The Fall of Babylon
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Revelation 18:1-2
The angel was so bright that “the earth was lightened with his glory.”
This tells us that the lower personality (the earth) is going to be faced with such a display of higher light and truth that it cannot be denied or ignored. That message that faces the carnal self is the great whore of “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…” “Fallen” comes from the Greek PIPTO which is in the Aorist tense which does not have an English equivalent. It can refer to either past tense as is translated here or it could indicate an ongoing happening. In other words, it could indicate that Babylon was falling in the days of John and is still falling.
There are two falls of Babylon to consider here. The first occurs within the life of the individual disciple. This is a sure interpretation that will eventually happen to each pilgrim upon the path. He finds that he needs money for a number of legitimate reasons. To be happy and to be of effective service to God and humanity he must feed and clothe himself and his loved ones.
To obtain this money he often has to prostitute himself and perform labors that he does not like, and that may require some dishonesty or may even contribute to enslavement of others or an unfair wage. For a long period of time, he may justify himself and tell himself it is worth betraying his inner impulses for the greater good. After all, money is essential is it not?
Eventually the disciple discovers that he cannot be a true spiritual servant of the Christ and be a prostitute at the same time. Often with misplaced idealism he will reject money altogether and take some sort of vow of poverty. This does not free him from the Beast however and sooner or later he must find the proper balance. When he does, the prostitute in him “falls” and he goes forth with a new vision and determination to earn all his money with total honesty, harmlessness and in a way that benefits the whole. He will have no desire to accumulate wealth for the lower self but to dedicate what he has to building the kingdom of God.
The outward interpretation tells us of a fall that the world itself will have in connection with money. The socialist idealism of the world sees money, the free market and capitalism as a great evil and is fighting to destroy it. Eventually the money systems of the world may fall, but this will not yet free us from the Beast. For a time, we would be under its control more than ever as it seeks to force goodness and equality down our throats.
As Babylon is falling, we are told that it becomes “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
“Devils” here comes from DAIMON, which can be interpreted to mean a false god or an inferior being taking the place of God. In the “fallen” view of money, where it is prostituted, it indeed becomes a false God, even to the bearing of a man’s image on its face and to forcing many to work for it with greater zeal than they work in the service of God and humanity.
“…and the hold of every foul spirit…” “Hold” comes from PHULAKE, which more literally means “prison”.
To have to labor for money at a job that runs contrary to the individual’s soul is like being in a prison and puts many in a “foul” mood or spirit.
“…of every unclean and hateful bird.” The unclean birds are like vultures that wait for other competitive lives to die so they can eat their corpses.
We have heard that business is a “dog eat dog” world and there is a lot of truth in this. Many business people are like vultures in that they will rejoice in the death of a competitor (or even cause it) and pounce upon its corpse and consume its assets. This they often do with no regard to those who have lost their jobs and will suffer.
Someday this will end and for a time, under a more socialist system things will get worse, but eventually a new cooperative system will arise where service to the whole is the prime directive rather than profit at any cost.
The Crucial Priority
“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.” Revelation 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 United States 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.” Revelation 18:24
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 ever existed.
While it is true that Babylon of ancient times, then 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 (Revelation 17:12) but would exist in a future age.
Let’s look at the rest of the verse: “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…”
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.” Revelation 18:4
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.
“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.” Discipleship in the New Age, Vol 1 Page 460
Aug 5, 2006
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