Bible Discussion Thread

Does the meaning of the fall of Babylon,does it also mean the United States?

To explain Revelation 14:8, we need to bear in mind that the vision given to John wasn't that of Babylon of old (i.e. the city once located on the Euphrates River, or of what Isaiah spoke of in his book chapters 13 &14). That Babylon was an oppressive empire, which brought much destruction to Jerusalem, much misery & ultimately taking Judah into a long & painful captivity. That city & Empire have long gone & there is nothing to indicate that it would ever be resurrected.

This depiction of Babylon is taken up in the New Testament & it seems to be representative of any city/empire that demonstrated the wickedness of that original city. The one that fits closely & under which John & the NT Church was subjected to, was the Roman Empire. So, it's generally understood that Rome is depicted in the Book of Revelation as 'spiritual' Babylon. Now, the Roman government was largely pagan but as Christianity was firmly rooted in Rome & with advent of the Papacy in later centuries, we see a strong reference of Babylon not only being Rome, but the papacy in particular.

How Rome or the papacy figures in the end times can only be speculation, particularly in respect to the raising of the Anti-Christ & giving him support, but we know that the serious errors within that Church, given its idolatry, worship of Mary & the saints, the false Eucharist, salvation by works & grace & various functions within that demonstrate a departure from apostolic teaching, it wouldn't be difficult to see their part in the last days & their eventual destruction. Of the U.S. & any other country, each one stands before God for their departure from the Truth, their permission given to all manner of evils & rejection of Christ. There will be increasing turmoil in all lands that should rather agitate their reasoning to leave wickedness & run towards godliness, but according to the Word, this will push them farther away from the Truth & to their eventual destruction.

I don't know about the Babylon reference, but I think God might be allowing our society to destroy itself or maybe humble itself. Most of the things people say currently are lies. People just lie and deceive each other constantly. Lies might even account for 95% of everything said and believed. It is almost like a lust for lies and the power that comes from deception. I think Romans 1:21-25 describes the cultural degradation now occurring in the USA.