Babylon

By Jan Roberson

As if in a horror movie, the scene in darkens, the music becomes ominous, and we feel the presence of evil.  There she is, the Mother of all Prostitutes, dripping in luxurious clothes and jewels, holding a golden goblet full of her “obscenities and immoral impurities”, drunk with the blood of God’s holy witnesses.  And all the rulers and leaders of the earth have participated with her by “drinking the wine of her immorality.” This she-monster dressed so richly “is the great city that rules over the kings of the world” …Babylon.      Revelation 17:1-6

What is Babylon? Where is Babylon? Who is Babylon? 

Babylon is the “archetypal head of all entrenched worldly resistance to God.” It is a trans-historical reality, symbolizing satanic deception and power.  It represents all the culture of the world apart from God. Alan Johnson pg.554

Why Babylon?

Babylon at the beginning. First mentioned in Genesis 11:1-9, Babylon was a symbol of people’s move away from God to make a name for themselves. Babel (Babylon) was where people attempted to build a tower to the heavens to be like God.  At this show of self-sufficiency and rebellion, the Lord God chose to confound the people with many languages and scatter then.  The word Babel means confusion and chaos. So begins the story of Babylon.

Babylon as an ancient civilization. Babylon was a city within the larger Babylonian culture: wealthy, opulent, powerful. This empire was imperialistic and expansionistic in nature. The Babylon military machine moved through the land, conquering people in its wake and accumulating riches, land and resources from the nations. 

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon first invaded Jerusalem in 605bc, captured Jerusalem in 597bc, and finally destroyed the city and the Temple in 586bc. More than 100 years prior to this catastrophe, the prophets Isaiah and Micah had been calling the people of Israel and Judah to repent and turn back to God. (Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722bc). The prophetic message was the same for both nations.  Stop running to the gods of other nations and to idols.

God wanted their complete fidelity to Himself.  His unfaithful people committed adultery with other gods and idols.  The prophets warned of destruction by the hands of the Babylonians (Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Amos, Jeremiah).  They condemned the by-products of unfaithfulness: oppression of the poor and foreigner; ignoring the needs of the widows and orphans; and injustice of the powerful to thepowerless. 

God used the mighty Babylonian Empire to judge His people’s unfaithfulness. The ensuing destruction of their homeland, the Temple, and the exile to Babylon marks one of the most significant events in Israel’s history.  Their lives changed dramatically: many lived their entire lives in exile, their city and homes destroyed, and their worship center in utter ruin. It was a time of great anguish for their losses and a beginning of repentance. 

The prophets who had announced the destruction and captivity of Judah, also predicted the fall of Babylon as a power (Isaiah 47, Jeremiah 51:36-44). Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus of Persia and ceased to exist as a power by 539bc. 

Babylon as the Roman Empire.  Clearly, in Revelation, Babylon is no longer a political power or threat to the people of God.  However, there is an empire that is a constant looming presence for the people of God in the first century. Rome’s power, world influence, moral degradation superseded that of the Babylonian empire. This was the most powerful and far reaching military and economic power for many centuries to come.

At the time of the writing of Revelation (assuming the later date under Domitian), the complete destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple was a staggering recent memory for the Jews and for the Christian church born in Judah.   Almost everything in their homeland destroyed, disrupted and changed. Many had been dispersed away to parts of Asia Minor.  The parallel to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple could not have been missed by the Jews and early Christians. In John’s time, his churches would have understood how hauntingly similar the oppressive, destructive nature of the Roman empire was to the past Babylonian empire.

John in Revelation sees Rome as the new Babylon. This Babylon was inserting itself into the Church.  Some Christians participated in festivals for gods…out of their own volition or from pressure to conform for the sake of economic benefits. (Artisan guilds were expected to participate in the worship of the emperor and the local gods in certain festivals and feasts. See articles about letters to the churches Rev.2,3)

Many believed that the Empire was a good thing…powerful against enemies, prosperous, providing for its citizens. “Rome offered the world unity, security, stability, the conditions of prosperity.  But in John’s view these benefits are not what they seem: they are the favors of a prostitute, purchased at a high price.  The Pax Romana is really a system of economic exploitation of the empire.” Richard Bauckham as quoted in deSilva pg.150

“Rome wanted to present itself as benevolent when it was anything but. Rome does not bring peace; rather, she is inebriated with the blood of those who have dissented against or impeded her practices.  Rome does not bring the rule of law to the mediterranean, nor does she nurture virtue; rather, she seduces and corrupts the world’s elites to join her in promoting their collective self-indulgent practices and in multiplying abominations.” DeSilva, pg. 150

John offers a scathing critique of Rome and its power.The picture of the prostitute in Revelation 17 was like an early Roman coin on which the goddess of Rome, Dea Roma, sat on 7 hills. This image is changed in Revelation to show a prostitute sitting on a 7 headed beast. The glory of Rome is not a goddess but a prostitute in all her wealth and arrogance.  John is showing Rome as it really is… Babylon, the Mother of Prostitutes; the personification of an empire that is dominant, oppressive, and bloated in wealth.

This monstrous prostitute is self-glorifying, self-satisfying, egotistical, self-promoting. Therefore, comfort, wealth, power, pleasure and all the things that would satisfy, become the ultimate pursuit of the prostitute (empire) and all who pledge their allegiance to it.

That John compares pleasure-seeking Roman society to Babylon would remind his listeners of the Old Testament prophets condemning its practices. If God condemned his people’s association with Babylon, would He not also condemn their close association with an empire that looks just like Babylon? (Compare: “Come out, my people, flee from Babylon. Save yourselves! Run from the Lord’s fierce anger.” Jeremiah 51:45; “Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, ‘Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins or you will be punished with her.’” Revelation 17:4)

 “She is adorned with riches of scarlet and purple clothing, gold, precious jewels and pearls. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her, and the people who belong to this world have been made drunk by the wine of her immorality.”  This alludes to the world trade domination of Rome, which is a major component of “Babylon”. 

At her demise (Rev.18), the kings who enjoyed her luxuries mourn, the merchants and sea captains of the world weep as no one is left to buy all their goods and their income gone.  All who participate and gain from her wealth weep and mourn at the loss. “Gold, silver, gems and pearls, silk and linen, wood, ivory, bronze, iron, marble, spices, wine, oil, flour, cattle, sheep, horses, and bodies and souls of men” … these ‘traded goods’ came from West and North Africa, Arabia, India and coastal cities in the Mediterranean. The bodies and souls of men were slaves which comprised about 20-25% of the population of the Empire. 

Babylon’s vast empire was built on power and exploitation of the powerless. Using military might and economic intimidation on subjugated peoples of other lands, these confiscated resources were used to ensure the ‘economic security’ (i.e. luxurious and comfortable lifestyles) of the Roman Empire. The riches funneled into the Roman Empire were brought at the cost of the peoples and lands of nations under the Roman dominance. 

“John isn’t just speaking of Rome, but he is connecting Rome and the empire to the ongoing story of God’s people.  Babylon became for Jews and early Christians the most graphic image, metaphor or trope for a city filled with arrogance, sin, injustice, oppression of God’s people, and idolatry.” McKnight pg.44

“Babylon is chosen because that specific city from that specific time in Israel’s history became a trope for the powers that oppressed, took captive, and killed the people of God.” McKnight pg.47

The Babylonian and Roman Empires are no longer a threat to us.  But the Babylon in Revelation is fierce, ugly, brutal and very real present threat. This Babylon represents all that is against God and what is holy.  The ‘mother of prostitutes’ is the reigning queen of all that is anti-God. This grotesque figure represents all the darkness of the world systems that oppose God and are led by Satan himself.

Babylon is the symbol of evil and kingdoms and earthly powers. It represents oppressive authority, greed, lust for wealth, sexual immorality.  Its systems and leaders set themselves as ultimate and in control.  It represents all powers that do not honor and worship the Lord God.

Powerful empires have come and gone; empires of dominance, military might, economic success and wealth. Empires that exploit the powerless to command the luxury they require.  Empires that ignore the poor, orphan, widow, strangers and foreigners in their midst. Empires that have come against the way of the Lamb.

“Wherever there is idolatry, prostitution, self-glorification, self-sufficiency, pride, complacency, reliance on luxury and wealth, avoidance of suffering, violence against life, there is Babylon.” If God’s people refuse to separate themselves, then they share in the sin. Alan Johnson pg. 566

Babylon in our midst. Babylon in Revelation provides the Church with a lens with which to discern the ‘Empire’ in their own times, in their own nation, in their own churches, in their own lives. Rev. 18:4 warns God’s people to “come out of her” …divest yourselves of the practices and beliefs that align with this ‘Empire’.  Babylon is not only in the past or the future, it is here and now and close to us. What does this look like? What is anti-god, self-serving, never satisfied, always acquiring and seeking comfort?  What is known for wealth, power, exploitative commerce, and military might?  That’s Babylon.

At the outset of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He begin to declare that the kingdom of God had come in His person. Jesus was inserting God’s reign and rule into the present earthly empire.  The Kingdom of God, powerful and eternal, set things upside down.  The last will be first, the least important the most important, the poor are rich, to live you must die. Instead of bulking up your armor, you must love your enemy and not resist them. 

Jesus demonstrated what He preached.  On the cross he became the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, the sacrificial Lamb instead of the military conquering king that many expected.  Revelation takes us front and center into the clash of Kingdom of God and the empire of men, ruled by Satan. The Lamb has conquered by His blood. The Lamb and His followers overcome through sacrifice.

In Revelation, Jesus called His churches to account because they were aligning themselves with people, systems, or powers apart from Him.  Some were compromising by including the systems of the world and government in their worship, eschewing their trust in Him alone.  Some were participating in the moral codes of the culture around them…compromising the sexual purity meant to be a picture of the fidelity between God and His Church.

He will surely call us to account when we do these same things.

Two women are presented to us in Revelation-the Prostitute and the Bride. There are two “cities”-Babylon and New Jerusalem. The readers of Revelation, then and now, are called upon to choose and keep choosing the Lamb’s way and stand against the way of the dragon, the beast, the prostitute-Satan.  Choosing the way of the Lamb requires sacrifice, standing up against the evil that threatens to consume.

We must not look ‘out there’ and to ‘those people’ for Babylon in our midst.  ‘Babylon creep’ in our lives is powerful and seductive. How do we recognize it and stand against it?  It is found in hearts that align themselves with worldly power and might; in those who trust in their wealth, their government and its military; those who are complacent to the injustice and needs of the poor, the stranger, the oppressed.

Pride, arrogance, one-upmanship, seeking to always be #1…these are Babylon characteristics. Accumulating stuff without ever considering the cost of resources and people in the pursuit of more and better…these are Babylon traits. Seeking wealth and comfort while ignoring needs of the poor…this is Babylon. Using military and economic intimidation to manipulate peoples for their resources…is Babylon. 

We as American Christians often have one foot in Babylon and one foot in the New Jerusalem.  Revelation is a call to complete allegiance to the Way of the Lamb.

“(Revelation) does not call readers and faith communities to the closed-end task of deciphering, of trying to determine which nation or other corporate entity is Babylon. Rather, it calls readers to do in their present contexts, precisely what John sought to do in his own: to discern what is Babylonish about the domination systems in the midst of which they live… and then to discover the ways in which they can both divest themselves of participation in and bear prophetic witness against the same.” Pg 166 DeSilva; Discovering Revelation

Let us be discerning in our own world. How are we currently collaborating with the Empire that exploits or ignores the poor (in our nation and others)? Are we supporting the ways of the Empire by believing that “might makes right” and that military domination is somehow our right as a nation? Are we participating in Babylon through an alliance with consumerism that is never satiated? Do we know how other countries are exploited for our comfort, pleasure and luxury?

John gives a graphic picture of what the consequences are of aligning with the ways of Babylon.  It does not end well.

Conversely, those who live sacrificially and follow closely to Jesus, who chose to push against the evil, declare His truth and stand with Him, will be His Bride in the Beautiful new Jerusalem. God is looking for hearts purely aligned with His. 

His faithful people carry His light to others that they also may come into His love.  The more closely we resemble Him in love, light, goodness and truth, the more people can correctly see Him and rightly choose.  When we ‘go off’ to other allegiances, where is the light in the world? If we look like the world, then the world has no witness to Him and is dark indeed.

We represent Him on earth: to look like Him, to do what His is doing, to shine light in the darkness, to allow people to see a life with Him.  We are His witnesses to advance His kingdom on earth: to bring justice to the powerless, show humility instead of aligning with the powerful, go to the people that Jesus went to when He was on earth-the hurting-the outcasts-throw away’ people. Let us divest ourselves of Babylon and bring the light of the Kingdom into the world. 

Scriptures:

Lk 4:17-19; 6:20-42; Lk.14:25-35; Mt.5-7; Mt.18:1-13; Mk.10:35-45; Mk.12:28-34; Jn. 8:1-20; 13;12-17; 15:1-17; Micah 6:8; Hab 1:3,4; 6-8; Zeph 2:1-3; Amos 2:4-8; 3:1,2; Is 58; Is 8,16,17,31; Jer 7:5, 9:13; 11:1, 17:5; 22:5; Is. 42:1-2; Mt. 12:18-21; Is. 61:1-3; Lk. 4:17-29; Lk. 5:27-42; Ph. 2:1-11

Resources:

Blackwell, Goodrich, Maston, Editors 2019. Reading Revelation in Context; John’s Apocalypse and Second Temple Judaism, Zondervan Academic Ch.16- The Epistle of Enoch and Revelation 18:1-24: Economic Critique of Rome, Cynthia Westfall.

McKnight, Scot 2023. Revelation for the Rest of Us-A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple, Zondervan Reflective. 

Gorman, Michael 2011. Reading Revelation Responsibly, Cascade Books

deSilva, David 2021. Discovering Revelation, Eerdmans.

Gaebelein, Frank, Editor, 1981.  The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol.12, Revelation, Alan Johnson

Keener, Craig,2014. IVP Bible Background Commentary-The New Testament, Intervarsity Academic Revelation

Alexander, David and Pat, Editors 1973. Eerdman’s Bible Handbook-Revelation

Note Concerning ‘civil disobedience’:

“While John was likely aware of the legacy of the teachings of the Pauline and Petrine missions concerning temporal authorities (Rom.13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-2; 1 Pet.2:13-17), he also knew that there are lines that the temporal authorities must not cross and, when they do, God’s people are called to stand apart and to protest the powers’ violation of the divine commission.

…(John) brings a judicious selection of the old prophetic texts to bear on the Roman domination system in order to name the crimes perpetrated by ‘Babylon’, forecast the consequences that must follow such crimes, and summon his hearers to divest themselves of all involvement in these crimes so that they might also escape the consequences.” DeSilva, pg. 146-7

See writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King Jr., Allan Boesak (South African apartheid) and others who have stood amid injustices brought by “empire-like” governments.