“Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives!” (Jeremiah 51:6).
Earlier this week I watched the opening ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The opening ceremony it seems was taken out of the Book of Revelation by the creators of this presentation. You had a tower, a gigantic structure of a bull with a woman riding on its back. Around the bull was a circle of worshippers holding what looked like crystals in their hands, a new age practice of sorts, extended out towards the bull in worship and even two other ladies suspended in the air praying to this bull. The lights that were on the bull and lighting up the stadium were red and purple and the red and purple lights reflected on the woman who was dressed in white to reflect the colours. Clearly this was an open deliberate advertisement for Satan. Music was also a powerful mesmerising aphrodisiac that captured the emotions of the huge crowd and had them under its spell. One of the performing Musicians was a member of the Black Sabbath rock group.
According to God’s Word the power of Music was given to Lucifer by God, before Lucifer fell and became Satan. He was in the Garden of Eden and the ability to create music was infused into his inner being by God. We read about this in the prophet Ezekiel; “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…and the… workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created” (Ezekiel 28:13 KJV). Tabrets and Pipes were musical instruments. When you look at the rock concerts, the videos and internet shows of wild rock music with its sensuous displays and the use of music in such ceremonies as we see in this Birmingham opening ceremony and in other major public pagan events, we see the mesmerising effect that music has to control people’s minds and emotions and their physical actions.
In many churches today, especially in most of the mega seeker friendly, seeker sensitive, churches we see worship leaders treated like rock stars, musicians lauded and loud amplified music with repetitious songs with often shallow lyrics about the character of God as revealed in scripture. In the hyper faith prosperity money churches and on TV and over the internet we see the worship of the golden calf replicated in the appeals for money and in reality teaching godliness as a means for financial gain, profiteering on the Blood of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple for this sort of thing and that with a whip!!! God’s Temple today, is once again being defiled by the money changers. Of course music controlled by the Holy Spirit is very powerful and effective in worship. However, music not controlled by the Holy Spirit in worship, will be controlled by Satan and this he will do through the power of the soul which is self-centred instead of God centred.
I also watched a second video related to the Oscars in Hollywood and it was an eye-opener directly connected to the Egyptian and Babylonian ‘gods.’ Even the Oscar itself, that small golden statue, was clearly modelled after the small image of an Egyptian ‘god.’ In the opening ceremony there was an emphasis on a one world united together and a construction of a huge tower in the entertainment arena. Clearly this was a direct advertisement for a new kind of the Tower of Babel. The Bull being paraded around was modelled after the golden calf of the Ancient Egyptians which the Israelites built and worshipped around with unbridled sensuality and money, a conspicuous feature in the pagan world and within Christendom today, with the money preachers infesting the Evangelical and Charismatic churches by and large, and the opulence of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Arabian sheiks in Saudi Arabia. All of it in fact is Babylon!
In the Bible the kings of Babylon and Assyria were major types of the final Antichrist to come who will be a Middle-Eastern despot, indwelt by Satan, and having control over a vast Islamic empire of global proportions. We see this specifically reflected in King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon with the golden image representing his likeness and that of his empire over which he ruled. When the musical instruments sounded everyone was to bow down and worship the image. This opening ceremony in Birmingham clearly reflected what happened in this historic event in Ancient Babylon recorded for us in the Book of Daniel which is one, if not the major book, which is prophetic in nature in the Bible and only eclipsed by the Book of Revelation. In fact, the whole of the Bible is prophetic and this aspect must always be kept in mind when reading and studying both Testaments.
Added to this, prophecy of scripture is always related to past and future history. God is the God of history! As we read in the prophet Isaiah “Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish’” (Isaiah 40:9-10).
History has a way of repeating itself and we see this ‘pattern’ reflected in Biblical prophecy. Babylon in the Bible is a culture, an empire, a multi-faith religious system and a literal city which was never destroyed but atrophied over time, and today this city, although in a different location, is the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the earth and the scarlet woman who rides on the back of the beast empire. Briefly then, let’s look at Babylon in the Bile and in light of history.
1. The empire of Babylon and Assyria were founded by Nimrod who built the cities of Babylon and Nineveh. Nimrod we are told in God’s Word was “a mighty hunter before the Lord” however the Hebrew says “he was a mighty hunter in the face of God.” In other word he was a rebel of whom it was said built the tower of Babel to confront God, because Nimrod was angry that God had brought the flood on the earth. Nimrod’s Babylon was the original source of all false religions in history and those we see in the world today. The crescent moon and the star seen on the flag of Turkey and other Islamic nations represent Nimrod and his mother who was also his wife historical records tell us. The image of the Madonna and child in Roman Catholicism is a ’Christianised’ version of a pagan baby ‘god’ in the lap of its mother, its source being traced all the way back to Nimrod and Semiramis.
2. Then you have the Babylonian empire which conquered the Assyrian Empire and destroyed the first Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC. King Nebuchadnezzar was a major type of the Antichrist and what he did teaches us something about what the Antichrist will do at the end of this present age. This is why Nebuchadnezzar appears in the book of Daniel.
3. The culture, the mystery religions and opulence, the hedonism and immoral practices of Ancient Babylon are seen today in Roman Catholicism with its idolatry, worship of statues, its dogmas concerning the mass, its vestments arrayed in purple and scarlet, its auricular confessions, rosary beads, Purgatory and other pagan traditions re-packaged in Christian wrapping, and with the Popes titled “Vicarious Christos” in Latin but translated “Anti Christos” in Greek being “Antichrist,” which means two things, “against Christ and in place of Christ.” There is only one Vicar of Christ on earth and that is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and not error. The Pope is not the Vicar of Christ. Added to this, the Church of Rome is part of Babylon and reflects much of the religious culture and pagan practices and ceremonies of Babylon, but it is not the end-time city of Babylon the Bible speaks about which still exists today but in a different location.
Added to this even in many charismatic churches today visions, dreams, mystical experiences, visible manifestations of one sort or another, unbiblical practices such as tarot destiny cards and grave soaking and personal prophesying, are all the rage and are a conspicuous feature that have their source in the mystery religions of Babylon. Of course it needs to be said that visions and dreams and prophesying and spiritual gifts (manifestations) are affirmed in scripture but must be endorsed by scripture. As New Covenant believers we are instructed to test all things by the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
4. Today we see the culture of ancient Babylon in the ungodly and wicked lifestyles, immorality, perversion, hedonism and paganism within the western democracies especially in America, Great Britain and Europe with its statue of the woman riding the beast located at the front of the EU headquarters in Brussels. Also we see Babylon in the whole entertainment industry especially in Hollywood infested with the occult, all reflecting the culture and wickedness of ancient Babylon such as new age thinking and the lifestyles the same as those of ancient Babylon. In fact the whole world system itself is Babylon!
5. Babylon in Bible Prophecy is a literal city that has never been physically destroyed. The location of ancient Babylon was located in Iraq on the banks of the Euphrates River. Even though it was conquered by the Medio-Persian Empire the city itself was never destroyed. Even Alexander the Great made his headquarters there for some time and was enamoured and overwhelmed by the beauty and opulence and grandeur of the City. Over time it atrophied. Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild it but the city was never completed because of the defeat of Saddam. We are told in scripture that at the end of this age the city of Babylon is a city in the desert by the sea and that its destruction is heard at the Red Sea and that this city is located in Saudi Arabia today (Revelation 17:3) (Jeremiah 49:20-21). The destruction of this city by fire is described in the Word of God (Jeremiah 51:7-9) (Revelation Chapter 18). In fact the destruction of Babylon is described in Jeremiah Chapters 50-51.
The city of Babylon cannot be Rome or New York, even those these cities have all the hallmarks of the wicked and immoral city of ancient Babylon described in the Book of revelation, but they are not located in a desert by the Sea. However, Mecca is located near the Red Sea and a city that trades via the sea. Saudi Arabia is mentioned numerous times in Bible prophecy being the home of Islam. In fact virtually all of the nations and geographical regions mentioned in scripture related to end-time prophecy are all Islamic today. You can ‘bash’ Rome and the Pope verbally and nothing really happens, but say one word against Mohammad or Islam and all hell breaks loose!!!
Now in Mecca you have the huge Clock Tower overlooking the Kaaba that houses the black stone (a meteorite) which Muslims all over the world venerate and worship if the truth be known. At the apex of the highest tower of the clock tower you have the crescent moon which traces its roots back to Nimrod, the founder of Babylon and Assyria in the Book of Genesis. Today in Saudi Arabia they call this huge tower “Mt Babel.”
There is no doubt that Islam’s agenda is to conquer the whole world for Islam. Iran is part of this end-time beast empire and Iran sees Saudi Arabia as the harlot of Islam that rides the back of the beast because the Saudis have in Iran’s thinking compromised and betrayed the ideology of Islam especially in doing oil deals with America and other western non-Islamic countries. Added to this the Saudis are showing favour towards Israel only because they are scared of Iran across the gulf. Iran may also deal with western and Asian powers such as the European Union, Russia and China but this is only a ruse. Islam cannot change any more than a leopard can change its spots.
Once Iran has nuclear capability they may well nuke Mecca and Babylon the harlot will burn making the whole Arabian Peninsula uninhabitable for humans. The smoke and fallout of its destruction at the Red Sea will pollute the atmosphere so that the shipmasters that have been doing deals with Mecca by the Sea will have to stay afar off because of the fallout from its burning. Imagine the devastation when the oil reserves under the Saudi Arabian desert are all turned into streams of burning pitch putting a fiery end to the Harlot city located in the desert by the Red Sea, at that at the hands of the beast empire that she presently rides. (Isaiah 34:5-15) (Revelation 18:4-24). The whole Babylon system and culture and the religions of this world will be completely overthrown when the Messiah our Lord Jesus comes back. Islam will be completely destroyed and that primarily because it has persecuted Jews and Christians (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Revelation 19:11-21).
As New Covenant believers in the Messiah our Lord Jesus His Word tells us “to flee from Babylon.” Every New Covenant believer has two natures, one is the fallen nature inherited in Adam, and the new nature inherited in the Lord Jesus, and they are in conflict with each other deep within our souls and the nature we feed the most is the one that will ultimately control us. We cannot be citizens of the Babylon of this world and citizens of the Kingdom of God!
As the prophet Jeremiah writes; “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD’s vengeance; He will repay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine (oil); therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed. “ ‘We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens’ (Jeremiah 51:6-9).
Dear brothers and sisters we must by God’s power and strength flee the Babylon of this world with its lures, its ambitions, its fleshly appetites, its mesmerising seductions and temptations and run for our lives! Let us keep on keeping on by the grace and power of God, by staying under the power of Jesus blood, by keeping short accounts with God if we do sin by confessing it and renouncing it, by reading and obeying God’s Word, by regular prayer and fellowship with like-minded blood-washed Spirit filled Bible believing brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus, and by drawing on the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit moment by moment as we abide daily in the True Vine our Lord Jesus and draw on His indestructible life (John 15:4-5) (Hebrews 7:16). The spiritual habits and disciplines we develop now in our daily walk with the Triune God will enable us to stand in the future when the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendour of His coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
