BABYLON

Nimrod, the son of Cush, the grandson of Ham, and the great grandson of Noah, did the exact opposite of what God told Noah's family to do.  He had told them to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 9:1).  Instead, by the time Nimrod came along, the entire population was still living close to the city of Babel, which is believed to be Nimrod's capital (Gen. 10:6-10; 11:1-9).

There is some irony concerning the Hebrew בָּבֶל (Babel), which occurs 262 times in 233 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the KJV.  Of those, it is only translated "Babel" in two (Gen. 10:10; 11:9).  Everywhere else, it is translated "Babylon" or "Babylonian."  Apparently what started out as a single city, eventually became a mighty empire.  Fortunately, the New Testament is not quite as difficult.  There, the Greek Βαβυλών (Babylōn), occurs 12 times in 11 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV (Mt. 1:11, 12, 17; Acts 7:43; 1 Pet. 5:13; Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21).

There is, as with many themes in the Bible, a connection between the Babylonian Empire in the Old Testament and that described in the Book of Revelation.  Three times, the Word of God describes the fall of Babylon in the same way: 

*  "And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods He hath broken unto the ground" (Isa. 21:9).
*  "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Rev. 14:8).
*  "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird" (Rev. 18:2).

In the first two verses, the reason was given:  idolatry and failure to keep herself pure.  I believe both are metaphors for Israel's "adultery" with the religions of the world, and with the governments of the world.  In other words, Israel, instead of being a light to the world, expressed in her uniqueness, she becomes just another heathen nation.  In the last verse, their sin is not described, but the consequence of her sin is:  she was taken over by Satan and his minions.  Notice the city had become "great" at the expense of those they slaughtered; "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Rev. 18:24).

 

Americans beware of the push for one world government, economy, and religion!