The Fall Of Babylon
 

Revelation Chapters 17 and 18 are another parenthesis in the chronology of the prophetic events in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. They are a flashback to the judgment of the 7th vial, and they explain and expand the proclamations of Rev. 14:8: “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

And Rev. 16:19: “And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”

Revelations, Chapter 17:

John was invited by one of the seven angels with the vials to: "Come, and I will show you..." and so, with John sharing his visionary journey in the Spirit, we take our front row seats to watch and listen as this drama unfolds before us. The subject is the judgment of the great harlot that "sitteth upon many waters: 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." (Verses 1-2)

The waters that the harlot sits upon are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues (see verse 15). She has lured the kings and the leaders of the earth to commit fornication with her. Spiritual fornication is an association with idolatry. Christians who love and embrace the world commit spiritual fornication. First John 2:15 says: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Notice that the leaders of earth commit the fornication, but the inhabitants of the earth are made drunk with the wine of this fornication. The religiosity of this harlot church, spiked with political and religious idolatry, has drugged the masses with massive propaganda.

This is the church of the tribulation, an ecumenical one-world religious system, established and governed by the false prophet. His control over the masses is so dominating, so overwhelming, the masses are "drunk" with the wine that flows continually from the spiritual marriage of the political regime of the antichrist and the abominable theocratic religious system of the false prophet. Government married the church and they became one. Horrors! This is why we fought for our independence from England, Rome, France, Spain, and every other threat to put us in this type of bondage. Such a marriage produces deception and idolatrous confusion, and that is what drunkenness is - confusion.

Rev. 17: 3-6:  "So he (the angel) carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 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."

This harlot is the tribulation world church. She rides a scarlet colored beast with seven heads and ten horns. We first saw this beast in Chapter 13:1 when John stood upon the sand of the sea and saw the beast rise up out of the sea. However, the beast is now scarlet color, perhaps a picture of the bloody trail he blazed as he rose to power. This beast is the antichrist, and the Babylonian religious system portrayed by the woman rides the back of the beast. The picture is one of unbelievable deception and tremendous wealth. And every known kind of filthiness and abomination fills her golden cup.

She is a mother of harlots, so she has daughters. She is a type of the ancient Babylon, and every pagan work that ancient Babylon did, modern Babylon will do as well. She will oppress God’s people and enforce her false religion laws, even unto the death of the lawbreakers. Practically all of earth’s idolatry can be traced back to the idolatries of ancient Babylon, as far back as the tower of Babel (Genesis: 11:1-9), and these include the mother-child cult of Semiramis-Tammuz (Jeremiah 44:16-19), and other cultural gods such as Ashtaroth-Baal, Aphrodite-Eros, Venus-Cupid, and even Madonna-Child. Others have been incorporated into various cultures through the ages, and have become widespread religions, but whose roots are nonetheless found in ancient Babylon.

She sits as a queen and rules with a jeweled fist of iron. She has martyred countless millions of saints and prophets throughout the ages, from both the Old and the New Testament eras. She will continue to do so in the time of the Great Tribulation.

The members of her church will include those lukewarm, half-hearted Christians left behind when the true Church was raptured, and all those that now believe but have little or no real knowledge or understanding of the truth of the Gospel. They will believe the rhetoric and propaganda of the false prophet and follow him as faithfully as we follow Christ. The religion of the harlot will be perverted truth, as when the serpent deceived Eve, and idolatry will abound. They will worship the antichrist as a savior, and the things of this world as his blessings upon them. They will be convinced that killing the saints is doing God a service.

Rev. 17:6-9:  “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 (amazement). And the angel said unto me, ‘Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.’”

“The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.”

John does not admire the woman. Rather he is amazed by her brazen, sensual attractiveness. So the angel explains: the beast the harlot rides upon is both a man and an empire. As the man, “he was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.” He is the beast “that was, and is not, and yet is.” These passages can be confusing so we will take them slowly…

The antichrist beast “WAS” a world leader until he was assassinated with the sword halfway into the tribulation. Being dead, he “IS NOT.” His soul went into hell, but Satan raised his soul, which “ascended out of the bottomless pit.” His soul was restored to his dead body and Satan resurrected the antichrist.  Now the beast is alive again and, “YET IS.” Those that followed the beast will marvel and celebrate this miracle and fall down and worship the beast that “was, is not, and yet is.” He was alive, then he was dead, but now he lives again. It is another ploy of Satan who mimics the resurrection of our Lord.

But Satan cannot mimic the holiness of Our Lord’s resurrection. Nor can he mimic the power of his shed blood, and the redemption of our souls unto God. Satan could not split the partition that separated God from sinful man, nor can he mimic the Lamb, the sacrifice, or the obedience to God of the one called Savior…

Satan is not omnipotent, omniscient or omnipresent. He is the created and he has no power except that power which is given him by the Creator. He is not even the big ruler in hell – that is a myth. He will suffer the same fiery end as those he deceived. God created the chambers of hell for Satan and the one third of heaven’s angels that followed him. Satan is the first-fruit of that hell because he was the first to fall. Right now he rules the demons of hell and all the fallen angels, for he still has a vision for defeating Christ and replacing God on the throne, but when all is said and done, not any of these wicked and evil spirits will lift a finger for him. They will attribute their own fate to his ego, and, in their own pain and anguish, they will torment him in hell for eternity.

The seven mountains on which the woman sits, identifies, to many, the city of Rome as the headquarters of the one-world harlot church. However, Rome does not sit on seven mountains, she sits on seven hills. Perhaps to John they were mountains, perhaps it was the only way he could describe the location, just as Mount Megiddo today is barely the remnants of a hill. Nonetheless, since it is the only city in the world that sits on seven hills, we will agree that the location is Rome. There are other factors to support this as well when you view the history of the Roman Church, her leaders who were the emperors of Rome, and the cultures and practices of Babylon that were assimilated into the church.

Rev. 17:10-11:  “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he comes, he must continue a short space (a short time). And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into perdition.”

The seven kings present a dual clue: (1) connecting the beast with the seven kings (emperors) of the Roman Empire; and (2) connecting him with the seven kingdoms that have ruled over Israel and the then-known world. Of greatest importance will be the previous kingdom. The antichrist beast will be Roman, either of Roman descent or political connection. Daniel tells us he will be “the prince that shall come” from the people that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. These were the Romans. The Roman Empire, or a ten-nation confederacy like the Roman Empire, is expected to rise just before the antichrist enters the world stage.

Christians the world over, even the scholars, have long believed the EU will be that revived Roman Empire. But the EU has exceeded ten nations and admitted nations that were never a part of the Old Roman Empire. And, the EU excludes those nations that were part of the Old Roman Empire, Israel being one of them. I therefore believe a different confederacy, that borders the Mediterranean, will rise quite suddenly with power that equals that of the EU. It could be the ten members (kings of ten nations) of the UN Security Council. We will keep a watchful eye on that council.

The seven kings of the Roman Empire were Julius Caesar, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. These are the five that have fallen. In John’s later years, Domitian rose to power, the sixth ruler. The seventh will be the antichrist when he comes. “Oh – come on,” you say, “there have been rulers since Domitian. What about Constantine?” Well, we will discuss Constantine another day. He was ruler of the Roman Empire, this is true, in 312 A.D., and he was a Christian ruler, who also set out to conquer and rule the world with Christianity.

You see, a lot of people forget that the 70 weeks of Daniel has an intermission. These 490 weeks of years began when Artaxerxes, king of Persia, sent Nehemiah back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city and repair the Temple. The weeks of years continued right through the birth of Christ but the clock stopped ticking when Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, four days before His crucifixion. At this time four hundred and eighty-three years had passed and there were only seven years left in Daniel’s 70 weeks of prophetic years.

But the clock stopped. Why? For God’s merciful age of Grace! It was: Time Out! Intermission! “Go – drink of living waters, feast on my Word, then, when you return (to me), we will present the last act.” The Savior of Calvary carried us into this age of Grace, a time for gathering the bride of Christ, and He carries us still. This age of Grace will last as long as the Father deems necessary and will end with the Rapture of the true Church. Following the Rapture, when the antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel, the clock will resume ticking away the final seven years.

Jesus Christ and all his apostles died during the first century A.D. John alone remained at the close of that century to write the words of Christ’s last message to the church. Domitian was ruler in the latter part of John’s life, the then-current ruler John refers to: “Five are fallen, one is, and one is yet to come.” So the rulers of the Roman Empire that followed Domitian ruled in the age of Grace and were not part of the 70 weeks of years determined for Israel.

Israel was driven into the lands of the Gentiles by the legions of Rome in 70 A.D., a mere generation after the age of Grace began, and the enemies of Israel trampled her land for the next 1,900 years. The return of the Jews to Israel as a nation is a promised and valid sign that we are in the last days. All history, past, present and future, revolve around Israel. We are now preparing and entering into that period that will introduce the final seven weeks, the antichrist, the false prophet, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the battle of Armageddon and the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom on the earth.

The seven kingdoms that ruled Israel and the then-known world were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The seventh will appear when ten nations (or kingdoms) around the Mediterranean Sea form a confederacy of nations that incorporates the territory once ruled by the Roman Empire. They will give the beast his power over their own kingdoms. As the “seventh” ruler of the revived Roman Empire, the antichrist will be assassinated by the sword and die. When he is resurrected, he becomes the “eighth” ruler.  But he is still “of the seven” because he was the seventh ruler before he died. When his reign is over, when Jesus Christ returns, this beast will be thrown into perdition, known as the bottomless pit.

Rev. 17: 12-15:  “And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power (authority) as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And he said unto me, the waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

These are the ten kings of the ten kingdoms of the revived Roman Empire or confederacy of ten nations that surround the Mediterranean Sea. These kings will retain their positions as kings “one hour” with the beast, meaning a very short time. They have “one mind” in that they are in agreement to give him all authority over military, political, economic, religious and commercial powers.

The waters (peoples and tongues and nations) where the whore sits are not confined to Rome. Her seat of power is in Rome, but she governs many nations of various peoples, tongues and multitudes. Look upon her garments – scarlet and purple, gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, the colors and jewels of the emperors since Constantine. She boasts, she sits a queen, parading her blasphemous theocratic powers.

Rev. 17:16-18:  “And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Toward the end of the tribulation, God will put into the hearts of the ten kings to hate the harlot church and destroy her, and these kings will fulfill God’s will. They will agree with the antichrist to strip the harlot of her wealth, burn her to the ground and destroy her influence in the world. The antichrist is pleased with this for he no longer needs or desires the support of the peoples’ religion. He has gained the power he wants, and it is his desire now to be the only focus of worship in the earth. He will no longer tolerate any rival that seeks to steal away the adoration he alone demands. So the ten kings of the ten kingdoms, who gave their authority to the antichrist, plunder her wealth and burn the woman who is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.

Rev. 18:1-3:  “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened (illuminated) with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful (hated) bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”

“After these things” the curtain closes on religious Mystery Babylon and then rises again. John catches his breath and I can imagine a smile etching across his tired and aged face as his eyes adjust to the new scene before him. A glorious and powerful angel with a mighty voice comes down from heaven, illuminating the earth with his glory. It is possible John recognizes Christ Himself who had once declared: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).

He brings a warning: “Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen…” confirmation of the earlier warning in Rev. 16:19. John’s words, “after these things” is proof that the two Babylon systems are different, that we have closed the books on Mystery (religious) Babylon and are now moving into the scenes of Babylon the Great, the political/commercial Babylon.

The politics of the antichrist, foreign and domestic, have become a habitation of devils, a stronghold of every foul spirit, like a cage filled with unclean and hated birds. It reaches into every corner of the globe for the kings of the earth have committed fornication with this Babylon, the merchants have grown rich with the trades of her abundance and the people are drunk with the free-flowing wine of her alliances. There isn’t a major city in any western nation today that does not have a cage of unclean and hated birds. Take a look in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, walk down the street and see the offers – sex, pornography, x-rated videos, and adult books…

Stay up late one night and listen to the entertainment shows on late night TV. Listen to professing Christians try to explain why they are pro-choice. They can’t get past “their” bodies and “their” rights. Listen to the homosexuals demand that the churches, the pastors and all Christians tolerate and accept their preferred life style as normal. I grew up in an age when the word “gay” meant happy, cheerful. What a shame we can no longer use the word in that context without raising eyebrows. Political corruption, corporate corruption, home schools versus public schools, the ACLU fighting their own war against God – banishing Him from the public and hopefully from the country…and we could go on and on…every foul and unclean hateful bird, caged up in the legislative, judicial, political systems of the world.

Open your ears, listen and discern: the UN, EU, Israel, America, parliaments, kings, presidents, ambassadors and even religious leaders in every nation in the world are committing fornication with their idolatrous political/commercial policies for gain and for profit. Which international government is idolatrous? All of them! Which international government will appease, even bribe, one terrorist nation in order to bring another to the table? All of them! Every nation today has a cage and every cage has a keeper and a tradesman for the birds. Yet, as bad as it is, there is one coming that will make them all look like kids on a playground…

Rev. 18:4-7:  “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

We are urged, indeed - pleaded with, to come out of the system and not partake of her sins, that we do not receive any of her plagues. This great city, wherever it is, is going to be given a double portion of God’s wrath. Actually that passage is saying, double the double. Her cup is already full, and God says double the refill. Double unto her double – double once – double twice. She is arrogant, she is proud to the point of self-glory. She is a queen and fears no one. She lives deliciously on her delicacies and cares nothing about the needs of the poor.

Rev. 18: 8-11:  “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is your judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more.”

Capitalism rules! Socialism, fascism, even good old Democracy will be washouts in the capitalistic regime of the antichrist. The Russian bear will be destroyed on the battlefields of Israel when she dares to invade that tiny country (Ezekiel 38-39) so you needn’t fear a resurgence of communism. The Beast that reigns is of hell. He sits on a blasphemous Babylonian throne. His father was Nimrod and his god is Satan. He woos the damned and kills the righteous. Ten kings destroyed the religious empire of Babylon. God will destroy the political/commercial empire of Babylon.

The merchants weep. They do not weep for lost souls or murdered children. They do not weep for their own souls. They weep for the “good things” that made them rich, that are now lost…

Rev. 18: 12-14:  “The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls (investments, social amenities), and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet (fashions), and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble (for statues, idols, furniture), and cinnamon, and odors (incense), and ointments (fragrances), and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

And the fruits that your soul lusted after are departed from you, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from you, and you shall find them no more at all.”

Not one of the above items is a real necessity. Not one! Still, the merchants weep…

Rev: 18:15-19:  “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nothing.”

“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! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness (wealth)! For in one hour is she made desolate.”

The above passages speak for themselves. There is no need to comment on them except to point out that there are three groups that wail and weep: the kings of earth, merchants and seamen. They stand offshore in their ships and watch her burning. This verifies that Babylon the city is different from Babylon the woman in that Babylon the woman sat on seven hills and Babylon the city is seen from the sea. Further proof they are different.

Rev. 18: 20:  “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God has avenged you on her.”

For the second time in the entire Book of Revelation a command is given to rejoice. All of heaven is commanded to enter into praise, for Babylon is destroyed. The world has rejected and persecuted the prophets and apostles of God, throughout all the ages. The author of Hebrews says it best:

“Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverances that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder (sawed in half), were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy).

“They wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without (apart from) us should not be made perfect (complete).” (Hebrews 11:35-40)

God has avenged the apostles and the prophets. “Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay.” And so He doubled the double portion of the wine cup of His wrath and neither the spirit of Babylon nor the root of Babylon will ever rise again…

Rev. 18:21-24:  “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee: and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;

“And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”

No man knows the location of the great city of Babylon that is described here. It cannot be the ancient Babylon in Iraq for that Babylon does not sit on international waters. This end-time headquarters of commercial Babylon (a system) will be an international port city, a city of international traffic, tourism and trade. It will be a “great” city, greatly admired and desired by all the nations of the world. It will be in the area of the Mediterranean, and it will be the focus and foundation of the empire of the Beast. He will rule from Rome in the beginning, then he will relocate to “Babylon” for the last three and a half years. Wherever this great city is, it will be the hubbub of all political and commercial traffic, and will be the seat and the throne of the Beast.

Next week: The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Behold, He comes in the clouds and every eye shall see Him…

Joan Krempel
February 14, 2003
joan@joankrempelministries.com

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