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THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS OF BABYLON

James L. Melton

If you're going to qualify as a "Bible believer" to some people, then there are certain views that you must embrace without question. You must embrace the gap theory; you must embrace their particular views on dispensational salvation; you must embrace their particular views on repentance; and you must believe that Babylon the Great can be none other than Rome.

To even suggest that Babylon isn't Rome makes you a heretic in the eyes of some. The fact that you might have studied the matter out carefully with loads of scripture while they are merely repeating worn-out talking points that they got from someone else doesn't matter. All "Bible believers" believe that Babylon the Great is Rome. This view was good enough for Luther, Wesley and Ruckman, and if it isn't good enough for you, then you are a heretic. Period. That's just the way it is, so don't bother with studying the issue any further or with thinking for yourself. Just stay on the IFB plantation and be happy with whatever crumbs that might fall your way.

Thankfully, God led some of us away from the plantation many moons ago. Sure, I still believe the KJV and I'm still an independent Baptist, but I'm a REAL independent Baptist with my own working brain. I know flaws and inconsistencies when I see them, and I am of the conviction that God made me to be more than a blind follower of proud and intimidating brethren. God's truth should enslave no one (John 8:32). To the contrary, it should set us free and open up a world of study and meditation. Those who resort to name-calling and intimidation are usually not very secure in their own beliefs (since they are merely robots running on someone else's program). They can't think for themselves, so, if you DO think for yourself, then YOU have intimidated THEM. Rather than admit it, they'll just call you names and write you off as a heretic. Lovely, isn't it?

Take the identity of Babylon, for instance. I'll give you something to think about, and, if it makes sense to you, you can go and try it out on some of the brethren. One of the reasons given for the Babylon harlot being Rome is that she is seated upon seven mountains, and everyone knows that Rome is built on seven mountains.

Actually, that's not the case at all. Rome is known as the City of Seven HILLS, not seven mountains, and a simple Google search will reveal that there are many cities built on seven hills or mountains, not just Rome.

But that's not what I want you to think about. I want you to think about the fact that the woman is not a literal woman, but rather a city (Rev. 17:18). That being the case, why would the seven mountains have to be literal mountains? Since mountains in the Bible often picture kingdoms (Dan. 2:35; Isa. 2:2; 30:17; 14:13; 40:4; Mat. 16:28-17:1), maybe the seven mountains of Revelation 17:9 are seven kingdoms through which the ancient Babylonian system has ruled (including Rome, but not limited to Rome). After all, Babylon was called a mountain in Jeremiah 51:25, though Babylon sits on a plain, not on a mountain:

"Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain."

The "mountains" are the HEADS on the beast (Rev. 17:9), speaking of kingdoms and power, not literal mountains. So, maybe the seven mountains that support the harlot are seven kingdoms that have kept the Babylon system alive throughout history while persecuting Israel and the church. This would include evil Rome, of course (as one of the mountains), but the actual city might be just what Revelation says it is: BABYLON. After all, that's exactly where the Bible places the first KINGDOM (Gen. 10:8-10). Besides, how can Rome be the MOTHER of harlots (Rev. 17:5), if Babylon preceded her by over fifteen centuries?

Larkin believed over 100 years ago that literal Babylon will be rebuilt based on the prophecies of Zechariah 5 and Isaiah 13, and for those who think there just isn't enough time left for that, I refer you to the rapid building of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, during World War II for the Manhattan Project. If the Antichrist wants Babylon rebuilt, it will be rebuilt at rocket speed.

As for the words "MYSTERY BABYLON" implying that the city isn't literal Babylon, please read the verse more carefully:

. . . MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Rev. 17:5)

There's a COMMA separating the words "MYSTERY" and "BABYLON." There is no "MYSTERY BABYLON" anywhere in the Bible. The wording on the whore's forehead in Revelation 17:5 is "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT . . ." The comma after the word "MYSTERY" totally changes the meaning from what thousands are teaching. The whore's proper name is "BABYLON THE GREAT." The words "MYSTERY" and the words "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" are descriptive words that modify "BABYLON THE GREAT," which is why Revelation 18:2 uses the words "Babylon the great" without the other words and which is why the word "Babylon" is used five other times in Revelation without the other words. Babylon is BABYLON. The "MYSTERY" is the fact that this old whore has managed to survive since Genesis 10:8-10 by pushing her godless religion on the world through various kingdoms. Rome is ONE of those kingdoms, but Babylon is not Rome, because BABYLON is Babylon. Imagine that.

This will confuse some, but it's more correct to say, "BABYLON ISN'T ROME, BUT ROME IS BABYLON." That's because the greater system is Babylon who works THROUGH Rome, just as she worked through other kingdoms in the past, such as Egypt and Assyria. The earth, for instance is a planet, but a planet is not necessarily the earth. James Melton is a preacher, but a preacher is not necessarily James Melton. The United States is a country, but a country is not necessarily the United States. Rome is Babylon in the sense that she's one of the "mountains" of the Babylon system, but Babylon is not limited to Rome. Babylon is BABYLON.

Just something to THINK about, if you allow yourself to do that anymore.

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