For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. -2 Thessalonians 2:7

The Mystery of Iniquity is Mystery Babylon invading the Christian church, and it started its iniquity invasion when the church was very young:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. -Matthew 13:31-33

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up -Matthew 13:3-4

The fowls are the birds of Matthew 13:31-33. The birds lodging in the tree representing the Kingdom of Heaven are unclean spirits, false teachers, and wolves in sheep's clothing, leavening some Mystery Babylon teachings into the church.

Before I continue, I want to show a quick distinction between the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven. I will quote from God's Plan for Man:

"The kingdom of Heaven is not now the literal reign of Heaven over the Earth, but is the sphere of profession, or the professing Christian world. ... In the next dispensation, the Millennium, the kingdom of Heaven ceases to be the sphere of profession and becomes the real, literal kingdom of the Son of Man. ... The kingdom of God, means the sovereignty of God over the universe and includes and embraces the kingdom of Heaven and all other realms in the whole universe. It is moral and universal and has existed from the beginning and will know no end. The kingdom of God existed even before the creation of the Earth."

The above was quoted from pages 558 and 559.

Therefore, the above two parables are in the realm of those professing Christ. Only true Christians can be in the kingdom of God, but in the current kingdom of heaven, there are those who are really of the kingdom, true Christians, and those who claim to profess, but who in actuality, do not. As we learn from the parables that preceed the ones quoted above, the enemy, Satan, sewed tares with the wheat. Until both the special wheat and tares mature, one cannot tell which is the true wheat, and which is the poisonous weed. This is where we are, right now in the kingdom of heaven in the sphere of profession.

Since we have now established that the above two parables cannot be referring to rapid church growth, we can look more closely at these parables. Notice the above calls the mustard seed "the least of all seeds." The mustard seed in a rabbinic saying, refers to anything minute, or incredibly small. Thus the reason Jesus said "faith as a grain of mustard seed" in Matthew 17:20 and Luke 17:6.

While Christians walk in the Kingdom of God, we are currently in this world, which, at the moment is Satan's Kingdom. However, since we've been born again, Satan is no longer our king - Jesus is.

This fallen world is currently under the rulership of Satan, and he has claimed this kingdom since the fall of man. This is why the devil offered rule to Jesus, if Jesus would just bow to Satan:

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. -Matthew 4:8-9

Satan is currently the god of this fallen world:

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. -2 Corinthians 4:3-4

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience -Ephesians 2:2

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. -John 14:30

Those who are not born again are of this world, and therefore Satan is their ruler, whether they know it or not. Those who are saved and born again, are not of the world, and therefore are not under the dominion of Satan, the current prince of this world. True Christians are under Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. -John 18:36

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. -John 17:16-18

Christians are strangers and pilgrims in this fallen world - the kingdom of Satan.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul -1 Peter 2:11

Don't let the things of this world distract you from what's really going on:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. -Ephesians 6:12

Satan is the current king of this fallen world. He has the Beast System in place to control the world, and he also has Mystery Babylon - the Woman who rides the Beast set up to control money and religion. To better understand the Mystery of Iniquity, and some of the fowl birds in the tree, we need to study Babylon. The other day, I was reading through the book of Jeremiah, when I came across the below Scripture, which was referring to Babylon's destruction:

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. -Jeremiah 50:39

This hasn't happened yet. Babylon has inhabitants.

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations. -Jeremiah 50:45-46

Obviously, the above is also talking about the second destruction that hasn't happened yet, because the second destruction will be "heard among the nations," and we know it's not just a city Babylon, because the above says "the land of the Chaldeans."

How do I know there is a double destruction of Babylon? I know this, because the first destruction was when the Medes and Persians came on the scene, as prophesied. The second one has a different description than the first. We have not only the "heard among the nations" clue, but also:

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. - Jeremiah 50:40

Is Babylon inhabited? Yes. After the second destruction, it will be as Sodom and Gomorrah, for no person shall inhabit it again.

If you continue studying Babylon throughout the Scriptures, then you can see that Babylon isn't considered just a physical locale. Babylon is a headquarters for the Mystery Babylon religion:

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. -Jeremiah 51:7

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: And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. -Revelation 17:4-5

In the Old Testament Scripture, Babylon was "a golden cup in the Lord's hand." In the New Testament Scripture, it's a "golden cup in her hand." Not only are there two destructions of Babylon, but there are also two Babylons.

The Babylon with the golden cup in the Lord's hand was the Babylon that was destroyed via the invasion of the Medes and Persians. The golden cup (gold representing Babylon according to Daniel 2) was in the Lord's hand, because He worked through, and used the Babylonian kings during this time to accomplish His will. The Babylonian kings generally followed the Mystery Babylon cult, of which one of the symbols was a golden cup, however God used their evil to accomplish His good. We especially see this with the Babylonian king Nebuchanezzar/Nebucharezzar.

The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, and the one taken over by the Medes and Persians, is in modern day Iraq. Jeremiah 50 and 51 prophesy of the Mede and Persian invasion destruction, and then of a later destruction that hasn't happened yet. This is much in the same style as how the Old Testament often portrays both comings of Christ in one, and both of the resurrections as one.

When will this second destruction of the Iraq-Babylon happen? Let us turn to Isaiah for more details:

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. -Isaiah 13:9-20

The above shows us that the second destruction of Babylon happens at the Day of the Lord. Notice the above passage mentions the Medes, but not the Persians. I think this may prove significant. If you looked very deeply into the end times, then you know that the Day of the Lord happens at the end of the seven year tribulation. Meanwhile, we read of the city Mystery Babylon being destroyed just prior to the Day of the Lord, as we see in Revelation chapter 18.

This Babylon is given some different geographical details than the Iraq Babylon. The Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18 sits on seven hills, and is by a sea.

We see that Iraq Babylon gets destroyed twice. The first time already happened, and the second time will happen during the Day of the Lord. Before the Day of the Lord, but during the tribulation, the Mystery Babylon city will be destroyed.

We see in Revelation 17:16 that the ten kings destroy Babylon. As we see in the next verse, God is using them as an instrument to bring His judgment on Babylon.

Question - Is it the Iraq Babylon where the great destruction of Revelation chapter 18 occurs? Where is the headquarters for Mystery Babylon? Will it be in Iraq at that time - in the original geographical Babylon location? Let's take a look at an important clue, in one of the chapters where Revelation is describing the destruction of the Mystery Babylon city:

For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! -Revelation 18:17-18

The Babylon that gets destroyed in Revelation 18 has to be in an area where there is shipping, a sea, and where its destruction smoke can be seen from the distance from the sea.

Let us take a look at a map of where the original Babylon was, which is where Iraq is, today.

Map, showing the location of Babylon:

Besides the river Euphrates, I don't see any major waterways. It appears Babylon is landlocked.

Is the river Euphrates a "sea?" No. Further, the Euphrates river will be dried up before Mystery Babylon City is destroyed, and thus not a waterway to Babylon:

And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. -Revelation 16:12

The headquarters for Mystery Babylon, therefore, will not be in the original physical Babylon locale by the time of Revelation 18. The Babylon that is destroyed then has to have sea access.

We must therefore find out where the Mystery Babylon headquarters are, and that will lead us to the Babylon of Revelation 18...

Mystery Babylon originated at the Tower of Babel. This mystery religion was founded by Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. Nimrod's deified names recorded in the Bible, as his father, his son, and himself, are: Baal, Bel, Molech/Moloch, Dagon, Chemosh, and more. Semiramis doesn’t appear in the Bible under that name. In the Scriptures we only see her deified names of "Queen of Heaven," Ashtoreth/Ashteroth, Astarte, Diana, etc.

After the division and confusion of tongues, the peoples took their Mystery Babylon religious practices and names for their false gods, and continued this apostate religion in different areas around the world, with different names, since they now spoke different languages.

In Daniel chapter two, we see the major world powers that play out in biblical prophecy. We see that Babylon was represented by the metal gold. There were the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and then the Romans. The metal the Bible gives to prophetically represent Rome is iron. On the prophetic calendar, we are currently in the foot of Daniel's statue (please read Daniel chapter 2). The Roman Empire is still the world power, however it has morphed, so that now it is iron mixed with clay. Rome continues to be the empire, even down to the future-rising ten kings, which are the ten toes on the statue, and the ten horns in Revelation.

The Mystery Babylon headquarters followed the prophesied world powers of the day. Since we are in the foot of the statue, we need to see the world kingdom for what it really is. We need to recognize the iron mixed with clay. In the Bible, clay represents man, and iron represents Rome. Therefore the iron and clay mixture is a mixture of the Roman Empire and other governments of man.

Mystery Babylon is described in Revelation as a woman riding the beast of the world system. Since the last metal in Daniel's statue is iron, and iron represents Rome, then Rome must be the current, and final headquarters of Mystery Babylon. Rome is Babylon.

Was/is Rome Babylon? Let's see what some others have to say:

Tertullian (155–222) "So, again, Babylon, in our own John, is a figure of the city Rome, as being equally great and proud of her sway, and triumphant over the saints."

Hippolytus [170-236] "Tell me, blessed John, apostle and disciple of the Lord, what didst thou see and hear concerning Babylon? Arise, and speak; for it sent thee also into banishment." John was banished by Rome.

Eusebius [325AD] "And Peter makes mention of Mark in his first epistle which they say that he wrote in Rome itself, as is indicated by him, when he calls the city, by a figure, Babylon" Referring to 1 Peter 5:13

St. Jerome [382AD] "Read the apocalypse of John, and consider what is sung therein of the woman arrayed in purple, and of the blasphemy written upon her brow, of the seven mountains, of the many waters, and of the end of Babylon. 'Come out of her, my people,' so the Lord says, 'that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.' It is true [of] that Rome..."

Augustine [425AD] "Rome herself is like a second Babylon..... To be brief, the city of Rome was rounded, like another Babylon, and as it were the daughter of the former Babylon,"

Geneva Bible Notes [1599] "That harlot, the spiritual Babylon, which is Rome."

Matthew Henry [1662-1714] "Seven heads: They have a double significance: 1) Seven mountains - the seven hills on which Rome stands. 2) Seven kings - seven sorts of government."

The Scofield Study Bible "...[A]postate Christendom, headed up under the Papacy."

The King James Study Bible [Nelson publishing] "The city of Rome was known throughout the ancient world as a city built on seven hills or mountains. John notes that the wise mind will make the proper identification. The woman apparently represents idolatrous, anti-God civilization, centered at Rome but with worldwide influence."

If the Mystery Babylon headquarters are in Rome, then we need to recall that Mystery Babylon is a religious entity as well as a city. What religious entity resides in Rome, and has worldwide influence? Vatican, the seat and capitol of ROMAN Catholicism.

What does the Vatican say? Do they see Rome as Babylon? They too have admitted it. Below is a quote from the official "Holy See" Vatican website:

"[I]n addition to the Letters of St Paul, there are also two other Letters under the name of St Peter. The first ends with an explicit greeting from Rome, which, however, appears under the apocalyptic pseudonym of Babylon: 'She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings' (1 Pt 5: 13)" Quoted from Vatican.va

Rome herself says that Rome is an "apocalyptic pseudonym of Babylon."

The evidence is mounting up. Rome being Babylon certainly looks feasible. What about sea access? The Babylon of Revelation chapter 18 has to have sea access.

Let's consult a map to see:

According to what I've found online, Rome is only 14 miles from the Mediterranean Sea. There's the sea access.

Sea access isn't the only clue as to the location of final Babylon in the Scriptures. Let's look deeper, because we want be sure.

Before reading further, it is imperative that you read Revelation chapter 17. You can do so here.

From Revelation 17, Mystery Babylon:

"sitteth upon many waters" - In Revelation, waters are defined as many nations - ("The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" -Rev. 17:15b). All nations seem to have ties with Rome. Kings, presidents, the rich and famous all around the globe seem to make various pilgrimages to see the Pope.

"With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication" - This is spiritual fornication. We are supposed to be true to the Heavenly Father. The Bible says to call no one Father, but God. Notice the capital 'F.' This means the title of "Father." Lower case 'f' is simply your dad. Your dad is your father, but no one is Father, but God, because God is our Heavenly Father. "Pope" means Father! Pope is a title. Pope comes from the Latin 'Papa,' which means Father. We can read in the newspapers about prime minsters, kings, and presidents going to speak to the Pope. It doesn't stop there. We even see Protestants partaking:

-- The only name Pope Francis wants divided Christians to call each other is "brother" or "sister."

-- His voice breaking with emotion, Giovanni Traettino, a Pentecostal pastor in southern Italy and longtime friend of Pope Francis, welcomed the Pope, "my beloved brother," to his partially built church in Caserta.

-- The head of the World Evangelical Alliance applauded Pope Francis’ meeting Monday with Pentecostals in Caserta, Italy

--A Priest speaks on behalf of the Pope at a Kenneth Copeland Conference, and says he came in the "spirit of Elijah," to "turn the hearts of the sons to the fathers."

From the home page of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, on 02-28-2014:

Billy Graham and a Pope - Nov. 1982

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. -Matthew 6:24

For the love of money is the root of all evil -1 Timothy 6:10a

Almost every Christian church in existence has some things in it that are from Mystery Babylon. Come on - steeples? They originally represented Nimrod's penis. They are obelisks.

The cross? It was used as a symbol for pagans long before Jesus was crucified. Why was He crucified on a cross shape, anyways? Why not an X, or a stake? Because the cross stood for Tammuz - another name for Nimrod, or his son, which was claimed to be Nimrod reincarnated.

"The followers of Tammuz also marked the forehead with a cross! ... A pagan sign of the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, this cross was a symbol of the Roman god Mithras and the Greek Attis, and their forerunner Tammuz, the Sumerian solar god, consort of the goddess Ishtar. Conveniently, the original form of the letter 'T' was the initial letter of the god of Tammuz. During baptism ceremonies, this cross was marked on the foreheads by the pagan priest."

The above was quoted here from Answering-Christianity.com

The Mystery Babylon cross marked on the forehead, is now the Ash Wednesday cross on foreheads of Roman Catholics: