The Fall of BabylonMy Understanding: “Mystery Babylon” has continued to remain a mystery ever since John penned these words, as God’s scribe, nearly 2,000 years ago. There are all kinds of theories as to who this Mystery Babylon might actually be, yet none of us knows with absolute certainty and will probably not know until the time of judgment comes upon it. One thought is that “Mystery Babylon” is symbolic of a world political and religious system that stands opposed to God in general, while others see this as a literal place that comprises some type of a world empire, and others take this literally as the actual city of Babylon that has been rebuilt. Whatever view one takes, what is common among all of them is that this is a religious and political system that affects the entire world and it stands opposed to God.
1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
7 Give her as much torture and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
and I will never mourn.’
8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
9 “When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
O Babylon, city of power!
In one hour your doom has come!’
11 “The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14 “They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’
“Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
“‘Woe! Woe, O great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven!
Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets!
God has judged her for the way she treated you.’”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s great men.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints,
and of all who have been killed on the earth.”
During my quiet times with the Lord, over the years, the Lord has often shown me “Mystery Babylon” in the sense of the US government in marriage to the institutional church, which is why she (the church) is a prostitute, because the church in the USA has joined herself with another, the US government, and God has been calling his people, I believe, to come out from her, i.e. from partnership with the USA government and the world system, and to be his church only with only him as the head. In other ways, I have seen Mystery Babylon, on a world level, as a combination of Washington D.C., the US government, and NYC, which houses the UN (many people, nations and languages) and Wall Street (trading center).
I know of no other nation, presently, which wields such a powerful influence worldwide as does the USA, nor that has the strength of military power exercised worldwide as does the USA or that has the influence politically and financially as does the USA, which is presently the world’s most superpower. I also know of no other nation, presently, that has the wealth of the USA or that pushes its weight around the world in other nations and that kills, covets, destroys, ransacks, pillages, confiscates and rapes other nations and their people and their resources the way that the USA does, along with their allies. We call ourselves a “Christian nation” and have as our motto “In God we trust” and call ourselves “one nation under God,” and yet we behave in a manner worldwide that speaks just the opposite, which is another reason we are, or very well could be, the “great prostitute.” I believe we are.
On a more general level, though, this speaks of a worldwide political, social, secular and religious system that stands opposed to God, and God is calling his people to come out from her. The institutional church is part of this system as she is in partnership with the government, by choice, and chooses to adhere to whatever restrictions the government might place upon her, even if it means denying what messages God might want her to give out. The institutional church is also part of this system because, here in the USA, she has adopted so much of the world’s system into the church that there is hardly any difference between the world and the church anymore. The church just offers a cleaned up version of what the world is offering, and the focus is on appealing to the flesh of man either way. So, God is calling to his church to come out from her so that she can be wholly devoted to him as his pure bride ready to meet her husband.
In the section of this scripture passage where it describes Mystery Babylon as sitting as a queen and boasting that she is not a widow and she will never mourn, this strikes me as speaking of arrogance to think that we, the USA, the great nation, will never be judged by God because we are America, after all, and blessed by God, or so people would think. It also strikes me as arrogance among Christians in the USA who think they can pray a prayer at an altar to “receive Christ” and yet continue to live as though they had not with no honor of God and no awe of God as holy and no respect for who He is or for what He did when he died on the cross for our sins, and so they make a mockery of Christ’s death when they continue to live in their sin as though Jesus did not die to set them free, and then to add to their arrogance, they believe that they will never be judged for their actions and that Christ will rapture them from the earth before any judgment hits. So, basically they are saying that it was God’s responsibility to save them from their sin, but only the penalty of it, not the control of it, and that gives them the right to live how they want, now that they are under grace, and that also promises them that they will never have to face any kind of judgment. Wow! Such arrogance to think God is here just to serve us!!
When I read about the “city of power” being destroyed in “one hour,” I can’t help but recall the day on 9/11/01 that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed in one hour and how the world watched the smoke of her burning over and over and over again. I believe this was a judgment of God on our nation to try to cleanse us, but we would not be cleansed, so I believe more judgment has come and is coming upon our nation.
God is calling for his children to come out from her, i.e. to come out from this world system and political and religious system that stands opposed to God, and for us to be a pure bride unto Himself with Him only as our Lord and Master, to sit at his feet daily, to learn of Him and to obey Him in all that we do and say, because one day soon He is coming to judge the earth. We don’t want to share in the sins of the world and thus share in her judgments, too. We want to be found in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, with Him as our only desire, and found waiting for his return, so that we can one day reign with Him forever.
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlOWZlODlmOGQtOGQ3ZC00Nzg0LWIxYzAtNDQxMjE1MDk0OGZm&hl=en
No comments:
Post a Comment