The Character of Babylon
This scripture, telling us to come out of Babylon, has a dual message. It is a command and a promise. All we have to do is figure out how to come out of her.
She sits on “many waters.” (Revelation 17:1). The waters are symbolic of people, so she must be worldwide. She is a city that rules the governments of the earth (Revelation 17:18). I do not know of one city that has that much power, so it must refer to cities all over the world, all tied to the same political agenda. God did not want Babylon to “fill the face of the world with cities.” (Isaiah 14:21), but it looks like she has done it. Babylon is a whore, guilty of sexual sins. (Revelation 17:1-2). She is also very wealthy. (Revelation 18:11-16). She loves the death of Christians. (Revelation 17:6). Her king is named Lucifer. (Isaiah 14:12). Doesn’t that sound like our western society? If that is so, then we are in trouble.
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Revelation 18:8. That sounds like the Third World War to me. To be protected in that judgement, we must come out of her. I believe that means avoiding her sins. She is not our mother. We do not have to obey her. Our mother is the New Jerusalem, in heaven. (Galatians 4:26).
Babylon is a whore, guilty of sexual sins. We must avoid her sins. That means we must refuse all sexual activity outside of marriage. Marriage is only between a man and a woman. Christians should never divorce unless their spouses commit adultery or violence toward them or their children. We must go further in avoiding pornography, sexually explicit movies, and sexual fantasies. We must keep our minds clean. Also, we should not use filthy words in our conversations.
Babylon is wealthy. We must not worship mammon, which is wealth. Jesus said. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24. A good way to avoid that sin is to tithe, not just giving ten percent of our paychecks to God, but also giving ten percent of our investment income. However, I realize that some people cannot tithe. God bless them. I believe Christians should never buy lottery tickets. I believe that is worshipping mammon.
Babylon celebrates the death of Christians. We should never sacrifice our babies through abortion. They could grow up to be Christians. Some doctors say some abortions are the only way to save the life of the mother. I am not a doctor, so I cannot comment on that. If you have to deal with that decision, may God give you wisdom. We must never kill ourselves or promote the killing of Christians by euthanasia. God is the God of life and values life. Elderly Christians pray and have other ministries. They must never be killed, no matter how old they are.
Babylon’s king is Lucifer. There is only one king sanctioned by God, King Jesus. All religions and spiritual practices apart from Christianity must be avoided. We are not to be governed by any teachings of any other religion. We are governed solely by the Bible. Also, we must not practice anything to do with the occult. That means avoiding divination, psychic readings, charms and curses, seeking spirit guides, or meditation to release our spirits from our bodies. Ouija boards, searching for ghosts, and Wiccan practices must be avoided. I would go further in avoiding all horror movies, especially ones dealing with the occult. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8.
I believe that if we live holy lives we will not suffer from the plagues on Babylon, death, mourning, famine, and burning. I believe all of those curses are coming upon our western society.
