Are you feeling out of control, fearful of a global financial collapse, worried for your family’s future and confused about what to think or what to do?
As the news and social media continue to feed these negative feelings, there is a growing hopelessness and helplessness causing many to say, “Is this the end of the world?”
I would encourage you to come on a journey with me and let’s reason together what I believe is behind the agenda causing the continuing chaos we are witnessing every day when we open our phones and computers.
I believe it’s all about Babylon……..
So what does Babylon have to do with it? What is significant about Babylon for us today? Isn’t it just an ancient city in ruins?
Ancient Babylon and Neo Babylon
Almost immediately after the flood in Noah’s day, mankind had only one language and as people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
The Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the tower. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Gen 11:2-9).
“What is important is that they wanted to build a city with “its top in the heavens” which could mean that they wanted to overtake or usurp the authority of God or the gods.
God saw where this was leading to so He came down and confused their languages and caused them to be dispersed.
Many however remained and they continued to build, not the tower of Babel, but a city called Babylon.
It rose to be the supreme power in the world and as usually happens, with power comes pride and corruption and thus God would later send Cyrus of the Medes to destroy her but apparently, she would rise again but this time in a different and decidedly more dangerous state” – Jack Wellman
What’s in a Name…Babylon?
What’s in a Name…Babylon?The name Babylon is translated “the gates of the gods.” This did not refer to God of the Bible but to false, pagan gods, and the name “babel” means confusion and points to the political and religious confusion and disorder.
Revelation 18 suggests Babylon becomes a metaphor for the world’s political and religious system. God has defeated Babylon in the past and I believe He is ready to do it again. Is 46-47
Babylon was a pagan empire which persecuted Christians. It was a world totally alienated from the true God and ultimately evil, full of corruption and false practices. The Babylonians conquered and were conquered by many surrounding tribes and nations and eventually extended their empire into Judea and Egypt
In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the ruler of the neo-Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar II, destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem in 604 B.C. and took the Israelites into exile in 586 B.C. (including Daniel and his three friends) this was viewed by the prophet Jeremiah as God’s chastisement.
Babylon became a biblical symbol of corrupt power and wealth, an image of exile and oppression (Isaiah 47:1-13; Revelation 17:3-6). Judah’s yearning for their homeland expressed in Psalm 137 has been echoed by refugees and exiles of every age: new world encyclopedia
By the waters of Babylon,
there we sat down,
there we wept,
when we remembered Zion.
Listen to Boney M’s famous song By the Rivers of Babylon
Neo Babylon was conquered by Cyrus in the Battle of Opis
We will talk about Daniel and his adventures in another blog, but now let’s delve into a big adventure with Cyrus.
See this fascinating story of Cyrus’s birth, childhood and life until he eventually became the King of Persia how-cyrus-conquered-babylon
Babylon was conquered by Cyrus in the Battle of Opis in 538 B.C. The Cyrus Cylinder says
that the people opened their gates for Cyrus and greeted him as a liberator.
Before we go into the fall of Babylon I would like to suggest something pretty radical.
Prophets of our day have been calling President Trump a modern-day Cyrus God is using to defeat the Babylonian spirit rampant in our world today. We will revisit this concept in some other blogs and podcasts but keep your mind open and watch what only God could do with a man of His choice.
Cyrus did not follow God but God used him to defeat the Babylonian Empire and according to The New World Encyclopaedia, the Babylonian Chronicles tell us, “The gods of Akkad which Nabonidus had made come down to Babylon, were returned to their sacred cities.”
By the same policy of religious freedom, Cyrus also issued a decree allowing the people of Judah to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple”.
New World Encyclopedia has an excellent history narrative of ancient Babylon and neo Babylon which can provide more information if you are interested.
Would God use President Donald Trump as His threshing instrument to defeat spiritual Babylon and reclaim religious freedom for Christians in the 2020s?
Does Babylon have symbolic meaning for us today?
As I said earlier many believe there is a spiritual Babylon today and that this Babylonian demon spirit is affecting every sphere of influence including economic, political, education, health, creative arts and media in the world today.
“The demonic spirit of Babylon was in Sodom and Gomorrah, Nazi Germany, is in North Korea and Iran, runs drug cartels and human trafficking, is writing curriculum for students from kindergarten through graduate school, is architect behind political platforms and cultural narratives in everything from movies to television shows, and enjoys surfing the internet and causing social media trends.
No one, no thing, and no place is immune from the demonic influence of the spirit of Babylon.” Mark Driscoll markdriscoll.org/what-is-the-spirit-of-babylon
Is the spirit of Babylon affecting your life right now? In my next blog let’s talk about rebellion and how to deal to these demon spirits! ……..
References
- Mark Driscoll What is the Spirit of Babylon https://markdriscoll.org/what-is-the-spirit-of-babylon/
- The New World Encyclopaedia, the Babylonian Chronicles
- Gods Kingdom Ministries
- Jack Wellman
- Bible New International Version
