Babylon the Great—WHO IS SHE?

Question

Who today ( or in the future ) fits the description of Babylon the Great. Pick your choice below and provide a short answer, please:
a) the USA
b) Big business
c) Catholic Church
d) Protestant churches
e) The Muslim faith
f) The Hindu faith
g) The Jewish faith
h) The Mormons
i) All of the above
j) C, d, e, f, g, h and all religions who fit the picture below
k) Atheists
l) You don’t know and don’t care

According to chapters 17 and 18 of Revelations, Babylon the Great, the great harlot : (a) has a mystery name written on her forehead and she is the mother of all disgusting things of the earth (17:5) (b) sits on many waters which means she controls many peoples and nations—17:15,

(c) rules over the kings of the earth—17:18 (d) committed fornication with the kings of the earth and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameful luxury—18:3 (e) has businessmen who were the most powerful in all the earth, and she deceived all the nations by her spiritistic practices—18:23, (f) is guilty of spilling the blood of the prophets of God, yes the blood of all those killed on earth—18:24, and (g) was mourned by kings of the earth, and the businessmen and cried over her destruction in the hands of God. ( 18:9-11)

Finally, what should God’s people do ?

Answer 1

All false religion put together.

Only three spheres of life control many peoples and nations- politics, big business and religion.

She cannot be the USA, because it says she has fornication with kings, so she cannot be a political power.

She cannot be big business, because it says she has dealings with merchants.

False religion meddles in politics, seeks political favours and in turn helps the powers-that-be in encouraging people to go to war, etc.

There is only one thing for people to do to protect themselves...
Revelation 18:4

And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “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."

Answer 2

One of the most intriguing mysteries of Revelation has to do with the identity of the symbolic Babylon the Great. There are various interpretations of what "Babylon the Great" represents.

For example, one of the latest interpretations is that "Babylon the Great" is America. Others think that it is the old Roman Empire or the Vatican. In fact, back in the 1850's Alexander Hislop, in his book The Two Babylons, made a compelling case that the Catholic Church is the symbolic harlot. The Catholic Church, though, says that they are not the great harlot, but that apostate Jerusalem fits the profile of "Babylon the Great."


How can anyone know for sure what "Babylon the Great" represents? According to the angel that presented the Revelation to John, it is by using our intelligence with wisdom. After saying to John that he would tell him the mystery of the woman riding the seven-headed beast, the angel went on to say:

"Here is where intelligence that has wisdom comes in: The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. And there are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while." (Revelation 17:9)


Interestingly, the angel said very little about the harlotrous woman herself; instead, he described in detail the origin and nature of her beastly mount. According to the angel, the seven heads of the wild beast represent seven kings that rule in succession. The angel plainly said:

"The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top." Five of those kings had already fallen from power by the first century when the Revelation was given. Which kings were they?

According to Bible history and prophecy, those five "fallen" kings were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece. Of course, Rome was the existing king in the 1st century, which the angel was referring to as the one that "is." And the king that "has not yet arrived" has proven to be the Anglo-American dual world power.

So what does Babylon the Great really represent since it has been around since the time of Egypt?

Babylon the Great symbolizes the world empire of false religion. That is---all organized religion with the exception of the true faith of Jesus Christ.

Answer 3

You ruled out the obvious. As John states at the beginning and the end: "...these things which must HAPPEN QUICKLY." "Quickly" is translated from the same Greek phrase as was used in Acts 12:7 "Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “QUICK!, Get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists." Do you think Peter should have responded, "No, I think I'll wait around a while?" The phrase in practical use refers to time measured in minutes to months. The 3.5 years or equivalent weeks or days time frame mentioned SEVERAL TIMES in Revelation seems a likely candidate for the meaning of the phrase in Revelation 1:1 and 22:6. In any event, it DOES NOT MEAN "centuries."

That puts the rest of the symbolic language of the Apocalypse as refering to PAST EVENTS from our perspective. In broad strokes, the Apocalypse was NOT written about the distant future, but to tell THOSE people who were suffering persecution for wearing the name of Christ that he would SOON act to rescue THEM from THAT PERSECUTION. Its application to distant future events is a misuse of this text. The answer lies in HISTORY, not the present or future.

Answer 4

I'd say that it's the Roman empire in a broad sense, which includes what we today know as "Western civilization", embodied in particular by the U.S.A.

Coming out of her in the sense of Rev 18:4-5 does not mean to physically move to another country (doing so would not cause you to cease sharing in her guilt), but rather to come out of her sprititually, by ending the strong influence on your life of the principles of humanism and greed. There is a better way, which the Holy Spirit will guide you on if you are willing.

Answer 5

The worldwide empire of pretend faith. be conscious that he says get out of her "my ladies and men". So there are although if a number of God's ladies and men in Babylon the large. now's the time to flee from any association at the same time together with her, so as to no longer share in her destiny.

Answer 6

As a Christian I would pick ... ( j ). I would add that somewhere inside ( d ) was the true body of Christ (the church).
God will sift us all through a filter. Its hard to tell who all is really Christian. Some are obvious, some are obviously not-others are difficult to tell apart. I can not see the USA in it, maybe business may be a tool used by the harlot.

Answer 7

your question is too easy .
Babylon the great is a harlot.
the Jews where harlots when they Incorporated worldly alliances or pagan teachings.

so this Babylon the great you speak of is any religious groups that says they serve the true god, and have national ties or pagan doctrines like Christmas etc. in their teachings.

but Babylon the great has already lost her grip on gods people, and is soon to be destroyed by the nations that she is riding on.

this will be a forshure as revelation tells us god will put it into their minds to destroy her compleatly

Answer 8

The first answer was right. Babylon the Great is false religion as a whole.
Ancient Babylon was destroyed mainly for its prevailing false religious practices. So, Babylon the Great is a fitting name for all of false religion today. That is why the book of Revelation tells us to urgently "Get out of her," this great empire that is comitting fornication with all the kings of the earth. If you notice, all religions are involved in politics, except one!

Answer 9

My answer would be J. Ancient Babylon was known for her spiritualistic practices therefore it is appropriate to refer to the city when speaking of false religion. Remember Jesus said the gate was narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Mt 7:13 RSV So therefore Babylon the Great would typify the whole of false religion, basically most of the religions of the world.

Answer 10

She denotes feminine , she is a mother , and controls many people ; this can only be the Roman Catholic Church as she is referred to in feminine , strictly controls people , and many governments in the world ...ie South America , Southern Europe , Philippines . So she also sits on many waters . She has prostituited herself in many ways , idol worship , keeping catholic ( pagan) tradition etc etc etc

Answer 11

Roman Empire , also known as c ) above . These are one and the same .
There are many false religions , but this is the Great Harlot