Where Is Modern

BABYLON

the Great?

A survey of news stories and events in the past few months

reveals how low the American character and morality have sunk

during the past decade. Is God’s Hand of judgment soon to

fall? Where is “modern Babylon the great”? What is the End-

time “city of Babylon”? Bible prophecy reveals the answer.

Here is the shocking truth, and the astonishing facts many have

overlooked and ignored, giving them a false sense of security.

William F. Dankenbring

Take note of the following news items which have appeared in the press recently:

According to the Family News in Focus radio program, the Los Angeles public school system has established a high school exclusively for homosexual teens and conducts an all-gay prom. In the nurse’s office at John Muir high school in Pasadena, is a huge color poster blatantly shouting to students, “USE A CONDOM.” Public schools throughout the United States have given up trying to teach abstinence from premarital sex, and have thrown in the towel regarding sexual activity among teenagers. The result? Besides AIDS and venereal diseases in epidemic proportions, a million plus crop of unwed mothers yearly, and 1.5 million abortions.

Massachusetts Governor William Weld recently proclaimed a “Gay/Straight Youth Pride Month,” for the state’s students, and a rally was held at taxpayer expense at the state capitol. The rally included a lesbian pagan who prayed over the students “in the name of many divinities.” Some who attended the event demanded criminal penalties and prosecution of anyone who publicly opposes homosexuality and school-approved “Gay-Lesbian, Unsure and Bisexual Clubs.”

Heroin use is up sharply in the United States, as are heroin addiction and heroin-related deaths. James Davidson asks: “Who’s really running America? There’s increasing evidence that it’s not the people we think. The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. I fear it’s

possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government” (Strategic Investment newsletter).

A growing number of female college students are trying topless dancing and prostitution as a source of “easy” money, or to help pay their way through college.

Violent crimes among white Americans -- not to mention the alarming statistics among blacks and hispanics -- rose nearly 250% from 1955 to 1991.

Slave labor in America? More than 60 Thai immigrants were discovered in El Monte, California, held as working slaves in a compound where they were forced to work as long as 12 hours per day manufacturing clothes that were being sold by major retailers and well-known labels.

At Williams College, it is difficult for a woman student to find a restroom without men in them. The college does not allow banning of men from the women’s restrooms as that would be “exclusionary to one gender” and implies that men and women are different. Said columnist John Leo, “For only $25,000 a year, you too can ship your children to a college like William and have them learn to think this way.”

In 1993, Americans lost nearly $42 billion in legal gambling.

Trading with the Enemy

Meanwhile, true to form, Russia -- now supposedly America’s ally and a “new-born friend” of the West, is busily selling its most sophisticated weapons systems -- including nuclear delivery systems -- to the People’s Republic of China (Red China). Russia alone has a military machine larger than that of America and the whole Western world combined. They still have over 40,000 nuclear warheads aimed at the United States and other Western nations. They have reorganized the KGB five times in the last eight years, making it bigger than ever, and today are pouring agents into the United States and Europe.

Within the next decade, China could be the world’s third greatest superpower. Will Russia and China join forces against the West, leaving us vastly out-gunned and outnumbered? Will these countries, and their future allies, attack the West with a 200,000,000 man army, and vast arms including nuclear?

Meanwhile, the United States is attempting to build up Red China economically, despite reports of slave labor and organ harvesting perpetrated upon Chinese political and other prisoners. A missionary in Mexico recently discovered that a Chrysler assembly plant located in the city of Toluca

was being shut down, dismantled, and shipped to China. Apparently, Mexican auto-workers who receive $2 an hour in wages ($344 per month) are too costly -- the average wage in China is $50 per month!

This is the country where Chinese-American human rights activist Harry Wu discovered body parts are being harvested from prisoners and sold for enormous prices to the powerful and the rich. Anyone in need of a liver, kidney, heart, or other organ? The Chinese will sell you one for a price -- $20,000 to $40,000 each. Hungry for a new taste treat? The Chinese now offer aborted human baby fetuses as “food” in fashionable Shanghai restaurants, and sell them to interested buyers for their alleged “health” benefits.

American international manufacturers are eager to exploit the “slave labor” available in China, as well as Vietnam and other “Communist” countries. What’s the difference, so long as you make a buck (or a million or more)? Chrysler is among the most fervent in its quest to penetrate the Chinese market by setting up shop in China. Industrialists drool at the thought of 1.2 billion Chinese buying their products. But I wonder if such thoughts of immense profits aren’t nothing but fool’s gold -- can you imagine how a Chinese worker who earns $50 a month would ever be able to buy a Chrysler automobile? Or would they be exported back to the U.S., to “compete” with American-made cars, made by American workers who earn roughly $20 an hour ($3440 a month), plus benefits?

On the other hand, how will the American keep his job trying to compete with virtual “slave labor”? In the “New World Order” economy, the American will be put out of work, or lower his pay scale to that of his competitors, becoming a “slave” himself!

Should the United States even be doing business with such a vile, barbaric nation, governed by a ruthless tyranny? Secretary of State Warren Christopher thinks so. He says: “I believe that most favored nation status is in our interest as well as being in the Chinese interest.” But, says an editorial in the Denver Post:

“What makes Harry Wu so dangerous is his firsthand knowledge of how

China uses slave labor to support its growing manufacturing sector.

“In the past few years, Wu has smuggled cameras into China’s prison camps

and filmed evidence on how inmates are forced to make products that China

then sells overseas -- including many items exported to the United States.

Prisoners who don’t fill their quotas are beaten: others endure near starvation.

Often, the only crime committed was to speak their mind against China’s

still-repressive government.”

Despite this factual knowledge, the response of the United States establishment is to appease the Chinese and roll over when they threaten to cease relations. The Wall Street Journal suggested that Bill Clinton appoint George Bush as a special envoy to China, who was ambassador to China in the 70’s and frequently appeased them while he was President from ‘88 to ‘92. Says Don McAlvany in his newsletter:

“Despite their utter depravity and ruthlessness, the Red Chinese continue to

be financed by the U.S. government and international corporations. If anything,

the trend will accelerate as business ethics disappear and the desire for quick

profits and low-cost slave labor intensifies. The Communist Chinese, Bill

Clinton, Warren Christopher, George Bush and their corporate colleagues prove

that birds of a feather do flock together” (The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor,

September, 1995, p.12).

The Word of God THUNDERS

How does Almighty God view a nation such as the United States which insists on doing “business as usual” with such a ruthless, despotic, inhumane regime? What does God think about the moral slide in the United States and Western world, from the highest political offices down to the teenagers in the high schools?

The word of God thunders: “Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head [politically] is sick, and the whole heart [the churches] faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head [from the bottom to the top of society], there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment” (Isa.1:4-6, NKJV).

God Almighty describes the JUDGMENT He will execute upon this End-Time world Merchantile system, this “New World Order” which exploits the poor and downtrodden, and makes slaves of nations and peoples, and which even trades in the

bodies and body parts of men:

“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘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 and mourn over her, for no

one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver,

precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every

kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of

most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon, and incense,

fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and

sheep, horses and chariots [automobiles], AND BODIES AND SOULS

OF MEN . . .

“The merchants of these things, 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 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?’ They threw dust on

their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that

GREAT CITY, in which all who had SHIPS on the sea became rich by

her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate” (Rev.18:4-19).

Let us carefully look at this amazing prophecy in Revelation 18, and notice things we may have overlooked in the past.

1) This “Babylon” is the world’s greatest COMMERCIAL and TRADE center -- it is so great that all the merchants and shipowners in the world lament its destruction.

2) This is a “CITY” -- the prophecy says so -- undoubtedly, then, it is the world’s GREATEST CITY of commerce and power and influence during these “End times.”

3) It is a SEAPORT -- the indication is that it is the greatest sea port, with the world’s largest and busiest harbor. This fact alone negates the “End time Babyon” being such a city as Rome.

4) It is connected with the “Beast” of Revelation, and the End-time Babylonian world Empire. What is this “great city”? Where is it? Wherever it is, it is the CHIEF CITY of this new world merchantile system. It is the HEADQUARTERS of the “New World Order.” Since the United Nations is part and parcel of the New World Order, it is significant that the headquarters of the United Nations is located in this city which leads the modern world in trade, commerce, and wealth.

Some have thought that the “Babylon” of Revelation 18 will be the rebuilt city of ancient Babylon on the Euphrates River in modern Iraq. It is true that Saddam Hussein is attempting to rebuild ancient Babylon as a tourist center and attraction. But to claim that such a small and insignificant city is the major modern metropolis mentioned in Revelation 18 stretches all human credulity to the breaking point.

Consider -- this city mentioned in Revelation 18 is the DOMINANT CITY in the entire world -- in that sense, a city LIKE or comparable to, ancient Babylon! This indicates that it has been such a city for a considerable length of time, for it takes decades, even centuries, for a city to grow in power, population, and magnitude. Therefore, this city has to have been around for some length of time.

What city could it be?

New York City is Modern BABYLON!

The only city which really fits the criteria -- and fully answers all the elements of this prophecy, today -- is none other than NEW YORK CITY!

It is the same place, according to an American television advertising commercial, that a “foreign” salsa is manufactured which cowboys in El Paso, Texas, can’t stand, and demand another product -- “Pace” -- instead! When they look at the label, they see this “foreign” salsa is manufactured in, in their incredulous words -- “NEW YORK CITY!!!”

The United Nations building sits on a site IN NEW YORK CITY, given to the organization by the Rockefeller family, one of the richest and most powerful families in the United States. The United Nations is vital to the “New World Order,” or what the Bible refers to in prophecy as “Babylon the Great.” It is composed of a General Assembly which includes all nations on the earth, and a Security Council, presently composed of five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France, and China -- and ten other rotating members, serving for two years. Organized in April 25, 1945, this final and latest form of “World Government” has been in existence for fifty years, as of 1995.

It is no accident that its headquarters is none other than New York City, the world’s greatest modern metropolis, and a symbol for financial power, might and influence -- the home of Manhattan Island, Wall Street, the Stock Market, the heart and soul of modern commerce. Such agencies as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the leading banks of the world are centered in New York City.

New York City is the major city of the world’s “Last Remaining Superpower” -- the United States. What other city, therefore, could begin to be the End-time “Babylon”?

With the 6,000 year’s of mankind’s term on this planet almost up, according to God’s time-table of a “week” consisting of six 1,000 year days for man to be given to govern himself on this planet (II Pet.3:8-10), as we look around at the earth, today, there simply is not enough time left for another city to become great, and to replace New York City, as the most influential and powerful city in the world. Therefore, by process of elimination, we can come to no other conclusion.

For far too long, many have assumed that the Biblical “Babylon” mentioned in Revelation 18, as existing in the “last days,” was the city of “Rome,” in Italy. However, the truth is that this “Babylon” is very clearly a SEAPORT -- the world’s great SEAPORT and TRADE CENTER! The “World Trade Towers” are located in New York City. There is more wealth and riches in New York City than on any comparable spot on the earth, today. The harbor is dominated by the “Statue of Libery,” and Ellis Island is famous for the passage of immigrants though its halls. Songs have been written about “New York, New York,” and a magazine is called “The New Yorker.”

New York and Ancient Babylon Compared

How does modern New York City compare with ancient Babylon? Notice:

1) Both are the major cities of powerful world Empires.

2) Both are the trade and commercial capitals of the world during their time.

3) Both are the hubs of financial enterprise. Both are major banking centers -- in fact, ancient Babylon was where the modern “banking system” originated.

4) Both are seaports (the Port of New York is one of the largest ports in the world; Babylon lay on the banks of the Euphrates River, a vital trade conduit in ancient times).

5) Both have a cosmopolitan flair, are cities where peoples of many races and nationalities blended together, as great “melting pots” of humanity.

But could modern “Babylon” really be New York City? For years I was under the delusion that modern “Babylon” had to be somewhere in “Europe.” Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God, had it pegged as modern Rome, where the seat of the Vatican and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, are located. But the description of “Babylon” in Revelation 18 in no way fits the city of Rome, today. It is neither a seaport, nor a major world center of banking and commerce. Although it is a major world city in its own right, it nowhere near begins to compare with New York City, in any manner, shape or form!

For too long we have had blinders on, and mistakenly thought that modern “Babylon” had to be in Europe, but no city there really fits the description of Revelation 18. The nearest would be London, England, but even London does not compare today to New York City in terms of trade,

merchantile power, financial power, and immensity. Today, Wall Street and the New York Stock Market literally shake the world.

The leading nation in terms of world trade, today, is the United States of America. World trade in the mid 1970s amounted to about $780 billion a year. The leading exporting nations were the United States, followed by Germany, Japan, France, and Great Britain, in that order.

Just because New York City is the major city in the United States, which we believe to be modern day Ephraim in Bible prophecy, does not mean it could not be “Babylon” in modern times. Every time I have been to New York, I have been impressed, and so have other people, by its fluid immensity, its electric air, the energy of the people, and the maze of buildings, skyscrapers, and mass of humanity. We always called it “Babylon,” without thinking of the import of those words, almost by automatic reflex. It seems just like “Babylon” to anyone who has been there!

Facts about New York City

New York City is the largest city in the United States, and the fifth largest city in the world, after Shanghai, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Beijing. None of those cities could qualify as the leading merchantile city of the world -- most of them are too poor, and financially strapped. The economy of Tokyo and Japan, today, is a vast delusion of inflated prices, threatening to topple the entire Japanese economy.

Says the World Book Encyclopedia:

“New York City is one of the world’s most important centers of business,

culture, and trade. It is also the home of the United Nations. Much of what

happens in New York City affects what happens throughout the United

States and around the world. . . Since its founding by Dutch settlers in 1624,

New York has attracted immigrants from throughout the world. During the

1800’s and early 1900’s, millions of Europeans seeking a better life in a free

land poured into the city. The Statue of Liberty, built in New York Harbor in

1886, became the symbol of this new life. Since the mid-1900’s, more immi-

grants -- mainly blacks from the Southern States and Spanish-speaking Americans

from Puerto Rico -- have moved into the city. They have also looked to New

York as a place to make a better life.

“The business, financial, and trading organizations in New York City play a

MAJOR ROLE in the economy of the nation AND THE WORLD. The banks,

stock exchanges, and other financial institutions in the city’s famous Wall Street

area help provide the money used by most large U.S. corporations. The sky-

scrapers that form the spectacular New York skyline house the home offices of

many national and international business firms. The docks, warehouses, and

shipping companies that line New York’s huge natural harbor handle much of the

nation’s imports and exports.

“As a cultural center, New York City has no equal in the United States. . .

“But along with all its greatness, New York City has many serious problems.

Thousands of immigrants have not found the opportunities they had hoped for

in New York. More than a million New Yorkers receive welfare aid, and thous-

ands live in slums. Other problems include air pollution, traffic jams, crime,

racial conflicts, and the ever-increasing cost of living in the city. . . In spite of

its problems, New York City remains one of the most interesting and exciting

cities in the United States. In fact, many people consider it the most fascinating

city in the world” (“New York City,” vol.14, p.260).

New York City lies at the mouth of the Hudson River and covers about 365 square miles (945 square kilometers). Five ethnic groups make up about 77 percent of New York City’s population -- Irish, Italian, Jewish, Negro and Puerto Rican. New York City has more blacks than any other city in the world (over 1,667,000) -- they constitute the largest single ethnic group in the city, over 21 percent of the population. Jews make up about 20 percent of the population. There are also many Chinese, Cubans, Germans, Greeks, and Poles in New York, a trule “melting pot” just like ancient Babylon!

These facts and statistics show that New York City is certainly a strong contender for the role of the End-time “Babylon the Great”! But would the End-time “Babylon” be the major city in the United States, which is descended primarily from the House of Joseph, son of Jacob, in the Bible? Is such a thing possible? The answer is a

resounding “yes”! In this End-time age, the northern tribes of the House of Israel, which went into captivity in 718-721 B.C., and migrated into northwestern Europe, the British Isles, and North America, were prophesied to become great, and to dominate the world in the End-time. But they were also prophesied to be worshipping a paganized form of religion, which would lead them astray. Notice!

Modern Ephraim and Baal Worship

Bible prophecy indicates that modern Ephraim, the house of Joseph, the leader of the breakaway northern Kingdom of Israel in ancient times, would in the End-time be a nation given over to Baal (that is to say, “pagan”) worship. If you have not read it, be sure to write for our Special Issue of Prophecy Flash, entiled “AMERICA IN PROPHECY!”, the June-July 1994 issue. It will prove beyond any reasonable doubt the true identity of our historic national ancestors, and our true identity, today.

The prophet Hosea foretold the state of religious apostasy which would characterize the lost tribes of Israel in the “time of the end.” He declares of Ephraim, the leading tribe of the ten tribes, and therefore the leading nation:

“For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry, Israel is defiled.

They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for

the spirit of harlotry is in their midst. And they do not know the

LORD. The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel

and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah (the Jews) also

stumbles with them” (Hosea 5:3-5, NKJV).

“I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: There is the

harlotry [spiritual and religious false worship, my Bible’s margin

says, “spiritual adultery”] of Ephraim; Israel is defiled” (Hos.6:10).

New York City, a cosmopolitan “melting pot” of peoples, is also reflected in the prophecies of Hosea. We read:

“Ephraim has MIXED himself among the peoples; Ephraim is a cake

unturned. ALIENS [foreigners] have devoured his strength, but he

does not know it. Yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he

does not know it” (Hos.7:8-9).

God warns Ephraim, His people -- the nations of modern “Israel,” where the “lost ten tribes” of ancient Israel eventually settled -- in Northwestern Europe, the British Isles, and North America, mainly:

“The days of PUNISHMENT have come; the days of recompense have

come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is insane

[their religious leaders have corrupted them!], because of the greatness of

your iniquity and great enmity. The watchman of Ephraim is with my

God; but the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways -- enmity in the

house of his God. They are deeply corrupted, as in the days of Gibeah

[when Danites mass-raped a woman -- see Judges 19:1-3019:1-30; how

sickeningly comparable to our mass immorality, rape, and perversion,

so rampant, today!]. He will remember their iniquity; He will PUNISH

their sins” (Hos.9:7-9).

God says of His modern people, today, in warning words of love and deep concern:

“When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel [that is,