Church people of all ages know the story of the Tower of Babylon.  Sunday School children know that because of the sins of the people, God destroyed the tower they were building and the city in which it stood, confused their method of communication, separated them into various groups, assigned them different areas of the world in which to live and gave each group its own unique language.  To fully understand why God treated the people so harshly we must realize that Babylon was built by people under the power of Satan and that the Babylonian mentality would become a global force in the future, especially in the end times.  As I have shown in previous postings, the times in which we are living today began on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. (Acts 2:16-21).  We are living in the final days of those end times.  What Peter described will take place during this generation.  Jesus proclaimed this Truth in Matthew 24:1-8.

There are two reasons why God punished the people of Babylon, both of which have eternal significance.  It is important that we recognize the profound spiritual effect ancient Babylon has had on mankind throughout history and continues to have in today’s world.  In this study we will examine the various religions and beliefs that sprang from Babylon at the peak of her power, and how those beliefs and practices continue to influence every aspect of man’s daily life.  Finally, we will highlight the ways in which Satan uses her religious power to control professing Christendom today.

Before we get into the meat of the subject, let us examine the name of that cursed city in order to unveil the primary reason God destroyed her along with the tower that stood at her center.  Recall that, unlike the action taken toward the people of Noah’s day, the Lord did not destroy the people of Babylon who, at that time, comprised the world’s entire population.  The people had followed Nimrod, Noah’s grandson, to a place called Shinar where they built a city and called it Babylon.  When the Lord confused the people’s language the word to describe what each person heard other people saying was labeled “babel,” a word the modern world uses to mean oral confusion.

However, such was not the case anciently.  In those days the word “Babylon” had an entirely different meaning.  Babylon was comprised of two words: “Bab,” meaning “Gate,” and “El,” meaning God.  The Tower of Babel meant “the gate leading to God.”  Specifically, it meant the way MAN had designed to enter God’s presence.  This gives us the first hint as to why the entire undertaking was an abomination to Him.  This is brought out in Genesis 11:4 where it says that the people decided to build a great city “… and a tower whose top may reach into heaven.”

The Babylonians, specifically those called “Chaldeans,” invented what came to be known as astronomy–the study of the heavenly bodies.  Being the servants of Satan, it was not long before astronomy became part of their religion.  Today, astrological “signs” are used by millions of people in an attempt to foretell the future and to predict one’s likes, dislikes, skills and other personal attributes.  Some go so far as to choose mates based on their “sign.”  The people who systemized the world’s first “science” were called “Chaldeans.”  The word “Chaldean” came to be signify that one was an astronomer/astrologer.  Though the Lord destroyed the city of Babylon and its tower, the spiritual power of Babylon would soon encompass the earth.

Over time the religious practices Babylon had engendered spread throughout the world where they became an important part of the global affairs of mankind.  As the Book of Revelation reveals, the effects of the Babylonian mentality will increase as we near the end of the age.  A hint as to her present and future power in the affairs of mankind is seen in the focal passage.  At the time that the Lord told the children of Israel that He would carry them beyond Babylon, the city no longer existed.  Still, her vile effects were in existence at that time and would increase in the future.  We will study those effects which, as Jesus explained to the Apostle John, would grow in power and influence as the end of the world draws near.  We will also study the Words of Jesus Christ relative to Babylon as He revealed the end-time condition of the world to the Apostle John.  Today, Babylon is alive and well on planet earth.  In fact, Babylon is more powerful than ever and will continue to gain in power as the end draws near.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  Over the following days we will look at specific areas in which the Babylonian religion has affected, is affecting and will continue to affect mankind in the immediate future.  Old Testament references to Babylon number approximately 400.  The prophets, speaking and writing under the power of the Lord, spoke about Babylon in terms of prophecy relative to Israel in the future.  As I proved in an earlier series, Israel today comprises most of the people within what are called “Christian nations,” specifically the United States and Britain.  Also included is the Jewish nation in the Middle East.  Read Who  and Where is Israel Today?  Key word, Who.  The Prophet Jeremiah, looking into the distant future, wrote: “At the sounds of the destruction of Babylon, the earth’s people will be shocked upon the city’s death throes (50:46).  Again, when Jeremiah wrote those words, Babylon had long ago disappeared.  He was obviously referring to a future city, one that would have embraced the evil that characterized ancient Babylon.

So what might be the modern day city Jeremiah was referring to in this passage?  It would be a world-famous city for all the world will be emotionally affected by her destruction.  It would be a city famous for its emphasis on money.  My GUESS is that Jeremiah was referring to New York City, the most famous city in the most famous nation on earth today.  She is the center of world pride (idolatry) and greed (money).  Recall that greed was that “one thing” Jesus told the rich man that would prevent him from receiving eternal life (Mat. 10:21).  But what convinces me that New York is the city in question is the fact that she is the epicenter of world-wide abortion.  It was in that city that the idea of making abortion a legal right came into being.  The first meeting in which politicians discussed that goal took place in New York City.  It was from that meeting that the push for legalizing the murder of the unborn evolved.  I believe that abortion is what Jeremiah was speaking about in 51:49 where he wrote: “Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel.”  Israel did not come into being until long after the destruction of the city of Babylon.  The United States is inhabited primarily by Israelites.  Not only does she lead the world in the slaying of innocents, President Biben has nullified the Mexico City Accords which prohibited U.S. taxpayers from financing abortions in other nations.  American citizens will now finance the killing of millions of beings created in the image and likeness of God not only here, but throughout the entire world as well.  America’s hands are covered with the blood of the world’s innocent victims.  Jeremiah prophesied about Israel’s part in world-wide murder in 51:49 when he wrote that Babylon must fall because of “the slain of all the earth.”  Modern Babylon–New York City–has brought about the deaths of millions of children throughout the world.  What became national law (Roe v. Wade) via the United States Supreme Court is now being pushed, encouraged and financed by what originated in New York City.  America, specifically NYC, is responsible for “the slain of all the earth” and must be destroyed.  America has sown Satan’s wind world-wide.  She will soon reap the whirlwind of God’s wrath.  At this time we are experiencing the “beginning of sorrows” for her Babylonian mentality.   Another reason I believe that NYC is modern Babylon is found in Jeremiah 51:48 where the prophet states that Babylon will be attacked and destroyed from the north.  Today Russia is establishing military bases north of Alaska.  From there nuclear warheads could easily strike New York City.  L.J.