2006-8-17 05:44:00
Let us revisit the scripture under discussion:
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."
(Revelation 18:5-24)
On an outward level there are two possible interpretations of this scripture.
Earlier we were told that "the ten horns which thou sawest 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."
The ten horns are the ten political divisions of the world. In my book "The Gathering of Lights," I identified them as:
The ten horns had ten crowns which are the ten major religions or:
Now the interesting thing is that it was the ten horns that hated the whore. There was no mention of the crowns feeling the same way. This is because the religions of the earth are in bed with the whore and also wrongly use money and will prostitute themselves for it.
But do not the political kingdoms become corrupt over money as bad as do the religions?
Yes, overall they are just as corrupt, but the situation is different near the end of the age as seen by John. He says that the ten horns which will emerge in his future (and our present) will hate the whore.
We see this today in the governments of the earth. They have an idealist approach as to how business should use money socially and seek to impose all kinds of taxes, levees, fines, licenses, laws and regulations upon capitalistic enterprises. They seek to take money from the producers and give it to the non producers.
They not only hate the whore but "shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire."
Today's governments attack capitalism and business by viewing them as the enemy. They make her desolate by taxing them and naked by over regulating them. They eat her flesh by causing many to merge or go out of business. Finally, they burn her with fire by installing the emotion of hate and distrust toward capitalism and business so public opinion sees business as the enemy more than the ineptness of political leaders. In fact, the leaders who draw the most praise are often those who stir up the greatest hatred toward business, especially big business.
From the sound of this scripture it would seem that the day may be at hand when capitalism will completely collapse and be replaced by the ten horns of socialism, communism, or perhaps even fundamentalist Islam.
It is true that eventually our competitive capitalistic system will be replaced. It is presently in danger of being eaten up by corrupt socialism under the control of the Beast, but a complete destruction of it is not expected in the near future. This scripture is more likely to see fulfillment through the fall of certain corrupt businesses.
A perfect example is Enron. It is now obvious that it was one of the corrupt capitalistic businesses of the world and its fall perfectly fit the description of the fall of Babylon. Just as Babylon fell quickly and did not rise again even so did Enron. As we progress toward a new and more enlightened age other businesses which are corrupt like Enron will fall until we get to the point that only the more solid businesses with little corruption can remain. As the quality of businesses improves then the corrupt ones will be more visible and fall with the rise of improved ones.
Eventually, as mankind raises in consciousness the competitive system will be replaced by a much more cooperative one that will seek to bring abundance to all workers rather than a handful at the top.
"Like a golden butterfly which flies in the face of the sun, I find myself poised upon the lotus petal of the earth. I hover; I stay a little moment and then I fly-into the golden pathway that leads unto the sun."
-- Djwhal Khul(From "Discipleship in the New Age," Vol 1, Page 460, by Alice A. Bailey)
Copyright © 2006 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved