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Thought this might interest you...

Babel Artistic Festival In Baghdad

Iraq, Culture, 9/11/2001

The artistic director of the Iraqi Babel festival said on Monday that some 20 Arab and foreign states have so far announced their participation at the 13th session of the International festival due to be opened on September 22nd.

He added that a large number of artistic figures, media men and cultural and artistic bands from Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Jordan, and Yemen will perform shows at the festival. Among the participating artistic bands are the renowned Iraqi singer Nasir Shamma and the Egyptian famous musical band of Abdul Halim Nweira.

He added that artistic bands from Moldavia, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Belurus, Azerbeidjan, China, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Japan and Germany will take part in the activities of the ten- day festival.

The festival includes cultural and musical activities and dancing shows and folkloric performances to be introduced at the Babylonian theatre " and the throne hall " and the museum theatre which is established this year in the archeological city which is 90 kilometers to the south of Baghdad. Link to article

No need to worry about any of this. Our job is a simple one - a victory for Christ is a humiliating defeat for satan

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

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That is interesting, and note the date (concidence I'm sure), Saddam is reviving that city, the only way I can forsee that place becoming prominent is for us to simpy go away. I'm not saying the end has come, even Jesus did not know the day or hour, but Israel is the Lord's time piece and events are picking up.

Again, Babylon a great city and America existing in the same world, unlikely? Unless that is we have a major and sudden policy shift.

Babylon was the center of trade and commerce in it's day. It was in effect the leader of the known world's economic order. Tyre also faces the same fate in Ezekiel 27 and it was the center of trade and commerce in it's time. In Chapter 28, Ezekiel also tells us that Tyre is Satan. We're looking at an end times scenario that is being led by a world economic order and leader. It wasn't America as a nation that has been attacked, it was America and it's symbols of commerce, banking and militar power that was attacked as leader of the new economic order.

It's all about money and the power that comes with money. That's why people have to take the "mark" to buy or sell. All of the signs are in and we are quickly being sucked into the vacuum. I don't beleive that Anti-christ will be a man, but the new economic world order.

Most scholars think Babylon is a code word for Rome. Some fundamentalists think it is the literal, ancient Babylon. Some think it is NY. Watch them all, I guess.

I don't care WHICH version of the bible you are reading; but read the LAST page of revelations carefully.

The jist is NOT to "add" or "remove" content from that epistle.

Just being nitpicky here: it's Revelation, as in singular. :)

MM

Interesting, but Rev 13 and 14 are pretty specific about this being a specific personage, recovering from an event that should have killed him, imitating Christ in his resurrection and then calling forth a false profit to ordain worship for the beast.

Why would anti (I take it to mean - in place of) Christ attack what he wars to own? Elaborate on this because I am listening ...

I'm not adding or taking away from it? We were not forbidden to discuss it we're we? I'm merely asking a question about Babylon, relax.

" AMERICA is NOT in Prophecy "

but, Israel 'is' forever and ever!!!

When I see Babylon connected to Rome I wince. Are we talking about ancient Rome or the Rome linked to the Catholic Church? Ancient Rome was epitomized for its corruption and was therefore linked to ancient Babylon.Both cities tried to build a civilization without God. I think the Babylon of Revelation is metaphorical but I know that on 9/11 as I watched the towers burn and fall, my thoughts first went to Rev 18. As for Israel, you are right to watch her and remember that she has been destroyed before. Tradition tells us that the one building that remained after the destruction of 70 AD was the building that housed the Upper Room where the Last Supper took place.

When this all started, I looked into Revalation a bit, and a piece about fire and blood raining down from the sky caught my eye. However, when one reads the passages before this, he quickly realizes that tehre are other preceeding events which are supposed to happen (but haven't)

"REV 8:7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up."

One could take this passage in the context that the fire mixed with blood was the World Trade Center. The thirds of the Earth would be events which have yet to come. The reason I don't think this applies to the WTC is because of the preceeding passages. Specifically, the seven seals occurr before the seven trumpets. (See Revelation 6:1-8:1)

"REV 6:12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

As near as I can tell, nothing near to what is described in the sixth seal has happened. Thus, I don't see any parallel to current events and Revelation.

Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13, and Luke chapter 17 contain Jesus' account for signs of the end of the age. I can see how it could be that the beginning parts of these prophecies are possibly beginning to play out. However, there are other times in history which also resemble the beginning parts of this prophecy.

Indeed, Jesus does speak of the "Abomination that causes desolation", which is Babylon. I did some research a few weeks ago, and while Babylon no longer exists, I was able to trace that their descendants do still live in other cities in the area of the Middle East. Unfortunately, I don't remember which pages those were, so if there are any historians around here who can tell us where the descendant city from Babylon is, that would be great.

My belief is that when the end times come, we won't have to dig deep into scripture, research civilizations, and argue our findings. I think that when the end times come, it will be very obvious to everybody.

Are these the end times? I personally don't think that we are in the middle of the end times. But I can see how current events could lead to the end times. I also wouldn't be suprised if this just blows over, and humanity survives for another 2000 years.

So wait and see. As has happened many times in history, there is the possibility of the end times playing out. But also many times in history, it didn't come to pass.

As Jesus said, nobody knows the day or the hour. All we can do is make sure we're prepared for the day in that we're right with God. Also, now is not the time to put off trying to witness to somebody you've been meaning to witness to for the past ten years.

"Interesting, but Rev 13 and 14 are pretty specific about this being a specific personage, recovering from an event that should have killed him, imitating Christ in his resurrection and then calling forth a false profit to ordain worship for the beast."

Antichrist is described as a seven-headed beast, a dragon. One of his heads is "wounded to death", but recovers. He has to be "given a voice to speak"

Just for the sake of discussion, let's say that the leader of the new economic order is Germany, part of the old Roman empire. It's head was "wounded to death" with WWII, and the world has marveled at its healing. Our own situation looked like a mortal wound to the economic center with the attack on the WTC. And the world will marvel as the economic order recovers from this "fatal wound".

"Why would anti (I take it to mean - in place of) Christ attack what he wars to own? Elaborate on this because I am listening"

Osama bin Laden and his cohorts, aren't the Antichrist. If all we are being told about them is true, they perpetrated the attack for religious motives,not because they are part of the new order.

Yes, I didn't mean to make anyone wince. I've read all the hype on the net about the catholic connection.

It might interest you to get a copy of "The Book of Destiny" by Rev. Herman Bernard Kramer. It puts the book of Revelation in a catholic context (has an imprimatur and is available from TAN Books).

Rev. Kramer thinks that Babylon is the city of Rome, not the Vatican. He also conjectures that the hierarchy may have to evacuate at some point. Somewhere in Rev it says that there will be protection from the "great eagle".

It's a weighty, detailed interpretation so I've only skimmed through it.

Of special interest to me, he takes up the topic of the mark. He believes that very possibly it will be a literal mark necessary for buying and selling. He points to the times in England when catholics lost all their property because they would not renounce their catholic faith and how heavily taxed they were, etc. Finally he says "Catholics will not take it." I'm not so sure about that.