On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 23: The Fall of Babylon

On the Revelation of Yahshua Christ, Part 23: The Fall of Babylon

Presenting our commentary for Revelation chapters 17 and 18, we hope to have adequately explained the reasons for our interpretation, that the visions related in those chapters describe the conditions of the children of Israel as the Whore of Babylon in this last time of Jacob’s trouble, the period which the Old Testament prophets as well as the New Testament apostles have described as one final trial before the ultimate salvation of the children of Israel from their enemies – which is also a promise which has been explicitly repeated in the words of both the prophets and apostles of Christ. Doing that we also hope to have adequately explained that Mystery Babylon is a name representing the secular society’s political, religious and economic system, which is grounded in secular humanism and which is directly opposed to God. The fundamental elements of this system had indeed originated in ancient Babylon, and have been perpetuated by both ancient pagans and by the enemies of Christ until they could be manifested once again under the guise of the so-called Age of Liberty, whereby those same enemies have come to rule over the children of Israel as their kingdom was given over to the beast. This is the fulfillment of the words of Isaac, who promised Jacob that he would rule over his brethren, but who later told his disenfranchised son Esau, as it is recorded in Genesis chapter 28, that he “40 … shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.” As we had asserted, that yoke was broken upon the emancipation of the Jews in the time of Napoleon. As Martin Luther had written in his essay On the Jews and Their Lies (chapter xi), Jews of his own time were boasting that they had come into the control of Germany, and three hundred and thirty years later, in the 1870's, German journalist Wilhelm Marr had written to complain that the Jews had conquered Germany.

Mystery Babylon is political, whereby it professes democracy, the rule of man, as opposed to theocracy, which is the rule of God as man should live under His laws and not by general consensus. But the very concept of democracy is simply a deception, as the Jews who wrote the Protocols of the so-called Learned Elders of Zion had also declared, because in a democracy the power of money naturally rules, and not the consensus of men. Democratic governments are easily subverted and led by wicked men and worldly desires. As we have also already elucidated, in the Talmud democracy was the method employed by the rabbis of Judaism for which to formulate their doctrines, and in the process they could even outvote the Word of God. In another aspect, Mystery Babylon is economic in that it is grounded in usury, and its laws of commerce found in the Babylonian Shetar have become the commercial laws of the entire world since they were the basis for English mercantile and commercial law.

Then in another aspect, Mystery Babylon is religious in that religion has become virtually meaningless within the context of a multicultural pluralistic society, and religion is now treated as a personal choice rather than as a way of life, so it is without effect in the governance of the society. Yet true Christianity is a way of life, a way by which all White society should be organized and governed, and a covenant which Yahweh God has made with that same particular race of people, but it is not a fad or a choice that just anyone can make for themselves. In modern churches, the meaningless rituals have long been more significant than the Word of God and His laws. Yet the rituals themselves, while they were given a Christian facade in the early Middle Ages, also originated in ancient paganism such as that which was once practised in ancient Babylon.

Finally, Mystery Babylon is also religious because in practice, what is now called Science is truly the modern religion of the day. In ancient Babylon, the rulers colluded with priests in order to control the minds of the people so they could more readily maintain their rule, and once again we are experiencing that same phenomenon, where the churches are in the pockets of government. So today at least most people have their lives governed and act according to what they are told by this Science. The scientists are the high priests of a new religion, and it is not new, but rather, it is a product of the rabbis of Judaism, the sorcery of the Kabbalah, and the Medieval alchemists who had lusted for its supposedly secret knowledge, which was also a deception perpetrated by the enemies of Christ. Even the belief in evolution and a world which formed itself out of chaos with the help of a giant serpent are components of the ancient pagan Sumerian and Babylonian Creation myths. Today so-called Science has removed the references to the serpent, (perhaps protecting the identity of the perpetrator,) and they call it “evolution”, but it is the same pagan myth.

For all of those same reasons, speaking of rulers deserving of punishment, we read in Isaiah chapter 28: “14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.”

There truly is nothing new under the sun. The sinners of today have once again made lies their refuge, as they refuse to believe that there is a God who shall judge them, for which reason they prefer to believe in the lies. Here in Revelation chapter 18, which prophesies the fall of this world system called Mystery Babylon, we learn that those who despise it and hear the call to separate themselves from it are described as the ones who shall also do the treading, and those who ignore or refuse it shall be trodden along with all the others who worship the beast upon which the whore sits.

XVIII 1 After [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have “And after”] these things [א inserts “which”] I saw another messenger descending from heaven having great authority, and the earth is illuminated from his effulgence.

The Greek word δόξα is usually translated as glory in the King James and other Bible versions. Basically, it is only a notion, whether it be true or false, and for that reason also an expectation and even an opinion or judgment. So it came to be used to describe “the opinion which others have of one, estimation, reputation, credit, honour, glory,” as Liddell & Scott explain its meaning and where today we may say fame rather than glory. But here in this context it describes what is illuminating the earth, and therefore it is effulgence, a use which is found several times in the New Testament but otherwise only in the Septuagint (i.e. Exodus 16:7, 10; 24:16, 17), and apparently not in secular Greek writings. This use of the term δόξα is a Hebraism from the Hebrew word kaboud (3519, כבוד) which is also often translated as honor or glory but frequently as riches, wealth or abundance. However it was used to describe effulgence in Exodus chapters 16 and 24 and elsewhere.

2 And he cried out with a mighty voice saying: “Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen [א and the traditional MT manuscripts want the second iteration of ‘has fallen’]! And it has become a dwelling-place for demons and a prison for every unclean spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird, 3 because from of the wine of the passion of her fornication fell all the nations, and the kings of the earth fornicated with her, and the merchants of the earth are enriched from the power of her wantonness!”

Here in verse 2 the ancient manuscripts have several variations in the cry of the angel. The Codex Alexandrinus (A) has “a dwelling-place for demons and a prison for every unclean and hateful spirit, and a prison for every unclean and hated beast…” The Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have only “a dwelling-place for demons and a prison for every unclean and hateful spirit…” wanting the rest of the clause. Here our text follows the Codex Sinaiticus (א) and the traditional manuscripts of the Majority Text. The Greek noun φυλακή has a wider range of meanings related to watching or guarding, and here it is both prison, relating to unclean spirits, and cage, relating to birds.

In verse 3, the Codex Alexandrinus wants the words for the phrase “of the wine”; the Codex Ephraemi Syri (C) has the opening clause to read “because from of the fornication of her passion fell all the nations”; the Majority Text manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have “because from of the passion of the wine of her fornication fell all the nations”. Once again, our text follows the Codex Sinaiticus (א) and the traditional manuscripts of the Majority Text.

The fall of Babylon is announced several times in these later chapters of the Revelation. First, in chapter 14 in relation to the Harvests of God we read: “8 And another, second messenger followed saying: ‘Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen! She who has made all the nations drink from the wine of the passion of her fornication!’” Then, in chapter 16 in relation to the Seven Last Plagues we read of the angel with the seventh and final bowl of the wrath of God: “19 And the great city broke into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. And the great Babylon had been remembered before Yahweh, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger.” Again we read in Revelation chapter 17 and the description of the Woman as the Whore that “upon her forehead a name is inscribed: ‘Mystery Babylon the Great, Mother of the Whores and the Abominations of the Earth.’”

Now here in chapter 18, the fall of Babylon is announced once again, and by this we may be assured that our interpretation of these chapters is true, that the visions which they contain do not describe separate consecutive events, but rather, they are all visions of the same phenomena from different perspectives, and by understanding each of them and then correlating them in that manner we may better understand the meaning and purpose of the prophecy as a whole. So while certain events are alluded to, we have also asserted that the visions are actually describing the circumstances of the children of Israel in the last days of the age, and the process by which they are found in those circumstances. Each of the seven chapters of the Revelation, from chapters 14 through 20, contain visions of the judgment of Yahweh God upon the children of Israel, and upon His enemies, all from different perspectives in order to illustrate different aspects of His judgment. That judgment is not a singular event, but rather, it is a process which has unfolded over several centuries, and which is yet to culminate at some time in our present future.

However most of the Revelation has now been fulfilled, and the Whore certainly is joined to the Beast, the children of Israel have given their kingdom over to the Beast, and they shall be oppressed by the Dragon until they realize the moment that Babylon has actually fallen, and heed the call to come out of her. The final manifestation of that fall may not be realized until the fulfillment of the prophecy in Revelation chapter 16 where it said “And the great city broke into three parts and the cities of the nations fell”. This has not yet happened, and this is the point in our future for which all true Christians should pray. So once again, while Babylon has not yet fallen, here it is pronounced as a sure declaration, by Yahweh who “calls things not existing as existing”, as Paul of Tarsus had attested in Romans chapter 4 (Romans 4:17). So the declaration is an assurance that this modern world system certainly shall fall, in spite of the perceived power of the enemies of God which currently hold it together.

It is also fully evident that the cities of the formerly White Christian nations have already fallen to a great degree, so the fall of Babylon is also a process. This is evident where the cities of the nations are now “become a dwelling-place for demons and a prison for every unclean spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird”. While a desolate city may become a habitat for owls and vultures, these birds are an allegory for people, and particularly, being described as unclean birds, the races of people descended from the Nephilim, or fallen angels. This is also the meaning of the parable of the mustard seed which Christ had given immediately after the parable of the wheat and the tares, as it is recorded in Matthew chapter 13: “31 He laid forth another parable, saying to them: ‘The kingdom of the heavens is like a grain of mustard, which a man taking has sowed in his field, 32 which is indeed the smallest of all the seeds, but when it grows is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and nest in its branches.’”

Those “cities of the nations”, the formerly White Christian cities of the nations of Israel, are currently filled with Jews, Arabs, Negroes, Orientals, and with every other sort of beast, or unclean bird, which has been admitted into the nations of Christendom by the fruits of the ideals of “liberty, equality and fraternity” which have been heralded by the princes of imperialism and international commerce. Even fifty years ago, most people were completely oblivious to the ultimate consequences of Liberalism, and today police agencies throughout the formerly White nations are protecting drag queens as they openly groom children for sexual perversion. This is the fulfillment of Jeremiah chapter 31, where it says in verse 27: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.” It is also the fulfillment of the words of Christ who answered the apostles concerning His return and said, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 17: “26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.” From the moment of creation man was expected to eat, drink, and multiply. But in the days of Noah they were committing fornication and eating and drinking in idolatry, in precisely the same race-mixing which we see today.

So after the announcement of the fall of Mystery Babylon here in verse 2, in verse 3 we read in part that “from of the wine of the passion of her fornication fell all the nations, and the kings of the earth fornicated with her, and the merchants of the earth are enriched from the power of her wantonness”, and these are also all the same sins for which the children of Israel were punished in the ancient world, as we may read in Hosea chapter 2, where the wife of Yahweh, the collective children of Israel, was also described as a whore. We had already cited the relevant passage of Hosea where in Revelation chapter 17 one of the angels with the seven bowls of wrath had said to John “Come, I shall show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have fornicated, and those inhabiting the earth have been intoxicated from the wine of her fornication!” Today the other races certainly are drunk in the deceit of that fornication, believing that they can replace the children of God through race-mixing, and Yahweh God reveals here that He shall rebuke and destroy all of them instead.

The announcement that Babylon has fallen also evokes a prophecy concerning the ancient city of Babylon, which is found in Isaiah chapter 21: “1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: 8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.”

According to the surrounding narrative in Isaiah, this prophecy may be dated to the rule of the Assyrian king Sargon II, who died in 705 BC. At that time, Babylon was only one city-state subject to the mightier Assyrian empire, and Assyria would continue to rule the world for another hundred years. Babylon would not become and empire of its own until after Nineveh was destroyed around 612 BC, and Nebuchadnezzar gained the throne, after 606 BC. So Isaiah’s prophecy not only describes Babylon’s fall to the Medes and Persians, which did not happen until 539 BC, but also presages Babylon’s having become an empire in the first place, over a hundred years before that actually happened. If Isaiah knew that Babylon would rise a hundred years and then fall and then a hundred and sixty years before those things actually happened, then Yahshua Christ certainly knows that our current Babylonian world system would rise, and fall, thousands of years before it would actually happen.

But there are other things to note concerning this prophecy of the fall of ancient Babylon in Isaiah. First, ancient Babylon is clearly a type for our modern Mystery Babylon, and in many aspects the prophecies concerning the fall of the ancient city foreshadow the fall of Babylon today. Leading up to its fall, Isaiah described himself as having had great trepidation and anguish. Then he was told to set a watchman, and then even the watchman expressed exasperation in his watching. But suddenly, men appeared with news of the fall of Babylon. These things may also stand as lessons for those who are knowledgeable of what is now coming, as Isaiah was, and for those who watch for it to happen.

Finally, in reference to Isaiah’s prophecy, it must have a dual fulfillment because ancient Babylon was indeed overtaken by the Persians and the Medes, and even Isaiah himself, in chapter 45, had prophesied that it would be taken in a manner whereby the ancient city would not be destroyed. There Yahweh said that He would have the gates of the city opened for Cyrus, king of Persia. From history we know that in 539 BC Cyrus was able to take Babylon without much effort, and the city and its idols were left intact. They were not destroyed at that time. So while aspects of Isaiah’s description in the prophecy of chapter 21 were indeed fulfilled in most respects, we await the fall of Babylon and the destruction of all of its idols today.

4 And I heard another voice from out of heaven, saying: “You come out from her, My people, that you should not partake in her errors, and that you would not receive from of her wounds, 5 because her errors have built up as far as heaven and Yahweh has called to mind her injustices!

In verse 5, the Greek verb κολλάω is interesting, as it primarily means to glue or cement, and for that reason also to join or cleave to another. With one other exception, where it is to keep company in Acts chapter 10, in the King James Version it was always translated as cleave or join. Here the King James Version has only reached, where citing Pindar Liddell & Scott explain that the word also meant to put together or build. The action describes something which is intentionally constructed, which was also the case with the ancient Tower of Babel, so the analogy cannot escape us as the children of the sons of Noah also wanted their own devices to reach to heaven.

Here it must also not be overlooked, that in chapter 17 it is described that the name of the Whore who had joined herself to the beast is “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.” However a wife, even in ancient times, had customarily taken the name of a husband. Having joined herself to the beast, the Woman is in a fornicating relationship with the beast, as Paul of Tarsus had said, in another context, in 1 Corinthians chapter 6: “16 Or do you not know that he joining himself to the harlot is one body? ‘They shall be,’ He declares, ‘two into one flesh.’” Later in chapter 17 it says “the woman which you saw is the great city”, but as we attested and shall attest once again in our commentary for Revelation chapter 21, the city is the collective of the people, and not merely the buildings and roads, which agrees with the ancient use of the Greek word πόλις. From that Greek word we have several modern English terms, such as polity, politics, and even police.

It must further be noted that the locusts and their king in Revelation chapter 9, the beast as it is described in Revelation chapters 11 and 17, and Satan as he is described in Revelation chapter 20 all have the same origin, they all came from the same place, which is the bottomless pit. The king of the locusts is described as an angel from the bottomless pit, and also as a star fallen from heaven, so he must have also been descended from the ancient Nephilim, the fallen angels. As Christ had told His adversaries, in John chapter 8, “23 … You are from of those below; I am from of those above. You are from of this Society; I am not from of this Society.” So the bottomless pit, which is not actually a physical hole in the ground, must be an allegory representing those who are not born of God, as Christ had also said, in John chapter 3, that “3 … unless a man should be born from above, he is not able to see the Kingdom of Yahweh.”

The call to come out of Babylon may be interpreted several ways. Since the children of Israel were sent into captivity, and have not yet been entirely delivered, it may be perceived that the people of God cannot come out of Babylon, that they cannot separate themselves entirely from this evil world system, until Babylon does finally fall. As Yahweh God had told His people when they were going into Babylonian captivity, as it is recorded in Jeremiah chapter 29: “4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; 5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; 6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. 7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. 8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.” The children of Israel had no choice but to abide in their captivity, as it was their punishment for their sin, they were told that they would die if they tried to resist it, and they would not be released from it until the time that Yahweh had appointed. So here we see a call to come out of Babylon after its fall is announced for the final time, and here in verses 10 and 21 the city is being lamented as if it had fallen. Another way to interpret this call, which is frequently preferred by others but with which we cannot agree, is that once sufficient of the people of God do separate themselves from the world system, that then Babylon will fall. However we cannot expect the provenance of God to require the assistance of the hands of men, and men certainly cannot save themselves. Men can only do what they should to survive, while resisting the sins of the world, as both Christ and His apostles had frequently admonished.

In any event, it certainly is evident that within the current world system, the illusion of security in consumerism, humanism, and global mercantilism, shall come crashing down upon those who worship the beast. Those people of God who do not worship the beast system, they should keep themselves separated from it so that when it does crash, they may not suffer its punishments. That crash may be sudden, as verses 10 and 19 of this chapter seem to indicate, however “one hour” is not so definite a period in Greek as the English expression infers, and in prophecy it may describe a much longer interval, months or even several years. This, for example, is apparent in Revelation chapter 14, where before the fall of Babylon is announced it says, speaking of Yahweh God, “for the hour of his judgment is come”, yet there remained the descriptions of the harvests of both the parched and ripe fruits, and the pouring of the seven bowls of wrath along with the other things which have been described in the intervening chapters. Likewise, the hours of Revelation chapter 17 cannot be literal, but rather must represent relatively short periods of time, perhaps months or a few years, where it explains that “12… the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” If we seek a more precise explanation, if a time in prophecy is 360 years, then a relative hour is 15 years. But if a day to Yahweh is a thousand years, as the apostle Peter had attested in his second epistle, then a relative hour is nearly 42 years.

But even without fear of judgement, Christians must always seek to separate themselves from evil deeds and from wicked or sinful people, and in every aspect of life, avoid getting caught up in the sin of the beast system. As Paul of Tarsus had warned in 2 Corinthians chapter 6: “14 Do not become yoked together with untrustworthy aliens; for what participation has justice and lawlessness? And what fellowship has light towards darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what share the faithful with the faithless? 16 And what agreement has a temple of Yahweh with idols? For you are a temple of the living Yahweh; just as Yahweh has said, ‘I will dwell among them, and I will walk about; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ 17 On which account ‘Come out from the midst of them and be separated,’ says the Prince, and ‘do not be joined to the impure, and I will admit you’. 18 ‘And I will be to you for a father, and you will be mine for sons and daughters, says the almighty Prince.’” Verse 17 in that passage quotes Isaiah 52:11, which says “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.” All of the popular Bible translations add the word thing to that text in one way or another. But the clause only says “touch not the unclean”, and it refers to people, not to inanimate objects. The “vessels of Yahweh” are those children of Adam who bear the spirit which Yahweh had breathed into Adam. The other and mixed races do not have His spirit, as they did not descend wholly from Adam and therefore they were not born from above, of Yahweh.

6 You return to her as she also had rendered, and you double [the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘rendered to you, and you double to her’] twice the things [A and the manuscripts of the MT following Andreas of Caesareia want the article translated as ‘the things’ here; the traditional MT manuscripts insert the words “as also for her even”; the text follows א and C] according to her works. In the [א and the traditional MT manuscripts have ‘her’] cup which she had mixed, you mix double for her! 7 As much as she had magnified herself and lived wantonly, so much you give torment and grief to her!

Here in verse 6 the verb ἀποδίδομι is both return and render, in appropriate the tenses, where repay or restore would also be appropriate. The word may also simply mean pay, in return for a service or product. So the children of Israel who heed the call to come out of Babylon are prophesied here as having the opportunity for retribution against the evil world system, and evidently against all of those who worship the beast and are a part of that system. This accords with the words of Paul of Tarsus in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 where he wrote “4 For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but through Yahweh they are able to destroy strongholds, 5 destroying reasonings and every bulwark raising itself up against the knowledge of Yahweh, and taking captive every thought into the obedience of the Anointed; 6 also being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, whenever you shall have fulfilled your obedience.” Until Babylon falls, the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but there Paul also indicates that Christians shall be the weapons whereby Yahweh God destroys His enemies.

So we read in Micah chapter 4 of a call similar to this one here in the Revelation, and it parallels the prophecy of this chapter, and perhaps also the harvest of the parched found in Revelation chapter 14:

“10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt

thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. 11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. 13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” Like Isaiah, Micah wrote those words over a hundred years before the rise of Babylon as an empire.

There are many more parallels with this chapter of the Revelation in the words of the prophets, however the vengeance of Yahweh and the role of His people in that vengeance shall be discussed in greater detail with Revelation chapter 19, which describes the Wedding Supper of the Lamb – an event which forebodes the destruction of all of the enemies of Yahweh God here on the earth, who are also the enemies of His people. In turn, that interpretation shall be further augmented as we interpret Revelation chapter 20. But when we discussed Revelation chapter 12, we had asserted that the prophecies found there are not only a vision of the circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ, but that they are also a vision of the circumstances surrounding what we call the Age of Liberty, which heralded the supposed self-governance of all of the Christian nations, and especially in the creation of the United States. Our interpretation of Micah chapter 4 provided significant evidence supporting that assertion. That passage in Micah and other similar prophecies were not completely fulfilled in ancient times, if at all, and therefore the children of Yahweh have yet to look forward to their fulfillments.

Continuing with verse 7:

Because in her heart she says that ‘I sit a queen and I am not a widow and I have not seen grief’, 8 for this reason in one day shall her plagues come: death and grief and famine, and she shall be burned with fire, because mighty is Prince Yahweh who judges her!

The woman, the whore sitting upon the beast, is indeed a widow so long as she does not accept Christ, because in the end there shall be no beast and she shall have nowhere else to turn. The exclamation by the woman that “I sit a queen and I am not a widow and I have not seen grief”, sounds very much like the attitudes which are being taught in the Judaized sects of Christianity today, where gospels of personal enrichment, personal salvation and self-righteousness are preached along with the so-called brotherhood of man, the doing away of the law, and the acceptance of sinners in spite of their sins. But this also seems to be the same attitude expressed by the assembly of Laodikeia, a word which we interpret to mean self-righteous people. In Revelation chapter 3, those people are portrayed as saying “I am rich” and “I have become wealthy” and “I have need of nothing”, and in response to that Christ replies: “you do not know that you are miserable and pitiful and poor and blind and naked”. The gospels of personal enrichment and personal salvation are probably the most effective doctrines which could have been formulated for the benefit of the international commerce of the Jew. They are also absolute deceptions, contrary to all sound Christian teaching.

“9 And the kings of the earth who had fornicated and lived wantonly [א wants the words ‘and lived wantonly’] with her shall weep and shall mourn over her [A and the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘for her’], when they see the smoke of her burning [א has ‘smoke of her fall’] , standing from afar on account of the fear of her torment, saying ‘Woe! Woe! The great city! Babylon the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come! [A has ‘For one hour is your judgement!’]’

We have identified Mystery Babylon primarily with the international mercantile system of debt, credit, and free trade promoted by the international Jew based on the precepts of the Talmud and manifested in England from the 17th century. But as we have explained, it also encompasses the political and religious systems which facilitate that mercantile system. Here we see that the kings of the earth, whom we may associate with modern politicians, have compromised the stability of their own nations in order to commit fornication – or open their borders – so that the beast system may thrive, because they also had enjoyed the benefits of its false prosperity. Then once it falls, although they mourn the event here they are also depicted as distancing themselves “on account of the fear of her torment”, but in the end the guilty will not escape punishment.

While this passage associates the politicians with Mystery Babylon, now the commercial aspects are described:

“11 And the merchants of the earth weep and lament over her [A has ‘with her’ or ‘in her’; the traditional MT manuscripts have ‘for her’; the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘for themselves’; the text follows א and C], because no one buys their cargo any longer, 12 cargo of gold and of silver and of precious stone [C has ‘stones’] and of pearl [A and C have ‘pearls’; the text follows א and the MT but all four manuscripts have other slight variations] and of linen [א has ‘linens’] and of cloths of purple [A wants ‘and cloths of purple’; the MT has only ‘cloth’; the text follows א and C] and of silk and of scarlet, and every cedar timber and every ivory vessel and every vessel from of precious wood [A has ‘stone’] and of copper and of iron and of marble [א wants ‘and of marble’], 13 and [א and the traditional MT manuscripts insert ‘of’] cinnamon and incense [ἄμωμον, or perhaps cardamom, the traditional MT manuscripts want ‘and incense’] and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and flour and grain and herds and flocks, and of horses and of carriages and of bodies, and souls of men.

A σῶμα is literally a body, living or dead. Here the word seems to refer to the state of slaves, sex servants or infants and children, all of which are traded to this day, in one way or another. While slavery is not overt in the formerly White Christian nations, wage slavery is, and the open-borders policy for migrant or so-called undocumented workers is also a form of slavery. Body parts are also sold on black markets, for organ harvesting and other illicit uses. In this same way are the souls, or lives (ψυχή), of men traded on global markets. The reference to the souls, or lives, of men, helps to reflect the religious aspects of Mystery Babylon, however that aspect is manifest more clearly in other ways later in the Revelation, such as the description of the False Prophet associated with the beast at the end of chapter 19.

Continuing the lamentation over fallen Babylon:

“14 And your maturity of youth, that of the desire of the soul, has departed from you, and all the rich things and the lustrous things have vanished [the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘departed’] from you, and no longer shall these things be found [the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘and no longer shall you find these things’]!

Here the Whore is described as having become old, spent and consumed. That is evident where the word ὀπώρα is maturity of youth here, but in the King James Version it is only fruits, although the word is singular. According to Liddell & Scott, the word literally refers to “the part of the year between the rising of Sirius and of Arcturus (i. e. the end of July, all August, and part of September),” and therefore “the end of summer… later it was used for autumn” although other terms properly meant autumn. But because of the part of year which it described, Liddell & Scott further explain that “since it was the fruit-time, it came to mean the fruit itself,” and therefore it was also used “metaphorically [of] summer-bloom, i. e. the bloom of youth”, for which reason here we have maturity of youth. Translating ὀπώρα as we have, the Majority Text has the beginning of the verse to read “And the maturity of youth, of the desire of your soul”, which we find unlikely. The reference is to the fulness of a beautiful young woman at the height of her youth, where she is most desired and sought after by men. Our text follows the Codices Sinaiticus (א), Alexandrinus (A) and Ephraemi Syri (C).

Returning to the commercial aspects of Mystery Babylon:

“15 The merchants of these things who are enriched from her shall stand from afar on account of the fear of her torment weeping, and lamenting 16 they say ‘Woe! Woe! The great city, wrapped in linen and purple and scarlet and gilt with gold and with precious stone and with pearl [the MT has ‘pearls’; the text follows א, A and C], for in one hour such wealth is made desolate!’ 17 And every pilot and all who are sailing by the place [the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘and all sailing of the ships’], and sailors and as many as are working the sea stood from afar 18 and cried out, seeing the smoke [A has ‘place’] of her burning, saying ‘What is like the great city?’

Like the politicians, the merchants and traffickers also seek to distance themselves from fallen Babylon. A strong parallel can be found in the history of the Old Testament kingdom. Ancient Tyre was a city of Israel, as both Flavius Josephus and the Septuagint manuscripts of the Old Testament profess, and as history proves, and it too was a great city of international commerce, complete with cosmopolitan attitudes, false prophets and Canaanite merchants. Because it was an Israelite city, Ezekiel lamented it in both chapters 27 and 28 of his prophecy, in a Hebrew parallelism. So at the beginning of the lamentation for Tyre in Ezekiel chapter 27, we read: “2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus; 3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.”

From that point, the merchant traffic of Tyre was described by Ezekiel at length, and the lamentation ends thus: “34 In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall. 35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. 36 The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more.” Ezekiel's words were of course fulfilled long ago, however the children of Israel did not learn by the example. They have not yet learned, and therefore all of the same sins are repeated today. Ancient Tyre clearly stood as another type for Mystery Babylon.

Continuing with the description of the merchants and the sailors:

19 And they cast dirt upon their heads and cried out weeping and lamenting [A wants ‘weeping and lamenting’], [the MT inserts ‘and’] saying ‘Woe! Woe! [א has only one ‘Woe!’] The [C has ‘This’] great city! In which all those having ships in the sea have been enriched from her value! For in one hour she is made desolate!’

The portrayal of the kings and merchants in this vision informs us of the nature of Mystery Babylon, what it truly is, and here we have an assurance that international commerce and the fornication which accompanies it shall all come to an end once the beast system collapses. It has served only to enrich the enemies of Yahweh and to facilitate their intentions to destroy His people. The articles of commerce are described in the terms of the luxuries available to John in his own time, but they are representative of all of the goods of international commerce today, even though of course now they are more modern, electronic goods and motorized vehicles and all of the other modern amenities.

Just as the whore of Mystery Babylon is depicted as having said “I sit a queen and I am not a widow and I have not seen grief”, the King of Tyre is depicted where he is lamented in Ezekiel chapter 28 as having said “I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas”. Yet all of the rewards of this world are vanity, and the pursuit of them is idolatry, as the works of men are vanity. It is exemplary in the king of Tyre, that the gain of great wealth here on earth first convinces men to forsake God, and then tempts men to think that they are God. Yahshua Christ said to the wealthy young man who kept all of the commandments, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 18: “Then one thing is left for you: All whatever you have, sell and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in the heavens. Then come, follow Me.”

Now upon the fall of Babylon, in contrast to the weeping and mourning of the kings, the merchants and their traffickers, the children of Israel are exhorted to rejoice:

“20 Rejoice over her [A has ‘in her’; the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘for her’], O heaven and saints and ambassadors [C and the MT manuscripts following Andreas of Caesareia have ‘O heaven and holy ambassadors’] and prophets, because Yahweh has passed the judgment of your condemnation of her!”

The children of Israel are herein depicted as having already condemned these aspects of Mystery Babylon found in our modern society and its accompanying international commerce, politics and philosophies. Now they await the moment of its destruction, represented here by an angel casting a millstone into the sea:

21 And the one mighty [A wants ‘mighty’] messenger took up a stone like a great millstone [א has ‘stone’ once again] and cast it into the sea, saying: “Thusly with violence Babylon the great city is cast down, and she shall not be found hereafter [א inserts ‘in her’, or perhaps ‘in it’, which must be an error]!

This evokes the punishment which Yahshua Christ Himself had professed is worthy for those who would harm His children, in Matthew chapter 18: “6 But he whom would offend one of these little ones who believes in Me, it is better for him that a millstone would be hung around his neck and he be drowned in the depth of the sea! 7 Woe to Society because of offenses! Indeed it is a necessity for offenses to come, but woe to that man through whom the offense comes!”

Continuing with the judgement:

22 And [א wants ‘and’] the sound of lyrists and poets and flutists and trumpeters shall not be heard in you hereafter! And every craftsman of every craft [א and A want ‘of every craft’] shall not be found in you hereafter! And the sound of a mill shall not be heard in you hereafter! [א wants the entire final clause of the verse.] 23 And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you hereafter! And the voice of the bridegroom and [C inserts ‘a voice of’] a bride shall not be heard in you hereafter! Because your merchants were the great men of the earth! Because by your pharmaceuticals have all the nations been deceived!”

The Greek noun μουσικός describes one skilled in the arts of the muses, in lyric poetry as well as music. Here it is poet, as it is accompanied by more specific words for various types of musicians. The noun, μουσική, is defined by Liddell & Scott as “any art over which the Muses presided, especially music or lyric poetry” and then “generally, [as] art, letters, accomplishment…” The word translated as pharmaceuticals is φαρμακεία, where the King James Version has sorceries although the form in the text is singular. It may have been more archaically translated as sorcery, but the Greek word is the direct ancestor of our modern English word pharmaceutical in both form and meaning.

The fallen angel and Jewish world of humanism, sorcery, fornication, multicultural pluralism, race-mixing, sodomy, godlessness and everything else which the beast system represents shall inevitably fail, and it shall all be destroyed and supplanted by the Kingdom of God. Exactly how or when this is going to happen, cannot be known beyond what the Scripture tells us, and the children of Israel are powerless to act out this judgement by themselves, at least until it falls. Vengeance belongs to God, as is evident here in verse 20, that “Yahweh has passed the judgment of your condemnation of her”. Here it also becomes evident that Yahweh God expects His children to have condemned this world beast system for themselves, even if by themselves they are powerless to remove it. For that reason the apostle James had written in his epistle, in chapter 4, “4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Referring to any of his readers as adulterers, James is only addressing those who may have any love for the world.

Now the last testimony against Mystery Babylon is perhaps the most appropriate:

24 And in her is found the blood [the MT has ‘bloods’; the text follows א, A and C; the plural form in the Septuagint is usually a Hebraism for bloodshed] of the prophets and saints and all those having been slaughtered upon the earth.

In Revelation chapter 6 the souls of the martyrs are portrayed as crying out from under the altar for Yahweh God to avenge their blood against them that dwell upon the earth. While the governments of the children of Israel, and all those who have been quick to war against their own brethren, face judgement for their own sins, Yahshua Christ Himself had laid the blame for the blood of all the prophets on the shoulders of His enemies, where He said, as it is recorded in Luke chapter 11: “46 … And to you lawyers, woe! Because you load men with burdens hard to bear, and these burdens you touch with not one of your fingers! 47 Woe to you! Because you build the monuments of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! 48 Therefore you are witnesses and you consent to the works of your fathers, because they killed them, and you build. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of Yahweh says: ‘I shall send to them prophets and ambassadors, and some of them they shall kill and they shall persecute’, 50 in order that the blood of all the prophets spilled from the foundation of the Society should be required from this race, 51 from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias who was killed between the altar and the house. Yeah, I say to you, it shall be required from this race! 52 Woe to you lawyers! Because you have taken the key of knowledge, you do not enter in yourselves, and you prohibit those who are entering in!” Only the children of Cain could possibly ever be held accountable for the blood of Abel, and through Canaan and Esau, it is their race who are ultimately held accountable for the blood of all of the prophets and saints.

This concludes our commentary on Revelation chapter 18. The next chapter, 19, portrays the final culmination of the last great challenge facing the people of God, which is evidently described as occurring after the impending fall of Mystery Babylon, however the visions in chapters 19 and 20 are also apparent parallelisms.