In dramatic fashion, spiritual Babylon today is quickly forming a union of church and state typified by the Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar (605 BC-562 BC). Daniel 3 tells the story of three young Hebrew men who refused to worship the golden image as commanded by the king. Their story provides a foreshadowing of what will soon occur. Jesus is warning and encouraging His people not to be deceived by the test that is coming to every person.
The events of Daniel 3 follow the vision of Daniel 2. The prophet Daniel had interpreted the king’s vision of a large statue of various metals as representing Babylon and succeeding kingdoms. These kingdoms are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
King Nebuchadnezzar rejected Daniel’s interpretation of his dream—that other kingdoms would follow Babylon. Instead, the king turned the head of gold in the vision into a golden statue and forced the world (his realm) to worship the image. When “some Jews” refused to worship the image, they were thrown into a blazing furnace. Miraculously, Jesus appeared among them in the fire and rescued them from the king’s wrath.
The last kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, representing Rome, was predicted to last until it would be destroyed by Jesus at the Second Coming.
As predicted, Rome has endured for twenty centuries. The pagan Roman empire began with Augustus in 27 BC and ended with Romulus Augustulus in 476 AD. The empire was replaced by various barbarian tribes such as the Franks, Goths, Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, Lombards, and the Alemanni. Barbarian tribes eventually became the nations of Western Europe.
Papal Rome was formed in 538 AD when Emperor Justinian gave Pope Vigilius complete authority over the “eternal city.” That same Rome continues to wield great spiritual authority today and is predicted by Scripture to achieve total spiritual control once again.
Revelation 13 predicts the rise of papal Rome. Sometime after the apostle John’s time, a great power would arise, identified by a symbolic time of 1260 days. At the end of the 1260 days, Rome would suffer a “mortal wound.” This same power would revive and be worshiped by the whole world.
This power is clearly papal Rome, which ruled from 538 to 1798, when it received a mortal wound, and is destined to reappear once the wound is healed near the end of time. Pope Pius VI was deposed by Napoleon in 1798, exactly 1260 day/years after the founding of papal Rome.
Papal Rome is blasphemous and arrogant. The Roman Church slanders the intercession of Jesus. During the Mass, papal Rome calls Christ down and manipulates His body, or so she claims. Rome attempts to remove Christ from His place as the heavenly intercessor. In Christ’s place come other intercessors such as saints, priests, popes, and the Virgin Mary, each a creation of a paganized Christianity.
Papal Rome dominated Western Europe for 1260 years and pursued the saints of the Most High to kill and annihilate them. Papal Rome can no longer do that, for now, but she is fast gaining her former place. Revelation urges the “perseverance and faith of the saints” because of what is coming on the earth (Rev 13:10).
A second beast appears in Revelation 13, a beast “rising out of the earth. This beast had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon” (Rev 13:11). Only one power fits this description—the United States of America. It arose in 1776 far from the old world of Western Europe and deep in the wilderness of North America. It truly was a land beast.
At first it was a harmless, lamb-like power, but gradually America is predicted to become a persecuting force urging the worship of papal Rome. Revelation 13:12 says, “And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.”
The Bible is predicting a strange series of events. The United States of America, a powerful force for religious liberty and freedom of conscience for 250 years, will become a religiously hostile force and command worship of papal Rome. This seems impossible, but over decades, Rome has sought a much closer relationship with Protestant America. In effect, Protestantism has been co-opted by the papacy.
Presently, Pope Leo XIV is touring Turkey and Lebanon in celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. This ecumenical council defined the Church’s understanding of the nature of Christ in opposition to the heresy of Arianism, which taught that Jesus is a created being.
The pontiff is urging unity among Christians who accept the decisions of the council and condemns Christians who insist on divisive opinions not in harmony with the majority of Christians. Nicaea is the theological foundation on which all Christians can meet, and unify, according to Rome.
In a bid to create peace among nations, the United States will eventually begin enforcing the worship of Rome through a national and then international Sunday law. Sunday observance has no Scriptural basis and is the offspring of Rome. The United States will “give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed” (Rev 13:15).
The parallels between ancient Babylon and modern Babylon are clear. In each case, Babylon demands obedience and worship even at the cost of the freedom of conscience and the lives of God’s people. The world will have a choice—to worship the beast and receive her mark—or reject the mark and suffer the consequences.
The three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 are directly tied to the events of Revelation 13. These messages will be proclaimed in the very last days of earth’s history. An angel indicates that the three messages are the same as the “eternal gospel” to be proclaimed to every nation and people on earth.
This means that even though the messages are warning messages, they are messages of Christ’s love for every individual. The messages are the last version of the everlasting gospel that will be preached in specific circumstances: a time when (1) the judgment begins (2) Babylon reaches the height of her wickedness (3) the world faces a test of loyalty.
God has millions of His people in Babylon, and because of His great compassion, He urges them to come out of her lest they share in her punishment (Rev 18:4). God is saying, “Your house is on fire! Get out!”
Notice how the language of the third angel’s message addresses the topic of Revelation 13—the worship of the beast and his image. The warning is the most terrible found in the Bible. The third angel says, “If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand, he too will drink of the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath” (Rev 14:9-10).
The reason for the stark warning is that the clarity of the choice is unmistakable. In the near future, the world, as never before, will have a clear understanding of what is at stake. Individuals either choose the side of God or the side of man, the law of God or the law of man. The choice determines the final destiny of every human being.
You may be a faithful Christian. You may have never heard words such as those above. You may know nothing of the issues at stake. You may have kept Sunday sacred your whole life. God sees your loyalty to Him and seeks to save you from the terrible judgments on Babylon that are soon to come.
You may have been misled by ministers, teachers, priests, or friends. Perhaps you were discouraged from private Bible study. God understands all of that. He knows your heart, your love, and your determination to obey Him whatever the cost. And He is determined to save you from all that lies ahead. All you need to do is listen to His voice and follow His lead.
Jesus says, “If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own” (John 7:17). Ask Him, and He will guide you to an understanding of His end-time warnings.
Marcus Sheffield here. BabylonUncovered.com is my personal ministry. All expenses are mine. The only limitations for the breadth of this outreach are funds for advertising. Currently, I budget $70.00 per week for advertising new articles on Facebook. Advertising has worked well! I’ve been getting hundreds, even thousands, of likes for each post. All content is free. If you would like to support my outreach, I welcome donations. Every dollar of donation will go to advertising expenses greater than $70.00 per week. In other words, I will continue to spend $70.00 per week of my own funds. Donations will be used to expand reach to a larger audience with the message of the everlasting gospel of Revelation 14. This ministry is new. I have not formed a non-profit and cannot supply you with a tax receipt. Give as God convicts and blesses you. For more information, please contact me through my website.
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