Where is Babylon?
The ancient Babylon, situated in Iraq, was the cultural centre and powerful capital of the Babylonian Empire between 2000 and 500 BC. Between 600 and 540 many Jews spent some time there as prisoners of war after they were defeated several times by the Babylonians. No doubt, there are many historical accounts from this time in the Bible (Daniel, Jeremiah, etc.).
However there are other Biblical prophecies about "Babylon" with features that do not match the situation in ancient times. It makes more sense to regard these texts as prophecies about our modern times and the recent past.
These features are:
Worldwide importance
Countries and empires have only had worldwide influence for about 500 years. In ancient times the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires only had regional importance. Major parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, the whole of America and Australia had nothing to do with them.- The prophet Habakkuk tells us (1:6) that the "Babylonians" ... sweep across the whole earth to possess living places not their own.
- The prophet Jeremiah predicts (51:7) that "Babylon" ... made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. That's why they went mad.
- This theme can be recognized in the Revelation: In chapter 18:3 the prophet John writes that all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of "Babylon's" immoral ideology. In chapter 17:1 he predicts that "Babylon" is a maritime power who sits on many oceans, or in the words of Jeremiah (51:13) lives on many waters.
Other Modern Characteristics
The prophets give us some more clues to make us recognize the time and the place of their predictions about "Babylon":- Habakkuk tell us (1:8) that horses (cars) of the "Babylonians" are faster than leopards and more dangerous than lonely wolves. These people collect prisoners like sand (1:9), laugh at all protected cities, they collect earth (money) and seize them (1:10), which means they make crusades of conquest with money.
- Jeremiah predicts (51:42) that the sea will rise over "Babylon", something yet to come.
- According to Revelation 13:4 and the Apocrypha: "Daniel and the Dragon" the "Babylonians" worship the Dragon as you can see in London.
- In Revelation 18:7 we find the presence of a "Queen" as one of the traits of "Babylon", and Isaiah 47:5 is even more specific: she is called "Domina Regnorum", which was translated: "Mistress of Kingdoms", "Queen of Kingdoms", in other words: "Queen" of the United Kingdom.
In short: "Babylon" is a symbol for our ruthless materialistic world-culture in general and particularly for the country that has shaped it like no other in the last 300 years: Britain. America may be more important now, but seen from the point of view of the prophets, from a distance of 2000 - 2600 years this is a very recent perhaps only short-lived development, and the American culture as its offspring belongs to the British culture in historical terms.
Many Biblical Prophecies suggest that Britain will play a crucial part in the New Age as the source from where the next wave of revolutions will spread all over the world. History is going to repeat itself here.