Who Is Babylon? Essay -- Exploring the Scriptures

In Revelation chapters 17 and 18 we read about the great whore named Babylon who sits on many waters and is the mother of all harlots. The imagery in which the apostle John uses to describe Babylon has very significant meaning, in particular for the church as she approaches the end of the age. It is of paramount importance to understand who this Babylon is and how she affects the life of every believer. Throughout the ages there have been many attempts to identify Babylon. Most have agreed that she is the Roman Catholic Church (in particular the Vatican), even to the point of identifying the Pope as the anti-Christ himself. Others have suggested that Babylon is not a religious structure but more likely political, pointing to the EEC (the European Economic Community), or to the United States (in particular New York with Wall Street). Further more, others have gone as far as to suggest that Babylon is geographical, pointing to modern day Iraq from where that former great civilization originated, and suggesting that one day that civilization will rise again to become a modern superpower. While it is true that one may find levels of Babylon in all these things, however, none of these things in themselves can fully make up Babylon. In other words, Babylon may, and does exist in these things, but no one can point to any one of these things and say, "This is Babylon". The reality is, that all these (ie. the European Union, United States with its "big business", the Vatican, and other political and religious institutions) are made up of people, and it is IN THE HEARTS of people you will find Babylon. These entities have been allowed by God to visibly show us Babylon and point to something of the nature of fallen man. "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jer 17:9). The origins of Babylon, as far as mankind is concerned, dates right back to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were given a choice as to whether they would follow the Lord through a life of obedience and faith, or try to become as God through their own striving. From the beginning, God's intention was that man would manifest the image of God and grow into full maturity through obedience to the will of the Lord. As we know, Adam and Eve chose to disobey and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that time o... ...e it is the opposite of God's love which allows freedom of choice, it forces a person(s) to behave a certain way, usually through emotional blackmail. Extreme forms of witchcraft used by the occult involve black magic. However, subtle forms of manipulation can not only be found in the personal lives of many believers, but also in the everyday running of many of God's churches. Husbands and wives have found that certain emotions will result in receiving a favourable response from their spouse. Likewise, church leaders have found that certain words said in a particular manner, or maybe a tear at the right time, or even a certain physical gesture, is able to move the congregation towards the goal of that leadership. THIS IS WITCHCRAFT! This takes away a person's ability to make a free choice to obey by FORCING their emotions to make a favourable response towards the one displaying these emotions. THIS RUNS CONTRARY TO GOD'S LAW OF LOVE!..........Love commanded is not love at all. Work Cited The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print. Who Is Babylon? Essay -- Exploring the Scriptures In Revelation chapters 17 and 18 we read about the great whore named Babylon who sits on many waters and is the mother of all harlots. The imagery in which the apostle John uses to describe Babylon has very significant meaning, in particular for the church as she approaches the end of the age. It is of paramount importance to understand who this Babylon is and how she affects the life of every believer. Throughout the ages there have been many attempts to identify Babylon. Most have agreed that she is the Roman Catholic Church (in particular the Vatican), even to the point of identifying the Pope as the anti-Christ himself. Others have suggested that Babylon is not a religious structure but more likely political, pointing to the EEC (the European Economic Community), or to the United States (in particular New York with Wall Street). Further more, others have gone as far as to suggest that Babylon is geographical, pointing to modern day Iraq from where that former great civilization originated, and suggesting that one day that civilization will rise again to become a modern superpower. While it is true that one may find levels of Babylon in all these things, however, none of these things in themselves can fully make up Babylon. In other words, Babylon may, and does exist in these things, but no one can point to any one of these things and say, "This is Babylon". The reality is, that all these (ie. the European Union, United States with its "big business", the Vatican, and other political and religious institutions) are made up of people, and it is IN THE HEARTS of people you will find Babylon. These entities have been allowed by God to visibly show us Babylon and point to something of the nature of fallen man. "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jer 17:9). The origins of Babylon, as far as mankind is concerned, dates right back to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were given a choice as to whether they would follow the Lord through a life of obedience and faith, or try to become as God through their own striving. From the beginning, God's intention was that man would manifest the image of God and grow into full maturity through obedience to the will of the Lord. As we know, Adam and Eve chose to disobey and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that time o... ...e it is the opposite of God's love which allows freedom of choice, it forces a person(s) to behave a certain way, usually through emotional blackmail. Extreme forms of witchcraft used by the occult involve black magic. However, subtle forms of manipulation can not only be found in the personal lives of many believers, but also in the everyday running of many of God's churches. Husbands and wives have found that certain emotions will result in receiving a favourable response from their spouse. Likewise, church leaders have found that certain words said in a particular manner, or maybe a tear at the right time, or even a certain physical gesture, is able to move the congregation towards the goal of that leadership. THIS IS WITCHCRAFT! This takes away a person's ability to make a free choice to obey by FORCING their emotions to make a favourable response towards the one displaying these emotions. THIS RUNS CONTRARY TO GOD'S LAW OF LOVE!..........Love commanded is not love at all. Work Cited The New Oxford Annotated Bible: With the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version. Michael D. Coogan, editor. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.