Is the United States of America (U.S.A.) the Great Harlot / Babylon?
Question : Is the U.S.A. the Great Harlot / Babylon mentioned in the Book of Revelation?
I don't want to sound unpatriotic because my love of country is second only to my love of God and family. But recently within the last few years some thoughts have come to mind which now have me very intrigued and most definitely troubled. In reading the Book of Revelation I see a lot of parallels between its description of spiritual / political Babylon and the current declining moral state of the U.S.A. For the last three centuries the U.S.A. has grown from a small, relatively powerless nation to the one remaining world superpower, beginning with the last half of the 20th century. Moreover, our government has its fingers in virtually every facet of government, business, popular culture, and especially economics of just about every nation in the world. When the U.S.A. had its humble beginnings she was essentially a Christian country, or at least most of its citizens lived under the umbrella of a Christian world-view. That is no longer the case. Most people are forced under the umbrella of secular humanism (a religion), New Age mentality (a religion), secret societies (quasi-religion), and systematic immorality (by-products of the above mentioned religions). It dominates everything and is anti-God.
Coupled with that are the end-time scenario trends which seem to be developing all over the world (i.e. Israel becoming a nation, Middle-East tensions especially those toward Israel, trends and movement in Palestine, Russia, and China, the rise of technology which allows for instant world-wide communication, the rapid increase of spiritual rebellion and immorality in the world in general and the U.S.A. in particular, etc.) it appears that the chess pieces are being set in place and the game is about to begin, if it hasn’t already. The game I am referring to is the Great Tribulation. And because of the current status of the U.S.A. the question is haunting me – is the Great Spiritual Whore and the resurrected political Babylon right here in my backyard? I know the popular view is that the whore and Babylon are situated in Europe and the largest Christian denomination. That is the eschatological view I have and since I first became a believer some 39 years ago. But that view is being challenged. What say you?
Answer : Greeting to you in Jesus wonderful name. It is nice to know that you are sound student and a close follower of all the end time eschatological theories and views. As you have said the moral state of U.S.A has rapidly declined because of spreading a secular world-view instead of the existing Christian world view.
Mainly the Ten Commandments of God has been replaced by people pleasing laws and verdicts which can only scratch the back of people in to more lawlessness. With relativism coming to rescue the law-breakers each time they break rules, they are let to go scot free. Law-makers become law-breakers who also change rules in the high places of constitution, thus actually having no basis of morality and truth to uphold. One time in the nation of Israel the same thing happened during the time of Judges (1367-1050 BC) of which the Bible says, "...Every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judg 17:6; 21:25). Even though all that every person does can be right in their own eyes, only the moral absolutes from the word of God can really weigh a spirit or the intention behind every action rightly. And the bottom line is that only the Lord can lead a nation in to true prosperity (Prov 21:2; 29:2, 4; Psa 33:12).
President George Washington one of the founding Fathers of U.S.A and its first President said in his farewell address, "Reason and experience both forbid us that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." The reason the law of God has been hated is because now leaders who lead the nation want to please people rather than God who started the nation of U.S.A as a light house to all other nations and brought it to be a super power among all the nations of the world because of its Bible based value system and Christian world view which has blessed many nations in the past with the word of God through countless missionaries who brought spiritual freedom and sanity (Acts 17:26-27).
The rise of the kings of the east like China, India and other Asian countries to be world powers technologically and economically is a Biblical alarm that has been indicating clearly that we are nearer than ever to the threshold of the Tribulation of the end time (Rev 16:13-14).
Yes truly the chess pieces are put in place for a final countdown to Armageddon through the time of End Time Tribulation (Rev 3:10; 13:4-5, 7-8).
But regarding U.S.A being the Great Spiritual Whore and the resurrected political Babylon, I do not think the Bible supports such idea. The United States of America is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but instead it mentions Babylon (Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2,10,21). Just because some so called end-time prophets say that Babylon refers to America or to decadent western societies in general doesn't mean Babylon and U.S.A are the same.
The historical Babylon of the Jewish past is referred in both Matthew 1:11,12,17 and in Acts 7:43. But when Peter the apostle referred in his epistle that he was writing it from Babylon (1 Peter 5:13), he was definitely pointing to Rome symbolically as the political Babylon of his day as he was writing it in the last years of his life from Rome. It cannot be the literal Babylon of history, as the famous ancient city, located near Baghdad, was a complete unpopulated ruin by 275 BC, well before that time of the New Testament itself.
The Babylon that is mentioned in the Book of Revelation is both a religious Babylon which is a literal city called as "the woman," "the great harlot who sits on many waters [Many waters means the people of many nations and tongues] (Rev 17:15, 1)," "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" and then a literal resurgence of a political Babylon on world map through Anti-Christ (Jer. 51:7; Zech 5:5-11). The religious Babylon who is called the "great city" which ruled over the kings of the earth is seen as sitting on the "seven mountains" (Rev 17:18, 3, 9). We know Rome, the capital city of Italy, is historically known as ‘City of Seven Hills.’ According to Roman mythology, the seven hills of early Rome were the Cermalus, Cispius, Fagutal, Oppius, Palatium, Sucusa and Velia. But now the modern ‘City of Seven Hills’ includes Myrtle, Blossom, Clock Tower, Jackson, Lumpkin and Old Shorter hills and Mount Aventine. Rome is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and in that too she is unique. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined." In the end time, the Roman Catholic Church which has always stood in the history as the harlot will be driven by political power behind it (Rev 17:5, 7). In short, the woman which is the city of Rome will ride the beast which will be the powerful ten kings of the end time revived Roman goverment in which Antichrist will be ruling as a leader along with other kings (Rev 17:8). Then those ten kings with their very political power will hate and then destroy the power of the Roman Catholic Church and bring it in to desolation just before the Tribulation begins (Rev 17:16-18). Once the religious Babylon is gone out of the end time picture in Revelation Chapter 18, then the political Babylon keeping the historical and geographical Babylon as it headquarters under Antichrist will rise up to its zenith to make people worship the image of the beast all over the world or else face death through martyrdom, the image will actually be placed in Jerusalem within the three and half years of power which God will give it to him over the whole world (Rev 13:4-8; 14-15; Dan 11:45; Isa 14:1-27). This will be the replay of what happened in Babylon through Nebuchadnezzar when He declared a decree to worship the image of gold during the time of Daniel and his three friends or face death (Dan 3:1-25), but the only difference will be where as Nebuchadnezzar repented toward God for his pride (Dan 4:33-37), the Antichrist will come to fight against Christ in the Armageddon and will be directly thrown in to the lake of fire (Rev 19:19-20).
I believe that the political Babylon will have its leader the Antichrist from in and around the Middle Eastern region of Iraq and Turkey which was included nearly in all the Gentile kingdoms, this would then literally fulfill Revelation 13:1, where the beast will come from all seven heads or kingdoms [1. Egypt - 2. Assyria (The Assyrians typically lived in Northern Iraq, Iran, Southeastern Turkey, and the eastern borders of Syria) - 3. Babylon (Iraq) - 4. Medo-Persia (Iran) - 5. Greece - 6. Roman Empire - 7. Revived Roman Empire]. Interestingly, the modern-day nations that were once a part of all four kingdoms in Daniel [lion=Babylon, bear=Medo-Persian, leopoard=Grecia, beast=Roman] are Israel, parts of Turkey, Armenia, parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The latter four kingdoms neighbor Israel. Ham, Canaan, Ishmael, and Esau are then all tied together in disobedience to God (Gen 9:22, 25; 16:11-12; 27:39-40; 28:6, 8-9), and have all been cursed. Satan has used their offspring, the Arab Muslims, as enemies and a continual stumbling block to God's chosen people of Israel under the umbrella of the religion of Islam. This is the reason today we see a conflict constantly happening between Muslim Arabs and the Jews who are God's chosen people, this is the number one problem that is escalated in the world media as a stumbling block to world peace. This is the one reason Antichrist who will be a middle eastern charismatic personality, will be able to rise up in the world stage and come to reign over the whole world.
The biggest supporter of Israel in the world today is U.S.A, but the Bible mentions that at the end of the Tribulation even this lone nation which has stood for Israel might turn against Israel or will have no more any power to veto the invasion of Israel (Zech 12:3; Revelation 10:11; 11:18; 16:13-14; 17:1, 3, 9, 12, 15; 19:15).
Your eschatological view since you become a believer is already right in many ways, but God is revealing many more details to it as time comes close to the real events of the end time to happen one by one very soon. All the true Biblical views about end time may be challenged, but cannot be replaced as it is a timeless eternal truth unfolding and revealed by God bit by bit.
Blessings.....
I don't want to sound unpatriotic because my love of country is second only to my love of God and family. But recently within the last few years some thoughts have come to mind which now have me very intrigued and most definitely troubled. In reading the Book of Revelation I see a lot of parallels between its description of spiritual / political Babylon and the current declining moral state of the U.S.A. For the last three centuries the U.S.A. has grown from a small, relatively powerless nation to the one remaining world superpower, beginning with the last half of the 20th century. Moreover, our government has its fingers in virtually every facet of government, business, popular culture, and especially economics of just about every nation in the world. When the U.S.A. had its humble beginnings she was essentially a Christian country, or at least most of its citizens lived under the umbrella of a Christian world-view. That is no longer the case. Most people are forced under the umbrella of secular humanism (a religion), New Age mentality (a religion), secret societies (quasi-religion), and systematic immorality (by-products of the above mentioned religions). It dominates everything and is anti-God.
Coupled with that are the end-time scenario trends which seem to be developing all over the world (i.e. Israel becoming a nation, Middle-East tensions especially those toward Israel, trends and movement in Palestine, Russia, and China, the rise of technology which allows for instant world-wide communication, the rapid increase of spiritual rebellion and immorality in the world in general and the U.S.A. in particular, etc.) it appears that the chess pieces are being set in place and the game is about to begin, if it hasn’t already. The game I am referring to is the Great Tribulation. And because of the current status of the U.S.A. the question is haunting me – is the Great Spiritual Whore and the resurrected political Babylon right here in my backyard? I know the popular view is that the whore and Babylon are situated in Europe and the largest Christian denomination. That is the eschatological view I have and since I first became a believer some 39 years ago. But that view is being challenged. What say you?
Answer : Greeting to you in Jesus wonderful name. It is nice to know that you are sound student and a close follower of all the end time eschatological theories and views. As you have said the moral state of U.S.A has rapidly declined because of spreading a secular world-view instead of the existing Christian world view.
Mainly the Ten Commandments of God has been replaced by people pleasing laws and verdicts which can only scratch the back of people in to more lawlessness. With relativism coming to rescue the law-breakers each time they break rules, they are let to go scot free. Law-makers become law-breakers who also change rules in the high places of constitution, thus actually having no basis of morality and truth to uphold. One time in the nation of Israel the same thing happened during the time of Judges (1367-1050 BC) of which the Bible says, "...Every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Judg 17:6; 21:25). Even though all that every person does can be right in their own eyes, only the moral absolutes from the word of God can really weigh a spirit or the intention behind every action rightly. And the bottom line is that only the Lord can lead a nation in to true prosperity (Prov 21:2; 29:2, 4; Psa 33:12).
President George Washington one of the founding Fathers of U.S.A and its first President said in his farewell address, "Reason and experience both forbid us that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." The reason the law of God has been hated is because now leaders who lead the nation want to please people rather than God who started the nation of U.S.A as a light house to all other nations and brought it to be a super power among all the nations of the world because of its Bible based value system and Christian world view which has blessed many nations in the past with the word of God through countless missionaries who brought spiritual freedom and sanity (Acts 17:26-27).
The rise of the kings of the east like China, India and other Asian countries to be world powers technologically and economically is a Biblical alarm that has been indicating clearly that we are nearer than ever to the threshold of the Tribulation of the end time (Rev 16:13-14).
Yes truly the chess pieces are put in place for a final countdown to Armageddon through the time of End Time Tribulation (Rev 3:10; 13:4-5, 7-8).
But regarding U.S.A being the Great Spiritual Whore and the resurrected political Babylon, I do not think the Bible supports such idea. The United States of America is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but instead it mentions Babylon (Revelation 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2,10,21). Just because some so called end-time prophets say that Babylon refers to America or to decadent western societies in general doesn't mean Babylon and U.S.A are the same.
The historical Babylon of the Jewish past is referred in both Matthew 1:11,12,17 and in Acts 7:43. But when Peter the apostle referred in his epistle that he was writing it from Babylon (1 Peter 5:13), he was definitely pointing to Rome symbolically as the political Babylon of his day as he was writing it in the last years of his life from Rome. It cannot be the literal Babylon of history, as the famous ancient city, located near Baghdad, was a complete unpopulated ruin by 275 BC, well before that time of the New Testament itself.
The Babylon that is mentioned in the Book of Revelation is both a religious Babylon which is a literal city called as "the woman," "the great harlot who sits on many waters [Many waters means the people of many nations and tongues] (Rev 17:15, 1)," "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" and then a literal resurgence of a political Babylon on world map through Anti-Christ (Jer. 51:7; Zech 5:5-11). The religious Babylon who is called the "great city" which ruled over the kings of the earth is seen as sitting on the "seven mountains" (Rev 17:18, 3, 9). We know Rome, the capital city of Italy, is historically known as ‘City of Seven Hills.’ According to Roman mythology, the seven hills of early Rome were the Cermalus, Cispius, Fagutal, Oppius, Palatium, Sucusa and Velia. But now the modern ‘City of Seven Hills’ includes Myrtle, Blossom, Clock Tower, Jackson, Lumpkin and Old Shorter hills and Mount Aventine. Rome is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and in that too she is unique. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined." In the end time, the Roman Catholic Church which has always stood in the history as the harlot will be driven by political power behind it (Rev 17:5, 7). In short, the woman which is the city of Rome will ride the beast which will be the powerful ten kings of the end time revived Roman goverment in which Antichrist will be ruling as a leader along with other kings (Rev 17:8). Then those ten kings with their very political power will hate and then destroy the power of the Roman Catholic Church and bring it in to desolation just before the Tribulation begins (Rev 17:16-18). Once the religious Babylon is gone out of the end time picture in Revelation Chapter 18, then the political Babylon keeping the historical and geographical Babylon as it headquarters under Antichrist will rise up to its zenith to make people worship the image of the beast all over the world or else face death through martyrdom, the image will actually be placed in Jerusalem within the three and half years of power which God will give it to him over the whole world (Rev 13:4-8; 14-15; Dan 11:45; Isa 14:1-27). This will be the replay of what happened in Babylon through Nebuchadnezzar when He declared a decree to worship the image of gold during the time of Daniel and his three friends or face death (Dan 3:1-25), but the only difference will be where as Nebuchadnezzar repented toward God for his pride (Dan 4:33-37), the Antichrist will come to fight against Christ in the Armageddon and will be directly thrown in to the lake of fire (Rev 19:19-20).
I believe that the political Babylon will have its leader the Antichrist from in and around the Middle Eastern region of Iraq and Turkey which was included nearly in all the Gentile kingdoms, this would then literally fulfill Revelation 13:1, where the beast will come from all seven heads or kingdoms [1. Egypt - 2. Assyria (The Assyrians typically lived in Northern Iraq, Iran, Southeastern Turkey, and the eastern borders of Syria) - 3. Babylon (Iraq) - 4. Medo-Persia (Iran) - 5. Greece - 6. Roman Empire - 7. Revived Roman Empire]. Interestingly, the modern-day nations that were once a part of all four kingdoms in Daniel [lion=Babylon, bear=Medo-Persian, leopoard=Grecia, beast=Roman] are Israel, parts of Turkey, Armenia, parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The latter four kingdoms neighbor Israel. Ham, Canaan, Ishmael, and Esau are then all tied together in disobedience to God (Gen 9:22, 25; 16:11-12; 27:39-40; 28:6, 8-9), and have all been cursed. Satan has used their offspring, the Arab Muslims, as enemies and a continual stumbling block to God's chosen people of Israel under the umbrella of the religion of Islam. This is the reason today we see a conflict constantly happening between Muslim Arabs and the Jews who are God's chosen people, this is the number one problem that is escalated in the world media as a stumbling block to world peace. This is the one reason Antichrist who will be a middle eastern charismatic personality, will be able to rise up in the world stage and come to reign over the whole world.
The biggest supporter of Israel in the world today is U.S.A, but the Bible mentions that at the end of the Tribulation even this lone nation which has stood for Israel might turn against Israel or will have no more any power to veto the invasion of Israel (Zech 12:3; Revelation 10:11; 11:18; 16:13-14; 17:1, 3, 9, 12, 15; 19:15).
Your eschatological view since you become a believer is already right in many ways, but God is revealing many more details to it as time comes close to the real events of the end time to happen one by one very soon. All the true Biblical views about end time may be challenged, but cannot be replaced as it is a timeless eternal truth unfolding and revealed by God bit by bit.
Blessings.....
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