Posted on 04/30/2007 9:00:21 PM PDT by Quix
Quix: I've been undecided about whether the Bible clearly indicated Babylon was to be rebuilt in these END TIMES until reading as far as I have in this book. I believe this excerpt is an important one to prayerfully consider and that it is indicative of a wealth of well researched info in the book. I consider it well worth getting and reading all of—for anyone seriously interested in the END TIMES and Bible prophecy.
Babylon is where Satan located his headquarters and began his centuries-old battle against God for the conquest of the souls of men. It was there that the seeds were planted for all the major religions of the world. There, government had its earliest beginnings, eventually producing Nebuchadnezzar, considered by some to have been the most autocratic dictator in history. According to both Daniel the prophet and secular history, all world governments from that time on have been inferior to Babylon. [Qx: I wonder, in terms of what—efficiency? Not the best measure of the quality of life under a government, I’d say] Since the demise of Rome fifteen hundred years ago, no other world government has arisen—just as the prophet foretold (Daniel 2,7). Not that many haven’t tried! But they all failed, for God revealed that there would be only four world governments. Then at the “time of the end,” the world would unite once more under ten kings who would loan their authority to one man—a Nebuchadnezzar –type, if you will—who would do as he pleased, even “changing the times and seasons” . . . for a very short time. When Christ comes to set up His kingdom, He will destroy the city of Babylon, as well as Babylonian religion, commerce, and government. Then He will rule the world forever (Revelation 17-18). But first . . .
Babylon is mentioned 280 times in the Bible—more than any city except Jerusalem. It is easily the most important pagan city that ever existed, for there is hardly any city in the world that it has not in some way influenced—whether religiously, governmentally, or commercially. Her influence spread not only west to Rome, where it shaped all the developing nation states and most cities during the next two and a half millennia, but also to the east and south. Long before the word for it had been coined, socialism had been a Babylonian philosophy for the conduct of government, commerce, and religion. Most of the governments that followed it adoped many of its policies—a form of organized living independent of God.
Once Satan moved his religious, commercial, and governmental capital to the city of Rome (in the first century before Christ), he lost interest in the original site of Babylon, located in the present country of Iraq. The city was abandoned many years later and was gradually covered by the winds and sands of time.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, some Bible teachers began to popularize the idea that the abandoned ruins of the city fulfilled prophecy. To support their position they quoted some of the prophecies relating to the eventual destruction of the city, particularly those that predict that it will never again be built. It made for colorful preaching. But as we shall see, Babylon was never destroyed as the Bible says it would be, in a single day as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
The failure to take literally these prophecies about Babylon has led otherwise good men to make some fanciful attempts to identify the Babylonian cities of Revelation 17 and 18. I well recall hearing a noted prophecy teacher expound on those texts, predicting that New York City was the new Babylon of the twentieth century [Qx once believed that] and would soon be destroyed. Again, it made for colorful preaching . . . but it was wrong.
Many of us who take a literal approach to Bible prophecy have felt for years that the city ofBabylon must be restored before the Second Coming. In fact, when I wrote my commentary on the book of Revelation thirty years ago, I predicted that Babylon would be rebuilt. Little did I realize that Saddam Hussein, one of the cruelest dictators of our time, was launching such an undertaking as a monument to himself!
The main reason for believing that Babylon must be rebuilt depends on some unfulfilled prophecies concerning the city’s destruction. Let’s briefly consider five sets of these prophecies.
1. Isaiah 13 and 14 and Jeremiah 50 and 51 describe the destruction of Babylon at “the day of the Lord.”
A careful reading of these four chapters will reveal that the prophecies concerning the destruction of Babylon use the law of double reference; that is, they refer to two overthrows of Babylon. The first occurred in the seventieth year of Israel’s captivity. The second will occur on the day of Yahweh, that is, the seven-year Tribulation. At that time Babylon will be the headquarters of the world’s governmental, commercial, and religious systems—in opposition to the will of God. And at that time it will be utterly destroyed, never to rise again.
2. The ruins of Babylon have been used to build other cities, contrary to Jeremiah 51:26.
Jeremiah predicted of Babylon, “They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever.” It is reliably reported that at least six cities bear the marks of ancient Babylon in their buildings: Seleucia, . . . Kufa, by the Caliphs; Hillah, just a twenty-minute walk from ancient Babylon, built almost entirely from Babylon’s ruins; and Baghdad, fifty miles north of Babylon, also used materials from the ancient city.
These facts alone demand the rebuilding of Babylon, because when God destroys it as recorded in Revelation 18, no part of it will ever be used to build another city.”
3. The prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah indicate that Babylon will be suddenly and totally obliterated.
“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed” says the prophet in Jeremiah 51:8 (KJV). And Isaiah 13:19 states, “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah” (KJV).
A look at history reveals the city was never destroyed in the way these Hebrew prophets predicted it would be, which guarantees it must be rebuilt. Babylon declined gradually, over hundreds of years, and never was devastated in anything like the sudden conflagration that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah. . . .
An interesting aspect to Isaiah’s prophecy is that, like the city of Sodom, Babylon is built over vast supplies of bituminous asphalt and pitch. When my friend, prophecy preacher Dr. Charls Pa, led a tour of Babylon in 1975, he was told that the asphalt is only ten feet below the surface of the earth throughout the whole city. And while that may indicate there is oil underground, it is also an ideal condition to produce its ultimate destruction by fire and brimstone. A volcanic eruption could easily fulfill the destruction of the city as described in Revelation 18. . . .
4. Isaiah 13:20 states that the ruins of Babylon are never to be inhabited.
The prophet declared of the devastated Babylon, “It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.”
But as we just saw, Babylon was inhabited for much of ancient history even after the Medes and Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire. In fact, one writer records that about A.D. 1100, under the name of Hillah, Babylon was enlarged and fortified; in 1898 Hillah boasted ten thousand inhabitants.
And certainly it has never been true that ‘Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.” Both still occur to this day. Neither can it be said of Babylon, “Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes” (Jeremiah 51:43) . . .
No, in order for this prophecy to be fulfilled, Babylon must be rebuilt, then destroyed in a mighty display of God’s righteous power.
5. An ancient rabbinic rule of interpretation says that when the Bible mentions an event twice, it means the event will happen twice.
If this rabinnic guideline is correct, then we can be assured that Babylon will be rebuilt, for both Isaiah and the apostle John use the same double verbs to describe its destruction:
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Revelation 14:8) Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! (Revelation 18:2)
During the early eighties I began hearing stories of rebuilding in Babylon. Several times I tried to inquire how to make a visit there so I could see for myself. My friend Dr Joe Chambers was invited in 1989 to make an official visit to the rebuilt city as a guest of the Iraqi government. When he returned, he wrote a book titled A Palace for the Antichrist, complete with pictures of the walls, the magnificent gate of Ishtar (the female goddess whose history dates to themother of Nimrod, the worship of whom is growing in the Western world), the palace of Nebuchadnezzar and three pagan temples.
On June 28, 1990, Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson took the nation to this incredible city of Babylon via their television program Prime Time Live. They pointed out that Saddam Hussein had spent over a billion dollars of his oil wealth rebuilding the city as a monument to himself.
It is difficult to explain the bizarre behavior of Saddam Hussein without thinking him quite possibly demon possessed. Before he ever declared the eight-year-long war on his closest neighbor, Iran—a conflict that cost both countries over a million men and crippled countless thousands of others for life—he already had earned the title of “butcher of Baghdad” for killing his own people. Even today [1999], if it were not for the United Nations and U.S. presence in northern Iraq, he would exterminate the Kurds living in his country.
Many Westerners still don’t understand what Hussein wasdoing when he invaded Kuwait and triggered the Gulf War. He had his eyes set not on little Kuwait alone but on the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan—all the enemies of Israel and the very countries who own 70 percent of the world’s oil. . . .
Religiously, Saddam may give lip service to Muhammad and act like a devoted Muslim, but there is strong indication that he is actually a Satanist. A key is found in Dr. Charles Pak’s report of his 1975 visit to Babylon to witness firsthand the rebuilding of that ancient city. There, for the first time in his life, Dr. Pak witnessed the worship of the devil at a reconstructed temple to the sun. When you recall that Hussein is known to micromanage everything in his country, including that entire rebuilding project, you can be sure that a temple to Satan would not be there without his approval.
Certainly Hussein is not reported to be “normal.” What normal man would take his revolver and blow the brains out of one of his own generals merely for asking to be excused from a staff meeting (where Hussein was rambling on and on) because his wife had just called to say she had to go to the hospital to deliver their child? . . .
P143
You can be sure that any city mentioned seven times in two chapters as is Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18, will be a literal city. And since it is seen there as an enormously influential city, perhaps even the capital of government, commerce, and religion, it must yet be rebuilt. . . .
Add to the above, various reports I’ve read in the last year or three about the globalist’s plans to build their world government headquarters in rebuilt Babylon . . . and it definitely begins to be more than a little interesting.
I believe that LaHaye and Jenkins’ research is accurate and conclusive. I no longer believe that Biblically predicted Babylon of the END TIMES is New York or London or Hong Kong or Tokyo. Babylon is the only one that fits the prophecies so accurately. And that’s without considering the global government’s plans to place their headquarters there.
I also believe that the above facts demonstrate the validity of taking prophecies mostly—certainly overwhelmingly—literally where at all workable. We are seeing END TIMES prophecies come alive right before our eyes on CNN month after month.
The book has many other examples of literal fulfillment of END TIMES prophecies either in the last 60 years or on the brink of being fulfilled. I consider it one of the better prophecy focused books that I’ve read in the last 35 years.
I think that the above paragraphs are indicative of the writing style and flow of the writing. It is very readable and fast paced, imho.
There are ample footnotes for each chapter but put annoyingly at the end instead of the bottom of each page. Cost considerations, I guess—or editorial stupidity.
I realize that many believers love to mock and dismiss LaHaye and Jenkins because of their fiction series. I was not a great fan of the series though I enjoyed the concluding one where Christ returned.
However, this is a pleasure to read and is full of meaty information, well documented. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in the END TIMES—including those who have decided on their own wisdom that we are not in the END TIMES because all such prophecies happened long ago. This book proves otherwise in abundance.
History of the not too distant future will prove which perspective covered more data points/predicted more data points accurately.
Stay tuned.
In my 60 years, it’s always been a fairly sure bet to bet on the Bible’s literal fulfillment.
Somebody has been doing a little too much text messaging.
It's bizarre to claim that the bible's prophecy ends with the church and we are now living in the physical Kingdom of God/Heaven...
There is so much in the bible that we can not relate to because the true meaning of much of the bible has not been revealed yet...And will not be revealed except to the people that it was written to...The bible does not end with the church...
P143 You can be sure that any city mentioned seven times in two chapters as is Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18, will be a literal city. And since it is seen there as an enormously influential city, perhaps even the capital of government, commerce, and religion, it must yet be rebuilt. . . .
I believe it is, and has been rebuilt for some time...But not in Iraq...In looking again to Jer. 51, there is much that could be applied to the here and now...
There are certain genetic markers that were found to be in common with most Jewish people (and some Samaritans) that are not found in other Gentile peoples. But the problem is that many of the Eastern Jews have a lot of Khazar blood, and don't look like the Western European Jews.
A VERY political subject, and one that almost most no one likes to look into. The Khazar were a Turkish people between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Caliph that decided to split the difference and become Jewish. There were already a large number of Jews living in the land, so this wasn't as surprising as it could have been. The claim that "All Jews in Israel are Khazars" is made by many islamics to say that Israel doesn't have a right to exist.
Why don’t they just start measuring skulls like the Nazis used to???
??
By using the common genetic trait, there is at least a good idea that they came from the same people somewhere along the line. It is uncommon enough that it is fairly specific.
what about their required genealogies? What about being an “israelite” only if your mother was? Science can’t reproduce that.
There are communities of Jews who can or claim to trace their families back to the historical kingdom of Israel. The DNA was looked at, and certain common markers were found. That later was used to ascertain if someone was “Jewish”.
Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq in July, 1979.
this is nothing new... all of islam worships the devil and calls him allah.
Do you agree with post #30?
Clarification:
The allah of islam is no different than baal of the moab.
Surely muslims believe allah to be god.
Sadly, they will be mightily surprised when they come face-to-face with the Almighty God of the Universe, the Great I AM.
They then proceed to wrongly ascribe to him a number of qualities which make (their understanding of) him closer to a demonic slavemaster than the God of the Bible.
Agreed. Verse 5 of jer 51 is particularly important, I think.
Many REPLACEMENTARIANS contend that Israel has forsaken God so all the PROMISES OF GOD are forfeited.
5: For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of Hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel
Correct.
I believe there was a thread on FR some time ago. The Jews claiming to be descendants of Aaron were sampled and compared to everyone else. They determined through some process that there was, indeed, a very high probability that the individual claiming such lineage was a valid priestly candidate.
Perhaps you would learn a lot from the National Geographic’s DNA project. You can search out your own ancient ancestoral path across the planet. It’s available at their website.
He had been in charge of many things as Vice President for years before he led a successful coup against the President.
I believe Muzzies will be shocked, too.
However, I also believe God meant what He said when HE SAID that those who earnestly SEEK HIM, shall find Him.
Therefore, it would not surprise me that God turns out to be amazingly merciful to folks of true heart who, doing the best they knew, sought ALMIGHTY GOD in the way they were taught.
John 14:6 -- 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
Yes. If one seeks one shall find. And what they shall find is the only way to the Father: Jesus.
The problem with many muslims is that they are not seeking truth, they are following a lie. Seeking that lie will lead to hell.
Agreed.
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