Monday, October 22, 2007

Babylon The Great


For some reason, Babylon the great whore came to my mind in that last posting I posted. And that leads me to thinking. Is Babylon the Great harlot and mother of all whores to be found in Revelations the Statue of Liberty? Does she represent the Statue of Liberty and the City of New York, the great Empire State, to be found in America. Sometimes I wonder. I sometimes wonder with the similarities that are to be found between the two. As the two are great cities that sit on top of many waters with seven heads and ten horns on their head sitting on top of a great beast on seven mountains over many waters, nations and tongues holding gold cups in their hands on top of a great beast that turns against itself and burns her with fire and the great merchants of the earth who had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness and who brought all of her great merchandise, the merchandise of gold and silver and fine linen etc stand a far off for the fear of her burning etc;. There's a whole lot of figurative speech and a wealth of meaning to be found in this passage and verse. What do these two great women represent? What doe this passage mean and what does it represent. Mystery, Babylon The Great to be found in prophecy if you believe. Babylon arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, Ancient Babylon, The Tower of Babel, Baal, Babylonia, the great empire, that great city in the Middle East or somewhere on planet earth. Who is that great city. Confusion, trials and tribulations. Is she falling. And who and what is God. Is there a God? And what is that Mene Mene Tekel code and the handwriting on the wall I just came across. Is that a whole another blog posting? I could blah blog about this all day long and so I guess to sum it up, I am reposting that all too familiar verse from the book of Revelations as follows:

The Judgment of the Great Harlot

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, Dan. which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The Fall of Babylon

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 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. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, Ps. 137.8 · Jer. 50.29 and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, Is. 47.8, 9 death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelations 17-18.

Watch and be ready. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I know what you mean. Reading Revelation, I can see a lot parallels in the modern-day world, but that's what makes the final book in the Bible such a great piece of literary satire.

The truth is that there have been many Babylons since the book was written in the 1st Century CE. When John of Patmos (part of the Roman Empire) wrote the book, he most likely was referring to Rome but used ancient allegory since criticizing Rome in any form was prohibited. At the time, Rome was under the tyrannical control of the imfamous Emperor Nero, who history tells us, persecuted many Jews and early Christians. John, being one of these Christians, was calling for the destruction of Rome, and thus, the empire itself.

The word Babylon describes a city that's rich, powerful and full of vice and sin. Babylon, Rome, Constantinople, London, New York and Paris all either fit this description now or did at one time. The test of good literature is its ability to relate to present-day conditions, no matter how old it is.

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