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Revelation 14:8 – A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
What is Babylon? Or who is Babylon? To be sure there are many different beliefs. Pastor Byron MacDonald, Senior Pastor of Rolling Hills Covenant Church in CA, author of The Morning Comes And Also The Night, best expressed a controversial revelation of Babylon. His view may be too hard for some to believe or grasp, but for others, when reading his point of view, it will be an “Oh yeah, of course, that all fits together” moment. His view cannot be fully explained in what I send out in the mornings. I suggest that you get the book and read it for yourself. Here is an attempt is made to give a brief explanation. Pastor MacDonald writes that the coming great Babylon is made of three key players. They are all called Babylon and are three distinct players, yet separate players. One is from the political world, another from the religious world, and one from the economic world. The political and religious parts are easy to identify as they are the Antichrist and the False Prophet. The third member may also be spotted if one is willing and has an eye willing to see. As the Word says that knowledge in the last days will be increased (Daniel 12:4) so this revelation was a mystery that could only be understood as the Lord uncovered it.
When I first came to the Lord and began reading the prophecies concerning the End Days, and listening to and reading the popular end time prophecy expounders who mostly said the same thing, there is one thing I would always wonder about. Where is the United States of America? Where is the strongest and most wealthy country? The prophecies concerning End Times are global and that being so, what role does the USA play? Some have surmised that the Lord would use the USA to defeat those nations that come against Israel. Since I had no other explanation, and it made me proud to think the USA would be used for the righteous cause of saving Israel, I accepted this explanation. Still, there was nothing in the Word that said that was true, it seems it was mostly just other Americans ascribing this destiny to the USA. I accepted this explanation for about twenty years. Then as I was looking again at the scriptures my view began to change. It seemed to me that the USA would not be the great hero-to-the-rescue, but perhaps the opposite. It seemed to me that the description of Babylon seemed an apt description of the USA. For a time I kept that to myself. I heard of no-one, none of the people who were famous for expounding end time prophecies, saying this. Still, I could not shake the thought that they were all missing something very big. Could the USA be the Babylon the Great of Revelation 18:2?
When I read Pastor Byron MacDonald’s book (see above) he put the pieces together. Looking afresh at the scriptures, I became confident that what Pastor Byron saw in the scriptures was true. As the USA is looked at as what it is, and what it is increasingly becoming (at an alarming rate), we realize that it is no longer what it was. It is understood that Americans tend to look with rose colored glasses at the past of the United States. Looking into its past, history finds it has tragedy hidden in its closets. As all nations do. Still, it has also done much good. It has expressed great kindness. It has sent out missionaries to the world to spread the Gospel of Christ. It has helped much of the world when it was in need. Though the USA has evil in its past, we must never forget that it has a history of overwhelming good. However, the moral compass of the USA has changed for the worse. While most of the USA still believes in God, most of the USA no longer believes that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Even the members of many “Christian” churches don’t believe in the basic tenets of Christianity, such as the Jesus being fully God and fully man, the Virgin Birth, and the Resurrection of Jesus. The enemy has substituted lies for the truth about the founding of our country. The USA (a newer nation) is following the same path as its allies in Europe. They are turning from the strict adhering to the Bible and thusly the number of Christian churches in their countries is in sharp decline. In fact what were once full and powerful churches there are now fast becoming places of worship for their fastest rising religion, Islam. Galatians 6:7 comes alive “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what sows.” In Europe when the Bible became inerrant, when the populace began to believe the thoughts of man instead of the Word of God, and when it began to think that man could replace the righteousness of God with the “evolving” righteousness of man, it began to crumble. Family, they didn’t open their eyes, and except for the saints who will not compromise, they still do not. Likewise this is increasingly becoming the fate of the USA. Europe is further along in the fall of the church, but they are much older nations. The USA is following the same pattern as they. The USA has not been a great nation because of great men, it has been a great nation because the majority had kept a faith in the Lord. It has been a great nation for one reason and one reason only: God has blessed it. It would seem that the Bible believing and Christ loving and following Christians are now in sharp decline, and likely are now a minority in the USA. Let’s take a closer look at what the Word of God says about the third element of Babylon in the last days, the commercial Babylon.
Chapter 18 of Revelation gives key descriptions about the commercial (economic/financial) Babylon. V23c states “Your merchants were the world’s important people.” Certainly the United States is referred to as the “land of opportunity and freedom.” People from all over the world have struggled and strived to get to the prosperous USA. They still do. Right after “9-11” I took a cab home from the Airport. The taxi driver was of middle-eastern descent. Although not comfortable at first, he began to talk to me about the attack. I asked him why the Arab nations are so angry with the USA. He told me that it is because the USA is so rich and doesn’t help out all the poor and desperate of their nations. Without getting into the arguments against what he said, it does reveal that they think of the USA as a prosperous nation. The USA is certainly the business powerhouse of the world. There have been recent times when that was slipping, but recent news show its commercial power rebounding with enthusiastic energy. Verse 23c can easily be seen to be speaking of the USA.
V7a reveals the wealth and opulence of this Babylon “…as the glory and luxury she gave herself…” It is said that even the poor (perhaps excluding the most extremely destitute) of the United States live like kings compared to people of third world countries. We all see on television the pleas to help these people who don’t have clean water, food to eat, or a home to live in. Most Americans, when compared to much of the world, live very “high on the hog.”
V7b “In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’” The USA believes that it sits above other nations and will never fall. Americans are proud. There are very few Americans who can accept that the USA will not remain to be the great country of the world. They, we, tend to think that the USA will always be great. But in that thinking is the error that it is the people of the United States that make it great. Family, that was never so. The USA has been great because of God blessing it. The Lord God blessed this country and kept it and that is the only reason it has been great. As it turns away from God and enacts immoral laws (that begin in immoral hearts) the USA should certainly expect God to withdraw His blessings and let the consequences of its decision to reject God fall upon it.
V11 describes the merchants of the earth weeping and mourning after the fall of “mighty city of Babylon.” (Remembering that countries are often know by their capitals.) Imagine what happens if the USA is destroyed. The destruction of the USA would have a devastating effect on the world economy. All commerce with the USA would cease. It will destroy the world economy. The destruction of no other country would affect the world economy as much should it be destroyed.
We will continue reviewing scriptures concerning End Times Babylon. Certainly the evidence of the USA being this Babylon is building. Family, I take no pleasure in thinking so. Yet, we must follow where the Word leads us. It is true that we need to examine our loyalties. Although we love our country and although we are proud to be citizens of the USA (even with all her imperfections), our loyalties must first and always be to God. Though our country is infected by moral decay, God is the same yesterday, today and always (Hebrews 13:8). God does not change (Malachi 3:6). Man thinks he is evolving when actually he is descending. This is a worldwide plague of the spirits of mankind. The plague is the Antichrist spirit (1 John 4:3). Yet, though the world declines spiritually, we who belong to Jesus grow spiritually. We are daily being transformed by God. That being so, it illustrates the great importance that we, with the Holy Spirit within, let our lights shine (Matthew 5:16) and that we live out being the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We do that through our love of God and by loving all of mankind with the deep true love that the Lord loves them. We are found to be His if we love (1 John 4:8). Let us love one another (John 13:35) and the world as God loves (John 3:16). Let us let Jesus be glorified by His light shining through us. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.