Revelation 18:1 ¶ And after
these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and
the earth was lightened with his glory. 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. 3 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.
Calling this city Babylon the great is very interesting
and seems to indicate that this is a euphemistic name for a city that we may
know by another name. This city is so influential at the time of the end and so
powerful that all nations have
participated in her wickedness. Certainly, one wonders at any city today that
has that much control and power. Rome of the first century ruled the
Mediterranean world but most certainly did not rule China or the civilizations
in what we call the Americas today. In fact, the city of Rome ceased being the
capital of the empire, with the idea of a capital reflecting the way we think
not the way they did, in the fourth century AD as Constantinople, the Emperor
Constantine’s glory came into being. What will have to happen for Rome to rule the
world if Babylon the great is Rome?
The Vatican surely has no influence over Red China or Islamic nations. What do
you think will be the circumstances at the end of history that would cause
this? I am tempted to think of New York, USA but with a Pope being photographed
kissing the Koran one can imagine an alliance between the Vatican and some in
the Islamic world, a world almost as diverse in its belief as Christians are.
However, there is a prophesy of a Mahdi, an Islamic messiah who will, I have
read, “break the cross.”
With the revolutionary faith of
the last two centuries, an ideology of universal collectivism also known as
communism, socialism, Marxism, or globalization sweeping all traditional
authority and tradition away around the world, we can only try to imagine a
city from which the world will be ruled in the latter days.
The concept in modern geography
and urban studies of a “Global City”, power city, world city, or alpha city is
interesting here with New York, London, and Tokyo all listed as the hubs of a
global economic and power network. Even more interesting is that some
commentators refer to Babylon’s goddess Ishtar as being the goddess of
immigrants and liberty depicted as holding a torch much like the modern version
of Ishtar and Isis that sits in New York Harbor called Lady Liberty. Other
commentators say that the most important temple in ancient Babylon was the
Shining House or translated also as the White House. The question would be
which power city sits on seven hills or are those mountains a metaphor for
something else? Look up Global City on the internet for more details.
One thing that is clear is that
this Babylon is a merchant city and a wellspring of luxury items. It has made
the world rich so one can think of cities like New York or London as banking
and finance centers, not Rome.
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