Jeremiah 25 -- Seventy years are fulfilled
1 The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2 So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
According to James when you come to the Bible it is like coming to a mirror and seeing yourself. It is perfectly valid for historians to look at this word in context of the history, but that has been done and I am not interested in that. What I am interested in is what is this word speaking to us today? The word of God is sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit. That is what I am interested in. To understand this word we have to have an understanding of what Babylon and Judah represent. Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel and when Israel split into two kingdoms they were the ones that continued to worship in Jerusalem. They are also the tribe that King David was from and the tribe Jesus was descended from. They were the law givers, the covenant keepers. In the simplest terms I would say that Judah represents God’s people on earth where Jesus is their king. In a word it is the church. So then what does Babylon represent? This is the place that Abraham was called out from, it is a place that built a tower to the heavens in competition with God, a tower built and founded upon idolatry. But in the context of today we should also look at what Revelation 18 says: 2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a [a]hold of every unclean spirit, and a [b]hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For [c]by [d]the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her [e]wantonness. So the first thing that stands out is “the great”. There are only a few nations right now that can consider themselves great. China, but they are usually referred to as Magog or the Great Dragon. Revelation refers to the Dragon and Babylon as both being “great” but also being different. You might also consider Europe as a kind of reformed Roman empire to be great as well. However, they are associated with Rome, not Babylon. Many bible scholars consider Babylon to refer to the USA. I think that would have been a very difficult theory to support a hundred years ago. A hundred years ago we were not “a habitation of demons, and a [a]hold of every unclean spirit, and a [b]hold of every unclean and hateful bird.” However, Revelation is quite specific and says that Babylon “has become” this habitation of demons. In the last 70 years there has been an amazing “becoming” in the US that has shocked the rest of the world. In the sixties we had several key assassinations that forever changed our government. Since that time the military industrial complex has been firmly in charge of our country. 50 years ago we had our first gay pride parade. In the 1980s we had the AIDS epidemic and we had the Iran Contra affair. 3 For [c]by [d]the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; The Iran contra affair is a perfect example of what Revelation is referring to when it says that the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen. The CIA cut a deal to sell arms to Iran, illegally, to raise money to fund a coup in Nicaragua, also illegal. In the 1990s we had the collapse of the USSR and we also had the Gulf war. and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her [e]wantonness. NAFTA also went into effect in the 90s. This bill gutted our manufacturing in the US outsourcing it to China, Asia, and Mexico. In the 2000’s we had 9/11 attack and also the mortgage meltdown. I could go on but the recent election and allegations of fraud and the complete refusal of the government leaders and officials to investigate this supports this verse that yes, the US could indeed be considered “Babylon the Great”.
4 And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.” 7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”
This is talking about the church. So during the same time that the US was “becoming a dwelling of demons” the Lord was warning the church. There have been people warning about the teaching concerning excessive grace that does not require holy living. Gospel messages that don’t include the call for repentance from sin. The prosperity gospel that equates monetary blessings with spiritual blessings and turns the worship of God into the worship of mammon. Of course when we talk about the Lord warning the church we have to go to Revelation 2-3 where we see the warning concerning Jezebel and her fornication and the deep things of Satan. We are warned that if we don’t repent the Lord will come as a thief and we won’t know the day or hour. Philadelphia is warned to hold fast what they have and not to let anyone take their crown.