Why is it important to identify Babylon in the book of Revelation?
In Revelation 14, a message is given to the whole world — “to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.” When the world and its churches reject this message, the very next verse declares: “Babylon is fallen.”
Following that rejection, the seven last plagues fall on this Babylon system, and those who remain receive the mark of the beast and the wrath of God. In other words, the entire sequence — the daughters of Babylon, the mark of the beast — begins with a message that is given and then rejected:
“The hour of his judgment is come” (Revelation 14)
To understand what the mark of the beast is, we first have to understand who delivered this message, what it was about, and when it was given. And all of this prophecy traces back to one starting point: Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.
Tracing Babylon back to Daniel
The author of Revelation is the apostle John — also known as John the Revelator.
Babylon in the book of Revelation is identified with the “little horn” in Daniel 7, which in turn is identified as the antichrist, the “man of sin,” and the “son of perdition.” In Daniel 2, Daniel describes an image made of four metals, and tells the king of Babylon:
“Thou art this head of gold… And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” (Daniel 2:38–39)
After Babylon came Medo-Persia, then Greece, then Rome.
In Daniel 7, the same four kingdoms appear again, but this time as beasts. Scripture gives more detail about the fourth beast, Rome — saying a “little horn” (the antichrist) arises out of it. This makes the case, as this interpretation argues, that the antichrist arises from Rome — laid out plainly in both Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.
The characteristics of this power
According to Daniel 7, this little horn — antichrist, or Babylon — would:
Persecute the saints (the Inquisition)
Change times and law — specifically, change the commandment regarding the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday
Speak blasphemies — claiming the power to forgive sins, and claiming the title “God”
Continue for “a time and times and the dividing of time” (interpreted as 1,260 years)
“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things… 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” (Daniel 7:8, 25)
The book of Revelation adds further identifying marks. This power would:
Be located on the city of seven hills (Rome)
Have prelates wearing purple and scarlet (the cardinals of Rome)
“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication… 9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” (Revelation 17:4, 9)
Jesus doesn’t give us names outright — his words are written in parables and characteristics. But, in this view, anyone who searches the Scriptures with these descriptions in hand will conclude that Babylon in the book of Revelation refers to the Catholic Church.
Why “Babylon” can’t mean paganism
For Babylon to “fall,” it must have once stood on the truth. Did the Catholic Church ever stand on the truth? That’s a worthwhile question for debate when it comes to the early church fathers — but one thing is clear: Babylon cannot refer to pagan religion, because paganism never fell away from the truth in the first place.
Babylon in the book of Revelation is identified here as the papacy, and the “daughters of Babylon” as the Protestant churches that observe Sunday — many of which, in this view, no longer “protest” in any meaningful sense. Babylon is said to become “the house of demons” — which implies it was once the house of God.
So consider the contrast:
Were pagan religions ever the house of God? No.
Did pagan religions ever fall away from the truth? No.
Do pagan religions commit “fornication” by claiming to belong to Jesus while serving another master? No — pagan religions never claimed to belong to Jesus in the first place.
But Revelation specifically says Babylon fornicates.
What does “fornication” mean here?
In this reading, it means claiming to belong to Jesus — to be saved by him alone — while at the same time advancing the kingdom of Satan by teaching his doctrines, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Scripture warns that Satan can deceive “even the very elect.” A deceived person doesn’t know they’re serving Satan; they believe they’re serving Jesus alone.
By this reasoning, Babylon can only refer to Christian churches that have rejected truth and become Babylon. Believers within “Babylon” today believe they belong to Jesus, even though — in this view — many of their core teachings are the same ones that Babylonian priests once preached on Sundays in pagan temples to Satan, back in the days of Daniel.
When does Babylon fall?
A message is given to all nations. That message is rejected. And in the very next verse, Jesus declares: “Babylon is fallen.”
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7 saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” (Revelation 14:6–7)
A similar pattern of “falling” appears in Romans 11, where Israel falls because of unbelief:
“Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” (Romans 11:20–21)
“Falling,” in this sense, means rejecting new light from God or rejecting the messengers who bring it. When a church “falls,” it doesn’t mean it rejects the entire Bible or stops preaching Jesus altogether — Babylon in the book of Revelation continues to preach Jesus. But Satan doesn’t mind that, because he knows that rejecting new light sends people backward into darkness.
When the first angel’s message is given in Revelation 14 —
“saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” —
Jesus says, in the very next verse:
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (Revelation 14:8)
If the “mother church” had already fallen back in the early centuries, then who is Jesus referring to here?
The historical moment of the message
In this interpretation, this is a message about “the hour of his judgment” that was proclaimed throughout the world — first to Protestant churches in the United States, then to the world — by William Miller in 1844. Miller proclaimed that Jesus had entered the Most Holy Place in heaven to begin judging humanity in that year. When churches broadly rejected this message, they became “Babylon” — though many sincere individuals responded and joined what is described as Jesus’ final message to the world.
The closing appeal
Will you follow Jesus and the three angels’ message — or remain content in Babylon? Knowing that the seven last plagues, the mark of the beast, and the wrath of God are coming upon Babylon, why remain in a system that will receive God’s judgment? Jesus is asking: will you obey now?
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:4–5)