The Fall of Babylon -- Part 3

2009-4-2 04:04:00

The Wealthy and the Poor

Many teachers (religious and not so religious) in the past have condemned the rich, or those who have abundance. Some have gone so far to condemn them just for the fact they have wealth, but this is not just. Perhaps the wealthy man has been much more just and helpful to humanity than the poor man the preacher praises.

One must remember that money power and sex does not create Babylon, but its misuse and dedication toward self is what creates the problem.

It is easy for the poor to sit back and condemn the rich for not giving more -- in fact sometimes they are condemned for not giving all they have.

Sometimes the poor sit in judgement and think to themselves that if they had wealth they would set the right example and give most of it away.

If you want to see real misuse of money look at what happens when the poor (who are not used to handling money) strike it rich. This happens regularly with lottery winners. Most of those who play the lottery are lower income and often on welfare. In most cases a year or two after they win they are in worse shape than ever. What usually happens is they start handing out some money to family and friends. Then the family and friends and people he hasn't seen in years come back with their hand out or offer some get-rich-quick scheme. He gives away money for a while and then holds back when he sees its going down a black hole. After that all hell breaks lose and all his friends turn on him. Soon, not only is his money gone, but he is deeply in debt and with no friends. In story after story the lottery winner states that his life would have been much better if he had never won the money.

The wealthy may be far from perfect, but at least they provide employment and self sufficiency for many, sometimes for a lifetime. But when the poor strike it rich they help a few freeloaders for a short time and then its all gone.

The critical poor who do not strike it rich fall into two categories:

  1. Those who are willing to work but just have a difficult time making a living. This is usually a temporary condition as those who are willing, usually, over time, earn a comfortable living.
  2. The poor who are poor merely because they do not apply themselves. These would rather have free time than to sacrifice and do what is necessary to get ahead.

The interesting thing is people in this second category will often criticize the rich for not giving more and helping the poor, but in doing this they are showing their hypocrisy.

How is this?

If they really believe those with abundance should give more all they have to do is the same thing that the wealthy are doing and that is to work longer hours with more dedication until they have money themselves. If these poor were to just do what is necessary to get ahead then they could help the poor themselves.

Which person is of greater benefit to his fellow humans?

In this case the wealthy man is doing much more good in the world than the poor man who cannot help others because he is lazy.

It is time that the lazy poor take their share of criticism for their inability to help their fellowmen.

  

Outer Babylon

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." (Rev 17:16)

On an outward level there are two possible interpretations of this scripture.

The ten horns are the ten political divisions of the world. In my previous book The Gathering of Lights I identified them as:  (1) North America, (2) Central and South America, (3) The United Kingdom -- including Australia & New Zealand, (4) Europe, (5) Russia and neighboring countries, (6) Africa, (7) India, (8) China and Taiwan, (9) Japan and Korea, (10) The Middle East.

The ten horns had ten crowns which are the ten major religions or:  (1) The Roman Catholic Church, (2) The Eastern Orthodox Church, (3) The Protestant religions -- including the Mormons -- even though they claim not to be protesting; (4) Judaism, (5) Islam, (6) Shinto, (7) Taoist, (8) Confucian, (9) Buddhist, (10) Hindu.

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 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 the flesh" by causing many to merge or go out of business. Finally, they "burn her with fire" by instilling 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 improve 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.

Until that happens capitalism will be a bridge between the old and the new and its evolution is not yet complete. It has been stalled and corrupted and has not yet reached its full destiny of operating in its fullness to give humankind the power and the freedom to do the necessary experimentation through free will to enter into the cooperative phase.

  

"If men saw that a term was set to their troubles, they would find strength in some way to withstand the hocus-pocus and intimidations of the prophets."
  -- Lucretius (96 BC - 55 BC), On the Nature of the Universe