the kings of the earth bowed to the Pope of Rome. (The history of how this transformation occurred is recorded in my Book THE OTHER CHURCH, published by Author House in 2024.)
The reformers recognized the Roman Church, and the rule of the Pope, for what it really was. Thus they identified Rome as being the equivalent of Babylon, as the apostle John mentioned it in the verses above. John saw what the Roman Church would become since it resembled so much of what Babylon did to Israel. You can see this for yourself if you read the footnotes of these passages in Matthew Henry’s Commentary, or in the footnotes of the 1599 Geneva Bible.
This led me to pray and ask the Lord, “Why is Babylon used to describe Rome in these passages in Revelation”. Then the Lord revealed to me the reason why Babylon describes Rome as it does. The Empire of Babylon took God’s people, Israel, captive; brought them into the land of Babylon and caused them to worship their false pagan gods. At the same time they destroyed God’s temple in Jerusalem and ended Israel’s worship of the one true God, which was already declining.
The Church of Rome did the exact same thing. It took Christians captive bringing them into a false worship of images, idols and pagan holidays. In addition the Church of Rome operates in open blasphemy, calling the Pope the Vicar of Christ, and addressing him, and the priests, as “father”.
Matthew 23:9 – And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Then there is the worship of “mother and son” which originated in in the ancient past with Nimrod and his wife who became pregnant after Nimrod’s death and she claimed that the baby was Nimrod reincarnated. This began the worship of “mother and child” that has continued since then. Then they elevated Mary to be worshipped as divine, and they now call her the Queen of Heaven, claiming that she is the intercessor that they pray to.
This harlot church has killed many Christians over the past centuries as recorded in Foxes Book of Martyrs and other history texts about the Spanish Inquisition, etc; even including in the Bible.
Revelation 17:6 – 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.
Conclusion: Babylon is used to describe the Roman church because both empires took God’s people captive, bringing them into a
false worship with pagan practices and having destroyed the true worship that God ordained; in addition to destroying the temple of God, which is the Body of Christ – believers.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Thus the call to God’s people to come out of this corrupt form of church before God’s judgment comes.
Revelation 18:4-5 – 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. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Why will God judge this corrupted form of church with its blasphemous worship? Jesus answered that question when He spoke to the woman at the well.
John 4:21-24 – Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
