The Parousia - Mystery Babylon

The Parousia
An In-Depth Study on the Second Coming of Christ

The Parousia
Mystery Babylon

―On her forehead a name was written,
a mystery, ―BABYLON THE
GREAT, THE MOTHER
OF HARLOTS AND OF
THE ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH.‖ ‖
(Revelation 17:5)

Exegetical Study of Revelation 17-18

―Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke
with me, saying, ―Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot
who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of
immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine
of her immorality.‖ ‖
(Revelation 17:1–2)

• The use of the angel shows that this
judgment is connected with the bowl
judgments that came prior in Rev. 16
• ―Great harlot‖ = ‗porne‘ = prostitute
• ―Many waters‖ represents many nations
and peoples; it is far reaching and global
• ―Kings of the earth‖ means that politics has
become interwoven with this false religious
system
• ―Those who dwell on the earth‖ have
become intoxicated with this religious
system and have engaged in sinful acts at
its prompting

Spiritual Harlotry and Adultery
―How the faithful city has become a harlot ‖
(Isaiah 1:21)

―For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your bonds; But you
said, ‗I will not serve!‘ For on every high hill And under every green
tree You have lain down as a harlot. ‖
(Jeremiah 2:20)

―Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time
for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I
also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you
became Mine,‖ declares the Lord God. . . .You also took your
beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given
you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot
with them. ‖ (Ezekiel 16:8, 17)

Spiritual Harlotry and Adultery

―The word of the Lord which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during
the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and
during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When
the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ―Go,
take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry; for the
land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord.‖‖
(Hosea 1:1–2)

―And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman
sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and
ten horns. ‖ (Revelation 17:3)

• A wilderness, ‗eremon‘, an isolated deserted
place that is barren; no distractions
• The woman is the harlot, a symbol of a great
singular false religious system and worldview
• The scarlet beast is the Antichrist and the
one world government, which was discussed
in Rev. 13: ―And the dragon stood on the
sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast
coming up out of the sea, having ten horns
and seven heads, and on his horns were ten
diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous
names. And the beast which I saw was like a
leopard, and his feet were like those of a
bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
And the dragon gave him his power and his
throne and great authority. ‖ (Revelation
13:1–2)

―The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of
abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality‖ (Revelation 17:4)

• The harlot is clothed luxuriously, which
indicates the external attractiveness of
religious system and its wealth that it has
accumulated
• There is a singular cup – one not many, which
means that the teaching of the system is one
and has a singular origin
• Though externally beautiful (i.e. the teaching
sounds good), the reality is God sees it as an
abomination and unclean with respect to what
it actually is
• ―Abomination‖ is oftentimes used in Scripture
as a reference to idolatry such as the
abomination of desolation spoken about by
Jesus in Matt. 24:15
• Note the contrast – Beauty and gross
wickedness

―Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you
save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment,
For this is the Lord‘s time of vengeance; He is going
to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a
golden cup in the hand of the Lord, Intoxicating all
the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine;
Therefore the nations are going mad. ‖
(Jeremiah 51:6–7)

Prior References to Babylon in Revelation

―And their [God‘s two witnesses] dead bodies will lie in the street of
the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also
their Lord was crucified. ‖
(Revelation 11:8)

―And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, ―Fallen, fallen is
Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine
of the passion of her immorality.‖‖
(Revelation 14:8)

―The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the
cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. ‖
(Revelation 16:19)

The Origin of Babylon
―Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came
about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and
settled there. They said to one another, ―Come, let us make bricks and burn
them thoroughly.‖ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
They said, ―Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will
reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be
scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.‖ The Lord came down to see
the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, ―Behold,
they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they
began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for
them. ―Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will
not understand one another‘s speech.‖ So the Lord scattered them abroad
from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the
language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad
over the face of the whole earth. ‖
(Genesis 11:1–9)

Babel = ―gate of God‖, but now is synonymous with confusion

• ―The land of Shinar‖ - a place. The area between the Tigris and
Euphrates, ancient Babylonia, which is now modern Iraq
• ―They said, ―Come, let us build for ourselves a city‖‖ – a prideful
statement about the desire for man-centered glory
• ―And a tower whose top will reach into heaven‖ – a false plan of
salvation: man will get to God on his own
• ―Let us make for ourselves a name‖ – an attempt to deify humankind
• ―Otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
earth.‖ - a rebellion. God had told them to fill the earth (Gen. 9:1)

―The Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. ‖
- his command is fulfilled


―Stand fast now in your spells And in your many sorceries With which you have
labored from your youth; Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you may
cause trembling. ―You are wearied with your many counsels; Let now the
astrologers, Those who prophesy by the stars, Those who predict by the new
moons, Stand up and save you from what will come upon you. ‖
(Isaiah 47:12–13)

―Babylon cannot be confined to any one historical manifestation, past or
future. Babylon has multiple equivalents (cf. 11:8). The details of John's
description do not neatly fit any past city, whether literal Babylon, Sodom,
Egypt, Rome, or even Jerusalem. Babylon is found wherever there is
satanic deception. It is defined more by dominant idolatries than geographic
or temporal boundaries. The ancient Babylon is better understood here as
the archetypal head of all entrenched worldly resistance to God. Babylon is
a transhistorical reality including idolatrous kingdoms as diverse as Sodom,
Gomorrah, Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Nineveh, and Rome. Babylon is an
eschatological symbol of satanic deception and power; it is a divine mystery
that can never be wholly reducible to empirical earthly institutions. It may be
said that Babylon represents the total culture of the world apart from God,
while the divine system is depicted by the New Jerusalem. ―
- Alan Johnson, Expositor‘s Bible Commentary

Babylon‘s First Leader – Nimrod
―Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he
became a mighty one on the earth. He was a
mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is
said, ―Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the
Lord.‖ The beginning of his kingdom was
Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in
the land of Shinar. ‖ (Genesis 10:8–10)

The name Nimrod means ―to rebel‖; he was
Noah‘s great-grandson. After Babel,
Nimrod then expanded to Assyria, building
Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah (modern
Nimrud), and Resen (Gen. 10:11–12). The
prophet Micah refers to Assyria as ―the land
of Nimrod‖ (Micah. 5:6). Nimrod, through his
idolatry and military might, is a type of the
Antichrist who is to come.

Legendary Wife of Nimrod - Semiramis
External sources state that Nimrod had a wife
known as Semiramis who founded the secret
religious rites of the Babylonian mysteries.
Semiramis had a son with an alleged miraculous
conception (via a sunbeam) who was given the name
Tammuz and in effect was a false fulfillment of the
promise of the seed of the woman given to Eve
(Gen. 3:15). She also was known as the Queen of
Heaven.

Various religious practices were observed in
connection with this false Babylonian religion,
including recognition of the mother and child as
God and of creating an order of virgins who
became religious prostitutes. Tammuz, according
to the tradition, was killed by a wild animal and then
restored to life, a satanic anticipation and
counterfeit of Christ‘s resurrection.

The Mother (origin) of all False Religions - Babylon

―The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle
the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes
for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink
offerings to other gods in order to spite Me. ‖
(Jeremiah 7:18)

―Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate
of the Lord‘s house which was toward the north;
and behold, women were sitting there weeping for
Tammuz. ‖
(Ezekiel 8:14)

Semiramis was worshiped by offering a wafer to
her . There were always 40 days of lent, weeping
for Tammuz before the feast, which celebrated his
supposed return. The worship of Semiramis also
involved priests, sacramental rites, dedication of
virgins and more.

The Transference of Semiramis

Ishtar of Assyria Isis of Egypt

Ashtaroth of Phoenicia Venus of Rome

One group of people
with a single false
religion consisting of
the same satanic
characteristics is
scattered across the
earth

Hinduism Buddhism Roman gods Various cults Islam
Taoism Egyptian gods Voodoo Greek gods

―People ask me all the time
‗Do you think there are a
lot of Satanic religions
around today?‘ and I say
‗Yes, every religion that is
not Christianity is
Satanic.‖
- John MacArthur

―And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood
of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. ‖
(Revelation 17:6)

• False religions have always persecuted God‘s people
and still do so to this day
• ―When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath
the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God, and because of the testimony
which they had maintained‖ (Revelation 6:9)
• ―After these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude which no one could count, from every nation
and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before
the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes,
and palm branches were in their hands . . .Then one of
the elders answered, saying to me, ―These who are
clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have
they come from?‖ I said to him, ―My lord, you know.‖
And he said to me, ―These are the ones who come out
of the great tribulation, and they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ‖
(Revelation 7:9, 13–14)

―And the angel said to me, ―Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery
of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads
and the ten horns. . . .The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are
peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which
you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate
and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ‖

• Babylon‘s false religion has infected the
entire world and its peoples; no place is
immune
• Although the political system was using
the false religion for its own purposes, it
will eventually turn and destroy it. Satan‘s
kingdom becomes divided
• The Antichrist will do away with all
religion and instead demand the world
worship him (cf. 2 Thess. 2: 4)

Contrast of the Bride and the Harlot
Jesus Christ Antichrist

A Pure Bride A Harlot

Loves His Bride Hates his Harlot

Died for and Saves Kills and Destroys
His Bride his Harlot

The Ending of False Religion
―For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a
common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of
God will be fulfilled. ‖ (Revelation 17:17)

―The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the
kings of the earth.‖ (Revelation 17:18)

In the same way that Wall Street, Madison Avenue, and Las Vegas
are real places, they also represent a system of thought, a worldview
and way of living. Babylon is the same – it was once a place, but now
represents the origin and fountainhead of all false religious thought
and ideas.

The actual city of Babylon was previously condemned and destroyed
by God…

―Behold, I am going to stir up the Medes against them, Who will not value silver or
take pleasure in gold. And their bows will mow down the young men, They will not
even have compassion on the fruit of the womb, Nor will their eye pity children. And
Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans‘ pride, Will be as
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in
from generation to generation‖ (Isaiah 13:17–20)

―‗Then it will be when seventy years are completed [the Jewish captivity in
Babylon] I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,‘ declares the Lord, ‗for
their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting
desolation. ‖ (Jeremiah 25:12)

Are the events in chapters 17 and 18
referencing the same ‗Babylon‘ or
not?

Two ‗Babylons‘: Spiritual & Commercial

―And the ten horns which you saw [the kings], and the beast [the
Antichrist], these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and
naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ‖

VS.

―And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and
lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see
the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear
of her torment, saying, ‗Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong
city! For in one hour your judgment has come.‘ ‖

Babylon: One and Yet Two

Spiritual Political & Worldly
Harlot Empire of Antichrist

Religious Babylon lures the world into spiritual adultery with false
gods and commercial Babylon seduces the nations with materialism

―After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having
great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out
with a mighty voice, saying, ―Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has
become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and
a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ―For all the nations have drunk of
the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have
committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have
become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.‖
• Many of the same statements made about
Babylon in Rev. 17 reappear here
• Two ―fallen‖ statements are made; perhaps
one for the false religious aspect and the
other, the worldly/materialistic side
• Birds oftentimes a picture of Satan
• New statement is added – the merchants of
the earth have been made wealthy by
Babylon
• This is the world system of the Beast, his
commercial empire

―I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ―Come out of her, my people, so
that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her
sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her
iniquities. ‖ (Revelation 18:4–5)

• Voice from Heaven – another
(―allos‖ – another of the same kind)
angel speaking
• As God is holy (separate), His
people must be holy too and keep
themselves from friendship with the
world system
• An exit from Babylon is necessary
so that (1) freedom from sin is
achieved; (2) freedom from
punishment is achieved

―for her sins have piled up as high as heaven‖
(Revelation 18:5)

―piled up‖ = kollao: literally ―to glue together‖

The sins of Babylon have been constructed together and formed a tower
that has reached Heaven, which was the goal of the original tower

―Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of
life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the
one who does the will of God lives forever. ‖
(1 John 2:15–17)

―Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according
to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To
the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same
degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‗I sit as a
queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.‘ For this reason in
one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she
will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong. ‖
• God has kept track of Babylon‘s
sins and is ready to reward her with
what she has done to others
• Pride and a false sense of
confidence characterize the human
manifestation of Babylon
• The Antichrist‘s ‗Babylon‘ will fall
in a single day just as ancient
Babylon did before the Darius the
Mede (cf. Dan. 5)

―And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her,
will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance
because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‗Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong
city! For in one hour your judgment has come.‘ ―And the merchants of the earth weep and
mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more— cargoes of gold and silver and
precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of
citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and
bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and
frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and
cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. ―The fruit you long for has gone
from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men
will no longer find them. ―The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand
at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, ‗Woe, woe,
the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold
and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!‘ And
every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea,
stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‗What
city is like the great city?‘ ―And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping
and mourning, saying, ‗Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich
by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!‘ ‖

Notice the merchants don‘t care about the city, only themselves.

―Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets,
because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.‖
(Revelation 18:20)

What grieves the fallen world brings joy in Heaven. A commentary that
what brings joy to the world saddens God and vice versa.

Now God has brought justice for His martyrs against the source of all
persecution.

―Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into
the sea, saying, ―So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with
violence, and will not be found any longer. ―And the sound of harpists and
musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any
longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the
sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; and the light of a lamp will
not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will
not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the
earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. ―And in her
was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain
on the earth.‖ ‖

―Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and
wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and
crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that
upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood
shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to
the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom
you murdered between the temple and the altar. ‖
(Matthew 23:34–35)

• The destruction of false religion and worldly
materialism signal the return of Christ
• God‘s justice is seen in the destruction of
Babylon. He uses evil against itself and proves
His sovereignty over everything, including evil

―But the important question is:
‗Are we citizens of ‗Babylon‘ or
citizens of heaven?‘‖
- Warren Wiersbe

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