Daniel and his three Hebrew friends found themselves thrust into the middle of an oppressive system that demanded their allegiance and would ultimately attempt to force them into false worship. And for those of us that are familiar with some of the prophecies about End-time Babylon, the temptation may be to reduce Babylon to merely an oppressive false “religious system". Yet I believe a careful examination of Babylon in Scripture reveals it is much more. You see, in order to understand the true nature of End-time Babylon, you have to understand the nature of Ancient Babylon. For example, when Daniel and his three friends were brought as captives into Babylon, they were given Babylonian names, given Babylonian food, clothes, educated in Babylonian institutions in preparation for them to serve in the Babylonian political government system, way before their worship of the Babylonian image was coercively demanded. The subtle method of Babylon was for the Jewish captives to slowly embrace the way of the dominant culture, naturally giving way to the false worship of the image as the ultimate sign of their loyalty to Babylon. In other words, Ancient Babylon was not merely a false religious system, but the coercive tentacles of it’s nature influenced and was intertwined with government, politics, secular powers, institutions, business and the overall dominate culture. This gives us a better understanding of how the nature of End-time Babylon works today.

And to give us even more insight into the development of this oppressive system into the future, especially as it relates to God’s people, God miraculously traces it’s history from one successive kingdom to the other, through Daniel, before the stunned Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2. This oppressive system would extend beyond the kingdom of Babylon and be replaced by the kingdom of Media-Persia, which would be replaced by Greece, which would be replaced by Rome. Rome would fall and be divided into what would eventually be the 10 major kingdoms or nations of Western Europe. The influence of Rome, initially Pagan, but eventually Papal, would still be in these Western European nations. Now pay attention to what happens next as this prophecy unfolds in Daniel 2:44…

Please don’t miss what this prophecy is saying! This prophecy envisions the dominant cultural, political and religious influence on the world in the End of Time as flowing out of the history of the nations of Western Europe! Just think of how European Imperialism and colonialism, often historically in the name of Christ, have influenced our world today. Now we are speaking of this global system that has inherited the nature of ancient Babylon and Rome and not specific individuals. Yet this prophecy reveals that this global system will be crushed by the Kingdom of God, which unlike all these previous kingdoms/nations, shall stand forever. This is illustrated in verse 35 by the stone that becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth, which is a vivid picture of Christ and His Kingdom. So is Christ’s Kingdom ushered into our world at the second coming or prior? Well, the answer is yes. While the fallen system of End-time Babylon will be crushed by Christ’s everlasting Kingdom at the second coming, Jesus ushered in His Kingdom on earth over 2000 years ago during the reign of imperial Rome. His Kingdom was ushered in by His incarnation and rapid multiplication of loyal followers who responded to the Good News of His reign. This all happened subversively under the Roman Empire and rushed to a climax at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where presumably, He was to be received as King by His people. Yet as He approached Jerusalem to the sound of the cheering crowd, He began to weep bitterly out loud. He was weeping over Jerusalem, where He knew within a few days, His people would reject loyalty to His reign as King by crucifying Him. He compares Himself with a mother hen longing to gather her chicks, which represented Jerusalem, but they were not willing to be gather. Look at your God revealing Himself in the overflowing love of a mother longing for her children! He is seeking the loyalty of love! Yet, just before they crucified Him, they said, “We have no king but Caesar!” They would rather give their allegiance to an imperial earthly king, culture and religion, than to Christ!

Now lest we judge our spiritual ancestors too harshly, let’s take a nice long look in the mirror. We are now, presently living under the influence of the global system of End-Time Babylon. And while we may quickly, in a worship setting, claim loyalty to Christ and His Kingdom, what really has our loyalty and allegiance? Is it Christ or the system of Babylon? How do we ensure that our loyalty is placed in the right place in the End of Time, which is now? Let’s find out together as we explore our passage in Revelation 18 beginning in verse 1…