Babylon the Great

I had a question from Matt. He was curious to know which prophecies I saw happening now or coming soon. In the next few posts, I'd like to focus on 3 main prophecies which are in the "building stages". This kind of means that while it's not showing that these will come to pass immediately, things which are happening show the ground work beginning which will bring these prophecies to fruition.

I'd like to talk about Babylon, Israel and Jerusalem. Now for folks who I talk to who want to know what to look for, I have always said, we need to keep our eyes especially, on Israel, the Temple (which will be rebuilt) and now on Babylon. I will go deeper in each post to the things that have been happening for years to bring things into focus and bring about the circumstances, people and events which will bring the prophecies to pass.

First, I'd like to talk about the place called Babylon. Now, why is talking about Babylon so important, and where exactly is this place anyway? First things first. The Bible talks about Babylon in both the Old and New Testaments. If you remember anything about the Tower of Babel, this is the first mention of not only the place, but also of the second place where men decided they wanted to be as a god (the first being in the garden of Eden). There was a guy by the name of Nimrod, who was a grandson of Ham (one of Noah's sons). He was a warrior, he was proud and arrogant. He was actually the first Antichrist- that is, he was all for himself, and he gathered people around himself who despised God. Nimrod and his wife organized the first idolatrous religion at Babel. She was the first new ager- that is, she practiced magic, astrology and spiritism. She proclaimed herself a queen of the heavens, the queen of god. She started the first astrological society, a cult based on the alignment of the stars and planets which were claimed to foretell the events which would happen on the earth. Through her and her husband Nimrod, they built this superstitious religion based on everything under the sun, except for God. When they, and the ungodly people around them, proclaimed that they should build a tower to reach the heavens, they were making themselves equal to god. When God "came down" and saw what they were doing, He mixed their languages and scattered them so they couldn't understand one another anymore, and they gave up on the tower.

Later in History, we see Babylon again a seat of great power through Nebuchadnezzar. Again, this great city was steeped in the "mystery" religions, astrology, psychic activities and idolatry. This empire enslaved the Israelites, and allowed them to forget God. They eventually were overthrown and other more powerful empires rose behind them. Since the days of the end of Nebuchednezzar, Babylon has been desolate, nothing but ruins. Someday, in the time of the final Antichrist, Babylon will be a great city again. In fact, it will become the new capital of all the world's financial, military, cultural and religious societies . It will be the home of the Antichrist.

Back in History, the hanging gardens of Babylon were considered one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world. Someday soon, Babylon will make every man made wonder seem like a child's sandbox castle. This place is going to be the most futuristic, expensive, technologically updated architectural wonder in all the world. There will be no expense too big when it is built. Every country will gladly contribute to the finances and resources that it will take to make it a reality, as everyone will want some recognition for contributing to it. It will be the richest man made city in all of history, and everyone will want to be a part of it.So, where is this place? It is in Iraq and it is a real place. Saddam Hussein started to have it rebuilt during his regime. He poured millions of dollars into the rebuilding of part of the walls, the Ishtar Gate and part of the palace. I think though, that when the Antichrist claims the city as his own, he will perhaps leave some of the original work and some of Saddam's rebuilt areas, but he will, as above, spare no expense to make it unique and his very own.

Now, as it stands right now, there is still not much of the original city left, but between now and when the Antichrist enters the world stage, the city will become a popular and great city- something that will catch the eye of the future world dictator. It will have to be up there with some of the popular cities of the world today, and some of the fantastic places they are building in some of the riches middle eastern countries today.

When I first wrote about the rebuilding and how it would come about, I said that we, along with Iraq would win this war- mainly because of Babylon and future prophecy. I said that, and still do, believe that once the war is over and the Iraqis have a stable government in place, when they get all their infrastructure back up and running, they will need to find ways to bring in much needed dollars. They will continue the rebuilding of Babylon in order to make it a major tourist destination. Other countries will lend support, perhaps to "make up" for their part in this war. With all of the happenings going on in the world these days, much of it is Bible prophecy coming to pass, it won't be long before everything is in place, and the Antichrist and his puppets are all ready to rule.

I am not a prophet, and I will never claim to be. All I do is interpret what is going on in the world and compare the happenings with what the Bible has shown in prophecies.There are more happenings now with the rebuilding of Babylon, which suggests my earlier post from 3 years ago was correct in that the US and other countries would aid the Iraqi government in rebuilding.
I just read an interesting article at Stripes.com Which the headline reads: U.S., Iraqi experts developing plan to preserve Babylon, build local tourism industry
The article describes -Soldiers with the 172nd Infantry Brigade are exploring the ruins as part of a U.S.-Iraqi effort to preserve the ancient city and plan for the return of Western tourists.Members of the brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment escorted a group of U.S. heritage tourism experts to the ruins last week for the first of several visits to develop a preservation and tourism plan for the area.
Now the rapidly improving security situation in surrounding Babil province has persuaded the U.S. State Department and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage to embark on the preservation project, dubbed the Future of Babylon Project.
The State Department and the World Monuments Fund have committed $700,000 to the project, which will see U.S. and Iraqi experts develop a plan to preserve the site and develop a local tourism industry, said Diane Siebrandt, the U.S. embassy’s cultural heritage officer.
The Babylon project is one of several that the State Department is involved in to conserve ancient sites in partnership with the Iraqi government, she said.

Foreign money and investors will be pouring into Iraq when the city is built. Iraq will become one of the wealthiest nations on earth, and, according to end time prophecy, it will be the "Wall Street" of the world- The place the Antichrist will call home, and where his financial headquarters will be. During the times of God's wrath, Babylon will fall- it will be destroyed for once and for all. The prophecies tell us that Babylon will be a real place in order to be a great city in the near future, and one which will be destroyed by God.

While things like these seem like small things to people, and a bit of a stretch, those of us who know and trust in the prophecies written in the Bible, know that these are the first steps towards the whole of the end time Prophecies coming to pass. The building and plans for the city of Babylon are showing that the prophecies will happen. Jesus said that the generation who witnesses the beginning of these events would not perish. We know that by the signs He told us to watch for, the beginning has been happening since His Ascension, and will be fulfilled within our life time. How do I know this is the generation? In the next post, I'll get to that!