End-Time Insights

The contrast between two incompatible cities, New Jerusalem and Babylon, is foundational to understanding Revelation’s message . The Book of Revelation uses different terms to portray God’s People. For example, they are the “ servants of God ,” the “ saints ,” and the “ brethren .” Churches are “ lampstands ” and “ witnesses .” The servants of the “ Dragon ” are contrasted with the followers of the “ Lamb ” as cities, “ Babylon ” and “ New Jerusalem .”

Babylon is a biblical symbol of the recurring rise of empires and self-appointed world leaders, and it continues to live and thrive today . There is a much larger and older story behind the visions of the Book of Daniel than meets the eye, one quite relevant today. The Book focuses on the Empire that intends to rule the world and has done so since the dawn of human history. We ignore this biblical narrative at our peril. Not only was ancient Babel alive and well in the prophet's day, but it is rising once more on the world scene.

Daniel and his three companions refused to participate in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian ruling class and its imperial cult – Daniel 1:14. Daniel was confronted by a serious challenge on his arrival in the imperial city. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would threaten his ritual purity. The concern was that consuming the royal “ delicacies ” meant participating in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and polytheistic religion, but refusal to do so could have dire consequences.

God gave the Kingdom of Judah into Nebuchadnezzar’s hands, but He also equipped Daniel for service in the Court of Babylon . The Book of Daniel presents insights into the future including the Rise and Fall of kings and empires . This includes times of “ tribulation ” when the people of God endure persecution by despotic pagan rulers. Before doing so, the Book declares that the downfall of the Jewish kingdom was according to God’s will. It was the God of Israel who “ gave ” the Babylonian king dominion over Judah.

The Book of Revelation often uses several terms and images to portray the same reality. For example, the people of God are called the “ servants of God ,” the “ saints ,” and the “ brethren .” Churches are represented by “ lampstands ” and “ Two Witnesses ,” and the cosmic conflict between the “ Dragon ” and the “ Lamb ” is presented by comparing two very different “ cities .”

Babylon is called the “ Land of Shinar ” in Daniel , a link to the Tower of Babel incident in Genesis and the founding of the original imperial city in Mesopotamia. The same story is alluded to in Chapter 3 when the Babylonian king gathered all the nations of his realm to pay homage to the great and “ high ” golden image that he built in the “ Plain of Dura .”

The “ Beast ” is a single history-spanning entity that has existed since the dawn of human civilization, beginning when Babel “ SET UP a high tower to make us a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth .” That incident is alluded to by Daniel when describing how Nebuchadnezzar subjugated Jerusalem and took the “ vessels of the house of God into the land of Shinar to the house of his god .”

End-Time “ Babylon ” sits on the same beastly entity that John saw “ ascending from the Sea ” in Chapter 13, but it combines the four “ Beasts ” of Daniel into one final malignant creature bent on destroying the saints. In Chapter 17, its “lineage” and inevitable destruction are described with language from Daniel’s vision of the “ Little Horn ” and the “ Fourth Beast .”

There is a much larger and older story behind the visions of the Book of Daniel than meets the eye, one that remains relevant to this day. The Book focuses on the Empire that has been attempting to rule the world since the dawn of human history. We ignore this biblical narrative at our peril. Not only was ancient Babel alive and well in the prophet's day, but even now it is rising once more on the world scene.

On the eve of the city’s conquest by the “ Medes and Persians ,” the Babylonian crown prince, Belshazzar, gave a feast “ for a thousand of his lords ” and “ tasted wine ” from the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the Temple in Jerusalem, thereby disrespecting the God of Israel while also praising the false gods of Babylon.

The Beast of Revelation embodies the ancient imperial power that has stalked the saints since the Tower of Babel incident . History is littered with the remains of past attempts by tyrants and empires to dominate peoples and territories. Each new imperial power may experience initial success. However, all past empires have floundered, declined, and collapsed in the end. The Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and Caesar’s imperial realm, for example, ceased to exist thousands of years ago .

The celebration of heaven over the “wedding” of the “Lamb” follows the destruction of “Babylon, the Great Harlot”  –  Revelation 19:1-10 .  Next,  Revelation  presents the celebration of “ heaven ” over the demise of the “ Great City, Babylon .” A “ great voice ” of many people rings out in praise to God because He judged the “ Great Harlot ” that had seduced the “ nations ” and persecuted the “ saints ,” the “ servants ” of God. It is also the hour for the “ marriage ” of the “ Lamb ” to his bride, “ New Jerusalem. ”

Next, the  Book of Revelation  presents a detailed description of the destruction of the “ Great City, ” and the justification for it. Her demise is caused, in part, by the hatred of the “ Ten Kings ” who are allied with the “ Beast from the Sea .” They are driven by God to desolate and “ burn her utterly with fire ” for her dominance of world commerce, “ sorcery ,” and especially her persecution of the “ saints .”

The fall of mystery Babylon is pronounced, and her ritual impurity is exposed and denounced by an angel  –  Revelation 18:1-8 .  Next, John saw an angel descending from heaven, one who had “ great authority ” with which he pronounced the “ fall of Babylon ” and described her ritual pollution by demonic spirits. This was followed by a voice summoning the saints to separate themselves from the “ Harlot ,” otherwise, they would participate in her “ plagues. ”

John saw a vision of a female figure identified as “ Babylon, the Great Harlot .” She was carried by the “ Beast with Ten Horns and Seven Heads .” She deceived the “ Kings of the Earth ” along with its “ Inhabitants ” with her “ fornications ,” and she was “ drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus .” She was (and remains) the “ Mother of the Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth .” Her powers of seduction were so great that even John found himself momentarily “ marveling ” after her.

Babylon is revealed as a bejeweled harlot dripping with the shed blood of martyred saints  –  Revelation 17:1-6 .  In chapter 17,  Revelation  presents the impressive figure of “ Babylon .” She is labeled “ harlot ” and identified as the “ great city ,” and she is responsible for the deaths of the martyrs. “ Babylon ” is also closely associated with the deceptions and economic power of the “ Beast .” In her, the book’s first audience would see the city of Rome.

The seventh “ bowl of wrath ” anticipates the fuller description of the destruction of “ Babylon ” in chapters 17 and 18. It echoes the Old Testament story of the plague of hail inflicted on Egypt at the word of Moses. Emptying the bowl “ on the air ” prepares for the “ great hail ” that will conclude this last “ plague ” and seal Babylon’s doom.

The ingathering of the fruit of the vine represents the wrath of God on all men who take the mark of the Beast  – Revelation 14:17-20.  Next,  Revelation  presents the ingathering of the “ fruit of the vine , which is then pressed in the “ winepress of God's wrath .” This is the fate of all men who swear fealty to the “ Beast ” and take its “ mark. ” The “ saints ” are gathered to the “ sanctuary of God ,” but the “ inhabitants of the earth ” are “ tread underfoot ” in His winepress.

Angels announce the judicial sentence on Babylon and the inhabitants of the earth, but "rest" awaits the followers of the Lamb .  Next, “ another angel ” announces the “ fall of Babylon ,” and he is followed by “ a third angel ” who pronounces the judicial sentence on the men who gave their allegiance to the “ Beast ,” namely, torment by “ fire and brimstone .” God is about to vindicate His “ martyrs .”

The third trumpet results in a “great star” falling into the sources of freshwater and embittering them  – Revelation 8:10-11.  The third trumpet uses imagery from the first plague of Egypt that polluted the nation’s sources of freshwater. The “ Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river ” because it had turned “ into blood .” In the book of  Revelation , the plague also kills the fish in rivers and streams, and it “ embitters ” a third of the earth’s drinking water.