BYE BYE, BABYLON

George Offerman

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me ”Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the vine of whose fornication to dwellers on earth have become drunk,  And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns.  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earths’ s abomination.  And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”.   Rev. 17:1-6

“And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot: they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and giving over their royal power to the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled.  And the woman that you saw is the great city which has dominion over the kings of the earth”.  Rev 17:15-18.

(For the sake of brevity, I skipped verses 7-14, but they give a clear interpretation of this beast, and leave no doubt about whom it is and what the makeup of this vision entails).

The above verses clarify for John, the distinctions between the two beasts that appear in the visions.  The beast quoted above is very distinct from the beast in chapter 13, in that it is a unified beast that is scarlet in color and none of the heads have a mortal wound.  The seven headed ten horned beast rising from the water is the man made Babylon, lead by the devil, which is represented as the seven headed ten horned beast that ultimately kills the whore who has been riding on its back up until now.  If one notices, the whore is dressed in purple, which in scripture is the representation of religion and religious authority, and the scarlet color is representative of power, as well as the blood of the saints and martyrs.

This whore is responsible for the man made chaos up until this point, and was given its authority by the beast it is now riding.  The beast hates the whore, and the force behind the first Babylon, with its seven heads, represented by seven religious systems and ten horns, represented by civil powers and authority, were the ‘glove’ that fit over the real beast which was the ‘invisible hand’ behind the power.  However, now that the beast has total control over the world, there is no longer a need for the seven religious systems, and the hour of judgment for them has now come.

By now, the majority of those who have God’s seal and most likely all of the 144,000 have been martyred, and for the first time since the beginning of the trumpets, Satan has full control over the earthly kingdoms.  Since the majority of Christians that believe the devil is real, also know the devil has no tolerance for ANYONE getting ANYTHING that he believes is his.  So, as the religious leaders, who up to this time believed this false Christ was on their side, will now find out to their utter despair that they are to be eliminated immediately.  Since Satan now presents himself as king of kings and lord of lords (representing both religious and political systems) he will not tolerate any competition or split loyalties among his followers.  It is only now that these leaders, on the brink of their own destruction, realize they were deceived, and despair overcomes them.

The imagery used in scripture pertaining to the end of this human Babylon is ominous, but in some senses, well earned.  It is also clear that God has put it in their ‘hearts’ to obliterate these people who instigated so much human suffering, and deceived multitudes into eventually taking the mark of the beast.  Now they will be subject to the same humiliating end that they subjected the 144,000 and those sealed by the living God.  The difference in this is there will be NO ONE to come to their aid or assistance; hence their end will be ‘naked and desolate’.  Those that slay these ‘religious leaders’ will do it with great zeal and without mercy.  Those who benefitted from this false group will mourn and weep over lost opportunities.

At this point in the story it would appear that all of mankind has chosen their fate and it is near time for the seventh trumpet that will ultimately ‘seal the deal’.  However, Babylon will continue on in form, but now lead by the 8^th king, the Anti Christ who will seat himself on the throne with great pomp and circumstance and there will be absolutely no human power that will stop him.  The Anti Christ will install his 10 king puppets and they will have their one hour of time ruling what is left of the once great Babylon.  It will be a great time of dread for all alive and great fear will rule the hearts of men on that day. 

MORE THOUGHTS ON BABYLON

George Offerman

The last few posts have been loaded with heavy and sobering information.  It is unfortunate that a lay person has to do the job of the clergy and the official churches, especially given the fact they should be teaching this as regularly as school s teach the ABC’s.  Everyone should have a precursory knowledge of prophesy, and have an idea of what to expect.  In that way, one can digest the information in a way that does not ‘scare the hell’ out of them.  I don’t think I will hold my breath on this one.

I am dismayed that most Christians still want to debate concepts such as conspiracy, plotting by the dark side, and in some cases, whether demons and evil actually exist.  This naiveté only demonstrates how far behind Christianity is in the race for the soul of humanity.  It is no wonder most scoff at the Church, as it makes a mockery of the authority it should hold versus what it actually demonstrates.

The dark side is getting so bold that they are doing many of their dirty deeds openly.  The Federal Reserve gave away 2 trillion taxpayer dollars to unknown and unnamed entities and nary a peep from the sheeple.  Then when someone like Ron Paul does something about it, most want to make fun of him by calling him a conspiracy nut, whack job, etc.  This monster Babylon is being created right in front of us, but because of the need to be tolerant and to get along is so blinding, most don’t see it.

That is precisely why men will be ‘amazed’ at this monster, because it will be so large, encompassing, and created so quickly, there will be little choice but to acquiesce to it.  Man is so used to being told what to do; they will blindly follow it, and will not be receptive to the message of the 144,000.  Those who do listen to the ‘Elijah’ people will be persecuted to an extent we have yet to experience in this country.  It will make Notre Dame look like a Kindergarten nap time.

On the positive side, the fellowship during the time of Babylon will also be like nothing we have ever experienced.  The need to keep one’s words will have life and death consequences.  Prayer and communion with God will be open, and there will be more people lead to Christ in this short time than ever in the history of the world.  Grace will abound for those who accept the seal of the Living God, and the ability to stand up to persecution and martyrdom will be there.  It is also possible that this final generation will experience a ‘sinless state’ once sealed, as God will grant abilities and faith proportional to the persecution at hand.

This will take a leap of faith, and assuredness that God means what He said and will not abandon his children in their hour of need.  I can imagine, like Elijah, those with the seal of the Living God will be fed by Ravens, if necessary, and have water gush from rocks.  It will be an awesome time, and to have the assurance of salvation while alive is a privilege that no one else will experience who has not lived during this time.

So, the story of Revelation is that of hope.  Hope in a loving, merciful, but just God, and that in the end, Truth prevails over the lie, and creation is restored to its perfected state, forever.  As hard as it is to believe, this period of time will go by quickly, and those saved will have eternity to share their experiences with the rest of creation.  It will be a memory, and one will never experience the curse of sin ever again.

BABYLON

   

George Offerman

“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems upon its horns and a blasphemous name upon its heads.  And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.  And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.  One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed the beast with wonder. Men worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying, ‘who is like the beast and who can fight against it?’  And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months.”

Revelation 13:1-5

The last post covered the first four trumpets, and at this point, mankind is overwhelmed and lost in its ability to comprehend or deal with these judgments.  There are dead everywhere, resources are scarce, the coasts are unapproachable due to the tossing of the sea from the asteroid impact, and it is dark, and more than likely, getting colder.  There is no semblance of normalcy, and anarchy begins to rule.  Mankind is looking for leadership at this dark hour, but more important, wants the judgments stopped and an explanation for what happened and why God is so angry.

The dark forces, who have been preparing for a moment like this, will quickly take advantage of the trumpets.  They will be able to accomplish in a few days to a few weeks what many despots in the past were unable to do: create a one world organization.  They have been ‘the hands and feet’ of Satan for some time and have the ability, through control of the monetary system, the political system, and connections with all of the official religious bodies to pull this off.  Little do they know, but they are ultimately doing the Lord’s bidding and demonstrating that evil people (or entities) ‘running the show’ will ultimately destroy everything they touch, including themselves.

Babylon rises quickly, as evidenced by its ‘leopard’ body.  It will have great authority to speak (lion’s mouth) and trample anything in its way (bear’s feet). The seven heads are interpreted in Rev 17 as hills, or religious systems.  Another clue to the fact the seven heads are religious, is the fact ‘blasphemous names’ are written on them.  Generally, world powers, kingdoms or countries don’t speak for God, religious systems do.  One of the religions was given a mortal wound, but healed at the time of tribulation.  The ten horns are ten kings who will be self appointed or possibly appointed by the religious coalition.   The reason the religious systems take over is due to the fact that all of them, despite worshiping God in different ways, or other gods, will all agree that “God as they understand him” has judged this world.  Hence, the political systems in effect will be taking orders from the religious systems and this will become a theocratic based one world government.

Because of its diversity, Babylon, meaning “confusion” will have some difficulty initially getting everyone ‘on board’.  There will be very harsh penalties for anarchy, and judgment and punishment will be swift.  Babylon will enact multiple ‘sinless’ laws, most likely outlawing things like homosexuality, abortion (no longer necessary since the 144,000 will be identified and in active ministry) hate crimes and other diversity laws, and mandate worship in whichever religious system a person belongs. 

On the surface, Babylon’s laws will look reasonable, and sound very similar to what the 144,000 are preaching.  This has to occur in order for deception to take place.  Babylon will attract those who revel in legalism, as the laws will mandate harsh judgment on the smallest of infractions, and there will be many in all of the religious hierarchy that will believe they know what’s best (despite the fact they did not see this coming). 

Blasphemy occurs for several reasons.  First, Babylon will mandate worship, and this is direct conflict with God wanting people to worship Him of their own free will.  God will not accept this form of worship.  Second, Babylon will be pushing for a ‘works based’ plan of salvation that will operate under the presumptions that we will ‘act’ our way out of the judgments from good works, and ‘sinless laws’.  Thirdly, Babylon will be teaching that not only can the judgments be stopped, but the planet and society can and will have to be rebuilt.  This message will be in total contradiction to the fact that time and history are coming to an end, and the 144.000 will be preaching a message that is contrary to the above mentioned points.

The seven religions also have different days of worship.  Islam sees Friday as a holy day, Judaism on Saturday, and Catholicism and Protestantism on Sunday.  Since none of the religions will capitulate to the head that was mortally wounded and came back to life, there will be an uneasy alliance by the diverse religions until the time of the ‘lamb like’ beast, who will eventually eliminate them all.  None of the official religious bodies will have seen the judgments coming, and as such, will not understand what they mean, and will have the wrong interpretation of them.  Their laws will affect and be directed at those following the true Christ the most, and the 144,000 will take the brunt of Babylon’s wrath.

Persecution and martyrdom will be common place, as this beast makes war on the saints and conquers them.  Those living will be confronted with a reality they can no longer avoid: follow the beast and be eternally condemned, or listen to the 144,000 ‘Elijah’ people, and suffer persecution, imprisonment and/or execution.  The greatest sin, listed in Revelation will be cowardice, as many will acquiesce due to fear of persecution and death, versus following the Commands of God and teachings of Jesus.

The make up of Babylon demonstrates that even Satan is under the law of ‘Sowing and Reaping’.  Satan, the ultimate creature of deception, has sown doubts about God and His ways for eons.  His beast, as a result will also demonstrate confusion and doubts, because in the end, a lie can never be the truth.  But Babylon will be similar enough to the message of the 144,000 that many will worship the beast, because they don’t want to ‘split hairs’ and risk persecution or execution over it.  However, what is not understood is that this decision will be the most important ever made, and have eternal ramifications.

The 144.000 will preach the true message of salvation, and God gives every opportunity for conversion and knowing the truth, as these people will have the authority and miracle working power given to Elijah, to demonstrate and back up their message.  They will also have about 2.5 years of time to preach to the world before the appearance of Satan, and the world will have had time to take the seal of God, or reject it.  The appearance of Satan in the fifth trumpet will complete this process, as everyone on earth will be forced into a decision after the sixth trumpet war and mark.

One final remark on the religious systems.  Similar to the first Advent, there were Wise men from the east who inquired about the birth of the Christ.  The Jewish authorities not only confirmed this event in scripture, but gave the location, Bethlehem.  Interestingly enough, they did not even have enough curiosity to check it out for themselves, and demonstrated no faith in the scriptures they themselves claimed had great authority.  It will be the same during the Second Advent.  This information is knowable, and will be demonstrated clearly by the 144,000 when they appear, and like Christ before them, will suffer greatly at the hands of the religious system known as Babylon.  Babylon will be made up of  the same group of religious leaders who did not see this coming, but now claim to speak for God with great authority, and without having any real knowledge of what they have created and who is really behind it.