JOHN BRADSHAW - It Is Written

14 BABYLON RISING
In the book of Revelation, the Bible speaks of a
mysterious city that would captivate the attention of the
world in the latter days of earth’s history. This Babylon
shares its name with the ancient city that headquartered
the dominant kingdom of its age.
After a splendid reign of unimaginable power and
wealth, Babylon of old was destroyed, with God
declaring that ancient Babylon would never again be
inhabited.
“And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the
Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom
and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the
Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make
their fold there” (Isaiah 13:19, 20).
But in spite of that proclamation, Babylon is back in
the New Testament. Revelation 17:18 describes Babylon
as a “great city, which reigneth over the kings of the
earth,” while Revelation 18:16 speaks of “that great city,
that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet,
and decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls.”
Chapters 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation deal
exclusively with the city of Babylon, and the description
given of Babylon is often far from flattering.
In Revelation 17, Babylon is described as a “great
whore” that intoxicates the people of the world and
is involved in illicit alliances with the governments of
the world. Babylon is called “the mother of harlots”
and is described as being drunk “with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus.”