The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Mighty Angels of Revelation 17 and Mystery Babylon

MP3: The Mighty Angels of Revelation 17
Hosts: Nathan Jones & Vic Batista

Mystery Babylon Identified

Vic Batista: Historically, a number of people have connected the Roman Catholic Church with Mystery Babylon because of how the Pope is similarly arrayed and his holding a golden Eucharist cup.

Nathan Jones: Lamb & Lion Ministries held a survey a number of years back and over 500 people voted on it. Now, I don’t encourage voting on what the Bible means, but since we’re talking about Mystery Babylon, we can have a little leeway in figuring out who she is.

Mystery Babylon Poll

How interesting that nearly 50% believe Mystery Babylon will be the Apostate Church. In other words, after the Rapture, those who continue to say they are part of the Body of Christ but are not will be left behind, and they will form a one-world religion along with or under the banner of Catholicism. Some 47% of the people who voted chose that interpretation.

The second choice for the one-world religion is that she will be a new religion never seen before. She will come about after the world has gotten into such dire straits after the Rapture, economic collapse, and all the natural disasters God drops on the earth. The survivors will form a new religion that has never been seen before. About 28% of the people thought that interpretation was the case.

Some voters got confused with the Mystery Babylon of Revelation 18 which seems in all likelihood the governmental system of the Antichrist. They voted that Mystery Babylon will be the actual city of Babylon rebuilt in what today is Iraq.

There are some other theories about who the Harlot is, but the most generally accepted one is that she will be the apostate, one-world religion that will form after the Rapture and be comprised of the Catholic Church, maybe even led by the Pope himself, and comprised of all the Christians who haven’t accepted Jesus as Savior along with members of the other religions. All the world’s religions will united under this all-encompassing Babylon religious umbrella.

All the world's religions will united under this all-encompassing #Babylon religious umbrella. #Revelation Click To Tweet

Vic Batista: Mystery Babylon’s name is something that was derived all the way back in Genesis 11 by Nimrod.

Nathan Jones: Babylon has in the Bible often been considered to be the center of Satan’s kingdom. It is where he rules and reigns. Evil is defined by Babylon. Remember how at the Tower of Babel the people rebelled against God. They deciding that instead of obeying God and going out into the earth as He commanded that they’d camp in one spot. The residents of Babel told God they just weren’t going to move from their tower. They were going to build the biggest tower ever and so prove to God that they knew better than He did. God fixed their rebellion with a simple solution. He split them up by changing their one language into many languages. Now divided, the first Babylonians finally spread out into the world, producing the many ethnicities and nations of today.

Babylon in the Bible is displayed as both the symbolic and literal capital of satanic evil. Many Bible prophecy scholars believe that the Antichrist when he sets up his kingdom will rebuild the physical Babylon in the city of Iraq and rule from the Middle East.

#Babylon in the #Bible is displayed as both the symbolic and literal capital of satanic evil. Click To Tweet

Vic Batista: Babylon represents false religion throughout human history. There has long been all sorts of pagan false religions, even leading up to our time. For example, just think how many Hollywood movies stars have embraced Scientology. Everywhere you go throughout history there have always been false religions which are precursors to the final Mystery Babylon.

Nathan Jones: I’ve read that some questionable Bible scholars actual imply that Hollywood is Babylon. I don’t think that’s the case. Hollywood might spew un-Christian garbage all over the airwaves, but Hollywood has never been behind the mass murder of believers in Christ, at least not physically. So, no, I don’t believe the evidence is there that Hollywood is Babylon.

Vic Batista: Where the Word of God is silent, we will remain silent. When the Bible says something is a mystery and God doesn’t follow up with an explanation, and for whatever reason God wants it that way, then we must acknowledge the fact that we just won’t know for sure.

Nathan Jones: Some people have even claimed that Mystery Babylon is Islam. That conclusion makes some sense, for Islam is an apostate religion which separates its adherents from the God of the Bible. It has great riches right now because of controlling oil-rich lands. Islam has certainly gotten drunk on the blood of the Saints over the centuries, especially as ISIS has ripped through Iraq and Syria slaughtering all the Christians they’ve encountered. But, you have to take Bible prophecy as a whole, and the Gog and Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39 indicates that Islam will be wiped out just before or at the very beginning of the Tribulation. So, again, Mystery Babylon cannot be Islam.

Vic Batista: It’s so important when studying Bible prophecy and eschatology that we reference all the biblical references that are involved on the subject, otherwise our interpretations are going to be out of context, and therefore incorrect.

Nathan Jones: There other people who speculate that Mystery Babylon could be the United Nations or the European Union. We know from Daniel 9 that the Antichrist’s kingdom arises out of the European Union, so these political systems actually create the Antichrist’s kingdom. Therefore, they couldn’t be the Harlot because we’ll later read on in Revelation 17 how the Antichrist and his ten kings will hate the Harlot and want her dead.

Again, Revelation 17 contains some rather tough material. We shouldn’t expect anyone to read it and feel they can totally understand the chapter, because it certainly contains the element of mystery. We can certainly speculate, and many will likely have to agree to disagree when we don’t jive with each other’s interpretation. But, I believe, along with the bulk of all those who interpret the Mystery Babylon of Revelation 17, that she represents a religious system. What that religious system originates from exactly is, we don’t know at this time, but we can discern from the text that the Harlot is pure evil and serves as the religion of the Antichrist’s kingdom, at least during its first 3.5 years.

Vic Batista: I believe we are seeing the beginning stages of her development into a universally accepted one-world religion, but this is all going to become clearer during the time of the Tribulation as events unfold.

Nathan Jones: Yes, the Harlot’s revelation will require the Rapture of the Church and the consolidation of the earth politically underneath the Antichrist for such a global religious system to be birthed.

An Invitation

Vic Batista: We always want people to know that we are not just here to fill them with head knowledge, but we also want them to have heart knowledge. We want our readers to know that Jesus Christ is coming very soon. He loves you and He has a plan for you.

We always like to include an invitation, because maybe some are scared and confused by religion, or they just don’t understand the Bible. The Holy Spirit can provide clarification for that confusion, but to receive the Holy Spirit one must come to know Jesus personally. We must have a relationship with the Lord, and one can begin even this moment.

Nathan Jones: You can have a relationship with Jesus Christ by surrendering your life to Him. Pray from your heart something like: “Dear, Jesus, please forgive me of my sins and be my Savior.” Accept Jesus in faith and in repentance that Jesus died for you. Jesus promised He will respond by forgiving you of your sins, cleansing you of your guilt, and giving you a new life forever with Him.

Vic Batista: Once saved, we want the Holy Spirit to continue to work in you and allow the Lord to bring the clarity of the Scriptures to your heart and mind.

In the forty-eighth segment of our series “The Mighty Angels of Revelation,” an angel having great authority will dazzle us with a special announcement in Revelation 18.

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ABOUT AUTHOR View all posts Author Website

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

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