Home At Last — What Herb Thinks
Who is the Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18? There is much debate on this issue. I recall when in the early 1990s, at the beginning of the first Gulf War, I was contemplating this question.
Suddenly, the American dollar with its image of a pyramid came to my mind. And the thought struck me — it’s America. We are the Babylon of Revelation.
You see, the pyramid is a symbol of unity. Above it we find the words “Out of many one.” And, for Bible believers, this naturally reminds us of the story of the Tower of Babel found in the book of Genesis. Here we find mankind’s first attempt at unity. Let’s read the account:
Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city (Genesis 11:1-8 New American Standard Bible).
Why did God stop the builders of Babel and scatter them across the earth? Because the unity wasn’t under God — it was under Nimrod and his false system of religion. And God has been working to keep them apart since.
Yet in America, a nation founded under God, these nations have been allowed to come together. So much so, American has become known as the melting pot of the nations. Now this brings us back to our question. Is American the Babylon of Revelation?
The problem I have with that is, in the case of the other major players of Bible prophecy, the fulfillment has been literal. For example, Israel has been restored literally. And, so is the return of the Roman Empire occurring literally. This indicates to me the Babylon of Revelation will also be literal. And, that’s where the American occupation of Iraq comes in. And, especially the
— Herb Peters
4/16/04