Babylon Rising (updated and expanded): And The First Shall Be Last

I must admit that I am a bit of a sucker for the conspiracy theories as I find some of these conspiratorial perspectives to be, at a minimum, somewhat interesting to read and watch. With that said, there are some books that may seem at first glance to be nothing more than a bunch of crazy summations by people with rather imaginative minds, efforts worthy of the Science Fiction channel but in reality, when you dig in to the material presented, what may have seemed like mere coincidence begins to be in reality, something far more worth of discussion and focus. It is this latter element that forms the basis of the discussion in Rob Skiba's book, Babylon Rising: And the Last Shall be First. Prior to reading Skiba's book, I had taken the opportunity to watch a few of the videos he has produced that are available on his website as well as on YouTube. In those videos, Skiba discussed a number of interesting perspectives on anything from what took place in Genesis 6 to who was Nimrod to the reasons as to why there are so many mythical gods displayed in our nation's capital. Again, for many this is nothing but empty conspiracy theories. I will submit that after watching these videos and reading Babylon Rising along with some additional research, it would be a bit incorrect to toss out what has been so often been considered in the minds of many as conspiracy theory nonsense. Skiba presents a number of interesting theses, to include what was taking place in Genesis 6, in particular the issue of who or what the Nephilim were and why anyone should care. As noted earlier, while some may disagree with Skiba's conclusions, one cannot deny that something rather odd was taking place in Genesis 6, an event that Scripture notes has some relation to end times events. Furthermore, the whole issue of Nimrod and his definite impact on history, especially the formation of pagan god worship throughout the centuries, is yet another very interesting topic worth reading. If one does a bit of historical studies regarding the development of the gods, especially the gods of the Ancient Near East (ANE), Egypt, Greece, and Rome, they will be able to trace how those pantheons of gods worshipped by those cultures has its roots in the worship of Nimrod. Perhaps the most captivating element of Babylon Rising for me was the discussion of the rather odd inclusion of pagan gods in and around the capitol of the United States. This of course begs the question as to why so much pagan architecture is part of the capitol and if the inclusion of such iconography has any relevant meaning. For Skiba, the answer is unequivocally in the affirmative that at least some degree of paganism found its way into the establishment and governance of our country. For some readers, that may be a rather shocking statement given the manner in which the founding fathers are typically depicted as devout men of God who founded this country on a solid foundation of biblical principles. The reader will need to make their own conclusions based on the evidence provided and in doing so, will have to decide if the evidence presented is merely coincidence or something much more. Is the involvement of many of our nation's leaders in secret societies just some sort of men's club or does the inclusion in the Skull and Bones or Freemasonry mean that our leaders are to some degree pursuing an agenda which is not all that righteous. Again, this for many is included in the realm of conspiracy theory, but the evidence presented certainly is worth considering. A final issue raised by Skiba in this book is that of holidays such as Christmas and Easter. For many readers, the issue over whether to celebrate Christmas and Easter can be a thorny one, especially since Christmas is the time most people celebrate the birth of Christ and Easter is the time believers remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Certainly there can be nothing wrong with those holidays, despite yet again, questions and issues that have been presented by several authors as to the roots of some of the trappings of both holidays. Typically, most respond to the assertion that such holidays should be avoided by noting passages such as Colossians 2:16-17. However, as rightly noted by Skiba, God has provided a list of Feasts that He has determined should be celebrated by all believers in remembrance of what God has done throughout history. This certainly begs the question as to whether December 25th and Easter fit into that festival construct. Again, this is something the reader will need to decide and Skiba certainly provides some very compelling thoughts to consider on this often thorny subject. It is very interesting as Skiba points out that the early church fathers such as Tertullian were very adamant about not celebrating pagan holidays or associating themselves in any manner with such festivals or customs. The discussion by Skiba regarding the possible birthday of Jesus as occurring during the cycle of the fall feasts was for me rather fascinating. Having recently concluded a pretty thorough study of all the Feasts of the Lord, what Skiba presents is certainly within the realm of reality. Moreover, Jesus being born during the Feast of Trumpets and coming again during the Feast of Trumpets certainly would be nice bookends if you will regarding his initial incarnation and his second coming. If anything, it provides some valid food for thought in regards to the issue that exists between something such as the Feasts of the Lord and December 25th, a day the pagans celebrated the birth of their gods. Overall, this proved to be a very fascinating and worthwhile book. As noted on a number of occasions in this review, there are many issues Skiba raises that many will toss out as mere conspiracy and nonsense. Those who take that approach I believe will miss out on some topics to take under consideration. One thing is certain and that is at the end of days there will be some very odd things taking place. What those will ultimately be is arguably a matter of debate. In that spirit of discussion, Skiba's book is well worth the read as it presents a wide range of interrelated concepts, ideas, and subjects that are gaining in popularity of thought and rightly so in my estimation.

This is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read and it changed my life. Rob Skiba weaves together a tale of the Old Testament that is not taught today in many churches, but the evidence presented makes it hard not to believe. It also makes you understand all of the insane violence of the Old Testament. So many parts of the Bible were an enigma to me before i started following Rob Skiba’s work. Thank you so much Sheila for giving me this book it really changed my life, and RIP to such a great and God fearing man Rob Skiba. I know you are in heaven as i write this and cannot wait to shake your hand one day! Buy this book its beyond worth the read!!!

Rob Skiba makes many good points about the problems within the Church and us as Christians. He introduces the Nephlim theory and how it truly can be the "key" to understanding and making sense of the scripture as a whole. I Do however call into question his theories on OBL/UBL as well as the shooting down of Extortion 17. Also, the idea of Iraq rising to become THE superpower of the world. Nonetheless, his theories are all caviotted as his own interpretations and do give us things to be watchful of. Skiba does remind us to perform our own research and always ties it back to putting on the full armor of God, which includes living as Jesus would and building our relationship with Christ. This has been an eye opening read for me and I can't wait to read the following books in the series.

Overall, the research presented in this book regarding Nimrod and numerology and secrets of "New Atlantis" (ie America) and Illuminati/secret societies, etc are very good. Some of this information was new, some of it I knew from previous research. However, the main problem of this book comes from his theory of the Nephilium and the literal resurrection of Nimrod as the Anti-Christ. While Nimrod (and his many other names described in this and other research like Gilgamesh, Osiris, Orion etc) can be seen as a symbolic antichrist, he speculates throughout the book that Nimrod will literally be Nephilim reincarnated and that he will be the coming antichrist. Firstly, the Nephilim. In Genesis 6, the nephillum along with everyone else were wiped out. Only 8 people were left (Noah's family). 1 Peter 3:20 compliments this and states "[...] In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water". He tries to use Numbers 13:33 to basically say that Anak reported that they were like grasshoppers compared to the giants. However, he is only taking this one verse and not referring to the whole passage. As mentioned before, the nephilim were wiped out. However, they had legendary status, just as some sports figures, for example, exhibit in our culture. In Numbers 13:31-32 Bible states "But the men who had gone up with him said, 'we can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are.' And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said 'The land we explored devours those living it it. All people we saw were of great size' [...]." You see how he takes one verse to say they reported that the descendants of Anak (nephilim) were giants roaming the land and they were like grasshoppers to them? He does not look at the previous verses that state these were false reports. These were basically reports based on what i like to refer to it as "legendary status." Secondly, the theory of Nimrod being the literal resurrected Nephilim and antichrist (through DNA? cloning?). I do believe it is important and Skiba does a real good job in understanding Nimrod and his connections to modern day. Nimrod was the birth and father of pretty much all occult religions/teachings or "Babylonian philosophy" (Revelation 17:5, "Babylon the Great"). Pretty much the origins of most secret societies and black arts stem from "Babylon the great" and Nimrod. From him, you literally get the gods of the Egyptians, astrology etc which are still alive today. People may say "I'm a Mason, I don't believe in that." People must understand, groups like Masons are an organization within an organization. True, the lowly commoner (me for instance) may not believe or be involved in it that way, but the true elite and very high level members hold to the original practices and beliefs that stem from thousands of years ago (ancient babylon, solomon's temple). But that is topic for a whole other debate. The Bible clearly states that the fourth beast had ten horns and a little horn (antichrist) arose from the ten (Daniel 7:7-8). It also states "[...] and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully." You can also refer to Revelation 17:12-13. The antichrist will come from 10 nation union, then take over 3 nations in this union. Many people believe this is from ancient Roman empire, or present day European Union. More recently, I've come to like Perry Stone's interpretation based on current events and the inevitable fall of the dollar (once the dollar loses its place as the world's reserve currency, which is much, much sooner than some people and mainstream media want you to realize). He believes the antichrist will be actually be Muslim (the al Mahdi, Islam's messiah figure). According to this view, the al Mahdi will use Arab gold and oil reserves to finance the new world economy after the "western world" economies crash. He will use a nuclear device to destroy Rome (Babylon the Great) and the False Prophet (Stone believes to be an apostate pope) will move from the Vatican to Jerusalem where he will establish a world religion based on a merger of Christianity and Islam..."Chrislam." Regardless if the antichrist is a strong man from Europe or a fanatical Muslim from the Middle East, he will be a regular man, ordained in destiny to be used by satan and will be given supernatural powers through satan. Thus, the wiped out Nephilim will not be reincarnated through Nimrod and, in turn, be the antichrist. Hopefully, this helps. Although I find fault in the two points mentioned above, the rest of the book is good. So I think this book is still worth reading. ***update: 1/13/15 I apologize for not keeping up with all the comments, but I felt it was at least important to update my understanding of the end times. It dawned on me while watching John Hagee's recent sermon "The Antichrist is Here." Above, I mentioned a 10 nation union and 3 nations being uprooted. These have been the more "traditional" views in the past. Considering the current world events and more research, I believe a more accurate scenario is the world will be divided into "10 Unions." The 7 heads and 10 horns in the Bible fits this scenario very well. An economioc czar (antichrist) will be appointed or arise to "save" the world. He will divide the world into 10 regions or "unions." Men will be appointed over these global regions. Conflict will arise and then the antichrist conquers 3 of the 10 (Daniel 7:24). Hence, you will have the beast of revelation: 10 heads (unions) and 7 crowns (leaders). Revelations 17:12-13 states "these 10 horns have one mind (one common purpose)..." --> Common purpose or common agenda or goal --> new world order and waging war against the Lamb. There will be one currency and one religion. In 1973, the Club of Rome published a report entitled "Regionalized and Adaptive Model of the Global World System," which was authored by Eduard Pestel and Mihajlo Mesarovic. The report outlined the Club's intention to divide the world into ten economical/political regions called "kingdoms." I believe about five years ago or so the United Nations had their "Millennium Development Goals." Among these is the creation of 10 regional groupings. The current situation regarding shaky world economics and political situations (e.g., Middle East, Russia, etc.) make this a very viable scenario. Regardless of how it comes about, Jesus and those covered by his blood will no doubt be victorious.

There are countless words to describe this book, but let's just sum it and say it's a MUST READ for all believers!! It will open your eyes to all the lies and the deceit pushed forward by the Luciferian Elite, who ultimately control our lives and this world. I have now purchased over 10 copies of this wonderful book, and handed them out to anyone I care about, and even a few atheists with an open mind. Everyone loves the book! Thank you Rob Skiba for your extensive research and pro-founding explanations. God Bless, Tyler Hartman

If we profess our faith and trust in YHVH, our Creator and God and in his Son, our Lord and Savior, Yeshua the Messiah, we should search the Scriptures ourselves diligently to live in His Truth. The devil is a liar and the father of all lies.

Rob Skiba opened my eyes. I was searching when I found him and he was and even in death continues to be such a blessing with hisnresource materials and books

Haven't finished it yet, but so far it's an amazing book. I discovered Rob Skiba on YouTube, and found his videos intelligent and thought provoking. I'm glad I ordered the book. In this age of instant gratification & zero attention spans, it's good to be able to read his words, then pause and maybe read them again. Or even as he suggests, go research yourself & then pick it up again. This is one of those books that if you decide to read a "few pages" before bed, you might be late for work tomorrow.