When I read 'Babylon' in Revelation, what picture should come to mind?
Babylon in Revelation should bring to mind the whole global picture: the world's religions, politics, and economics intertwined as one worldwide system. It represents the entire social fabric of the world, which Scripture can call Babylon, and its other name, Babel, means confusion.
Les teaches that whenever you see the word Babylon in Revelation, you should always think of the whole global picture. Babylon is comprised of the world's religions, the world's politics, and the world's economics. Those three areas make up the whole social fabric of the world, and they are all intertwined. He illustrates this with former Yugoslavia, where the crux of the problem is religion, but religion gets entwined with politics, and then with economics, forming the world's system. Since the world is getting smaller and events move quickly, the Bible can rightfully call that whole system one word, Babylon. The other word for Babylon, or Babel, is confusion.