Who is Mystery Babylon and when and how will it be totally destroyed? 

Mystery Babylon, or Babylon the Great, are one and the same. Here are a few highlighted verses from Revelation 17 and 18 that give us many details about Mystery Babylon: 

From Revelation 17:  "MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth."

From Revelation 18: "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit... For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication... Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously. in the same measure give her torment and sorrow, for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'

"Therefore, her plagues will come in one day--death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.

And the merchants of the earth will weep over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore."

"The merchants...who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 'For in one hour such great riches came to nothing, 'Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance "and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?" 

"For in one hour she is made desolate. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found any more."

"Utterly burned with fire". "The smoke of her burning". "For in one hour she is made desolate". "Shall not be found any more". Can there be any doubt that this great judgment on Mystery Babylon is NUCLEAR? 

So, who is Mystery Babylon and is it still a mystery? For most of my 50+ years as an end times Bible Prophecy Watchman, the majority, but certainly not unanimous, opinion was that it was Rome. That is no longer the case. I would say that it is now the 2nd most preferred option, as the most likely option has been changing for the past couple of decades or so.

Before we get to the most likely option, here are just a few of the cities that have been proposed as Mystery Babylon over the years: Jerusalem, Mecca, the Vatican, other Muslim cities, and especially Babylon itself. 

The majority opinion has now switched to Mystery Babylon being the United States, or New York City. The word "nation" is used many times in the Word of God, but nowhere in Scripture is Mystery Babylon referred to as a "nation". But several times it is referred to as a CITY, so I believe that it is New York City. I, as well as the majority of Prophetic Watchmen, now believe that Mystery Babylon is either the United States, or New York City. 

The entire United States will certainly be reduced to a third world country when New York City is completely destroyed, which would achieve the goal of the New World Order, the one-world government elite. Also, the U.S. may have several more cities be hit at the same time, as many believe, and many have prophesied. But the Word of God does not tell us that, as only dreams and visions and prophecies tell us that. 

I will not attempt to give you a verse-by-verse analysis as to why Revelation 17 and 18 are referring to Mystery Babylon as New York City. Just google it, and you will discover several excellent such studies that have helped convince me that Mystery Babylon almost certainly will be New York City. 

But there is another really great reason why we should fully expect Mystery Babylon to be New York City. There is only ONE thing that is stopping the one-world government from becoming a reality, and that is that the United States is simply too powerful. Destroy one or more major U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and just see how quickly the New World Order's one-world government becomes a reality. That would not be the case if Revelation 17 and 18 were referring to nuclear destruction of Rome, Jerusalem, or the actual city of Babylon. 

Go back and re-read the quoted Revelation passages concerning Mystery Babylon. Only read them, with New York City in mind. A perfect description. The United Nations are headquartered in New York City. The woman, or queen, referred to almost certainly is represented by the Statue of Liberty. It also borders the Atlantic Ocean. It also is possibly the most sinful city in the world. It also is the most well-known city. New York City, I believe, has as many Jews in it as Israel does. That is another reason, in this antisemitic world, why the New World Order evil leaders would love to destroy NYC. Now that NYC has just elected an antisemitic Communist mayor, it makes the Biblical attack on Mystery Babylon even more likely to take place. It also gives the Jews more incentive to flee from NYC to Israel.

Let's move on to trying to figure out WHEN we should expect this nuclear annialation of New York City to take place. For me, this is a tougher question than the question of "Who is Mystery Babylon?" For many reasons, it is not describing the Battle of Armageddon, which is at the very end of the 7-Year Tribulation.

Is this nuclear destruction of Mystery Babylon the same as the Sudden Nuclear Destruction of 1st Thessalonians 5:3, which I believe accompanies the Rapture? Or does this Revelation 17--18 nuclear destruction of Mystery Babylon take place later in the Tribulation? Does the nuclear destruction of New York City take place shortly before the Battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38--39? It would certainly give Russia, Iran, Turkey, and their allies incentive to make their move on Israel, if the U.S. was basically destroyed.

It seems possible that this nuclear attack on NYC (and possibly more of the U.S.), could ignite the simultaneous Rapture, which would thereby give Russia and her allies every reason to make their move on Israel, just like Ezekiel describes for us. One of the issues that I have with this nuclear attack on New York City happening at the time of the pre-Tribulation Rapture is that it takes place in Revelation 18, which is almost at the end of Revelation. I do not believe that all of Revelation is written chronologically, but it does cause some doubts that it takes place at the very beginning of the Final 7 Years.

An in-depth study of 1st Thessalonians 5 causes me to believe that the Rapture will take place simultaneously with the Sudden Nuclear Destruction. It is our ESCAPE from the SND.

The only other place in the Word that implies a nuclear destruction is on Damascus, Syria. I seriously doubt that could be considered a major enough of an event to cause the Rapture to take place. On the other hand, destroying New York City, and very possibly other major U.S. cities at the same time, would definitely we cause enough. So, as to the when of the nuclear destruction of Mystery Babylon, I strongly lean towards it being simultaneous with the first Rapture. But am I certain? No. Am I certain that Mystery Babylon is New York City? Not quite certain, but almost. 

Am I certain that the Rapture/Sudden Nuclear Destruction will happen in early 2026? If this is the 3rd and Final Watch, according to the Book of Mark, and there will be no more delays, which Matthew, Luke, and Revelation refer to, then we have every reason to believe that we are finally living in the Final few weeks, or maybe even days, before our pre-Trib Rapture.

I had three favorite Rapture songs that I used to sing during my three years of Bible College, from 1976 to 1979. I have given you two of them, in previous posts: Here is the third:

And when the battle's over, 

We shall wear a crown

We shall wear a crown

We shall wear a crown

In the New Jerusalem.

Wear a crown, wear a crown,

Wear a bright and shining crown

And when the battle's over

We shall wear a crown 

In the New Jerusalem

The Lord tells us that there is a special crown of righteousness, one of five different crowns, to be given to those who love His Appearing. That should include almost all of the Watchers on Five Doves. All serious and true Watchers should be looking forward to their crown of righteousness to be given when we get to New Jerusalem.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Maranatha!

Ron Reese

rgreese49@aol.com