Both America and Rome have been called Babylon the Great. Wikipedia says that "there is much speculation within all religious perspectives on what the Whore(Babylon the Great) and Beast are symbolic of as well as the possible implications for contemporary interpretations." It then says that "many scholars agree that "Babylon" is an allegory of Rome, perhaps specifically at the time to some aspect of Rome's rule (brutality, greed, paganism), or even a servant people that does the bidding of Rome." However, Rome nor America fits "Babylon the Great" as the "harlot" or prostitute she is.
Others, such as Martin Luther (1483-1546 C.E.), John Calvin (1509-64 C.E), and John Knox (about 1510-72 C.E.) called the Roman Catholic Church as Babylon the Great. This too, does not fit the picture completely. Looking at ancient Babylon can provide the key to unlock the meaning of Babylon the Great. Ancient Babylon was noted, not for it's politics, but for religion.
Insight on the Scriptures says that "Evidence from excavations and from ancient texts points to the existence of more than 50 temples. The principal god of the imperial city was Marduk, called Merodach in the Bible. It has been suggested that Nimrod was deified as Marduk, but the opinions of scholars as to identifications of gods with specific humans vary. Triads of deities were also prominent in the Babylonian religion. One of these, made up of two gods and a goddess, was Sin (the moon-god), Shamash (the sun-god), and Ishtar; these were said to be the rulers of the zodiac. And still another triad was composed of the devils Labartu, Labasu, and Akhkhazu. Idolatry was everywhere in evidence. Babylon was indeed “a land of graven images,†filthy “dungy idols.â€Ââ€â€Jer 50:1, 2, 38."
"The Babylonians believed in the immortality of the human soul.â€â€The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, by M. Jastrow, Jr., 1898, p. 556. The Babylonians developed astrology in an effort to discover man’s future in the stars. Magic, sorcery, and astrology played a prominent part in their religion. (Isa 47:12, 13; Da 2:27; 4:7) Many heavenly bodies, for example, planets, were named after Babylonian gods. Divination continued to be a basic component of Babylonian religion in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who used it to reach decisions.â€â€Eze 21:20-22."
Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., in his work The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (1898, pp. 699-701), said regarding ancient Babylon's religious influence: “In the ancient world, prior to the rise of Christianity, Egypt, Persia, and Greece felt the influence of the Babylonian religion. . . . In Persia, the Mithra cult reveals the unmistakable influence of Babylonian conceptions;" In conclusion he refers to “the profound impression made upon the ancient world by the remarkable manifestations of religious thought in Babylonia and by the religious activity that prevailed in that region.â€Â
Hence, in the Bible, Babylon was a religious empire, not a political one, deeply involved in false religion. That the mystic Babylon the Great of the book of Revelation is not a political empire is seen in that she is called a "harlot""(“fornicatrix; prostitute.†Greek, por´nes.), committing spiritual fornication with the "kings of the earth".(Rev 17:1,2) She is seen riding upon a "scarlet-colored wild beast".(Rev 17:3) The first mention of mystic Babylon the Great is at Revelation 14:8, whereby it is said that she "made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication." In Chapter 16, after the "seven bowls that were full of the anger of God" are poured out, it then says that "Babylon the Great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the anger of his wrath."(Rev 16:19)
At Revelation 17:4, this “woman†is shown as being “arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication.†Being as the "wild beast" upon which she is riding (the United Nations), is scarlet-colored, and scarlet representing royalty in Bible times (compare 2 Sam 1:24), the "harlot", mystic Babylon the Great, is therefore clothed in luxury and royalty by this "wild beast". At Jeremiah 4:30, God portrays the ancient city of Jerusalem as once figuratively attired by him in beautiful garments, with "scarlet (and ) ornaments of gold". But she trusted in her prettiness and consorted with the pagan nations, decking herself out to be attractive, as a prostitute.
At Revelation 17:5, upon the forehead of this “woman†is written: “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.†Of what is she guilty ? “And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.†(Rev 17:6) Hence, of all the organizations on the earth, this one is the most cupable or gulity in God’s eyes.
That she cannot be a political power, is that Revelation 18:9 says that “the kings of the earth…will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her" at her total destruction. Additionally, since she is mourned by the world’s merchants, she cannot picture big business, for Revelation 18:15 says that “the traveling merchants…will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment.†At Revelation 18:23, it says that she ‘ misleads all the nations by her spiritistic practices’. What does this mean ? That Babylon the Great , the “mother of harlotsâ€Â, must be a worldwide religious entity. Hence, she is the world empire of false religion, a collection of all the religions of the world that promote false religious teachings, including Christendom.
Her origin in the mysteries of Babylon is shown in that many Babylonish doctrines and practices are common to religions around the world. For example, belief in the inherent immortality of the human soul, in a hell of torment, and in a trinity of gods is to found in most Oriental religions as well as in the sects of Christendom. False religion, spawned more than 4,000 years ago in the city of ancient Babylon, has developed into a modern monstrosity that is called, appropriately, Babylon the Great and of which God has entreated his "people" saying: "Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues".(Rev 18:4)
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