BABYLON An evil city and immoral, idol~worshiping empire back in the day, used throughout the book of REVELATION as a symbol for the early Roman Empire and its general skeezieness. Rome wasnt a good friend to early Christians, what with all the lions~versus~ Christians battles getting top billing Friday nights at the Coliseum. So John, the author of Revelation, used a clever code to keep from openly harshing on his worst enemy, and everyone (except the Romans, apparently) knew it. In later days, Babylon also referred to as The Great Harlot in Revelation 17:5, has come to represent any nation or system that can be considered an enemy of God. A lot of fundamentalist Christians think this obviously means the Roman Catholic Church. Or Cold War~era Russia. Or the United Nations and its NEW WORLD ORDER. Or even Hollywood with its secularity and liberal politics. And in recent years, word leaked out from Iraq that none other than Saddam Hussein was trying to rebuild and restore the ancient city of Babylon. Great bowls of wrath! So maybe John was being literal when he referred to Babylon instead of the wink~wink~this~is~really~Rome sneakiness. At any rate, Saddams not doing much rebuilding these days. And according to Revelation, the symbolic Babylon gets it good at the end, suffering all kinds of godly wrath followed by utter destruction. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH: Babylon 5, the best science fiction television show ever! (Or so the Pocket Guide is told.)
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:43:11 +0000
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