Chris White: Mystery Babylon

Chris White, of Bible Prophesy Talk, has done some extensive study of “Mystery Babylon”, also known as “The Woman Who Rides the Beast” as found in Revelation 17 & 18. He joins me this month to make the case for just who this enigmatic city is. This discussion, and the studies that it is based on, take us all over the scripture, both Old Testament and New, to make his case.

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Outline of the Discussion

• Mystery Babylon refers to a vision John sees of a woman riding a seven-headed, ten-horned beast. The woman is a city that rules over the nations of the Earth (Revelation 17:18).
  • There are many theories as to what this woman represents, but the angel that gives John the interpretation never gives any hint that it is anything but a literal city.
  • The temptation is to look around and try to discern from current events what city might fit the descriptions laid out in scripture, but the scriptures give us enough in an of themselves to identify what city is being described as a woman riding The Beast.
  • The most prominent theories identify Mystery Babylon as:
    • Pagan Rome
    • Catholic Rome (The Vatican)
    • Mecca, or another Islamic city
    • New York
    • America (not a city, but offered as a possibility nonetheless
• The perspective that Chris takes, using Scripture alone to identify Mystery Babylon, is that it refers to Eschatological Jerusalem, the end-times city of Jerusalem that worships Anti-Christ (not historical or modern Jerusalem, but the future city that will one day be the capital of the world).
• One characteristic of Mystery Babylon is that the blood of the prophets is found in her (Revelation 17:6). Jesus says that it is impossible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem (Luke 13:33). Jesus also lays all of the blood of the righteous upon Jerusalem, from Abel to Zechariah (Matthew 23:34-36).
• The greatest persecution and genocide to ever take place on Earth has its epicenter in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15-22)
• Chris gets into the concept of the Harlot in scripture
  • Jerusalem is referred to as a harlot in scripture numerous times, citing both spiritual unfaithfulness and murders (for example: Isaiah 1:21, Ezekiel 16:15-22).
  • The particular abomination that the woman commits is to reject God and worship the Beast (Revelation 18:7).
  • It is the fornication of the woman that entices the entire world to worship the Beast (Revelation 17:2)
• There are 29 items sold to the harlot include: gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. (Revelation 18:12-13). Many of these items rarely show up in Scripture, and word studies can give valuable insight into the purpose of the items and who it is that buys them.
  • Many of the groupings represent the exact items necessary to the daily sacrifices in the Temple.
  • A few of the items show up as the items that the Beast uses to worship his god (Satan).
  • Some of the wood is only mentioned in the Old Testament as being used by Solomon to build the Temple.
• The description of what the woman was wearing match the description of what the high priest wore in the Temple in the Old Testament.
• The woman has names written on her forehead (Revelation 17:3) that mimic the words written on the forehead of the high priest (Exodus 39:30)
• The rule of Anti-Christ attempts to mimic the reign of Christ leading into, and through the Millennium.
• A common objection to the view of Jerusalem as Mystery Babylon is that the city of Mystery Babylon is destroyed (Revelation 18:9-10), yet Jerusalem survives into the Millennial reign of Christ. However, the Scriptures seem to suggest that Jerusalem will be destroyed (Zechariah 14:1) and then rebuilt. Also, the descriptions of Millennial Jerusalem are different than modern Jerusalem: the Temple is the size of modern Jerusalem, the city is nine times larger than modern Jerusalem, it's in a different location, etc.
• Another objection is that the smoke from the burning city can be seen from the sea. This issue presents the same difficulty for Rome as it does for Jerusalem, as neither are port cities. Rome is about 15 miles from the sea, and Jerusalem is about 30. However, if either city burned, the smoke would be visible from much further away than 30 miles. The smoke from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 could be seen from as much as 100 miles away, and that was just two buildings.
• Throughout Scripture and history, it is clear that Satan hates the Jews and wants to wipe them out, yet in the end-times scenario it seems that he cozies up to them. Chris answers this by explaining that the closer Satan gets to the truth, the more effective his lies are.

Scriptures Referrenced

(Not necessarily an exhaustive list)

• Revelation 17-19
• Luke 13:33
• Matthew 23:34-36
• Matthew 24:15-22
• Isaiah 1:21
• Ezekiel 16
• Daniel 11-12
• Exodus 39:30
• Zechariah 14:1
• Ezekiel 43:7-9

Additional Resources

• Mystery Babylon Study – Chris's 8-part video series (Youtube Playlist)