2009-3-31 05:37:00
"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." (Rev 18:3)
Because of this verse many assume that modern Babylon is either the United States as a whole or New York City. After all New York rests upon water as did Babylon of old and the "whore" of Revelations.
This statement in particular is cited: "the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." This does seem to describe the United States more than other nations, as it is a center of wealth. But what is not considered in this interpretation is that the USA did not even exist until about 1700 years after this was written.
"But John was seeing our time so it could be the United States," says one. Sounds possible until we look further in the chapter at the last verse:
"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." (Verse 24)
Notice the word "all"? Babylon, or the great whore, is responsible for the blood of ALL the prophets and saints ever slain. This would include many holy men and women who were martyred thousands of years before the United States, or even Rome existed.
While it is true that Babylon of ancient times, as well as Rome and finally the United States, seem to loosely fit the description of John's Babylon, none of them killed all the saints.
What did kill the saints then?
It was nothing more than the corrupt use of money and power. The saints, prophets, inventors, innovators always disrupt the power of the privileged. Because the corrupt in power want to preserve their power and investment they will destroy those who threaten them.
It has been this way from the beginning. The Babylon of Revelations has been with us from the beginning, but the interesting thing is that Revelations predicts here that within the body of the Beast will grow ten horns which will hate the corruption and seek to destroy it. These horns (socialism) we are told did not exist in the days of John (Rev 17:12) but would exist in a future age.
Outwardly the woman represents a corrupted capitalism that is controlled and manipulated by the Beast or unjust authority.
The ten horns represent the nations of the world who are gravitating toward a corrupt socialism, which is enforced by the Beast of unproven authority. Even though both capitalism and socialism, in the world today, is controlled by the Beast we find the scripture is right on the mark that the ten horns of socialism hate the whore, or prostituted capitalism. Both advance the cause of the Beast but capitalism finances socialism. Even so, the socialists hate capitalism and seek to destroy it. We've seen this happen before on a smaller scale in Russia and Cuba in particular.
The ten horns of socialism shall make prostituted capitalism "desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
When socialism dominates and destroys the capitalistic infrastructure a collapse ensues followed by poverty (desolate and naked). The flesh of the woman shall be eaten -- in other words, the assets shall be seized.
So what does it mean that she shall be burned with fire?
The burning is the powerful stirring of emotional nature of the socialists who mindlessly march in the streets demanding the dismantling of capitalism.
"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." (Rev 17:17)
This is a fairly terrifying scripture, but it is comforting to know that it is part of God's will. If it literally comes to pass it will mean that the trend toward socialism will continue until dominance becomes complete and the capitalistic system, as we know it, will be destroyed.
But this forced system will only last for "one hour." Some could almost ague that this situation already exists, as the nations of the earth as a whole, have become very socialistic over the past 50 years.
Whatever the case, after this hour passes a new more cooperative system will develop that does not infringe upon free will but pulls from the best of both systems.
"And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." (Rev 17:18)
Money, capital, interest groups have tremendous influence and rules even over the kings, presidents and prime ministers of the earth.
"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...." (Verse 3)
Fornication in the Old Testament means to take your heart away from the living God and place it upon a false god that has no life. This is what happens when a person is corrupted by money and power. Money and power become first in his mind, even before God making them spiritual fornicators.
The kings and leaders of the earth are also guilty of fornication with the woman. This means they placed the value of money and power above God or the welfare of their own people.
Next we have this interesting verse:
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Verse 4)
A voice from heaven speaks, or the voice of higher or Christ consciousness: "Come out of her, my people."
How are the Lights among humanity supposed to come out of Babylon or the various corrupt systems of money and power?
The first thing to remember is that not all money, power and free enterprise is represented by the prostitute Babylon. It is the corruption of money and power she represents. Therefore, the first step in coming out of Babylon is to place the values of God, or the spiritual life, over the attraction of money and power. Do not let money and power be your God, or your main purpose and motivation in life.
Eventually the Lights of the earth will take a second major step and gather out of Babylon into communities of their own where they will create their own system where money and power are put to constructive use for the benefit of the whole with little or no corruption.
Why should the Lights gather out of Babylon?
Answer: "that ye be not partakers of her sins...."
If a person stays within a corrupt system then he becomes corrupt, often without even realizing it.
"And that ye receive not of her plagues."
The plagues of corrupt money and power are many -- murder, robbery, theft, war, famine, unrest and lack of personal peace of mind.
The peace of the Spirit, which passes all understanding, is something that corrupt people with money and power cannot buy at any price. This is the priority to which the disciple must seek.
The rest of the chapter covers a central point and instead of going through it verse by verse or line by line we'll comment on it as a whole.
5 "For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 "Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7 "How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 "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 judgeth her.
9 "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,
10 "Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, 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,
13 "And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, 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.
14 "And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 "The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 "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!
17 "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,
18 "And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19 "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! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21 "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.
22 "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;
23 "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.
24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
(Rev 18:5-24)
This indeed sounds like the fall of Babylon represents a major disaster.
The description of destruction is accurate for the old Babylon that represented the corruption of wealth and power in the days of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar.
It indeed was destroyed and did not rise again. However, in writing this prophecy you know that John had Rome on his mind because much of the description is peculiar to it in John's time. For instance, all of the merchandise mentioned was desired by and traded by Rome. Rome was the great financial empire of the time, and indeed was the greatest symbol in recorded history of the misuse of sex, money, and power.
As we said earlier, however, this Babylon stands for something greater than ancient Babylon, Rome, The United States, or any other country or empire. It stands for the corrupt use of money, power and sex, which in their purity are gifts from God to be used with wisdom.
There are two major interpretations we need to examine here, the inner and the outer. Let us first look at the inner.
The vision of John has taken us through the life of Christ, or advanced disciples, to his work in the world to how it develops through the group work of disciples as the work reaches a consummation. The fall of Babylon is then an event that takes place as the teachings of Christ are maturing through his followers.
But the question that needs to be asked is this: Why does a Babylon even exist among dedicated workers who are seeking to manifest the Kingdom of God?
The answer is that they have not come out of Babylon, but are a part of it as the scripture says. What does this mean? It means that as even those who are fairly enlightened grow up within a corrupt system that they are captivated by the corruption and buy into much of it. We covered a few things earlier, but the basic reason for the corruption is that money, power and sex are seen as a means to satisfy self above and beyond their use to promote the ways of the spirit and to build a better world, or the Kingdom of God.
So why do disciples get deceived? Are they not aware that they use money, power and sex for self above the selfless service?
The answer is that they are not aware.
Why then are they not aware? Should it not be obvious?
It is not obvious. Let us give an examples to clarify.
Jim is a believer in the scriptures, the Kingdom of God and sees himself as a follower of Christ. He is active in his church or organization that represents his belief system and listens to the teachings. He donates regularly to the organization and feels that he has done his part as far as right use of money. Then he spends the rest of his money on making his life as comfortable as possible.
What is wrong with this picture?
What is wrong is his attitude of mind more than the "black-and-white" of his actions.
Why does he give to his church or organization?
More often than not it is to get approval from an unseen God or to satisfy the Beast of authority. This is a necessary step to secure a good place in the hereafter and maybe some praise in this world.
Does he know how the money is put to use? Does it go to build buildings or to pay the salary of a minister who is not advancing the world of spirit on earth? Then what is the motive of his use of the rest of his money? It is to make life more comfortable and secure. Will the use of his money and power have any beneficial residual effect if he were to die the next day? In most cases no. This is illustrated in a parable given by the Master:
15 "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 "And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 "And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
21 "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
24 "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
(Luke 12:15-21)
This rich man had only one thought of what to do with his abundance -- use it for self and security. He was probably a good person by most standards. He legitimately earned his wealth, did not steal and kept the precepts of his religion. Even so he was a victim of his own personal Babylon. That night he died and discovered that he had done little or nothing to use his money for the good of mankind. He had no treasure in heaven.
Eventually in the life of the disciple comes the realization that his money and power have been misdirected and nothing he is doing is laying up the true treasure in heaven. When this realization comes his personal Babylon falls within the hour and he makes a personal commitment to use all his energy, money and power in the service of humanity as he sees it through the eyes of the soul. Before this realization he was unwilling to take any risk in order to render service. After the realization he is prepared to lose everything -- all his wealth power, sacred honor and even his life, if necessary to take a step toward making the will of God manifest on earth as it is in heaven.
"America is a country that doesn't know where it is going but is determined to set a speed record getting there."
-- Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)
Copyright © 2009 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved