Babylon Rising

By Mark Swarbrick

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For two thousand years Christians have wondered which modern metropolis will rise to embody the terrifying portrait of Babylon—that global powerhouse Revelation says will be engulfed in flames within a single hour. Scripture describes a city unmatched in wealth, corruption, influence, and arrogance, a world-commanding hub whose sudden destruction will leave nations watching in paralyzed horror. And whether people realize it or not, one city today is already mirroring every prophetic detail. Babylon is rising.

“Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!” (Revelation 18:10)

The Book of Revelation, particularly chapters 17 and 18, foretells that during the Tribulation there will be a great, wicked city called Babylon that will be utterly destroyed. The name is almost certainly symbolic. It will be a real city, but the name itself follows a biblical pattern of symbolic labeling. Prophetic Scripture regularly uses figurative designations for cities. For example, Revelation 11:8 refers to Jerusalem as Sodom. Likewise, when Peter closes his letter with a greeting from “Babylon” (1 Peter 5:13), he is using the name symbolically—much as later Christian writers did—to signify Rome, a center of pagan power and spiritual corruption. The ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon no longer existed in Peter’s day, so the term functioned as a coded reference to Rome’s character rather than its literal name. Thus, the Babylon of Revelation need not be officially named Babylon.

There are several theories about what the future Babylon will be. Some suggest it will be the ancient city of Babylon rebuilt. This is highly unlikely unless the time of the end is centuries away. Today the site is nothing but desert and scattered ruins. A global center of commerce cannot appear overnight; it would take generations for a metropolis of Revelation 18’s magnitude to arise. Furthermore, Scripture explicitly declares that ancient Babylon will never be rebuilt:

“Babylon… It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation. As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares the Lord, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.” (Jeremiah 50:35, 39–40)

Another theory holds that Rome is the future Babylon. Rome’s famous seven hills seem to fit Revelation 17:9, which describes Babylon as sitting on seven mountains. But Revelation 17:10 clarifies the symbolism: “They are seven kings,” which means the mountains are figurative, not literal geography. Furthermore, Revelation 17 speaks of Mystery Babylon—a religion—not the city, which is referred to as Babylon the Great, described in chapter 18. Mystery Babylon is an ecumenical, apostate religious system tied to successive kingdoms. Babylon the Great, on the other hand, is a city. No Scripture links the city of Babylon with mountains or hills. Therefore, Rome cannot be the Babylon of Revelation 18.

Mystery Babylon refers to the false, idolatrous religions embedded in all seven beast kingdoms of Revelation 17:9–11. During the Tribulation, this will manifest as a one-world false religion posing as Christianity. The city Babylon of chapter 18 has had partial foreshadowings in ancient Babylon, ancient Rome, and Papal Rome, but the ultimate fulfillment is yet future and distinct.

New York City

I submit that New York City is a strong candidate for the Babylon of the end times. After the Rapture, America will not resemble the nation we know today. It will plunge into evil along with the rest of the world. Scripture says Babylon the Great will be a seaport and a global center of trade. Here is a listing of the attributes of the coming Babylon:

• A Great Seaport — Revelation 18:17–19
• A Center of Global Trade — Revelation 18:3, 11–13
• A City of Great Wealth and Luxury — Revelation 18:12–14
• A World-Influencing Power — Revelation 17:18; 18:18
• A Multinational Hub (“sits on many waters”) — Revelation 17:1, 15
• A Center of Immorality and Corruption — Revelation 17:2; 18:3
• A Source of Global Deception (“sorcery”) — Revelation 18:23
• A Place of Human Trafficking (“bodies and souls of men”) — Revelation 18:13
• A City Tied to World Rulers — Revelation 18:9–10
• A Center of Violence and Bloodguilt — Revelation 18:24
• A Cultural Capital (music, craftsmen, weddings) — Revelation 18:22–23
• Destroyed Suddenly and Completely (“in one hour”) — Revelation 18:8, 10, 17, 19
• Judged From Afar — Revelation 18:10, 15, 17

Scripture says Babylon the Great will be a seaport and a global center of trade. The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more…

The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more; Every shipmaster, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away, and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’ They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!’ For in one hour is she made desolate. (Revelation 18:11,17-19)

New York has Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, and the United Nations. The building now officially named One World Trade Center opened in 2014. New York possesses one of the busiest natural harbors in the world, and it embodies the economic strength of the world’s dominant superpower. The global economy is keyed to the American dollar. If New York fell, it would shake every nation.

Revelation says:

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great… For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury… merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones… and people’s bodies and souls.” (Revelation 18:2–3, 11–13)

New York is a well-known center of human trafficking, pornography, corruption, and every form of moral degeneracy. The city is nightly in the news. While their police force is being defunded, rioters steal, burn, and murder. Wicked politicians have unleashed lawlessness upon the streets. Yet even this is mild compared to what will happen after the Rapture. New York will dive headlong into rebellion against God. It will become an epicenter of hatred toward Christians and Jews. Scripture teaches that when someone once exposed to truth becomes apostate, “the last state has become worse than the first” (2 Peter 2:20). So it will be with America. Once the Christians are removed in the Rapture, the radical left will seize total control. A nation that once sent missionaries across the globe will hurl itself into debauchery with zeal and New York City will be at the forefront.

Parallels Between Babylon and New York City

Global Influence: Revelation calls Babylon “the great city” that “reigns over the kings of the earth” (17:18; 18:18). New York City fits this description as the world’s financial and media capital. Signals from Wall Street ripple instantly across nations. The Dow and S&P shape global markets. Its media houses shape the narratives consumed by rulers and citizens alike. In influence—economic, cultural, and political—New York effectively “reigns.”

Hub of Luxury: The Babylon described in Revelation is a hub of luxury: merchants grow rich from her abundance of delicacies, and when she falls, the world’s merchants weep (18:3, 11–13). The cargo list reads like a modern manifest of New York’s luxury markets: fine textiles, jewels, exotic items, and ultimately “bodies and souls of men”—a chilling reference to human trafficking. New York’s elite fashion, diamond, art, and luxury trades mirror this image. Its underground trafficking networks tragically reflect the final line of Revelation’s list.

A Global Seaport: Maritime imagery saturates the prophecy. Shipmasters watch her burning “from far off.” New York is a maritime metropolis, defined by rivers, bays, and ports. The idea of global shipping lanes filled with astonished sailors watching a burning coastal city maps naturally to New York.

A Multicultural Cosmopolitan City: Babylon “sits on many waters,” explained as “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” (17:1, 15). New York is the world’s quintessential melting pot—a literal harbor city and a symbolic sea of nations. The New York City school district is home to one of the most linguistically diverse student populations in the United States, with students and families speaking over 180 different languages. The very name “Babylon” harkens back to the confusion of languages at Babel as described in Genesis. Truly, New York City has become a Babylon of confusion as failing schools try to cope with well over half a million unassimilated illegal aliens, most of whom do not speak English.

A City That Exports Immorality: Babylon intoxicates the nations with her immorality and abominations (17:2, 4; 18:3). New York exports culture to the entire world—entertainment, fashion, ideologies, moral trends. Much of global culture is first shaped in Manhattan. New York’s new Islamic communist mayor has said he wants to legalize prostitution in New York City and abolish the police and prisons, replacing them with social workers. We can expect an explosion of lawlessness in the the city in the near future.

A City of Sorcery: The line “by your sorcery [pharmakeia] all nations were deceived” (18:23) speaks of bewitching delusion. Pharmakeia can refer to occult mixtures or drug-like deception. In New York—home of both massive pharmaceutical finance and the world’s most powerful media-advertising apparatus—the imagery is striking. New York City is also a major hub of substance abuse and illegal drug distribution, with fentanyl, heroin, and other narcotics pouring through its streets at levels that make it one of the epicenters of America’s drug crisis

The city’s ideological, financial, and cultural machinery has a hypnotic global reach. New York City is steeped in the kind of sorcery Revelation speaks of. The Greek word pharmakeia includes occult practices, enchantments, and spiritual deception, and New York displays these openly. The city hosts one of the nation’s largest annual WitchFests, where thousands gather to celebrate spell-casting and pagan rituals. Occult shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn sell idols, divination tools, and ritual materials, while public “hexing” events against political leaders have made national headlines. The city’s landscape is littered with pagan and demonic imagery—from the Baphomet displays of The Satanic Temple, to the pagan deities and esoteric symbols covering Rockefeller Center. These things, celebrated as “art” or “culture,” reveal a city already intoxicated with the very sorcery Revelation says will deceive all nations in the last days.

A City That Kills Christians: Revelation indicts Babylon for bloodguilt: “in her was found the blood of prophets and saints” (18:24). While NYC has not historically killed Christians, the verse can refer to a global system funding, legitimizing, or empowering persecution. As the capital of global financial capital, New York finances regimes and movements around the world. And as the city drifts further into communism, antisemitism, and pro-Islamist ideology, the literal killing of Christians and Jews during the Tribulation becomes increasingly plausible.

The election of November 4, 2025 makes this more chilling. The people of New York elected Zohran Mamdani as mayor—an avowed socialist who openly embraces communist ideals such as the confiscation of private property and the means of production. He is also an Islamist who praised individuals convicted in 2008 for funneling millions to Hamas. He refused to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” which means “kill Jews all over the world.” This trajectory makes New York resemble Revelation’s Babylon more each year. Mamdani said,  “I hate Zionist Christians more than anything else”  A Zionist Christian is a born again Christtian who believes the Bible when it tells us to bless and pray for Israel. A Zionist Christian is someone who believes Israel has a right to exist, which is something all Christians should believe. The Apostle Paul cautioned not to be “arrogant toward the branches,” (Romans 11:18) referring to Jews, as they are the root of the Church. In other words, Mamdani has said he hates Christians. Mayor Mamdani is infected with the same Satanic hate that Hitler exuded. Mamdani’s hate for the Jews and Christians will eventually turn New York City into a place where will be “found the blood of the saints.” For more on Mamdani, see my article: Comrade Mamdani

A City that Rules: The kings of the earth are closely tied to the city (17:2; 18:9). Revelation 17:2 says, “The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” Of course, one cannot commit sexual immorality with a city; the reference is metaphorical. God is likening the nations falling under the cities unholy influence as akin to fornication. New York uniquely houses the United Nations, where presidents, kings, ambassadors, and envoys assemble continually. No other city so literally gathers the rulers of the earth under its skyline, where the United Nations spreads its unholy and antisemitic vitriol.

A City God Allows to be Destroyed: John emphasizes sudden, fiery destruction occurring “in one hour” (18:10, 17, 19). New York’s density, skyscrapers, energy grid, and coastal exposure make such sudden devastation tragically conceivable. The statement “Standing afar off for the fear of her torment” echoes the imagery of a nuclear blast—something Iran longs for and something Hitler himself once explored when scheming to attack New York. Revelation’s imagery aligns eerily with the effects of nuclear fire and lingering radiation. The cessation imagery—no more music, craftsmen, lamps, or weddings (18:22–23)—perfectly describes a cultural engine going silent. Broadway darkened. Workshops stilled. Celebrations ended. New York’s cultural shutdown would be uniquely jarring to the world.

Babylon’s Demise

“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury…the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more; merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones…and people’s bodies and souls.” (Revelation 18:2-3, 11-13)

As noted, the description of fire and distant onlookers fits a nuclear attack. Revelation 18:18 says, “Everyone… stood far away and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning.” Daniel 11:39 says the Antichrist “will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god.” America is the most powerful nation today—the strongest fortress. The “foreign god” could be Allah, which biblically is a foreign god, for he certainly is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This may indicate that the Antichrist will coordinate with a Muslim nation to strike America, specifically New York. Although America and Israel recently destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian leaders insist they will rebuild it. Radical Muslims in Iran (who worship a foreign god) conspiring with the Antichrist to attack New York is very plausible.

What city is the Babylon of Revelation? It is hiding in plain sight. On Long Island, smack dab in the heart of the metropolis of New York City, is a suburb that was founded in 1872. Its official name? Babylon. Do a google search on ‘Babylon, NY’ and see it for yourself on the map. Within the metropolis that is New York City is the prophetic name: Babylon. It is more than just coincidence; indeed, it is a sign.

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