Eschatology For Beginners: A Primary Player "Babylon"

                                                       Babylon Rising

Hi everyone. In last day bible prophecy the city of Babylon is a "Primary player."

Revelation 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by her splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the great!"

Revelation 18:15-17 The merchants who sold these things and gain their wealth from her will stand afar off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn. They will cry out, "Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!"

According to Revelation 18, the city of Babylon will be rebuilt and become the commercial capital of the world during the Tribulation. The Antichrist will rule the economic world from Babylon.

The reason we know this is the literal city of Babylon is because many Old Testament prophecies regarding the ancient city of Babylon have not been fulfilled. Some of them were fulfilled, some partially fulfilled, and some not fulfilled. So if God made certain prophecies regarding the city of Babylon that did not come to pass, then they must come to pass. This means Babylon must rise from the ashes and become a great city again.

Some of these prophecies are found in Isaiah 13, Isaiah 47, Jeremiah 50, Jeremiah 51, Ezekiel 26, and Ezekiel 27. All of these chapters have features of Babylon's destruction that have not come to pass. Each of these chapters prophesy that Babylon's destruction will come in one day, in one moment. Babylon has not been destroyed in a day, but instead has diminished and passed from history over many centuries. Therefore Babylon must rise again in order to be destroyed the way the bible defines its destruction.

So, is there any sign of Babylon rising even as we speak?

Babylon was once the most wealthiest and powerful city in the world. Yet it was conquered by the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, in 539 BC. Later, the Persian empire was defeated by Alexander the Great and the Greeks reigned over the earth. Then the Romans defeated the Greeks. Along the way, Middle East trade routes shifted, and Babylon and its glorious history was forsaken and forgotten. 

However, back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Saddam Hussein, fanatical over King Nebuchadnezzar, ordered his archeologist and engineers to begin excavating and rebuilding the city. They began rebuilding the famous Ishtar Gate and the city walls, and some of its buildings. However, during the eight-year-long war between Iraq and Iran, all work ceased.

Yet, since Iraq's liberation in 2003, much has happened. On April 18, 2006 the New York Times posted a front page story about the reemerging city. "Babylon, the mud-brick city with the million dollar name, has paid the price for war. It has been ransacked, looted, torn up, paved over, neglected and roughly occupied...But Iraq leaders and United Nations officials are not giving up on it. They are working assiduously to restore Babylon, home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World." 

Noted correspondent Jeffrey Gettleman, an American Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, stated, "The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESO for short) is pumping millions of dollars into protecting and restoring Babylon and a handful of other ancient ruins in Iraq."

Philippe Delanghe, a United Nations official helping with the projects, stated, "Cultural tourism could become Iraq's second biggest industry, after oil...One day millions of people will visit Babylon." 

In April 2009, Joel Rosenberg reported that "the government of Iraq is moving forward with plans to protect the archaeological remains of the ancient city of Babylon, in preparation of building a modern city of Babylon. The project, originally started by the late Saddam Hussein, is aimed eventually at attracting scores of  'cultural tourists' from all over the world to see the glories of Mesopotamia's most famous city. What's more, the Obama Administration is contributing $700,000 towards 'The Future of Babylon Project,' through the State Department's budget." 

Along these lines, under the Obama Administration, the State Department announced "a new 2 million dollar grant to begin work to preserve the site's most impressive surviving ruins. They include the foundation of the Ishtar Gate, built in the sixth century B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar's father, Nabopolassar, and adorned with brick reliefs of the Babylonian gods Marduk and Adad." 

Joel Rosenberg also reported that by July 2019, so much progress had been made in rebuilding the ancient city, that Babylon had been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Last fall, the "Babylonian International Festival" was held again for the first time in two decades. The goal: To "relaunch art, culture, and even the economy of Iraq" by making Babylon "a showcase" of a new Iraq, a must-see tourist attraction for visitors from all over the world. 

Do I need to say more?! 

So the city of Babylon is a "Primary player" in the last days. The Antichrist will rule the economic world from Babylon. It's rising is happening before our very eyes. 

So Tim, does this mean the rapture cannot occur until there is a rebuilt city of Babylon?

Not at all. Nothing needs to happen for the rapture to occur. The rapture does not mark the beginning of the Tribulation. The Tribulation begins when the Antichrist signs a 7 year peace agreement with Israel. Right now there is enough oil and wealth in Iraq to rebuild the city from the ground up. A hearty ambition for someone like the Antichrist to undertake. Once he comes into power he could practically rebuild the city overnight. Like everything else, the stage has been set for him.