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1.
There is here a "mystery".
2.
There is the name itself, "Babylon the Great".
3.
There is the meaning of the mystery of the name, "The mother, etc."
In chapter 1: 20 we have a guide to the interpretation of the mysteries suggested:--
"The mystery of the seven stars in My right Hand . . . . .
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches."
The name therefore "Babylon the Great" was a secret symbol of something deeper. If
however we are in ignorance or confusion as to the basis of this symbol, we shall not be
ready to follow the inspired interpretation, and for the sake of clearness we must set
before the reader the scriptural history and prophecy concerning Babylon before we go
further into the intricate details of chapter 17:
Babylon, as the seat of government from which commenced "the times of the
Gentiles", is that great city which existed in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, but Babylon,
the mother of harlots, is that city founded by Nimrod the rebel. Idolatry when traced to
its source dips finally underground, and is found originating in the secret rites and
teachings of ancient Babel, and idolatry with its associated obscenities is the dark and
persecuting background of the whole book of the Revelation. The ancient mystery cults
were all derived from Babel.
Bunsen says that the religious system of Egypt itself, ancient as it is, was derived from
Asia and "the primitive empire in Babel". It is not our purpose to attempt to set forth the
ramifications of the Babylonian system, the reader will find it most fully set forth in
Hislop's "Two Babylons". There is practically no religious system on earth to-day that
does not use the symbols, names and ritual of this leavening set of lies. What Jerusalem
is yet to be in the hands of our God for blessing, Babylon has been and yet will be, in the
hands of Satan, for a curse.
There are many expositors who believe and teach that the Babylon of the Revelation is
the Roman Catholic Church. This we must set aside as not fulfilling the Scriptures.
Isaiah wrote prophetically of Babylon. Did he speak of the Roman Apostacy or of the
city of Babylon? Let him speak for himself:--
"And Babylon, the glory of the Kingdoms, the beauty of the CHALDEES' excellency,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah" (Isa. 13: 19).
The whole of Isa. 13: should be read, and its many parallels with Revelation noted.
Its time period is spoken of as "the day of the Lord" (verse 9). Its signs are the
darkening of the sun, moon ad stars (10). Its object is the punishing of the wicked and
the proud (11). Its accompaniments are the shaking of the heavens and the removing of
the earth (13). These four points of resemblance are enough to connect the Babylon of
Isaiah's burden with that of John in the Revelation.
When we read on into Isa. 14: and hear the proverb taken up against the "King of
Babylon", we again realize that prophecy is pointing onward to the great apostate head of