I believe it is a stretch beyond that which Scripture will bear to place America at the center of the prophecies that are devoted to Babylon. Not to say that America has not sunk to Babylonyish-like depths of immorality, but until recently, no one really thought that there was a possibility that America could be Apocalyptic Babylon. The choice for that infamous title was Rome. Actually, all of the scripture references used in the various articles making this proposition could just as validly be used of Rome, as Alexander Hislop proposed in his well-known work "The Two Babylon's."
1. However, in Jeremiah 50-51, where many of the scriptures in these articles are noted, Babylon has both a historical and a geographical ID tag. Historically, it is the same Babylon as that of king Nebuchaddnezar that is in view (50:17; note that both Assyria and Babylon are referenced in this text. Yet Assyria and Egypt will both appear in the last days as historically identifiable realms, i.e., Isaiah 11:11; will it be less so with Babylon?) Geographically, Babylon is associated with the River Euphrates in this passage, and surely the same was true in the mind of the prophet as the stone was cast into the waters (51:63-64) But what seals the identification with certainty is the phrase "land of the Chaldeans," or "inhabitants of Chaldea." (see Jeremiah 50:10, 25, 35, 45, and 51:4 & 35, remembering that Revelation 18 is to a great degree the New Testament restatement of Jeremiah 50 & 51) The term "Chaldea" is a historic territorial designation -- an ethnic and geographic term limited to the Babylonian people and a specific sector of land in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq). In these passages it is used interchangeably with "the land of Babylon," e.g., Jeremiah 51:29. The land of Chaldea is not New York or America.
2. This same Babylon is referred to as a literal city in Revelation 16:19, along with Jerusalem and other literal cities. Jerusalem is identified as the "great city... where also their Lord was crucified." (Rev. 11;8) Babylon is identified as another "great city" (Rev. 17:18) that is called "the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth." (Rev. 17:5) If the title of Jerusalem is literally true, so must be the title of Babylon. Yet, neither America, or Rome/Europe, is the "the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth." That distinction belongs to historical Babylon all the way back to Genesis chapters 10-11.
3. Both Europe & America are "daughters" of "the Mother of Harlots," but they are not the MOTHER. That is an important distinction that is almost always missed. The daughters of the "Mother of Harlots" have overspread the earth, from the far east to the western hemisphere. But the Mother remains in the Euphrates area. That is why the Euphrates continues to pop up in the End Time prophecies as a preeminent geographic location of satanic activity (Rev. 9:14; 16:12).
4. As far as present-day Babylon is concerned, it is predicted in Jeremiah 50:39-40 that "it will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.
As when God overthrew Sodom And Gomorrah with its neighbors," declares the LORD, "No man will live there, Nor will any son of man reside in it." (Jer. 50:39-40) But just HOW deserted will Babylon become? Jeremiah 51:26 explains. ""And they will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever," declares the LORD." The problem with proposing another site is that this particular prophecy has never been fulfilled at the original site! We have photographic evidence that in fact stones from the original city are being reused, as both foundations for rebuilding projects, and as overlaid stones in both Babylon and the nearby town of Hillah. Bible prophecy is too exact to allow this fact to be ignored. In the October, 2003 issue of National Geographic, you can see the new brick resting atop the old in the
rebuilt city which Saddam Hussein began. The inscription speaks of the museum & gift shop & a caretaker. In satellite photos we have on file, there are guest houses. All of this is evidence of the fact that the ancient city has not yet attained the Biblical criteria of being "desolate forever."
5. We must remember that Babylon is "the great city," not the "great continent" of hundreds of large cities. Nor is it New York City. The "great city" will again rise to the position of "a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird." (Rev. 18:2) But that center of End Time demonic activity emanates from the River Euphrates. That is the site of original Babylon. And it is fundamentally this "DWELLING PLACE OF DEMONS" -- located here in Revelation 9 at the Euphrates, not in Manhattan --that causes one-third of mankind, the greatest number in all of Scripture, to be killed. (Rev. 9:13-14)
There are too many current & convenient headlines in the articles (and I've seen several) which propose that America is now the Babylon of Bible prophecy. The "daughter harlots" always look like the "Mother of Harlots." The world is full of these offspring 'harlot daughters. But the "Mother of Harlots" still persists on the Euphrates in Iraq as the coming heir of the infamous glories of the Tower of Babel and the city of Nebuchadnezzar. She will continue her prophetic rise to the status of "the great city" of Revelation 18 with the influx of the West into Iraq, and her "daughters" will reconvene to her bosom on the Euphrates as the nucleus of a one-world government and a one-world religion.
