It is the purpose of this study to examine only the scriptural evidence to identify Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes, the best that it can. Who or what is she? The following scriptural details are submitted for your careful evaluation.
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. (Rev 17:6)
In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth. (Rev 18:24)
Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you. (Rev 18:20)
for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants. (Rev 19:2)
Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. (Mat 23:34-37)
Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- (Acts 7:52)
For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. (1 Thess. 2:14-16)
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND WHOEVER CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Gen 12:2,3)All people have been blessed because the Savior of the world, the PRECIOUS Lord Jesus Christ, was of Jewish lineage. That, however, doesn't mean Israel can do no harm and the Godly shouldn't speak the truth about their sins and rebellion to God. The Lord Jesus himself, the Apostle Paul and the martyr Stephen all spoke out about their sins, yet they knew of Genesis 12:2,3. So, do not misunderstand that passage to mean you should never say anything negative about sinful Jerusalem.
This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. (Rev 17:9,10)
The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. (Rev 17:18)[Three well-known influential cities of our day on 7 hills are: Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca.]
...She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:4,5)
for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. (Rev 18:5)
Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (Rev 11:8)NOTE: At this point, before this characteristic of Babylon the Great is detailed with scripture, the issue of our modern day "Sodom" must be resolved.
He showed me all of California. He showed me all the cities of California. Then he showed me Las Vegas. "You see what I have shown you? This is Sodom and Gomorrah. In one day it will burn. Its sin has reached the Holy One." He showed me another great city. He said, "Do you know what city this is?" I said, "No." He said, "This is New York City. This is Sodom and Gomorrah. In one day it will burn." He showed me Florida. He said, "This is Florida. This is Sodom and Gomorrah. In one day it will burn." He didn't let me say a word until he brought me back to the place we had left. He said, "Now, Dumitru, you can ask me questions." He said, "I brought you to this country. Dumitru, I want to wake up a lot of people. I love this country. I love the people. I want to save them. America will burn." (Prophecies of the Fall of America by The Prophecy Club, 2008 ed., p. 17)Dear Reader: Will you believe what Revelation 11:8 says about Sodom being the city where the Lord Jesus was crucified, or will you believe a different report with a different "Sodom" (America) from the likes of Dumitru Duduman, who also went on to say the following:
I said, "If you are the angel of God, everything you tell me has to be written in the Bible. If it is not, then I can't tell the Americans." "Tell them to read Jeremiah 51:8-15. He names it The Mystery Babylon, The Great Adulteress. Also, Revelation, Chapter 18, the entire chapter. There it says clearly what will happen to America." (Ibid., p. 19)Comment: Carefully read Jeremiah 51:8-15, Jer. 52 as well as the whole Bible (please), and you will see there is nothing conclusive from Jeremiah (or anywhere else in the Bible), which identifies America as Mystery Babylon; neither does Revelation 18. Pointing out this truth is not to deny the massive, end time destruction by fire - maybe even nuclear war at some point (Rev. 8); however, no geographical regions are identified in these Bible passages. Duduman's evidence is completely lacking!
In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. (Dan 9:2)The point is, Jeremiah 51:11 says:
Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The LORD will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple. (Jer 51:11)We read this about Darius, the king of the Medes, who conquered Babylon:
That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two. (Dan 5:30,31)That shows that the Babylon in Jeremiah 51 and 52, which was going to be destroyed was the same Babylon that captured Jerusalem and exiled many of the people to that location. God was going to destroy that Babylon because of what was done to the temple (Jer. 51:11) and all the wrong they had done in Zion (Jer. 51:24). Though Dumitru Duduman, and other [false] "prophets", have cited those chapters as referring to America, they have misused the scriptures by doing so! There is nothing there which shows it is America - NOTHING.
Many people today are left in a state of panic because of these false prophets and false teachers of the past, such as this Dumitru Duduman, who, needlessly and erroneously, identify a city other than Jerusalem as Sodom (Rev. 11:8)! Instead, go by the Bible alone. Duduman was a false prophet, the kind Jesus warned of (Mt. 24:11; 24:24). Don't let Duduman, or others like him, frighten you with their bogus reports and false prophecies (Deut. 18:22).
Like Jonah, if we have done a good job the prophecy, the warning, will not come to pass. [cut off word - maybe it was 'If'] you think about it, the prophecy will only come to pass if the prophet does a poor job of warning. The objective is to effect the change in heart so the judgment does not arrive!Dear Reader, please know that Jeremiah, and the other true prophets, did a "good job" of warning of impending judgment, and the judgment still occurred! Secondly, the reason God did not destroy Ninevah, as Jonah warned would occur, had nothing to do with the prophet Jonah himself, but, rather, the fact that Ninevah repented of its wickedness; therefore, in accordance with God's promises to repentant nations, God did not bring upon them the judgment as promised at an earlier time:
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jer 18:7,8)Again, do not be misled by The Prophecy Club or other similar ministries about the identity of Sodom pointing to America and protecting Dumitru Duduman. Now back to Rev. 11:8, as cited earlier.
your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution! I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you be unclean? (Jer 13:27)
Her sister Oholibah [Jerusalem] saw this, yet in her lust and prostitution she was more depraved than her sister. (Ezek 23:11)Comment: Those of us who reside in America are appalled at the ever-increasing overt wickedness in our country, but that is not the issue. The issue is, what does scripture say about Babylon the Great. Among other things it states Jerusalem is "Sodom and Egypt", not America or Rome, regardless what any self-proclaimed prophet might have said. More about Jerusalem is shown next in Ezekiel 16.
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. (1 Pet 5:13)
So you [Jerusalem] were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. (Ezek 16:13)And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. (Ezek 16:14)
But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. (Ezek 16:15)
You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. (Ezek 16:16)
You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. (Ezek 16:17)
And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. (Ezek 16:18)
Also the food I provided for you--the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat--you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD. (Ezek 16:19)
And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? (Ezek 16:20)
You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. (Ezek 16:21)
In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood. (Ezek 16:22)
Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, (Ezek 16:23)
you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. (Ezek 16:24)
At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. (Ezek 16:25)
You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and provoked me to anger with your increasing promiscuity. (Ezek 16:26)
So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. (Ezek 16:27)
You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. (Ezek 16:28)
Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied. (Ezek 16:29)
How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! (Ezek 16:30)
When you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment. (Ezek 16:31)
You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! (Ezek 16:32)
Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. (Ezek 16:33)
So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you. (Ezek 16:34)
Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! (Ezek 16:35)
This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood, (Ezek 16:36)
therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. (Ezek 16:37)
I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. (Ezek 16:38)
Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare. (Ezek 16:39)
They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. (Ezek 16:40)
They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. (Ezek 16:41)
Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry. (Ezek 16:42)
Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices? (Ezek 16:43)
Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like mother, like daughter." (Ezek 16:44)
You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. (Ezek 16:45)
Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. (Ezek 16:46)
You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. (Ezek 16:47)
As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. (Ezek 16:48)
Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. (Ezek 16:49)
They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. (Ezek 16:50)
Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. (Ezek 16:51)
Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous. (Ezek 16:52)
However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, (Ezek 16:53)
so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. (Ezek 16:54)
And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. (Ezek 16:55)
You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, (Ezek 16:56)
before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines--all those around you who despise you. (Ezek 16:57)
You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD. (Ezek 16:58)
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more-- cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. (Rev 18:11-13)The items in that list come from various locations throughout the world, but America is not such an exporter of citron wood. Also note that Babylon the great's cargo also included the souls of men. Do you remember this passage?
For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. (1 Thess. 2:14-16)
and cry out: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: 'With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.' (Rev 18:16-21)
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. (Rev 17:4)In scripture, purple and scarlet linen were in the tabernacle in Moses' day and Aaron's high priestly garment and breastpiece with its precious stones:
Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman. (Exo 26:1)
From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the LORD commanded Moses. They made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. (Exo 39:1,2)
Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions--the work of a skilled craftsman. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square--a span long and a span wide--and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. (Exo 28:15-20)
At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. (Rev 11:13)(Babylon the Great)
Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. (Rev 16:18,19)
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. (Rev 12:1)
The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (Rev 12:6)
The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. (Rev 12:14)
Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev 17:3-5)**IF that Woman in the desert mentioned in Rev. 12 is the same as the one in Rev. 17, then Babylon the Great is Israel.
When the PRECIOUS Lord Jesus Christ walked the face of the earth, some of the Jews actually thought he had a demon?
The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. (John 8:48,49)
Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast [antichrist] and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire." (Rev 17:15,16)
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. (Rev 16:17-19)
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: 'Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! (Ezek 13:2,3)There is nothing perfectly clear in scripture, which positively identifies Mystery Babylon with crystal clarity, but the weight of the evidence points in primarily one direction. After Babylon the Great is destroyed, then the wedding of the Lamb occurs:
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. (Rev 19:7)
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