BABYLON

In the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks of a mysterious city that would captivate the attention of the world in the latter days of earth’s history. This Babylon shares its name with the ancient city that headquartered the dominant kingdom of its age. After a splendid reign of unimaginable power and wealth, Babylon of old was destroyed, with God declaring that ancient Babylon would never again be inhabited. “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there” (Isaiah 13:19, 20). But in spite of that proclamation, Babylon is back in the New Testament. Revelation 17:18 describes Babylon as a “great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth,” while Revelation 18:16 speaks of “that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls.” Chapters 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation deal exclusively with the city of Babylon, and the description given of Babylon is often far from flattering. In Revelation 17, Babylon is described as a “great whore” that intoxicates the people of the world and is involved in illicit alliances with the governments of the world. Babylon is called “the mother of harlots” and is described as being drunk “with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus."