Back to Babylon - Pete Garcia - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=7926
There has been much debate and discussion over the years as to whether a literal Babylon would be rebuilt in the last days. This topic was revived in the days leading up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, and much hype and speculation circulated the church and prophecy circles.
Ten years later, that discussion has for the most part, waned, simply because of the events that have transpired during the increasingly, unpopularity of Bush's "war". And with Obama's prompt and hasty withdrawal of US forces in 2011, it seemed that Iraq wouldn't factor in after all. A literal Babylon would have to wait.
Now my own understanding of the prophetic stage being set, is that there is a gap in time between the Rapture of the Church and the start of the last seven years known as Daniel's 70th Week. This is because the Rapture is in no way tied to any prophetic event, but solely within the eternal purpose of God the Father. In my view, there would be time for a literal Babylon to be rebuilt in Iraq, once known as the plains of Shinar and where Nimrod's cities once stood.
What is interesting to me, having served there back in 2005-2006, was our involvement in the first place. Then Pres. Bush warned the world that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Saddam had already used it on the Iranians in the 1980's, and then the Iraqi Kurds in the early 1990's. Saddam also invested a lot of time, energy, and resources in attempting to rebuild the greatness that once was Babylon.
After the invasion, Democrats began publically mocking then Pres. Bush 24/7, about our inability to find any. But you can read their hypocrisy in their own words; they too once believed WMD existed in Iraq, but I digress. Ironically, the same liberal media that lambasted Bush for supposedly lying us into an unnecessary war, has now come out and admitted in an in-depth, tell-all article of the WMD that are still lying dangerously unaccounted for in Iraq...this done to presumably give the current administration cover and justification for going after ISIS and reintroducing 'boots back on Iraqi ground'.
I wrote back in 2011, (Snapshot of a Moving Picture) that we would...
Expect the US to move quickly from Afghanistan. We will however maintain a presence militarily in Iraq for the foreseeable future. The difference in the two is that one is sustainable logistically; the other (Afghanistan) is not.
I was simply looking at it from a tactical and logistical standpoint. Writing that back then seemed very counter intuitive since we were in the process of removing our footprint from the Iraqi theater. The Obama Administration had all but washed its hands of his predecessor's war. It seemed Pres. Obama then, couldn't get our Soldiers out of there soon enough to suit him, despite the warnings that in so doing, we would leave a vacuum that other groups would seek to fill. It seems, that we now have no choice but to go back into the very land that we tried to leave so hurriedly.
Now we have to go back because when we vacated, we left it armed with our weaponry, equipment, hundreds of millions of dollars for rebuilding infrastructure and providing economic stability, and because they really do have WMD, which apparently is in the process of falling into the wrong hands.
Shortly after September 11th, 2001, we knew that Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the events of 9/11. We also knew that OBL was being given safe harbor in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. So when President Bush began pushing for the invasion of Iraq, many were scratching their heads as to why. Victor Davis Hanson at National Review gives six legitimate reasons for why we went, but I believe he fell short by one...and that is God is also in the business of prophetic stage setting. (Romans 13:1)
I believed then, as I still do today, that we will see a resurrected Roman Empire which will come about through a confederation between the European Union (which has the wealth and technology) and the Union for the Mediterranean, or Mediterranean Union for short (MU); whose nations have the warm water ports, oil, natural gas, and cheap labor/military forces available to them. The land eerily encompasses what used to be almost the exact boundaries of the Roman Empire at its height.
Granted, the MU has been virtually silent these last few years since the MU's main supporter (France's ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy) has been removed from the limelight. The EU is also currently struggling financially, and the members may shift around which is nothing more than prophetic stage setting as Russia exerts its influence over old satellite states. Ultimately, we know that at some future point, the Antichrist is able to consolidate his authority after a global crisis occurs and marries the two unions up for what seems to be, an unstoppable economic and political force.
Assessment
I know many prophecy teachers out there do not believe that a literal Babylon will be rebuilt in the Iraqi desert. For one, they say it would take too many years for it to become the economic hub Revelation 18 speaks of...thus putting the Rapture of the Church way off into the future. Secondly, even though Iraq has had a semi-functional government since roughly 2007, they do not have the capability to provide for their own protection, as is currently being demonstrated by ISIS's major gains over much of Iraqi territory, much less draw in global political and economic investment.
There are two Babylons mentioned in Scripture; although not an exhaustive list of passages, we can see the layering of applications.
1.Literal, physical, historical Babylon which was undeniably on the plains of Shinar, but now understood as modern day Iraq. (2 Chronicles 36:6-7; Daniel 1:1; Ezra 2:1)
2.Babylon the Great, (which has not yet been revealed-hence a mystery) which speaks to a future city, in which acts as a harlot who rides the Beast in the kingdom of the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:1; 17:15-18; 18)
It is possible that either US accidentally, or ISIS intentionally blows the Mosul dam, which would flood central Iraq to the point that Iraq is fundamentally transformed into much larger waterfront than they currently have. It is possible to build a large fortress, (Baghdad's massive Green-Zone complex) in under four years at a tune of around $750M. The Green Zone just so happens to be the largest US diplomatic compound in the world, and is almost the same size as Vatican City. It houses 1,500 civilian and military employees, and with ISIS currently surrounding Baghdad, makes for a lucrative target for terrorist organizations and Islamic militants alike to siege and control.
Historic Babylon lies 60 kilometers to the south of Baghdad, and it provides something that Baghdad currently can't, which is relative peace and quiet. Even without ISIS, Baghdad has too much violent baggage with the various religious sects fighting over which brand of Islam is the most correct. Both Shiite (Sadr City-suburb of Baghdad) and Sunni held area of Fallujah and Ramadi remain contentious pieces of real-estate that aren't likely to be areas you'd want to move too.
Just as I will stick to my original assessments that the MU will become this modern day, revived Roman Empire, so too do I believe that the United Nations will seek to relocate from New York City to this new Babylonian compound at some future point after the Rapture. Most prophecy teachers agree that the US plays no major roles in the end times events, it only makes sense (logistically and strategically from Satan's perspective) that the world's focus repositions its main Global Headquarters (the UN) back to the Middle East and squarely centered in the motherland of anti-Israel activity.
Currently, the biggest impediment to the United Nations solidifying its grip over the world, is its biggest benefactor, the United States. Our Constitution was written (maybe divinely influenced to such extent) that it prohibits our submission to foreign entities. Once the Rapture of the Church transpires, even if that removes only 10% of American Christian population (est. 30 million people), it will effectively topple what is left of the fragile US economy and force what remains into this final governmental system.
In Jeremiah 51, the prophet speaks to the utter desolation and destruction that would one day come to Babylon. Yet, we know from Jeremiah 25 that the Babylonian leaders would be punished for their role then in the destruction of Jerusalem (circa 606-586BC) and ultimately, the city would become desolate. We know from the book of Daniel, that the Medo-Persian's took the city without a fight. From the Persians onward, the city over the next few centuries fell into disrepair and eventually abandoned altogether during the reign of the Seleucids. So we have two endings for one city; one that ends up desolation and disrepair, and the other in a cataclysmic judgment. As Jack often said, 'things that are different are not the same'. We know the desolation and disrepair has already transpired, and it fits with the futurist narrative of Revelation 17-18 that a future Babylon must rise, in order for it to meet its final judgment.
So that ancient city lie under the desert sands and was abandoned to time. The city wouldn't be rediscovered until the 20th century. In order for Isaiah's prophecy in 13-14 and Jeremiah's prophecy in 50-51 to be fulfilled in totality, a literal Babylon would need to be rebuilt at some future point so as to be destroyed like it describes. How and when this all happens, is anyone's guess, but the prophetic winds are blowing again, and the US is headed back to Iraq for its final tour, presumably to set the stage, for a rising Babylon's grand demise.
So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, 'O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.' Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, 'Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.' Jeremiah 51:60-64
There has been much debate and discussion over the years as to whether a literal Babylon would be rebuilt in the last days. This topic was revived in the days leading up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, and much hype and speculation circulated the church and prophecy circles.
Ten years later, that discussion has for the most part, waned, simply because of the events that have transpired during the increasingly, unpopularity of Bush's "war". And with Obama's prompt and hasty withdrawal of US forces in 2011, it seemed that Iraq wouldn't factor in after all. A literal Babylon would have to wait.
Now my own understanding of the prophetic stage being set, is that there is a gap in time between the Rapture of the Church and the start of the last seven years known as Daniel's 70th Week. This is because the Rapture is in no way tied to any prophetic event, but solely within the eternal purpose of God the Father. In my view, there would be time for a literal Babylon to be rebuilt in Iraq, once known as the plains of Shinar and where Nimrod's cities once stood.
What is interesting to me, having served there back in 2005-2006, was our involvement in the first place. Then Pres. Bush warned the world that Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Saddam had already used it on the Iranians in the 1980's, and then the Iraqi Kurds in the early 1990's. Saddam also invested a lot of time, energy, and resources in attempting to rebuild the greatness that once was Babylon.
After the invasion, Democrats began publically mocking then Pres. Bush 24/7, about our inability to find any. But you can read their hypocrisy in their own words; they too once believed WMD existed in Iraq, but I digress. Ironically, the same liberal media that lambasted Bush for supposedly lying us into an unnecessary war, has now come out and admitted in an in-depth, tell-all article of the WMD that are still lying dangerously unaccounted for in Iraq...this done to presumably give the current administration cover and justification for going after ISIS and reintroducing 'boots back on Iraqi ground'.
I wrote back in 2011, (Snapshot of a Moving Picture) that we would...
Expect the US to move quickly from Afghanistan. We will however maintain a presence militarily in Iraq for the foreseeable future. The difference in the two is that one is sustainable logistically; the other (Afghanistan) is not.
I was simply looking at it from a tactical and logistical standpoint. Writing that back then seemed very counter intuitive since we were in the process of removing our footprint from the Iraqi theater. The Obama Administration had all but washed its hands of his predecessor's war. It seemed Pres. Obama then, couldn't get our Soldiers out of there soon enough to suit him, despite the warnings that in so doing, we would leave a vacuum that other groups would seek to fill. It seems, that we now have no choice but to go back into the very land that we tried to leave so hurriedly.
Now we have to go back because when we vacated, we left it armed with our weaponry, equipment, hundreds of millions of dollars for rebuilding infrastructure and providing economic stability, and because they really do have WMD, which apparently is in the process of falling into the wrong hands.
Shortly after September 11th, 2001, we knew that Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind behind the events of 9/11. We also knew that OBL was being given safe harbor in the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. So when President Bush began pushing for the invasion of Iraq, many were scratching their heads as to why. Victor Davis Hanson at National Review gives six legitimate reasons for why we went, but I believe he fell short by one...and that is God is also in the business of prophetic stage setting. (Romans 13:1)
I believed then, as I still do today, that we will see a resurrected Roman Empire which will come about through a confederation between the European Union (which has the wealth and technology) and the Union for the Mediterranean, or Mediterranean Union for short (MU); whose nations have the warm water ports, oil, natural gas, and cheap labor/military forces available to them. The land eerily encompasses what used to be almost the exact boundaries of the Roman Empire at its height.
Granted, the MU has been virtually silent these last few years since the MU's main supporter (France's ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy) has been removed from the limelight. The EU is also currently struggling financially, and the members may shift around which is nothing more than prophetic stage setting as Russia exerts its influence over old satellite states. Ultimately, we know that at some future point, the Antichrist is able to consolidate his authority after a global crisis occurs and marries the two unions up for what seems to be, an unstoppable economic and political force.
Assessment
I know many prophecy teachers out there do not believe that a literal Babylon will be rebuilt in the Iraqi desert. For one, they say it would take too many years for it to become the economic hub Revelation 18 speaks of...thus putting the Rapture of the Church way off into the future. Secondly, even though Iraq has had a semi-functional government since roughly 2007, they do not have the capability to provide for their own protection, as is currently being demonstrated by ISIS's major gains over much of Iraqi territory, much less draw in global political and economic investment.
There are two Babylons mentioned in Scripture; although not an exhaustive list of passages, we can see the layering of applications.
1.Literal, physical, historical Babylon which was undeniably on the plains of Shinar, but now understood as modern day Iraq. (2 Chronicles 36:6-7; Daniel 1:1; Ezra 2:1)
2.Babylon the Great, (which has not yet been revealed-hence a mystery) which speaks to a future city, in which acts as a harlot who rides the Beast in the kingdom of the Antichrist. (Revelation 13:1; 17:15-18; 18)
It is possible that either US accidentally, or ISIS intentionally blows the Mosul dam, which would flood central Iraq to the point that Iraq is fundamentally transformed into much larger waterfront than they currently have. It is possible to build a large fortress, (Baghdad's massive Green-Zone complex) in under four years at a tune of around $750M. The Green Zone just so happens to be the largest US diplomatic compound in the world, and is almost the same size as Vatican City. It houses 1,500 civilian and military employees, and with ISIS currently surrounding Baghdad, makes for a lucrative target for terrorist organizations and Islamic militants alike to siege and control.
Historic Babylon lies 60 kilometers to the south of Baghdad, and it provides something that Baghdad currently can't, which is relative peace and quiet. Even without ISIS, Baghdad has too much violent baggage with the various religious sects fighting over which brand of Islam is the most correct. Both Shiite (Sadr City-suburb of Baghdad) and Sunni held area of Fallujah and Ramadi remain contentious pieces of real-estate that aren't likely to be areas you'd want to move too.
Just as I will stick to my original assessments that the MU will become this modern day, revived Roman Empire, so too do I believe that the United Nations will seek to relocate from New York City to this new Babylonian compound at some future point after the Rapture. Most prophecy teachers agree that the US plays no major roles in the end times events, it only makes sense (logistically and strategically from Satan's perspective) that the world's focus repositions its main Global Headquarters (the UN) back to the Middle East and squarely centered in the motherland of anti-Israel activity.
Currently, the biggest impediment to the United Nations solidifying its grip over the world, is its biggest benefactor, the United States. Our Constitution was written (maybe divinely influenced to such extent) that it prohibits our submission to foreign entities. Once the Rapture of the Church transpires, even if that removes only 10% of American Christian population (est. 30 million people), it will effectively topple what is left of the fragile US economy and force what remains into this final governmental system.
In Jeremiah 51, the prophet speaks to the utter desolation and destruction that would one day come to Babylon. Yet, we know from Jeremiah 25 that the Babylonian leaders would be punished for their role then in the destruction of Jerusalem (circa 606-586BC) and ultimately, the city would become desolate. We know from the book of Daniel, that the Medo-Persian's took the city without a fight. From the Persians onward, the city over the next few centuries fell into disrepair and eventually abandoned altogether during the reign of the Seleucids. So we have two endings for one city; one that ends up desolation and disrepair, and the other in a cataclysmic judgment. As Jack often said, 'things that are different are not the same'. We know the desolation and disrepair has already transpired, and it fits with the futurist narrative of Revelation 17-18 that a future Babylon must rise, in order for it to meet its final judgment.
So that ancient city lie under the desert sands and was abandoned to time. The city wouldn't be rediscovered until the 20th century. In order for Isaiah's prophecy in 13-14 and Jeremiah's prophecy in 50-51 to be fulfilled in totality, a literal Babylon would need to be rebuilt at some future point so as to be destroyed like it describes. How and when this all happens, is anyone's guess, but the prophetic winds are blowing again, and the US is headed back to Iraq for its final tour, presumably to set the stage, for a rising Babylon's grand demise.
So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, 'O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.' Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, 'Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.' Jeremiah 51:60-64
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