- 17 hours ago
Mystery Babylon – the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth (Revelation 17:5). Who or what is Mystery Babylon of the Book of Revelation?
Is America Mystery Babylon? The Bible says in Rev 17:15, "Then he said to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.' " America sits on many waters, yet so does Europe. Some Protestants hold the position that the United States is Mystery Babylon.
Revelation 13:1 tells us about a beast that rises up out of the sea, "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name." What sea is this? Is this the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, which surrounds the United States? Are one of these two seas the sea from which the beast rises? Or is it the one the Bible calls the Great Sea in Daniel 7, the Mediterranean Sea? Dan 7:2, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea." What is the “Great Sea” that bordered ancient Israel?
And then Revelation 13:11 tells us about another beast, "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon." So, there are two beasts. One beast is a civil beast, and the other beast is a religious beast. Ellen White of the Seventh Day Adventists taught that the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-16 is the United States. Is she right or is the two-horned beast the final Antichrist?
Where do those two beasts come from? Is it North America or is it Europe, which borders the Mediterranean Sea?
Is America Mystery Babylon? The Bible says in Rev 17:15, "Then he said to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.' " America sits on many waters, yet so does Europe. Some Protestants hold the position that the United States is Mystery Babylon.
Revelation 13:1 tells us about a beast that rises up out of the sea, "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name." What sea is this? Is this the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, which surrounds the United States? Are one of these two seas the sea from which the beast rises? Or is it the one the Bible calls the Great Sea in Daniel 7, the Mediterranean Sea? Dan 7:2, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea." What is the “Great Sea” that bordered ancient Israel?
And then Revelation 13:11 tells us about another beast, "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon." So, there are two beasts. One beast is a civil beast, and the other beast is a religious beast. Ellen White of the Seventh Day Adventists taught that the two-horned beast of Revelation 13:11-16 is the United States. Is she right or is the two-horned beast the final Antichrist?
Where do those two beasts come from? Is it North America or is it Europe, which borders the Mediterranean Sea?
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LearningTranscript
00:04Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel,
00:09bringing you news and analysis of world events in light of Bible prophecy. Dr. Thiel, it seems like
00:16everyone senses there is dread on the horizon of humanity. Is there any connection between
00:21Mystery Babylon from the Book of Revelation and the United States? Yes, but it's not the way
00:27some believe. This week, I saw an article whose title was, Is America Mystery Babylon? And it says
00:33that for over 2,000 years, prophecy students have wondered about Mystery Babylon of Revelation 17
00:40and 18. And traditionally, the article says many have pointed to Rome, a city on seven hills,
00:47a persecutor of saints, clothed in purple and scarlet. Others have said it's more literal.
00:52It's got to do with Iraq. He says her third theory, it's controversial, unsettling, increasingly
00:59discussed. Asked a different question. Could the United States of America be the final
01:04manifestation of Mystery Babylon? Revelation 17 describes a woman sitting on many waters.
01:12Ancient Babylon sat on one river. Rome ruled one sea. But the United States is uniquely positioned.
01:20Atlantic Ocean to the east, Pacific Ocean to the west, Gulf of Mexico to the south,
01:25Great Lakes to the north, Mississippi River running through its heart. No nation history has been so
01:31literally surrounded by waters. So is this third option correct? America is indeed surrounded by many
01:38waters. Yeah, well, Canada is similar to this way. So the United States is not totally unique that way.
01:44But the article mentions the fact that Rome ruled one sea. And that is the prophesied sea that the
01:53Babylonian beast power is associated directly with in the Bible. If you've got a Bible, you can follow
02:00along. I'm going to Revelation 13, starting verse one. I'm going to read this from the New King James
02:06version of the Bible. John says, I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising
02:12up out of the sea.
02:14Seven heads, ten horns, blasphemous name. It was like a leopard, feet like feet of a bear, mouth like a
02:20mouth of
02:20lion. The dragon, Satan, gave him his power thrown in great authority. I saw one of his heads had been
02:26mortally wounded. And his deadly wound was healed. Well, World War I and World War II, the German Axis
02:35powers, they were defeated. That's interesting.
02:40But this wound's going to be healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. They worshiped
02:45the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast saying, who's like the beast?
02:49Who can make war with him? So we see this composite beast with different parts. Well, if you go to
02:54Daniel
02:54in the Old Testament, Daniel chapter seven, starting in verse two, we read,
03:01he saw in his vision by night, four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
03:09Four great beasts came up, each different from each other. First was like a lion.
03:14Next was like a bear. The other one was like a leopard.
03:21Third, and after this, verse seven, saw a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, strong,
03:27had iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, trampling a residue with its feet.
03:31It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns.
03:35Very similar to a composite beast of what we read about in Revelation chapter 13. And he says,
03:45this was from the great sea. So if we are to be looking for a ruler that rises out of
03:53the
03:53great sea, what sea should we be looking at? Well, according to the Bible, the great sea,
04:00which is the one that bordered ancient lands of Israel, was the Mediterranean Sea. Now you can look
04:06this up and prove it to yourself. Numbers chapter 34, Joshua chapter 1, Joshua 9, John 23, and Ezekiel 47.
04:15That's the sea that Daniel's referring to. That's the sea of Revelation 13.
04:21The United States of America is not directly connected with the Mediterranean Sea in this
04:25prophetic way. Although he has own misinterpretations,
04:29the Protestant prophecy writer, Joel Richardson, a New York Times bestselling author, says that,
04:37yeah, some people claim America's Babylon, but the prophecies don't fit. He said that he
04:43understood the United States has profound influence around the world, but the United States does not
04:48represent the greatest system of false religion that mankind has ever known. The United States is not
04:53the great false religion. It's not the great system of idolatry. He says, America sometimes
04:59accused of being an example of false religion of materialism, etc., but other countries are like
05:06that as well. He says, the city of the Antichrist must serve as a great system of idolatry. It's got
05:17to
05:17persecute the body of Christ. And so that's just not the United States. So anyway, I agree with him,
05:25it's not the United States. Now back into that is America's mystery Babylon article. It pointed
05:33to scripture about many waters. Yet two parts of this. The Church of Rome certainly is ruled over
05:39many waters as it's ruled over kings and governors in both the eastern and western hemisphere. And later,
05:45I'll explain what the prophecy actually says with that. Furthermore, there in Rome is the St. John's
05:53Lateran Church, which is the Church of Rome's premier cathedral. It's got an inscription on it in Latin,
06:00translated in English, which means Sacred Lateran Church, mother and head of all churches of the city
06:10and the world. The Roman Catholic Church considers this the mother church. The other world's churches are
06:16his children and his daughters. Now really, you can't say that about the United States.
06:21Now getting back to this American mystery Babylon article, it also says that Revelation
06:28describes Babylon as a woman adorned in luxury holding up a golden cup. Then it says America's
06:34most recognized symbol is the Statue of Liberty, although she does not have a golden cup. Okay.
06:40And any comments that Washington DC has Egyptian, Roman and Masonic symbolism, and it's got an obelisk.
06:48Well, yeah, the United States has got a lot of pagan symbols, but so do a lot of other nations.
06:53As far as a large obelisk goes, there's one I've seen in Vatican City.
07:01But if a lot of nations have pagan symbols, how are we supposed to tell which one is mystery,
07:08Babylon the Great?
07:09By looking at what the Bible says. In Revelation 17, we find that there's a woman who sits on or
07:17rides a scarlet beast. And she's arrayed in purple and scarlet and gold. And on her name,
07:25the forehead is written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.
07:32And it says it's the seven heads of the seven mountains which she sits. In the evening,
07:38according to Roman Catholic scholars, this is a reference to Rome. And the waters which she sits
07:44are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. It doesn't say it's the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean,
07:48and things like that. It says, Horns which you saw in the beast will hate her and eventually destroy her.
07:55And it says, and the woman you saw is the great city which rules over the kings of the earth.
08:01And again, on St. John's Lateran Church, it says they're the mother of the world's churches and the
08:07city. So there's all kinds of ties into Rome. In terms of colors, the bishops of Rome wear and use
08:15purple. In terms of scarlet, the cardinals wear scarlet. They're purple. Now, as far as the
08:24original Babel goes, in the book of Genesis, you read about the Tower of Babel in the 11th chapter.
08:32We read that all the world had one speech and they decided not to listen to God. They all wanted
08:37to
08:37stay together to build themselves a tower because they didn't want to get spread a little broad.
08:42Verse 5 says, God came down, saw the city, said, hey, they got one language. I'm going to go down
08:49and confuse their language. They won't understand each other's speech. So God does this. So the name
08:55is called Babel. Multiple language confusion because the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And
09:01from there, the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
09:06I'm not sure I understand the connection of those verses.
09:09Well, that's because the European Union has at least 24 official languages, and it actually uses
09:16something like the Tower of Babel to symbolize itself. Its own parliament building is intentionally
09:21unfinished, like the Tower of Babel. And there's a poster, which I'll hold up here, where they use the
09:29Tower of Babel for its symbol. And it says, Europe, many languages, one voice, basically mocking what God did.
09:38Furthermore, when I was in Greece, I got a two-year-old coin. And on it, in the two-year
09:44-old coin,
09:45they show a woman riding a beast. So those European connections are much closer than the United States
09:55having an obelisk and a Statue of Liberty. The Bible itself specifically warns about a religious system
10:02based on the city of Seven Hills that rise to European beast power.
10:07We're going back to the USA and Mystery of Babylon.
10:10Are there any others that feel the United States is Babylon the Great?
10:15Yeah. Based on writings from Ellen White of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, they erroneously identify
10:23the United States as a two-horned beast of Revelation 1310. And that's the one that promotes the beast
10:30that rises from the sea. And the position of debating the Churches of God differs completely
10:35from those held by the SDAs and their leaders.
10:38In what way?
10:41Church of God writers of the last couple of centuries tie in the two-horned beast with the fact
10:47that the Roman Catholic Pontiffs have both civil power as head of the Vatican State,
10:51the religious power as head of the Roman Catholic religion.
10:56Could you add a little bit more to that for us?
11:00Yeah. The Church of God teaches its two-horned beast represents the false prophet who leads the
11:05final and revised large church claim to papacy, the Antichrist. And the other beast that rises
11:11from the Mediterranean Sea is the leader of the revived Roman Empire. Now, getting back to the
11:19American Mystery Babylon article also states, quote, three times in Revelation 18, the same phrase is
11:26repeated in one hour. Modern intercontinental missiles travel from north to south in minutes. A full exchange
11:33would conclude in an hour. And it's possible. Jeremiah repeatedly warns that Babylon's destroyers
11:40come from the north. And it says, for the United States, the shortest missile pass from the greatest
11:45adversary passes over the north pole. Now, the article is correct that a power from the north will
11:52destroy end-time Babylon. Jeremiah wrote, chapter 50, verse 2, declare among the nations, proclaim it.
12:02So say, Babylon is taken, for out of the north a nation comes up against her, which will make her
12:09land
12:09desolate. And going down to verse 41, Jeremiah is inspired to write,
12:16Behold, a people come from the north. A great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the ends
12:22of
12:22the earth. It's not just Russia. Set in array like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.
12:32So it's not ancient Babylon. It's something different. The end-time Babylon. Verse 43,
12:38The king of Babylon has heard this report. His hands have grown feeble. Anguish has taken on him.
12:43Pangs as of a woman in childbirth. Now, this is a nation from the north. Well, Canada is a nation
12:49that's north of the United States, and it's not going to fulfill that prophecy. But Europe,
12:55there's something north of Europe, and that's Russia. It and its allies, it says from the ends of the
13:01earth, are going to destroy end-time European Babylon. America is not end-time mystery Babylon,
13:08though it will one day face quick destruction. What is America's tie to mystery Babylon?
13:16Well, its tie to mystery Babylon is the Bible prophesies in Daniel 11, 39,
13:22that the power with the strongest military, which means the United States in this century,
13:27will be conquered by a future European leader, referred to also as a king of the north.
13:34Other prophecies, such as in Isaiah 10, show that, quote, an hypocritical nation,
13:40old King James, meaning the United States, is going to be destroyed by a European power.
13:45So that's the tie. The biblical reality is that end-time Babylon is a church-state alliance
13:52connected to the Mediterranean Sea in ways the United States is not. Mystery Babylon the Great has
13:59to do with a European power that will cooperate with Rome, the famous city of seven hills. And again,
14:05its connection to the United States is that it will lead the conquering of it.
14:11Thank you, Dr. Thiel. For more interviews with Dr. Thiel, in addition to written, as well as audio
14:16articles, visit our website at BibleNewsProphecy.net. This is Steve Dupuis for the Bible News Prophecy Program.