Babylon persecution: Babylon persecutes God’s people (Christians). She is drunk with the blood of the prophets, saints and martyrs of Jesus (Rev 17:6, 18:20, 18:24, 19:2). All God’s people are the servants of God, who are spiritually slain by Babylon during the Great Tribulation (19:2). Persecution is a key feature of the Great Tribulation.

Parallel Passages – Persecution during Great Tribulation

Spiritual (Symbolic) Killing Key Verses

Ezekiel 14 – Famine, Evil Beasts, Sword, Pestilence

Summary

The Blood of God’s People

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Rev 17:6)
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. (Rev 18:20)
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Rev 18:24)
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. (Rev 19:2)

It is important to note that the church (Israel) was responsible for the killing of the Old Testament prophets (Mat 23:30, Mat 23:37, Mat 5:12, Mat 21:35-36, Mat 22:6, 2 Chr 24:21-22, Neh 9:26, Jer 2:30, Jer 26:23, Mk 12:3-6, Lk 20:11-14, Acts 7:5-52, 1 Thess 2:156, Rev 11:7, 1 Sam 22:18, etc.). This literal occurrence becomes a type of the spiritual martyrdom of all Christians as they live out their lives.

Although Babylon has made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wind of her fornication (Rev 17:2), she herself is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus (Rev 17:6). To be drunk means to be able to not be able to spiritually discern right from wrong. It is the opposite of being filled with the spirit (Eph 5:18) in order to be able to distinguish true from error. In her drunken stupor, Babylon cannot recognize that drinking the blood of the saints and martyrs is wrong. As the Bible teaches, the life of a person is in the blood (Lev 17:17). Babylon has spiritually taken the lives away from the saints and martyrs of Jesus. All true Christians are saints (Ro 1:7, 1 Pet 1:2, 15, 2:24, 2 Thess 2:13, Heb 13:1, Col 2:11-13, 1 Cor 1:2, etc.) and martyrs (which literally means witnesses – 2 Cor 1:12, 2 Thess 1:10, Heb 11:4, 1 John 1:2, 1 Tim 6:13, etc.).

It is Biblically incorrect that saints (i.e., holy ones) and martyrs (i.e., witnesses) are a higher class of Christians. All true Christians are holy and all true Christians have been crucified with Christ, die daily and were buried with Him (Gal 2:20, 5:24, 6:14, Ro 6:1-11, 1 Pet 2:24, Col 2:12, Is 53:9, 1 Cor 15:31, 2 Cor 11:23, 2 Cor 4:10-11). We are killed all the day long (Ro 8:36) as we are persecuted, die to self and live for Christ. Babylon has accounted true Christians in her midst as sheep to be slaughtered (Ro 8:36). We are made to be spectacles and fools for Christ as we stand for the truth of God. Babylon, in her love of the worship of other gods and idols of money, riches, pleasures, worldiness, etc. seek to silence and persecute the true believers in her midst that stand with Christ, live godly and speak the truth in love. All Christians are also referred to as servants (or slaves) of Christ (2 Tim 2:24, 1 Pet 2:16, Eph 6:5-6, Ro 6:15-23, Ja 1:1, 2 Pet 1:1, Rev 1:1, 22:6, etc.). As slaves, Christians will practice righteousness and would not want to participate in the worldliness of activities within Babylon. Unlike Babylon, Christians do not love the things of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17). However, Babylon lusts after the things of the world (Rev 18:14).

Finally, the reference to Babylon shedding the blood of all who were slain on the earth. Spiritually speaking, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15). To murder other people is to not love them, but to hate them. The greatest love we have for our brother is to desire their salvation. The standard of Jesus is that being angry with our brother is already considered as murder and calling him a fool is murder (Mat 5:21-22). We find in Pr 11:9 that a hypocrite, with his mouth, destroys his neighbor. Those who preach false gospels are akin to poisonous asps and their throat is as an open grave (Ro 3:13-16). With their tongues, they bend their bows with lies and are not valiant for the truth (Jer 9:3). These false prophets smite with their tongues (Jer 18:18) and sharpen their tongues like a serpent and are poisonous (Ps 140:3, James 3:8). Death and life is in the power on the tongue (Pr 18:21). Babylon uses her tongue to slay all those who inhabit the earth with her deadly poison of the false gospel of lust, worldliness and pervert the Gospel into lasciviousness (Jude 3-4). She brings a false gospel of a works-based, free-will salvation program (Gal 1:6-10, etc.). Christians in the corporate Christian church, Babylon, is like being among lions who are set on fire with teeth as spears and arrows and their tongues are like a sharp sword (Ps 57:4). Swords are in their lips (Ps 59:7, 64:3, 120:3) as we discover that our spiritual battle (Eph 6) is within the corporate church called Babylon.

In 1 Pet 5:13, God informs us that Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote 1 Peter while with the elect at the city of Babylon. It is interesting to observe that the over-riding theme of the book of 1 Peter is about suffering and the book was addressed to all the elect (chosen) in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Pet 1:1-2). The following sections discuss Christian suffering as: citizens in government (2:11-17), servants to earthly masters (2:18-25), in family relationships (3:1-12), in persecution (3:13-22), striving against sin (4:1-7), in Christian service (4:8-19, 5:1-11).

Parallel Passages – Persecution during Great Tribulation

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. (Mat 24:9-10)
… when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up … and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. (Dan 8:23-24)
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Rev 13:7)

Spiritual (Symbolic) Killing Key Verses

Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. (1Jn 3:15)
… Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Mat 5:21-22)
Raca = worthless

In the Bible, we find that killing a person not only can happen physically (martyrdom), but also in a spiritual sense when Christians are persecuted, hated and silenced within the church:

Christians die daily – Mat 24:9, 2 Cor 1:9, 4:10-12, 6:9,7:3, Ro 8:35-39, James 5:6, 1 John 3:15, 1 Cor 4:9, 15:31, Mat 5:21-22, Hab 1:2-4, James 2:9-11, Ps 94:1-7, 44:22, Rev 6:9, Mk 8:35
Christians Have Been Crucified with Christ – Gal 2:20, 5:24, 6:14, Ro 6:6
We are dead to sin and the law – Ro 6:6,11, Ro 8:10, 2 Tim 2:11, Ro 7:2-6, Gal 2:19, Col 2:10, 3:3 w/ 3:1-11, Ro 6:2-8, Eph 4:22
Killing by Words – Mat 5:21-22, Ro 3:13-15, Pr 11:9
Christians are living sacrifices – Rev 6:9-11, Ro 12:1-2, 6:13, 6:16, 6:19, Heb 10:22, 1 Pet 2:5, Phil 4:18, Ro 15:16, 2 Tim 4:6, Phil 2:17, John 16:2
Spiritual battle, not physical – Rev 6:3-4, Eph 6:11-12, 2 Tim 2;4, Col 1:13, 1 Pet 2:11, James 4:1
Sword between members of one’s own family – Mat 10:34-36, Lk 12:51-53
Afflicted, killed, and hated ‑ Mat 24:9, Mk 13:9, Lk 21:12
Slain for Word of God and testimony – Rev 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 11:7-10
Beast has war with saints – Rev 13:8, 6:3-4
Offended, betrayed, and hated ‑ Mat 24:10, Mk 13:12‑13, Lk 21:16‑19

As we see in many places in the Bible, Christians are put to death when they suffer for the sake of Christ. In essence, they die to the fleshly desires of life as they serve Christ. In this sense the flesh has been crucified with Christ, so Christians can live in the spirit. We also find in 1 John 3:15 that whoever hates Christians is spiritually speaking a murderer. They essentially silence Christians by not accepting them or considering what they have to say. In the Great Tribulation Olivet Discourse passage, we find the following ‘killing’:

Delivered up to tribulation and killed (hated of all nations for Jesus’ sake), betrayed and hate one another – Mat 24:9-10, Mk 13:9-13, Lk 21:12-19
Nation against nations, kingdom against kingdom – Lk 21:9-10, Mat 24:6-7, Mk 13:7-8
Famines and pestilences – Lk 21:11

Ezekiel 14 – Famine, Evil Beasts, Sword, Pestilence

In Ezekiel 14, we find a prophecy regarding the desolation of the land of Judah. This prophecy warns that even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in the land, God would still cut-off man and beast from the land due to the wickedness of the people (Eze 14:14, 16, 18, 20). The four sore judgments on the land are:

Famine (Eze 14:13, see also Eze 4:16 (desolation), Eze 5:16-17, Lev 26:26, Is 3:1, Jer 15:2-3, Lam 4:9-10, Mat 24:7, Lk 21:11, etc.)
- Spiritually represents the famine of not hearing the Word of God – e.g., Amos 8:11, Mat 4:4, Deut 8:3, Is 30:20, Is 55:2-3, Is 55:10-11
Evil Beasts (Eze 14:15, see also Eze 5:16-17, Lev 26:22, 1 Ki 20:36 (lion), 2 Ki 17:25, Jer 15:3, Eze 34:5, Hos 2:12, Ez 29:5, 33:26‑29, Jer 7:33, etc.)
- Spiritually represents the ministers of Satan – e.g., Rev 13:1-10, 17:6, Titus 1:12, Acts 28:4, John 10:12 (wolf among sheep either catches them or scatters them – John 10:12), 1 Pet 5:8 (lion), Is 35:9, Eze 34:5 (no shepherd, beast present – see Jer 23:1-2), Rev 13:14-15, 20:4 (image of the beast), Rev 13:16-18, 20:4 (mark of the beast), Satan as the serpent (Gen 3:1), etc.
Sword (Eze 14:17, see also Jer 15:2-3, Eze 5:12, 5:17, Eze 221:3-4, 9-15, Eze 29:8, Lev 26:25, Jer 25:9, etc.)
- Represents spiritual warfare (e.g., Rev 13:7, 13:15, Eph 6:17, 2 Cor 10:3-5)
- Satan uses the Bible – Mat 4:6
- Bible is sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17) but God only reveals spiritual truth to His people (1 Cor 2:10, Mat 13:10-17) through the Holy Spirit (John 14:16)
- Killing by words / tongue ‑ 1 John 3:15, Mat 5:21‑22, Pr 11:9, Ro 3:13‑15, Jer 9:3, 18:18, Ps 140:3, Ro 3:13, James 3:8, Pr 18:21, Ps 52:4, 57:4, 59:7, 64:3, 120:2
- Christians die daily – Mat 24:9, 2 Cor 1:9, 4:10-12, 6:9,7:3, Ro 8:35-39, James 5:6, 1 John 3:15, 1 Cor 4:9, 15:31, Mat 5:21-22, Hab 1:2-4, James 2:9-11, Ps 94:1-7, 44:22, Rev 6:9, Mk 8:35
- Christians are living sacrifices – Rev 6:9-11, Ro 12:1-2, 6:13, 6:16, 6:19, Heb 10:22, 1 Pet 2:5, Phil 4:18, Ro 15:16, 2 Tim 4:6, Phil 2:17, John 16:2
- Spiritual battle, not physical – Rev 6:3-4, Eph 6:11-12, 2 Tim 2:4, Col 1:13, 1 Pet 2:11, James 4:1
- Sword between members of one’s own family – Mat 10:34-36, Lk 12:51-53
- Afflicted, killed, and hated ‑ Mat 24:9, Mk 13:9, Lk 21:12
- Slain for Word of God and testimony – Rev 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 11:7-10
- Beast has war with saints – Rev 13:8, 6:3-4
- Offended, betrayed, and hated ‑ Mat 24:10, Mk 13:12‑13, Lk 21:16‑19
Pestilence (Eze 14:19, see also Lev 26:14-16, Eze 5:12, Deut 28:21-22, Deut 28:59-61, Ps 91:3, 91:6, Jer 14:12, Jer 24:10, Mat 24:7, Lk 21:11)
- Spiritually represents spiritual sickness of sin – Mat 8:17, Eze 34:4, Ps 102:4, Pr 13:12, Ps 38:2-3, Is 1:4-6, Jer 8:22, Jer 30:12, Is 53:4-5, 1 Tim 1:10, 2 Tim 1:13, 4:3, Titus 1:9,13, 2:1-2, 1 Cor 11:26-30, Jer 31:8, Ps 41:4, 103:1-4, 1 Pet 2:24, John 9:39, 12:40, Is 35:5-6, Acts 28:7, Mal 4:2)
- Healing is Salvation ‑ Jer 31:8, John 9:39, 12:40, Is 35:5‑6, 53:3‑5, Acts 28:27, Mal 4:2, Ps 107:20, 19:22, Jer 8:22, Ps 30:2, 33:6, Job 5:18, Ex 23:25
- Healing of the nations ‑ Ps 147:3, Is 6:10, 57:18‑19, Jer 17:14, Mal 4:2, Hos 14:4, Ez 47:8‑11, Rev 22:2
- Healed from sickness of iniquity ‑ Is 57:19
- Heals bruise / wound of sin ‑ Is 30:6, Jer 30:14‑17, Micah 1:9, Nah 3:19, Deut 32:39, Is 53:5
- Heal unfaithfulness ‑ Jer 3:22
- Heal soul from sin ‑ Ps 41:4
- Heal iniquity, Heal diseases ‑ Ps 103:1‑4
- Healed from transgression ‑ Is 53:5, 1 Pet 2:24
- Heal from disease ‑ Ex 15:26
- Heal brokenhearted ‑ Ps 147:3

Although the above four sore judgments physically occurred to Israel, they can also be summarized spiritually as follows as activities that occur during the Great Tribulation:

Famine – no bread of life, no Word of God, lack of Bible teaching (replaced with other false doctrines / teaching – idol of wisdom)
Evil Beasts – Satan’s ministers desolating the land (wolves in the midst of the sheep – John 10:12) – results in catching sheep and devouring them or scattering them
Sword – spiritual warfare, the righteous being persecuted, divided, hated and/or silenced

Pestilence – Pestilence – The church is a sin-sick environment

Summary

In summary, the blood shed by Babylon resulting in death should not be taken literally. To be spiritually killed means to be persecuted for one’s true Christian faith and be silences by those who teach false things about God. In this sense, we die daily in our spiritual warfare for the cause of Christ.