Babylon in Prophecy

One of the things that we notice, of course, a great deal when traveling to countries like Egypt, as I mentioned earlier, driving there is a great hazard. You know, here we're accustomed to certain rules that pertain to the road. If you have, like, four lanes, you don't have, you know, six lanes that cram into those four lanes. You've got to stay in your lane, and you have to abide by certain laws.

And I'm sure they have laws in Egypt, but it sure doesn't seem that way. Because in a four-lane, you might have seven lanes of traffic at rush hour. And really, it is incredibly confusing. I would find it very difficult to drive there, because I'd probably be far too polite, you know, on the road. I would never get anywhere. You know, I would be like, if any of you ever saw, European vacation, you know, with Chevy Chase.

I'd be like the guy that gets in the London roundabout and I'd never get out. He's driving in that roundabout all the time. The unfortunate thing, though, is the driving is just a part of it. Egypt, of course, is an ancient bed of many of the problems that have occurred in the entire world, you know, along with other ancient nations like Egypt. We look in the world today, and there's a great deal of confusion, isn't there? People wonder what is going to happen next. You know, after you have what happened down in San Bernardino, what occurred in Paris, and who knows what will occur next, it makes you ask the question, why is there so much confusion and chaos in this world?

Why the conflict? You know, why the violence? You know, why is the perversion that exists in the world? You know, we look, of course, at so much that occurs, and particularly the Western world, you see, again, a lot of perversive things in a prurient, sexual type way. You know, why the deception that often is in the world? Why the human trafficking? You know, why the slavery? You know, we have slavery right here in the United States of America that's going on, human trafficking that is going on all the time. You know, why do we again have so much chaos in the world? Why is it the decisions that oftentimes governments make, why are they almost upside down?

You know, it's like they're decisions that are made that, you know, one would almost think that someone's insane by the decisions that have been made. You know, we used to talk about in the church the cause and the effect. There's a cause for every effect. The Bible says that there's no such thing as a causeless curse. There's always a, where there's an effect, there's a cause for the effect.

The troubles that we have in the world have come about because of the things that we have done in the past. What's occurred in the past and what we're seeing in the world today and the chaos and, you know, all of the bedlam that is in the world is this axiom. There's a cause for every effect. The problem began anciently. Now, over in Genesis chapter 10, the problems that we have today were first mentioned, by the way.

Let's go to Genesis chapter 10. Genesis chapter 10 over here, Moses recorded some of these things, no doubt, that were passed along verbally, you know, through the patriarchs going back, you know, to the time certainly of Noah, would have had to been conveyed in some way or fashion in that way.

So we have the book of Genesis, which is written by Moses. But in Genesis 10 and verse 8, we drop down here and it says that Cush begat Nimrod. This is after the flood, the great Noatian deluge, and he began to be a mighty one on the earth. So Nimrod became this mighty person that was upon the earth. And notice in verse 9, and he was a mighty hunter before the eternal.

Now, if you look at it, by the way, this scripture here that seems to imply he was just a maybe a good archer or he was some sort of a hunter, actually the way this is translated in some translations is he was a mighty tyrant against God. He was against God. And he was, of course, of the line of Cain.

But he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter against God or a mighty tyrant against God. Therefore, it is said like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the eternal.

And it says that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Now, that word, Babel, by the way, means what? It means confusion. Confusion. So the very first kingdom city in this particular case that was established was called confusion. Imagine that. And so today we wonder, well, why do we have confusion in the world? Well, you know, the very first kingdom was called confusion. And so we see again that this Babylon, as it's also called, by the way, it's Babel or Babylon, they mean confusion. This was the first kingdom established by Nimrod who was against God after the flood. But is it just a kingdom ruled by a king?

You know, when you read the Bible, you see Babylon mentioned all the time. But where is Babylon in the world today? Is there a city called Babylon? Is there a country even called Babylon today? Of course, anciently it existed. But why does Babylon occupy such an important part in the Bible? You read from Genesis to the book of Revelation, in fact, all the way to the end of the book. Babylon plays very heavily in the Bible and it's a major part of prophecy.

And it has a very important place in prophecy. So what is Babylon? What is Babylon in it anyway?

Is it a city? Is it a kingdom? What is it? Is it a political or worship system? Just what is it?

What is it about? Nimr Kineser was, in fact, the first world ruling emperor.

He exercised power over all of the known world. Let's go to Daniel chapter 4 over here. Daniel chapter 4. Maybe look at some of this if we haven't looked at it for quite some time. Because it is very key, brethren. Babylon is very key into what is going to be happening very shortly in your time and my time. And I'm going to show you that in the Bible. But in Daniel chapter 4 over here, Nebuchadnezzar, by the way, was this great king. And Nebuchadnezzar had this dream that scared him to death. It terrorized him. It evoked terror in his mind when he saw this dream. He had again become the ruler over the entire earth. In Daniel chapter 4 and verse 1, in Nebuchadnezzar the king, it says, "...to all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell on all the earth, all the known world under the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar. Peace be multiplied to you." He says, "...I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders, and that the Most High God has worked for me." How great are his signs and almighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. Now, that's something that Nebuchadnezzar came to see.

After a while, that was after a particular punishment God caused him to see.

Nebuchadnezzar thought a great deal of himself. Remember, the hanging gardens of Babylon were some of the most exquisite things in the world. You know, one of the great wonders of the world was the hanging gardens of Babylon. And he thought a good deal of himself because he was ruling the world, this Nebuchadnezzar. But going on, he says, "...I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and flourishing in my palace, and I saw a dream that made me afraid." In fact, King James just says he evoked terror in him.

"...And the thoughts of my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore, I issued a creed to bring all the wise men, all the Chaldeans in, who would interpret the dream.

Then the magicians and all of the astrologers and the Chaldeans and the sous-savers came in, and I told them the dream, but they did not make known to me its interpretation. And then Daniel came, who was called Belteshazzar, and he had the spirit of the Holy God, as Nebuchadnezzar came to see, and he told him the dream. And Belteshazzar, the chief of the magicians, because I know the spirit of the Holy God is in you," verse 9, "...and no secret troubles you. Explain to me the visions of my dream that I've seen in its interpretations. These are the visions of my head while on my bed. I was looking, behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great, and the tree grew and became strong, and its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth, and its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all, for all men and all the creatures of the earth. And going on, it says, the beast of the field found shade under it, the birds of the heavens, welled in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

And I saw in the visions of my head, which was while on my bed, and there was a watcher. Now, watcher, by the way, was an angel, an angel that watched over, you know, and there, of course, were other angels that were around that were not so much the good angels. They were demonic, in fact, but there were good angels that were watchers. But notice, this one represents God, and it says, a holy one coming down from heaven. So here is an angelic representative of the very throne of God coming down. He cried aloud and said, chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off the leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beast get out from under it, and the birds from its branches, nevertheless, leave the stump and roots in the earth. Now, anybody knows, by the way, if you have the roots of a stump that are remaining in the earth, what's going to happen?

After over a period of time, the tree will grow back. You know, it'll shoot up, you know, other parts of that tree, and it will grow back. But this one was bound with a band of iron and bronze, showing that it was going to be restrained from growing, you know, back for at least a period of time. But notice, here's another thought that is injected here. In the tender grass of the field, let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beast on the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from that of a man. Let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him. Now, I don't have the time to talk about the prophecy that would occur, you know, that would show a period of time where this Babylonian tree, as it were, would not grow back and dominate, as it had been in the past. This Babylonish system, if we can put it that way. And this decision by the decree of the Watchers and the sentence by the word of the Holy Ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men gives it to whom ever he will, and sets over the lowest of men.

Now, by the way, when it talks about his heart being changed into that of a beast, this was Nebuchadnezzar, who remember was for seven years was basically turned, he had the mind of an animal. His, you know, nails of his of his fingers and his feet grew out like that of a beast. And Nebuchadnezzar became, for all purposes, an animal, unaware again of, you know, the kind of things that men are apparently given to think about. But this, of course, signaled the time when this system was going to be withheld for a while. And there are prophecies that show us there was a period of time that would pass before this system would re-emerge and basically have its tentacles around the world over all of mankind in the end of the age. But this is a remarkable dream that he saw about this tree that grew exceedingly great and very strong. And this prophecy, by the way, that God gave was a prophecy that would teach, by the way, over a period of seven years, it would teach Nebuchadnezzar as God rules over, you know, men. And he sets up kings and he takes down kings.

And certainly it was the case with Nebuchadnezzar, wasn't it? That God took him down for seven years before the heart of a man returned to him. But the thing that was different about this, by the way, this was a decree that did not come, by the way, from men. This was a decree that came from God by a holy angel that declared to Nebuchadnezzar what was going to happen.

Again, you have a change of heart in Nebuchadnezzar after this. That later is, in fact, his own grandson forgot the lesson Nebuchadnezzar had to learn when he sees, remember, the handwriting on the wall and then the fall of Babylon takes place. But I think it's very important for us, brother, when we look at prophecy, to realize that a tree has symbolism, a great deal of symbolism. And we see this very clearly in the book of Daniel, that the tree symbolized Babylon that was going to be brought down. But you know, think about how many places in the Bible that trees are mentioned? Well, right in the book of Genesis, you know, you have in chapter 2 about the two trees that were in the garden. You have the tree of life and you have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And sadly, our first two parents, Adam and Eve, took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So that is the way that man, in general, has gone. Again, you have this cause and effect principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And in Revelation 22, verse 2, you have a tree that grows on either side of the river that flows from out from under the throne of God, called the tree of life that bears 12 men of fruits, it says. And also, it says that the leaves were for the healing of the nations. For the healing of the nations. When Adam and Eve, during the time of Adam and Eve, by the way, when Eve looked at the tree and looked good, didn't it? To her. And then she offered to Adam to eat of this tree. The tree looked good.

And think about the fact that to the world, this tree of Babylon looks good. It looks good. Like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looks good to mankind. It's not good, but it looks good to mankind. But God is going to have the tree of life that actually is going to actually heal the nations. So that not only will the nations be healed, but they will be good. Not that they just simply look good, but they will be good. And this is the symbolism, again, of the trees that you see within the Bible. Daniel, by the way, is describing much more, by the way, than a city or an empire sacked by the Medes and the Persians in 539 BC. He's talking about much more than that.

Though Babylon was destroyed, by the way, in 539 BC, remember, Babylon did not cease to exist. It continued. It continued as a system. It continued, in fact, with successive kingdoms that emerged as well, and is going to be, in fact, in existence in the very end of the age as well. I just came from a different part of Babylon, you know, in Egypt.

It's Babylon there, and I came to another part of Babylon, which is the United States of America. Babylon is all over the world, and it is expressed in a way of life. Like the true trees in the garden express ways of life, by the way. The tree that, in fact, was the tree in the vision that Nebuchadnezzar saw expressed a way of life, a way of existence that looks good to mankind. It's a way that seems right. But what does the Bible say? It ends in destruction. Eventually, it will end in destruction.

God's way, on the other hand, will end in life, and, in fact, eternal life, and good.

So, brethren, Babylon, to answer the question, what is Babylon? Is it a city? Is it a kingdom or a system? Babylon was a city. It was a city. We know that Nimrod established Babel as a kingdom to begin with. So Babylon was a kingdom. In fact, it grew to become the Lady of Kingdoms, a great, incredible power, in fact, by the time of Nebuchadnezzar. But also, brethren, Babylon is a system surviving today. Where is Babylon now, and what does it mean for the Church? What does it mean for the Church? You know, Genesis 2 and Daniel 4 and Revelation 22 show, again, that a tree represents a way of life in the Bible. And Babylon, again, was considered very glorious, this great tree, but, on the other hand, it was very deceptive. It was a very destructive way of life. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 13. Like I said, all through the Bible, we find references to Babylon. But over in Isaiah chapter 13 over here, let's list this.

Isaiah 13.

This is the burden against Babylon, verse 1, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw. Lift up a banner on the high mountain, raise your voice to them, wave your hand that they may enter the gates of the nobles. So this is a burden again against Babylon. In verse 6, wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand. The day of the Lord signals the end of Babylon. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Down to verse 19 and 20, or through 20.

It says, Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans. Remember the image that Daniel saw was in the image, in fact, the head of gold depicted Babylon. That's why it's called the glory of kingdoms. And frankly, God may have been offering Nebuchadnezzar the opportunity to be the king over the whole earth if he'd ripen it, but he did not. But he had the wrong attitude, he had the wrong approach. And so God did not utilize Nebuchadnezzar in that way, but he was the glory of the kingdom. The beauty of the Chaldeans' pride. But notice, it says, it will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. And where is Sodom and Gomorrah today?

It isn't, is it? In fact, they're still searching for that. I'm not sure they really have actually found Sodom and Gomorrah. I know they've claimed that they have, you know, that it's on the shores of the Dead Sea, but I'm not sure if any excavations have taken place. But notice, it will never be inhabited, nor will be settled from generation to generation, nor will the Arabian pitch tense there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. And so this is what God says about Babylon, would be like Sodom and Gomorrah. And again, brethren, where is Babylon today?

Well, we don't know, we don't have a Babylon, do we? There's no empire, there's no country, there's no city called Babylon. Just, you know, we know that it is not, I'm sure they're doing excavations of a place called Babel. Again, I'm not sure about what's been excavated, but it's not a place where people live, where people dwell, just as the prophecies say. But Babylon was considered glorious, but it was a deceptive system, a destructive way of life that was heading toward death and destruction. And, you know, think about this reality, brethren. Satan's system, Satan's way of life cannot exist in conjunction with God's way of life. So we have God's way of life, Satan's way has got to go. Satan has got to be, you know, put out. Isn't that true about our own spiritual lives, brethren? You can't ride the fence as a Christian. Either you're with it or you're not. Either you're following God's way of life or you're not. You can't be in between.

But God's way cannot exist in the same place where Satan's way is going to be. You know, we can't, again, be half Christian and half of the world in society. I know all of us are overcoming.

We're changing. We're trying to get rid of those things in the world, but we can't have a, well, I can live with this kind of attitude with Satan's way of life. We've got to be putting sin out of our lives, as we know pictured by the days of the leather and bread.

But Babylon, brethren, is a system that God must destroy, and that's what the Bible reveals.

He must destroy the system.

Babylon, by the way, was used of God to destroy a corrupt system in Jerusalem that became very corrupt when God allowed, in fact, Babylon to take Judah captive in 604 to 585 BC.

And God sent his own people into captivity, and they did not return for 70 years. It was prophesied that he would not return for 70 years. And after about 50 years after the conquest of of Jerusalem, God stirs up the spirit of a pagan king, a Persian king by the name of Cyrus.

Now, Cyrus, by the way, was a king over a system that was beast-like. It was beast-like.

And God allowed him to have that rulership, just like he allowed Nebuchadnezzar to have that rulership over the world. That is God that allows that to occur.

And God allowed Cyrus to rule, as Satan, in fact, is allowed to rule, is the god of the world right now. He's going to be taken out, by the way, so are all of the other leaders of the world that have been allowed to rule. You remember when Satan had, in fact, come at Jesus Christ, when Christ had been fasting for 40 days and he was very hungry. Remember, he tempted Christ or strived to tempt Christ, and he offered to him the kingdoms of the earth. In actuality, Satan could have given him those kingdoms. He said, if you will bow down and worship me, I'll give you the kingdoms of the earth.

He could have done that. But remember, Jesus Christ told him, get behind me, Satan.

And that was a very pivotal time, in fact, in the history of the world, when Jesus Christ overcame the devil and qualified to be the king of kings and the Lord of lords.

And he's coming back the second time, by the way, this time not as a lowly lamb, but as a conquering king. But Jesus Christ said, my kingdom is not in this world.

Why? Because the kingdoms out here in the world belong to Satan. This system that is out here.

When you look upon the face of the earth, you know, I would rather live in the United States, by the way, than about any place in the world. But let's understand, brethren, that the United States of America, one nation under God, you know, apple pine baseball, and the whole nine yards, you know, even though the United States has done many good things in the world, we are still a part of the system that began, again, in the Garden of Eden, that was focused more by Nimrod, when Babel was established as a kingdom, that has dominated the world by the way, symbolized by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, amplified again in Babel through Nimrod and projected to the entire world.

And remember, when we see that when God actually brought Israel out of Egypt, He took them out of Egypt and brought them into the promised land.

Remember, Samuel, you know, was a prophet after Eli, and Samuel was a righteous prophet.

You remember what Israel did in 1 Samuel 8? They came to Samuel and said, we want a king like all the other nations around us. And so, you know, Samuel was upset by it. He was troubled by it. He went to God about it. And God said, allow them to have a king like, you know, all the other nations around them, but protest to them. Because, you know, this king is going to cause your sons to go to war. They're going to be servants in his palace. They're going to do all of these things to you. But He says, allow them to do what they want to do. In other words, brethren, they rejected God as their king. They would not have God as their king.

So even Israel, again, began to turn away from God. And the world, again, has gone that direction.

And eventually, of course, Israel itself went into captivity because they turned from God's laws.

They rejected the Sabbaths and the Holy Days and so forth. And they went into captivity in 721 before Judah did, you know, 721 B.C. But that system, by the way, has been around.

It's been filtered, in fact, through Israel, throughout Israel, even in modern-day Israel, brethren, throughout the world. And that system will exist at the return of Jesus Christ.

And Satan is going to be allowed to be the king or the god of the world until Jesus Christ returns, when he begins to be again then the king of kings and lord of lords.

Now, yet today in the world, we don't speak about Babylon, do we?

It seems ancient to us. It seems very ancient. It's an unlikely presence in the modern world of technology that you and I live in, in science. But Daniel 4, 14, shows us the tree was cut down.

Again, the tree is symbolic of everything represented by Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar, which is pride, lofty attitudes, power, wealth, influence, and renouncing God's influence in the affairs of men. It started with Adam when they accepted the serpent or the devil over God.

They chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that tree, by the way, is a tree that leads to death. The other tree was called the tree of life.

It symbolized, you know, relying upon knowledge revealed by God.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a tree that symbolized man seeking his own way, choosing for himself what was right and what was wrong through scientific method, you know, of trial and error. Hence, there are good things in the world, and then there are evil things in the world. But again, God's way cannot exist in conjunction with Satan's way.

Good and evil cannot dwell together, and eventually God is going to extract the evil.

The world is going to be, again, going the way that leads to life, symbolized by the tree of life.

But from Babylon, brethren, all other world-ruling kingdoms were derived.

Daniel 2 and 7 shows, in fact, the succession of empires. We don't even have to interpret it. What comes after Babylon? The Medes and the Persians were a very powerful empire.

You see that these empires, the Babylonian Empire and then the Medes and the Persians, though, were depicted as beasts. They were depicted as beasts.

The first beast, remember, of this Babylon-ish system was a winged lion.

A winged lion. A lion, a very ferocious beast that devours its prey. It is quite interesting, by the way, that when you look in the many of the tombs of Egypt, the wings are very dominant. The concept of the use of wings and symbolism associated with kings and pharaohs, nearly all of the tombs we saw in temples, you have these outstretched eagle's wings.

They're a part of it. But again, you have this lion. And lions, by the way, are very important in Egypt. Wherever you go, you have, of course, these figures in the form of a lion. In fact, the Sphinx has the head of a man but the body of a lion against the same system, the same reality in the world. And, of course, then you have the second, which was the Medes and the Persians. It was depicted as a beast, a bear, a ferocious bear. Then you have the third one that emerged, which was the the Greco-Macedonian Empire, that emerged with Alexander the Great.

And he is depicted as a leopard. But again, these kingdoms are getting progressively weaker in terms of their dominance in the world, not like the head of gold that Babylon was, but yet still affecting many peoples upon the face of the earth. And the fourth one, the fourth beast that is described, was called just simply a dreadful beast that has ten horns. Has ten horns. A dreadful beast. Now, what is interesting, when we go over to the book of Revelation, I want to just read to you what it says in Revelation 13, verse 1 through 2. You can write it down if you want. Revelation 13, verse 1 through 2. And here, John says, I stood upon the sand of the sea, the sand of the sea, you know, here talking about, in fact, you know, the peoples of the earth, as it were, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea. This is a beast, this dreadful beast, as a matter of fact, having seven heads and ten horns.

And upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, he was like a leopard. In his feet, the feet of a bear, in his mouth as the mouth of a lion. You see, you have, again, all of the parts of this particular beast, as it's described here in Revelation 13 down here. And going on, and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and his great authority. The dragon, of course, symbolized Satan the devil, gave him that power and his seat of authority. Now, when we look over to Revelation chapter 14, let's look over here to Revelation chapter 14, let's notice here what it says about this time in the book of Revelation. In verse 6 and 8, through 8 here, it says in chapter 14 of the book of Revelation, I'm in Isaiah, better get over there, to chapter 14.

It says, Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth the sea in the springs of water. And another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations the drink of the wine of the wrath of a fornication. So here we come, brethren, from the book of Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation, we're still talking about Babylon, right? And here you have an angel proclaiming the fall of Babylon. But why is this being proclaimed? Because God tells his people to come out of Babylon, to be separate from Babylon. So this angelic messenger announces the fall of this system. Is fallen, is fallen. In other words, it falls twice.

This major system, usually when the Bible repeats itself, there's a reason for that.

It means, again, a final fall as well. Remember, it was felled once, and a band was put around it. And I mentioned there were prophecies that had to be fulfilled before it would re-emerge again.

And maybe we can sometime go over those prophecies carefully with you and to show you what we've understood in the church about this. But it says this system, in other words, is going to be arising again, but it's going to be brought down again. It's going to fall again. It's going to come to utter destruction. But where does it have influence? Well, it has influence everywhere.

Revelation 12 verse 9 says what? Satan the devil has deceived the whole world.

Influence everywhere. The whole world, brethren, has walked contrary to God and His laws and His way of life.

You know, in fact, Romans 8 and 7, Paul says the carnal line is an enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be. Unless God has opened your mind to see the truth, you will not be subject to His laws. The world has not been subject to God's laws.

And the influence is everywhere, brethren.

Now let's go to Revelation chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13. We talk about this beast that rises. You know, having the ten horns, it's described a little bit more elsewhere, but we're not going to focus on the nitty-gritty of that. But you know, verse 1 and 2 talk about, again, this ten horned beast. But down in verse 7, let's show this here, it was granted to Him to make war with the saints. So this is going to be a time when this system is going to emerge that's going to make war against the saints of the end of the age and to overcome them. And authority was given Him over every tribe and tongue and nation. See, that's the influence it will have.

And all who dwell upon the earth will worship Him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the land slain from the foundation of the world. Is your name written in the book of life, brethren? We certainly pray that all of us have our names written in the book of life, or we're going to be deceived by what's going to happen in the future. It's as if anyone has an ear, let him hear. You know, now's the time for those that God at least will open their minds to repent and to change with no delay in doing so. But down in verse 11, I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb, they spoke like a dragon.

So this is a beast nonetheless with a beast-like mentality, a brutal you know, kind of a mentality, but in fact spoke like a dragon but was like a lamb, had the appearance of a lamb. In other words, we know Christ is called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, having the appearance of, you know, being of light but being of darkness. In other words, in conjunction with the beast. Going on, let's notice here, you know, on down in verse 12 and he exercised all the authority of the first beast. You're going to have great power and authority like the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those dwelling on the earth to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. So Babylon, brethren, is going to be a worship system as well, a religious system. It's going to be an economic system, it's going to be a political system, it's going to be a religious system because, again, it has to do with worship. And it says that in verse 14, and he deceives those that dwell on the earth by the signs which he was granted to do in the side of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who is wounded by the sword and lived, and who has granted power to give breath through the image of the beast, and the image of the beast shall both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. It's going to be a time of martyrdom of the saints during this time, when this system again emerges again. The band is off and it begins to emerge in a very powerful way. And it says, he calls his oath, all both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on the right hands or on their foreheads, that no one may buy or sell, except one has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

So again, it's an economic system. Can't buy or sell. It's a religious system. It's a political system. Now, what is so wrong about this system? Why does it have to be, again, destroyed?

You know, we live in a world again that is just utter confusion right now. In the world right now, brethren, is being led down the path of war. You are aware of that, aren't you? You are aware, brethren, that the Russians have put anti-missile capabilities right at the border of Turkey.

You are aware, brethren, that Turkey and Russia may be very much the catalyst for the beginning of World War III. I thought about that, by the way, as we were over there. You travel actually right over Turkey on the way, up to London, as we went through London on to San Francisco.

But think about that, brethren. We may be at that juncture of time and how rapidly things will occur if, indeed, that is where it begins. All it took, again, was the slain and the archduke of Ferdinand, remember, to begin the war. World War II began as a result of Archduke, Ferdinand, and other things, of course, that are just one thing that occurred.

The cause, again, a catalyst that led to World War I and World War II as well.

But the world, brethren, is being manipulated right now by its ruler, and that's Satan the Devil.

And this whole system that we live in, again, that is a system that is headed toward war and destruction. It's a religious system that has deceived, again, the whole world. And, in fact, it is a system that's going to try, if possible, to deceive even the saints of God. It's going to kill saints, and the Bible talks about in Revelation 17 verse 5. But let's notice here in chapter 16, chapter 16 and verse 14. Notice it says in chapter 16 and verse 14, it talks about, for they are spirits of demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

And notice what it says, the warning, and behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, in other words, remains righteous, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to a place that is called, in Hebrew, Armageddon. We know it's that valley of just real where the armies will come together.

The great powers of the earth will have that final conflict that will occur there. And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, it is done. There were noises and lightnings and thunderings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as has not occurred since men were upon the earth. A lot of very disruptive, destructive things that are going to happen. In verse 19, now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered for God to give her the cup of the wine, the fiercest of his wrath.

So God's going to punish this system. Babylon. Again, where is Babylon today? It is in, again, the systems of the world and the society that we see out there. Now let's go over to chapter 18. Chapter 18. Chapter 18 over here. Brethren, there's never been a more important time for you and me to have a relationship with God, to be close to God.

Lest we be considered part of the system that is out here, this world that Christ said, he was not his world, his kingdom was not of this world. He said, if it were, then my servants would fight, then I would be delivered. He says, my kingdom is not of this world. At the time, the Jews thought he would, you know, though there were certain Jews that became as followers that thought that he came to restore the kingdom at that time, to set up the kingdom of that time. And he tried to tell them a number of times, you know, so because they had that in their mind and their thinking. He said, no, it's not going to be at this time. But he talked about how he was going to have to be himself martyred, became, again, sacrificed for the sins of the world. Chapter 18, verse 2, talking about again another angel coming down from heaven. And he cried, verse 2, mightily will allow voice Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird, or hated bird. For all the nations, every nation, have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth had committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth had become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins are reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. The world's sins and iniquities God remembers, and God is going to bring again Satan's system to a close, to an end.

So we are to depart, brethren, from this system. No matter how good it may look to us, we have to be a part of this system. And there's a certain appeal that modern Babylon may have to people, or the nations of this world may have for people. It looks good. And you know, we look at the way that Satan wraps his packages.

It's like Christmas is made to appear good to people, isn't it? Especially children.

Children are really taken in by Christmas, and the human, you know, adults as well, can be sentimental with the music, they can be sentimental with the, you know, the tinsel and the lights and all those things connected with it. You know, they're sentimental to those things because they don't know what the truth is. They don't know about the feasts of God that have a purpose and reason why God wants us to keep God's feasts and what they picture.

I never heard a sermon where a minister ever stood up, and I went to Protestant churches when I was a kid growing up, that stood up in the pulpit and proved Christmas in the Bible. I mean, never ever heard anybody prove Christmas in the Bible. It didn't take me very long when I started studying the Bible to disprove Christmas, but I never heard a preacher in any of the Protestant churches I attended that ever proved Christmas or gave us the great meaning of Christmas. They always talk about putting Christ back into Christmas. Well, he never was in Christmas, was he? It's hard to put him back where he was never. In fact, Christmas existed 2,000 years before Christ ever came along.

Well, you know, we look at, of course, customs that strangely resemble what it talks about in Jeremiah 10. You know, if you ever look over there, you know, it talks about an idol that people decorate with tinsel that is like a palm tree that stands upright as it talks about, you know, over in Jeremiah 10. And God said to Israel through Jeremiah, don't learn the way of the heathen.

Don't worship me the way that the nations of the earth worship. They're gods. God says, I don't want you to expropriate what they're doing and then try to worship me by those things that the nations of the earth are doing. So, but, brethren, again, what does that mean for us today about Babylon? Well, brethren, it means that you and I have to come out of this world. We need to repent. Like I say, you know, God's way and Satan's way cannot peacefully coexist.

And they can't peacefully coexist in your life.

That God is not going to accept, brethren, you know, a way of life that's contrary to his way of life may be something we've learned to live with. God is not going to tolerate it in our lives. So we need to repent. We need to put away Satan's way and we need to begin to embrace God's way. And we need to come under the tree of life, reject the tree of the knowledge of good evil, and come under the tree of life. Reject the tree that is Babylon and turn to the tree of life.

You know, Jesus Christ gave the parable remember of the of the pearl of great price about the man who found the pearl of great price. And what did he do? He went and he sold everything he had and he he bought that pearl of great price. There was nothing left and he gave all for the pearl of great price. So, brethren, what are we holding back? What are we holding back for that pearl of great price? Have you bought the pearl of great price? Did you put everything into it?

Because, brethren, that is what I'm talking about. We haven't bought into the world.

We don't have one foot in the world and one foot in the church. In other words, we've got both feet firmly planted in God's way of life. One of the things that Satan the devil is good at, brethren, is he's a great counterfeiter. He copies everything God does.

It's interesting that the religious system of the world, basically, that we see is a counterfeit of what God is doing, is going to do, is succeeding to do.

God is going to bring his kingdom, which is going to, again, embrace the way pictured by the tree of life. Satan, on the other hand, through the religious system, political system, economic system, establishes his kingdom to counterfeit what God, in fact, is planning to do. And that counterfeit system is the world that you see out there. Satan trying to copy God. But you know, you only have a counterfeit, don't you? And this counterfeit leads to death and destruction and violence and every kind of evil. If we choose God's way of life, brethren, and go God's way of life, we will inherit all the good things that will be permanent, will be everlasting. And not only that, brethren, you and I will, in fact, be eternal. We'll be not only with God, but as 1 John 3, 1 and 2 say, we're going to be like Jesus Christ because we're going to see him as he is. Now, there are going to be a lot of religious people in the world, by the way, who would brace the world out here and the society that is out here.

And, you know, they're going to say, Lord, didn't I do this in your name? Didn't I do all of these things in my name? Remember the parable that Christ spoke? Where he said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father, who is in heaven. Those that have come out of the world, brethren, and have been separate from the world, haven't been, in fact, embroiled and caught up in this world and society.

You know, during the time of Lot, remember Lot's wife looked back. She became a pillar of salt.

Why do you think she looked back? Why do you think she looked back? Because her heart was in Sodom. Her heart was in Sodom. Everything she was was in Sodom.

Brethren, are you looking back? Are you looking back? Where is your heart?

You're looking forward to your permanent kingdom.

You know, Timothy was told by Paul, preach the word. He said, in season, out of season.

Preach the word. He said, because the time would come when they would not endure sound doctrine.

But they would be turning, basically, to vain philosophies. We know Paul said another place. They'd be turning to teachers that they said they would heap up to themselves that preached the things that they wanted to hear. But he said, Timothy, I want you to preach the word.

You tell people. Like it says in Isaiah 58, you know, over there, verse 1, it says, cry loud, spare not. Show my people Israel their sins. And so, brethren, I hope that you, or someone that, you know, are saying, Lord, Lord, you know, are doing the will of God as well. I hope that none of us, brethren, have to be told by Jesus Christ our Savior. You know, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you.

I didn't know you. Brethren, Babylon is still here. It's everywhere in the world, and it's in Europe where the beast is going to emerge, and this beast, its tentacles are going to go out through the entire world. Let's go over to Revelation chapter 18 again, if you may still be there. But in verse 2, it says, this angel that came down out of heaven, he cried mightily with a loud voice, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, has become a dwelling place of demons and prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For all the nations are drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues. So God wants us, brethren, to come out of this Babylon-ish system that is out here, and let's come into God's way of life. It's like during the days of unleavened bread we put sent out, but what do we do? We're supposed to bring that unleavened bread in, which depicts Christ, bring Christ into our lives, God's way of life. And so let's, you know, hear and listen and apply this admonishment, come out of her, my people, because Babylon, brethren, is going to come crashing down, and the real permanent kingdom is going to be established, and that is the kingdom of God.