from T.W Tramm’s Facebook page:
A TOPIC of debate is the identity of “Mystery Babylon,” the great city that is judged by God at the end of the age (Rev. 17, 18).
Some believe that it is Rome, or the Vatican. Others believe that it is the decadent and corrupt Saudi Arabia. While both fit somewhat the description of the ill-fated city, there is one modern metropolis that fits to a ‘T.’
Here are 12 reasons New York City could be Mystery Babylon:
1. SHE IS A HARLOT
Mystery Babylon is called the “mother of harlots” (Rev. 17:5). The Greek word translated harlot in Revelation, porné, refers to a woman who “engages in unlawful intercourse,” “yields herself to defilement for the sake of financial gain,” or to “an idolatrous community.” New York City—the center of the global banking industry and home to the two largest stock exchanges—is driven by greed and idolatry like no other city. She is the world capital of unscrupulous transactions, thus matching the biblical definition of a harlot.
2. SHE MAKES THE NATIONS DRUNK
The nations are “intoxicated with the wine of the harlot’s adulteries” (Rev. 17:2). New York City is home to the biggest and most important newspapers, publishing houses, record companies and television studios on the planet. As the entertainment and media capital of the world, New York City plays a vital role in spreading the intoxicating aspects of American culture—lust, materialism, idolatry and self-indulgence—to the nations.
3. WILDERNESS LOCATION
The harlot dwells in a “wilderness” location (Rev. 17:3). From a scriptural standpoint, New York City is indeed a wilderness, located an ocean away from the Land of Israel, the center of the biblical world.
4. SHE IS DRUNK ON THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS
The harlot is “drunk with the blood of God’s holy people” (Rev. 17:6). New York City, the world’s banking center, is the point of transfer for untold billions of dollars to and from Muslim countries—much of it to purchase influence—even as these same countries fund terror and persecute Christians and Jews. As a facilitator and beneficiary of corrupt Muslim commerce, New York City is drunk on the blood of the saints.
5. SEVEN MOUNTAINS
The harlot “sits on seven mountains” (Rev. 17:9). Since money rules the world, and New York City is the world’s banking center, she holds sway over all seven continents. Symbolically illustrating her preeminence, New York’s Statue of Liberty wears a crown with seven spikes, representing the seven continents.
6. A MELTING POT
The harlot is a melting pot of “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (Rev. 17:15). New York City, the historical entry point for immigrants to the US, is home to around 800 languages, making it the most ethnically and linguistically diverse city in the world.
7. SHE RIDES THE BEAST
The harlot sits on the antichrist “beast” who hates her, and who ultimately “destroys her by fire” (Rev. 17:3, 16 paraphr). While the banking center in New York City is a conduit of cash to Muslim countries, these same countries resent the US, due to the dominance and control that she exerts over them. For instance, Saudi Arabia is considered a major ally and trade partner to the US: we provide military protection in exchange for a reliable oil supply, the pricing of oil in US dollars, and support for American foreign policy. Yet, evidence suggests that the 9/11 attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center were secretly funded by the Saudi government. The biblical image of an idolatrous harlot riding a hate-filled beast describes the relationship between the US and the Muslim countries she holds sway over.
8. SHE RULES OVER THE KINGS
The harlot “rules over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:18). New York City rules over the kings of the earth in two ways. First, she has economic dominance. Second, she is headquarters to the United Nations Organization, the global governing entity whose charter includes establishing and enforcing international law.
9. SHE IS A CONSUMER OF LUXURY ITEMS
“The merchants of the earth have grown rich from her excessive luxuries” (Rev. 18:3). New York City, home to more millionaires than any city in the world, is the global capital of luxury consumption. At $30 billion annually, she accounts for a third of the total US luxury market, and ranks well above any other city when it comes to luxury spending.
10. SHE CONSIDERS HERSELF A QUEEN
The harlot “boasts in her heart, ‘I sit enthroned as a queen’” (Rev. 18:7). Because New York City is the world capital of finance, entertainment, publishing, news media, art, fashion, cuisine, and more, she is known as the city with the biggest ego, or a massive superiority complex. Aptly, New York City’s largest borough is called “Queens.”
11. SLAVE TRADE
Mystery Babylon is where “human beings are sold as slaves” (Rev. 18:13). Wall Street in Lower Manhattan is the location of the first slave market in New York City. The Wall Street slave market—one of the largest in the US—operated between 1711 and 1762, and remained a key hub for the flesh trade through the 1850s. In modern times, New York City is the East Coast hub for human trafficking related to the sex industry.
12. SURROUNDED BY WATER
The harlot “sits by many waters” (Rev. 17:1). When she is judged, “all who travel by ship, and who earn their living from the sea, will see the smoke of her burning” (18:17–19 paraphr). New York City has the largest port on the East Coast, and is almost completely surrounded by water: the Hudson River, New York Harbor, Long Island Sound and, of course, the Atlantic Ocean. If she were to be destroyed by fire, like the harlot, those travelling by ship would see the smoke of her burning from all sides.
To summarize, New York City is like Mystery Babylon in that:
• She is a harlot who defiles herself for financial gain.
• She corrupts the nations by advancing her culture of materialism and self-indulgence.
• She dwells in a wilderness location.
• She is drunk on Muslim blood money.
• She holds financial sway over the nations.
• She is a melting pot of languages and nationalities.
• She rides the Islamic (antichrist) “beast” who hates her.
• She is headquarters of the United Nations Organization.
• She consumes more luxury items than any other city.
• She considers herself a queen.
• She sells slaves.
• She is surrounded by water.
Having summarized the parallels to Mystery Babylon, let’s wrap up by considering some parallels between New York City and the ancient (original) City of Babylon:
LARGEST JEWISH POPULATION
Ancient Babylon, home to the Jewish exiles (2 Kings 24:8–16), had the largest population of Jews outside of Israel (2 Kings 24:8–16). Similarly, New York City has the largest population of Jews outside of Israel.
‘70’ CORRELATION
Ancient Babylon was judged by God after 70 years (Jer. 25:12–14). The current year (2024) marks the 70th Jubilee since the Jews first entered the Promised Land in 1407 BC. Moreover, it has been 70 years (counting Sabbatical weeks) since the Jews entered the Land for the second time in 1948.
IRANIAN ADVERSARY
God used the Medes and Persians to judge ancient Babylon (Isa. 13:17–19). Today, the descendants of the Medes and Persians, the Iranians, pose the greatest terror threat to the US. Iran’s foreign policy toward the US is summed up by the familiar chant, “Death to America!”
RETURN TO ISREAL
When ancient Babylon was judged, the Jews who lived there began returning to Israel (Ezra 1). If New York City were to suffer a major attack or Divine judgment, the million or so Jews who live there may be inspired to “make Aliyah” (immigrate to Israel), as prophesied in Ezekiel 37.
WARNING SIGNS
The fall of ancient Babylon was preceded by a Divine warning, the “writing on the wall,” that declared judgment was imminent (Dan. 5). Similarly, the US has seen signs and harbingers that indicate judgment is near. Most recently:
• The path of the American solar eclipse intersected the path of the previous American eclipse, to form an ‘X’ across the US.
• The presidential candidate associated with New York City, Donald Trump, dodged an assassin’s bullet by a fraction of an inch.
• A rare daytime fireball streaked across the skies above Manhattan, home to New York’s financial center and Wall Street, and exploded with a loud boom near the Statue of Liberty.
But the Lord has been issuing warnings since long before now. The sign that most powerfully telegraphed what may be coming occurred on September 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Towers in New York City, reducing them to rubble and killing nearly 3,000. Echoing the biblical description of Mystery Babylon’s destruction, the judgment was by fire, the smoke plume was viewed from the surrounding waters, and the towers collapsed within an hour: “In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ (Rev. 18:8, 17).
Though the 9/11 sign occurred more than two decades ago, it resonates loudly in 2024 because:
• It is a calculated Jubilee year.
• The US is seeing an elevated threat of terror, similar to the run-up to 9/11.
• Due to the Israel–Hamas war, “peace and security” will be at the top of the UN’s agenda when it convenes in New York City this September. This is significant because Paul says, “when people are saying ‘peace and security,’ destruction will come on them suddenly” (1 Thess. 5:3).
To be clear, only God knows who Mystery Babylon is, and her hour of reckoning. But if she is New York City as much suggests, the writing is on the wall.
. . .
NOTES:
1. Strong’s #4204 (harlot):
https://biblehub.com/greek/4204.htm
2. The US is also the only country with military bases on all seven continents.
3. New York’s status as a melting pot is illustrated by the famous poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.”
4. The New York Fed provides U.S. dollar-denominated banking services to foreign official and international institutions in support of Federal Reserve objectives and in recognition of the dollar’s predominant role as an international currency.
www.newyorkfed.org
5. US Dollars are the lynchpin of global trade: International loans, debts, and bank transactions are largely done with dollars. Foreign central banks need dollars to stabilize their financial systems. Insuring and transporting oil from Middle Eastern countries requires dollars. The dollar is thus the lifeblood of the world economy, and the US Federal Reserve is the only institution that has the power to print them.
6. New York has more millionaires than any city in the world:
7. New York City Economy:
en.wikipedia.org
8. New York City’s penchant for luxury:
https://luxonomy.net/en/luxonomy-ranking-leading-cities-in-annual-luxury-consumption/
9. New York City is home to more Jews than any city outside of Israel:
The city is home to the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel
www.thejc.com
The US as a whole is home to roughly half the world’s Jews, around the same number that live in the Land of Israel: 7,000,000.
10. 2024 Jubilee calculation:
https://tinyurl.com/4r9fk7rb
11. On the eve of ancient Babylon’s fall, as King Nebuchadnezzar II was holding a drunken banquet to honor his gods of “gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone,” a ghostly human hand appeared and wrote the words “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN” on the wall. The words meant: “God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end (MENE). You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting (TEKEL). Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians” (PARSIN).
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel 5&version=NIV
12. The path of the 2024 American eclipse intersected the path of the 2017 American eclipse to form an ‘X,’ or Hebrew letter Tav—a picture of two crossed sticks—across the US. This is significant because, speaking of Israel’s redemption in the last days, God says He will join the “stick” of Ephraim, representing the scattered tribes of Israel, with the “stick” of Judah, the tribes who dwell in the Land of Israel, where they will be cleansed of all their idolatry and worship Him as one (Ezek. 37:19, 21–23). A popular view is that the US is home to the scattered Tribe of Ephraim. If the American eclipse was a sign for them, it could be read as a warning to come out of Mystery Babylon and make Aliyah to Israel: “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for in one day she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her” (Rev. 18:4, 8 paraphr).
https://tinyurl.com/4aey7f3b
13. Meteor soars over Statue of Liberty at 34,000 mph, burns up above Manhattan as NYers report shaking:
https://nypost.com/2024/07/16/us-news/meteor-soars-over-statue-of-liberty-burns-up-above-manhattan-nasa/
14. Six days after 9/11, on the Feast of Trumpets, the US saw the greatest stock-market point crash in history up to that point.
15. The UN, whose stated mission is to “maintain international peace and security,” was established 79 years ago on Cheshvan 17, the biblical date of Noah’s Flood. This is significant because Jesus says, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood …. they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (Matt. 24:37–39).
. . .
*Visit the author’s website:
www.theseasonofreturn.com
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: No one knows the day or hour of Jesus’ return (Matt. 24:36). However, a convergence of biblical signs and timelines suggests that it is near. To escape the judgment reserved for a God-rejecting world, one must know Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you have not yet done so, call on His name and believe that He is the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised from the dead, and you will be saved (Rom. 10:13).
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