In order to understand Christ’s return and the last days, it is helpful to understand Babylon. Just as Jerusalem is the city of God, Babylon is themed throughout the Bible as the city of abominations and false worship.
Babylon is Akkadian which means “the Gate of the God(s).” The etymology of the name Babel as found in the Bible means “confused”, Genesis 11:9. Babel is the Hebrew name and Babylon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name.
The origin of Babylon can be found in Genesis 10:8-10. It was one of the first known cities founded by the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod the son of Cush, grandson of Ham. Nimrod was renowned for rebelling against God.
In 626 BC, the city of Babylon became the capital of the ancient land of the Babylonian empire in southern Mesopotamia, the land of Shiner as told in Genesis 10:10. This location is 50 miles south of modern day Baghdad on the Euphrates River just north of the town al-Hillah in modern day Iraq. The existence of Babylon could only be found in the Bible until it was eventually discovered during excavations in 1898.
Since it’s beginnings, Babylon has had a long history as the center of religious significance and has been the source of false religion and rebellion against God, the center of false worship. In the Bible, Babylon is seen as the symbol of confusion caused by godlessness, the symbol of Gentile glory and moral and religious wickedness, a symbol of power, materialism, and cruelty.
Genesis 11:1-9 records the dispersion of the nations at Babel. The Lord judged the people and confused the common languages and vocabularies as spoken by the entire Earth because of their arrogance in building idolatrous shrines. In Genesis 11:9, we find how the name Babel was given:
That is why its name was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the entire world, and from there the LORD scattered them across the face of the Earth.
The Bible reveals that all false systems of religion began in the land of Babylon. Using the Bible to interpret the Bible, we find that in Revelation 17:5, every form of false religion can be traced back to Babylon:
On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: “Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.”
Babylon was an extremely wealthy city, the center of economic activity with trade routes throughout the region. Compared to a modern day superpower, it’s destruction seemed unlikely. The downfall of Babylon was foretold by the prophets Jeremiah (51-52) and Isaiah (13-14). Although these prophecies have come to fruition, continued study of these prophesies shows they have not yet been completely fulfilled because they also foretell a future time where Babylon will rise again and come to prominence. The absolute annihilation of Babylon was also foretold, yet Babylon today is still in existence and occupied. The destruction of Babylon will not fulfill prophecy until the last days as told in Revelation 18:20-21:
(Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has pronounced judgment against her on your behalf!) Then one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said “With this kind of sudden violent force Babylon the great city will be thrown down and it will never be found again!”
The destruction of Babylon is very much associated with the restoration of Israel to its land. Upon the restoration of Israel will be spiritual blessings of renewed fellowship between God and man which has been cast away for a time, and will then return. See Jeremiah 51:4-6, 50:18-19, 50:28, 50:34, and 51:20-23. Although Israel has returned as a nation, the fulfillment of these predictions is clearly not yet complete.
Biblical Studies 