Reference: Babylon, Mystical
Fausets
(Re 16:19,17-18; 19:2-3). Not 1Pe 5:13, where "Babylon" can only mean the literal Babylon: "the (church) at Babylon .... saluteth you." A friendly salutation is hardly the place wherein to find mystical phraseology. The whole epistle, moreover, is remarkably plain, and contains none of the imagery of prophecy. Moreover the literal Babylon was the center from which the Asiatic "dispersion" (dispersed Jews), whom Peter addresses, was derived. Babylon contained many Jews in the apostolic age ("one of the greatest knots of Jews in the world:" Lightfoot, quoted in Smith's Dictionary), and doubtless "the apostle of the circumcision," Peter, who had among his hearers on Pentecost (Acts 2) "the dwellers of Mesopotamia," would visit the Jews there. "Bosor," which Peter uses for Pethor (Nu 22:5; 1Pe 5:14), is the Aramaic pronunciation moreover; Josephus contra Apion, 1:7, Ant. 15:3, section 1, also favors the Aramaic Babylon.
The "woman arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, and upon her forehead having a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Re 17:4-5), is avowedly mystical. The later Jews regarded Rome in the same light as their fathers regarded Babylon (Jer 51:7, compare Re 14:8.) John had seen the woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon (the earth's satellite) under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars "; i.e. God's pure church of the Old Testament and of the New Testament clothed with the Sun of righteousness, and having the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles as her coronet (Revelation 12).
Then she was "persecuted" by" the dragon, Satan," but nourished by divine Providence for "three and a half times" "in the wilderness" of the Gentile world. But now he prophetically sees her sadly and awfully changed. So he "wondered great admiration." The spiritual Jerusalem has become mystical Babylon; the church has become the harlot! The same truth under the same imagery appears in Isa 1:21, "How is the faithful city become an harlot!" That the world should be beastly (Daniel 7) is natural, but that she whose calling was to be the faithful bride should become the Babylonian whore is monstrous (Jer 2:12-13,20). Not that the elect apostatize; but Christendom, as a whole, and as the visible "woman," has apostatized from its first faith and love. The elect invisible church, the true "woman" and "bride," remains hidden in the visible that has become the harlot, and shall only be manifested when Christ our Life is manifested (Col 3:1).
External prevalence over the world, and internal corruption by the world, (the spirit of the world ruling the church) is symbolized by the world-city's name Babylon; the contrast to "Jerusalem above, the mother of all" believers (Ga 4:26), the "holy Jerusalem, that great city," which shall hereafter on the "new earth" "descend out of heaven from God, having the glory of God" (Re 21:10). The Roman Catholic Church is the prominent type of Babylon, resting on the world power, and arrayed like it in its "scarlet" gauds, and ruling it by its claim of supremacy, while the beast or secular power on which it rests is "full of names of blasphemy," which after the harlot's overthrow shall be more glaringly displayed. It and the Greek apostasy are whorish in principle, by external and internal idolatry and systematized worldliness.
The evangelical Protestant church is pure in theory, and eschews image and host-mass worship; but in so far as it yields to "covetousness which is idolatry," and conforms to the world, it partakes of the harlot and ceases to be the bride. Compare Achan's "Babylonian garment," Jos 7:21; Hebrew: "a robe of Shinar." While the Syrians were noted for dyeing, and the Phrygians for patchwork, the Babylonians inwove their garments (Tertullian De Habitu Mul., i.), i.e. tapestry work with colored figures inwoven or wrought with the needle: Pliny H.N., 8:48. Septuagint has psilee poikilee, "a smooth, pictured coat." Such garments passed through Jericho in the trade between the Phoenicians and Babylon (Eze 27:24.) In the case of both the Catholic churches and the Protestant churches God's retributive law holds good.
When the church forsakes her true Husband for the love of the world (contrast Ps 45:10-11), the world, the instrument of her sin, becomes the instrument of her punishment. Already this is taking place in Spain, Italy, Austria, and France (Re 17:16). Our turn shall come next; as in the case of Israel first, then Judah (Ezekiel 23), then the restored Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, for whom Jerusalem gave up the true "King of the Jews" (Joh 11:48,50; 19:15). Then "iniquity" shall be no longer as now in "mystery," but openly developed in the last awful Antichrist who shall combine the world against Christ in a system of superstitious credulity and infidelity together (2 Thessalonians 2; Re 16:13-16; 17:17; 19:19). The final judgment on Babylon the whore (Revelation 17), after the elect shall have been translated out of it and transfigured, seems to be just before the judgment on Antichrist.
Babylon, the spiritual whore, is succeeded "the false prophet," who ministers to Antichrist and perishes with him (Re 19:20). Rome's forced outward unity, of which its one official language, Latin, is the symbol while inwardly there is spiritual confusion, answers to Babel, the scene of the forced attempt at concentration of power and peoples, issuing in utter confusion of tongues; so too, in a wider sense; does all Christendom in its apostasy from apostolic unworldly purity, faith, and love.
The harlot retains human shape as woman, does not become a beast; i.e., has "the form of godliness while denying the power." (Manliness is godliness, because man was made in the image of God.) The worldliness of the church is therefore the most worldly of all worldliness, and shall be terribly judged by God. But the whore or Babylon is not to be confounded with the beast. She, however degraded, has borne the divine image; the beast never has. She must fall before the beast develops all his hostility to God.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Sent messengers to Balaam [a foreteller of events] son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the [Euphrates] River, even to the land of the children of his people, to say to him, There is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth and they have settled down and dwell opposite me.
Sent messengers to Balaam [a foreteller of events] son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the [Euphrates] River, even to the land of the children of his people, to say to him, There is a people come out from Egypt; behold, they cover the face of the earth and they have settled down and dwell opposite me.
When I saw among the spoils an attractive mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.
When I saw among the spoils an attractive mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.
Hear, O daughter, consider, submit, and consent to my instruction: forget also your own people and your father's house;
Hear, O daughter, consider, submit, and consent to my instruction: forget also your own people and your father's house; So will the King desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, be submissive and reverence and honor Him.
So will the King desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, be submissive and reverence and honor Him.
How the faithful city has become an [idolatrous] harlot, she who was full of justice! Uprightness and right standing with God [once] lodged in her -- "but now murderers.
How the faithful city has become an [idolatrous] harlot, she who was full of justice! Uprightness and right standing with God [once] lodged in her -- "but now murderers.
Be astonished and appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shrivel up with horror, says the Lord [at the behavior of the people].
Be astonished and appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shrivel up with horror, says the Lord [at the behavior of the people]. For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.
For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.
For long ago [in Egypt] I broke your yoke and burst your bonds [not that you might be free, but that you might serve Me] and long ago you shattered the yoke and snapped the bonds [of My law which I put upon you]; you said, I will not serve and obey You! For upon every high hill and under every green tree you [eagerly] prostrated yourself [in idolatrous worship], playing the harlot.
For long ago [in Egypt] I broke your yoke and burst your bonds [not that you might be free, but that you might serve Me] and long ago you shattered the yoke and snapped the bonds [of My law which I put upon you]; you said, I will not serve and obey You! For upon every high hill and under every green tree you [eagerly] prostrated yourself [in idolatrous worship], playing the harlot.
Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken. The nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunken. The nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
These traded with you in choice fabrics, in bales of garments of blue and embroidered work, and in treasures of many colored rich damask and carpets bound with cords and made firm; in these they traded with you.
These traded with you in choice fabrics, in bales of garments of blue and embroidered work, and in treasures of many colored rich damask and carpets bound with cords and made firm; in these they traded with you.
If we let Him alone to go on like this, everyone will believe in Him and adhere to Him, and the Romans will come and suppress and destroy and take away our [holy] place and our nation [ our temple and city and our civil organization].
If we let Him alone to go on like this, everyone will believe in Him and adhere to Him, and the Romans will come and suppress and destroy and take away our [holy] place and our nation [ our temple and city and our civil organization].
Nor do you understand or reason out that it is expedient and better for your own welfare that one man should die on behalf of the people than that the whole nation should perish (be destroyed, ruined).
Nor do you understand or reason out that it is expedient and better for your own welfare that one man should die on behalf of the people than that the whole nation should perish (be destroyed, ruined).
But they shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar!
But they shouted, Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said to them, Crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar!
But the Jerusalem above ( the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.
But the Jerusalem above ( the Messianic kingdom of Christ) is free, and she is our mother.
If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
She [your sister church here] in Babylon, [who is] elect (chosen) with [yourselves], sends you greetings, and [so does] my son (disciple) Mark.
She [your sister church here] in Babylon, [who is] elect (chosen) with [yourselves], sends you greetings, and [so does] my son (disciple) Mark.
Then another angel, a second, followed, declaring, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She who made all nations drink of the [maddening] wine of her passionate unchastity [ idolatry].
Then another angel, a second, followed, declaring, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She who made all nations drink of the [maddening] wine of her passionate unchastity [ idolatry].
And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, [leaping] from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet.
And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, [leaping] from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet. For really they are the spirits of demons that perform signs (wonders, miracles). And they go forth to the rulers and leaders all over the world, to gather them together for war on the great day of God the Almighty.
For really they are the spirits of demons that perform signs (wonders, miracles). And they go forth to the rulers and leaders all over the world, to gather them together for war on the great day of God the Almighty. Behold, I am going to come like a thief! Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who stays awake (alert) and who guards his clothes, so that he may not be naked and [have the shame of being] seen exposed!
Behold, I am going to come like a thief! Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who stays awake (alert) and who guards his clothes, so that he may not be naked and [have the shame of being] seen exposed! And they gathered them together at the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
And they gathered them together at the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Then the seventh [angel] emptied out his bowl into the air, and a mighty voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven from the throne [of God], saying, It is done! [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come!]
Then the seventh [angel] emptied out his bowl into the air, and a mighty voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven from the throne [of God], saying, It is done! [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come!] And there followed lightning flashes, loud rumblings, peals of thunder, and a tremendous earthquake; nothing like it has ever occurred since men dwelt on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake.
And there followed lightning flashes, loud rumblings, peals of thunder, and a tremendous earthquake; nothing like it has ever occurred since men dwelt on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake. The mighty city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind mighty Babylon, to make her drain the cup of His furious wrath and indignation.
The mighty city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind mighty Babylon, to make her drain the cup of His furious wrath and indignation.
The woman was robed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a golden cup full of the accursed offenses and the filth of her lewdness and vice.
The woman was robed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a golden cup full of the accursed offenses and the filth of her lewdness and vice. And on her forehead there was inscribed a name of mystery [with a secret symbolic meaning]: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes (idolatresses) and of the filth and atrocities and abominations of the earth.
And on her forehead there was inscribed a name of mystery [with a secret symbolic meaning]: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes (idolatresses) and of the filth and atrocities and abominations of the earth.
And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire.
And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His own purpose by acting in harmony in surrendering their royal power and authority to the beast, until the prophetic words (intentions and promises) of God shall be fulfilled.
For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His own purpose by acting in harmony in surrendering their royal power and authority to the beast, until the prophetic words (intentions and promises) of God shall be fulfilled.
Because His judgments (His condemnation and punishment, His sentences of doom) are true and sound and just and upright. He has judged (convicted, pronounced sentence, and doomed) the great and notorious harlot (idolatress) who corrupted and demoralized and poisoned the earth with her lewdness and adultery (idolatry). And He has avenged (visited on her the penalty for) the blood of His servants at her hand.
Because His judgments (His condemnation and punishment, His sentences of doom) are true and sound and just and upright. He has judged (convicted, pronounced sentence, and doomed) the great and notorious harlot (idolatress) who corrupted and demoralized and poisoned the earth with her lewdness and adultery (idolatry). And He has avenged (visited on her the penalty for) the blood of His servants at her hand. And again they shouted, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! The smoke of her [burning] shall continue to ascend forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).
And again they shouted, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! The smoke of her [burning] shall continue to ascend forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).
Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops.
Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops. And the beast was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone.
And the beast was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone.
Then in the Spirit He conveyed me away to a vast and lofty mountain and exhibited to me the holy (hallowed, consecrated) city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God,
Then in the Spirit He conveyed me away to a vast and lofty mountain and exhibited to me the holy (hallowed, consecrated) city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God,