Babylon – The City

Babylon the City is to be Rebuilt

Saddam Hussein of Iraq spent over one billion dollars on the rebuilding of that ancient city (which will be taken over some day by Antichrist), titled New Babylon, and made the governmental, commercial, and religious center of the world. Two teachers of Bible Prophecy, both whom have been to Babylon, Dr. Charles Pak from Tulsa and Dr. Joseph Chambers from Charlotte were eyewitnesses of the fact that Saddam tried to restore the ancient majesty to the city. Even amid all his self-induced problems with America and the UN, his rebuilding program progressed. It is interesting to note that the first rebuilt structure in the old city was a temple to the sun. That should not be difficult to understand, as Hussein was a committed Satanist! He is a Muslim for political reasons, but at heart he is a sun-god worshiper.

The Light of Life Destroyed: The darkness with which Babylon will be perpetually enshrouded is a testimony to her lifelessness for eternity. She will be solemnly and finally judged because of her slaughter of the saints and those who would communicate God’s truth to people (Rev. 18:23-24). This marks the formal destruction of the most harmful religious and governmental system in the history of humankind and the destruction of the most detrimentally influential city ever built.

From the ancient beginnings of this city it has been a capital of Satan’s attack on the human race. Just as God chose Jerusalem as His headquarters to win the souls of people, Satan chose Babylon as his capital to destroy them. He moved his headquarters to Pergamum and then to Rome, where it is today. During the second half of the Tribulation period, he will move it again to Babylon, where God will finally destroy it forever.

The Current Ruins of Babylon Have Been Used to Build Other Cities: Is this Contrary to Jeremiah? Jeremiah predicted of Babylon:

Jeremiah 51:6 “They shall not take from you a stone for a corner nor a stone for a foundation, but you shall be desolate forever.”

It is reliably reported that at least six cities bear the marks of ancient Babylon in their buildings: Hillah, just a 20 minute walk from ancient Babylon, was built almost entirely from Babylon’s ruins. And Baghdad, fifty miles north of Babylon, also used materials from the ancient city. These facts alone demand the rebuilding of Babylon, because when God destroys it as recorded (in Rev. chapter 18), no part of it will ever be used to build another city.

The Prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah Indicate That Babylon Will be Suddenly and Totally Obliterated: “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed” says the prophet (in Jeremiah 51:8).

And Isaiah states:

Isaiah 13:19 “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ Excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom & Gomorrah” Babylon the Great. (Revelation 18:2).

History reveals the city was never destroyed in the way these Hebrew prophets predicted it would be, which guarantees it must be rebuilt. Babylon declined gradually over hundreds of years, and never was devastated in anything like the sudden conflagration that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah. Through the centuries Babylon gradually lost influence and population as the seat of world government changed to the Medes, then the Greeks, and finally to the Romans, who already had established the capital in Rome. We know that Babylon existed during the time of Christ, for Peter wrote his epistle from there (1 Peter 5:13). As late as (917 A.D.), it was a small village.

Like Sodom & Gomorrah, Babylon is built over vast supplies of bituminous asphalt and pitch. It is said by preacher Dr. Charles Pak who led a tour to Babylon in 1975 that he was told that the asphalt is only ten feet below the surface of the earth throughout the whole city. While that might indicate there is oil underground, it is also an ideal condition to produce its ultimate destruction by fire and brimstone. A volcanic eruption could easily fulfill the destruction of the city as described (in Rev. chapter 18).

Isaiah States That the Ruins of Babylon are Never to be Inhabited: The prophet declared of the devastated Babylon,

Isaiah 13:20 “It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.”

But we know that Babylon was inhabited for much of the ancient history even after the Medes and Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire. In fact, one writer records that (about 1100 A.D.), under the name of Hillah, Babylon was enlarged and fortified. In 1898 Hillah boasted ten thousand inhabitants.

And certainly, it has never been true that “nor will the Arabian pitch tents there.” Both still occur to this day. Neither can it be said of Babylon. “Her cities are a desolation, a dry land a wilderness, a land where no one dwells, through which no son of man passes” (Jer. 51:43). Throughout history the site has been surrounded by fertile lands, with abundant date groves stretching along the banks of the Euphrates River. And these days, visitors pass through there on a regular basis.

In order for this prophecy to be fulfilled, Babylon must be rebuilt, and then destroyed in a mighty display of God’s righteous power.

An Ancient Rabbinic Rule of Interpretation Says That When the Bible mentions an Event Twice, it means the Event Will Happen Twice: Both Isaiah and the apostle John use the same double verbs to describe its destruction:

Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground! (Isaiah 21:9b).

Since the word “fallen” is used twice in each of these passages, the rabbinic rule demands that the city fall twice. But if it is to fall again, it must first be rebuilt.

On June 28 1990, Dian Sawyer and Sam Donaldson took the nation to this incredible city of Babylon via their television program called Prime Time Live. They pointed out that Saddam Hussein had spent over a billion dollars of his oil wealth rebuilding the city as a monument to himself.

During the program Sawyer said: Now Saddam Hussein dreams of rebuilding the grandeur and reclaiming the vision. This is Babylon, twenty five hundred years ago, the sizzling center of a rich civilization. There were the hanging gardens, the palaces, all built by a man who managed to unite the country and rule with an iron hand.

In fact, right over here there are bricks that bear an ancient stamp. It says, “I am King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, king of everything from sea to far sea.” But there are new bricks here too, imprinted with a different stamp. This one says, “I am Saddam Hussein, president of the Republic of Iraq.”

The fact that Saddam would mix bricks with his name in the foundation of the rebuilt city that once ruled the world confirms that he had envisions of becoming the modern counterpart to his lifetime hero, king Nebuchadnezzar.

The “Butcher of Baghdad” as he was called for killing his own people, may give lip service to Mohammed and act like a devoted Muslim, but there is a strong indication that he is actually a Satanist. A key is found in the 1975 report of Dr. Charles Pak who visited the city while it was being rebuilt. Then for the first time in his life he stated, he witnessed the worship of the devil at a reconstructed temple to the sun. When you recall that Hussein is known to micro manage everything in his country, including that building project, you can be sure that a temple to Satan would not be there without his approval.

As Sure as God Keeps His Word: According to Tim LaHaye, Babylon will live again as “the seat of Satan.” You can be sure that any city mentioned 7 times in 2 chapters, as is Babylon (in Rev. chapters 17 and 18), will be a literal city. Babylon will again become Satan’s headquarters for a short time, serving as the governmental and commercial capital of the world during the first half of the Tribulation. Then, after the kings of the earth destroy religious Babylon near the middle of the Tribulation, Satan will move his religious headquarters from Rome to Babylon setting the stage for the second three and one-half year period, called “the Great Tribulation”.