“Babylon And On And On”

Monday, December 07, 2015

The Bible speaks of a ‘Mystery Babylon’ in the book of Revelation.  God says to "Come out of her my people lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues."  Several people believe that this refers to America and that christians should flee.  One verse says that Babylon will be destroyed and the "light of her lamp" will shine no more.  Some believe this is in reference to the Statue of Liberty.  I've watched videos, researched websites and government documents, etc. and have to agree that it is compelling, though I don't want to be one of those that are deceived either way.  Should christians flee at this time?  If so, where should they go?

 

Sincerely,
Fight Or Flight

Dear Fight Or Flight,

America has definitely made some very immoral choices in the last several decades, but no matter how bad it gets – America isn’t Babylon.  The book of Revelation deals with events that the apostle John said would, “shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1, Rev 1:3).  The book of Revelation is an account of trials that the first century church was about to face at the hands of Rome.  It is a book of prophecy that applied almost exclusively (except for the last two chapters) to the brethren of the first century.  See the posts “Left Behind” and “I Was Told There’d Be Dragons…” for more details.

The mysterious Babylon of Revelation is, in fact, Rome.  We could spend a very long time explaining this topic, but here are a few of the biggest reasons why Rome is Babylon.

1. Rome fit the time period of the book.  John was writing to christians that needed to prepare for a great persecution from a world power.  The world power of their day was Rome.
2. Peter referred to the city of Rome as Babylon in 1 Pet 5:13.  Almost all commentators agree that Peter is referring to Rome.  Babylon was a well-known term used by christians to refer to the city of Rome.
3. Babylon was a city that had killed prophets, apostles, and saints (Rev 18:20-21, Rev 18:24).  Apostles only existed in the first century, therefore Babylon must be either Rome or possibly Jerusalem… but definitely not modern America.

This is only a short list of the reasons that Babylon is Rome and not any modern city or nation.  The list is short for sake of brevity, not for lack of further evidence.  Suffice it to say, America is never mentioned in the book of Revelation.  There may be a time when christians need to leave this country… but you won’t find that time specifically laid out in your Bible.

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