[Darris McNeely] I've just walked out of class teaching the book of Revelation here to our students at Ambassador Bible College. We've been at a point in Revelation 18 that describes the fall of Babylon the Great, this world system that arises at the time of the end and the day of the Lord prior to Christ's return that is a final culmination of all that Babylon was beginning in Genesis 10, and through the prophecies of Jeremiah, and the book of Daniel, and that entire system called Babylon, which is the antithesis of God and His Kingdom, and if you will, the symbol of Jerusalem.

Babylon is called here Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. And it's a system that will rise. And then in chapter 18, it talks about its collapse. And it says, "Babylon the Great is fallen," in verse 2. Verse 3 speaks of the nations of the Earth having been made drunk of a wine of the wrath of her fornication, participating with, taking part in this entire system, profiting financially, and in so many different ways. And then there's a warning in verse 4 to those who are the saints. "Come out of her, my people," a voice from heaven says, "lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues." God tells His saints, "Come out of Babylon."

Now, as I was telling my students, we look at Babylon to common. And Revelation 17 and 18, there's a great deal of symbolism of a beast with 7 heads and 10 horns and a woman riding that beast. And the Bible talks about this. And the book of Daniel talks about beasts that rise and fall upon the Earth's kingdoms. It's important to understand the broad view of prophecy in history and have an understanding of these systems and what Babylon is, but to the point of not partaking of her plagues, not being a part of her and coming out of her so that the plagues God pours out, don't come upon us, which speaks really to our life right now.

And as I was telling the students, that, at the end of the discussion, is what's most important. The life you live now, we're living in our own Babylon. We haven't yet come to the final formation of this system that is described in Revelation 17 and 18. That is to come. But we're I think, in the trailing edges, if you will, of that system. And even in our world today with deception, false religion, and the world and systems of human development, we're a type of our own Babylon that we have to live in. And it's now, today, that we have to identify the Babylon of our time and come out of it.

You know, as I look at the events of the last 12 months, the upheaval of a pandemic, the reordering of a lot of culture, and political systems, and ideas that are rising in the United States, and other parts of the world, I'm seeing a lot of this begin to develop, as I said, the leading edges of some of this Babylon, but it has made me very much more aware of what I have got to examine right now in my life. And I think you should as well to come out of, and to look at exactly what it is that I have valued, where I've spent my time, where I have devoted my following and my interest of this world, of this culture, of this Babylon and say, "What have I learned?" And I will tell you, and I think many of you will agree, the events of the last year have sharpened our focus a great deal as to what is going on in this world, made us dig into the Scriptures.

In Revelation 18:4, perhaps is one that all of us should hold up to ourselves and say, "What do I need to come out of? What do I need to reevaluate that I value in the Babylon that I'm living in right now?"

There are beasts to come. But some of the beasts that we see rising right now are very real and impactful. We should be able to identify them in connection with the world systems, as opposed to the system of the Kingdom of God. "Come out of here, My people, that you are not partakers of her sins and suffer her plagues."

That's God's age-long admonition to His saints. Think about it. What is it that you need to come out of? What is it that you need to discern about our present Babylon?

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.