Babylon - Past, Present and Future - Church of God - NEO

may have thought there was noother choice but to submit to thisoppressive system, in which humanitymight survive, but freedom,mercy, love and truth cannot.And so, once again, God willintervene in the affairs of Babylon."After these things I saw anotherangel coming down from heaven,having great authority, and theearth was illuminated with hisglory. And he cried mightily witha loud voice, saying, 'Babylon thegreat is fallen, is fallen, and hasbecome a habitation of demons, aprison for every foul spirit, and acage for every unclean and hatedbird! For all the nations havedrunk of the wine of the wrath ofher fornication, the kings of theearth have committed fornicationwith her, and the merchants of theearth have become rich throughthe abundance of her luxury'"(Revelation 18: 1-3).Babylon the great may havebeen ruthless with all those whoopposed her, but she has madethe world work for those who goalong with her system. She hasgiven mankind the economic, politicaland religious fruits of theworld chosen in the Garden ofEden. For those who cannot seethrough her deceit, Babylonseems to be the last hope for preservingcivilization. God cuts heroff at what seems like the highpoint of her success. It will seemlike a disaster."And the kings of the earth whocommitted fornication and livedluxuriously with her will weepand lament for her, when they seethe smoke of her burning, standingat a distance for fear of hertorment, saying, 'Alas, alas, thatgreat city Babylon, that mightycity! For in one hour your judgmenthas come'" (Revelation18:9-10).It will mean the collapse of theworld's economic system. "Andthe merchants of the earth willweep and mourn over her, for noone buys their merchandise anymore"(verse 11). Babylon has organizedtrade in "merchandise ofgold and silver, precious stonesand pearls, fine linen and purple,silk and scarlet, every kind of cit-18ron wood, every kind of object ofivory, every kind of object of mostprecious wood, bronze, iron, andmarble; and cinnamon and incense,fragrant oil and frankincense,wine and oil, fine flour andwheat, cattle and sheep, horsesand chariots ... " And more sinisterly,"bodies and souls of men,"meaning slaves (verses 12-13).International trade in the modernworld has become one vastintricate network. Massive dealsare made at a touch of a button.Fortunes hang in the balance, andmessages go back and forth betweencomputers at the speed oflight. Cargoes are sold, resold, divertedand diverted again, even asthe great con tainershi ps andtankers ply the oceans.Then, in one awful hour, thescreens go blank, the telephonesstop ringing, the telexes no longerclatter, as the intricately balanced,carefully controlled, ruthlesslyenforced network of a finalBabylon the great suddenly ceasesto function.No wonder, then, that " the merchantsof these things, who becamerich by her, will stand at adistance for fear of her tormentweeping and wailing, and saying'Alas, alas, that great city that wasclothed in fine linen, purple, andscarlet, and adorned with goldand precious stones and pearls!For in one hour such great richecame to nothing.' And every shipmaster,all who travel by ship ,sailors, and as many as trade onthe sea, stood at a distance andcried out when they saw thesmoke of her burning, saying,'What is like this great city?' Andthey threw dust on their headsand cried out, weeping and wailing,and saying, 'Alas, alas, thatgreat city, in which all who hadships on the sea became rich byher wealth! For in one hour she ismade desolate'" (Revelation18:15-19).Surely, only an enemy ofmankind would want to see allthis destroyed. So when JesusChrist returns to take over thegovernments of the world and establishthe kingdom of God, hewill not at first be greeted as aliberator. He will seem like ausurper, another threat to be resistedand suppressed. What is actuallythe greatest day in historywill be thought of as a calamity.Christ will return to establish anew world order of peace, love,cooperation and harmony amongall the nations of the world. Butthe dawn of this new era of hopewill seem like the end of theworld. Satan will have done hiswork well.Babylon's Final FallNothing can be salvaged fromthis greedy, selfish, ruthless, evilempire. It is the opposite of allthat Jesus Christ stands for-theantithesis of everything he plansto accomplish as he rebuilds theworld. The Babylonish systemmust be purged from the earthonce and for all. So, symbolically,"a mighty angel took up a stonelike a great millstone and threw itinto the sea, saying, 'Thus withviolence the great city Babylonshall be thrown down, and shallnot be found anymore' " (Revelation18:21).Babylon as a system will not soeasily disappear. It will take timefor its memory to fade for it hasproduced a way of life, politiCS,economics, religion, and dealingwith problems between nationsand individuals that is the oppositeto God's way. It is a way oflife based on human reasoningand human understanding, aidedand abetted by the pervertedthoughts of Satan. It has persistedon the earth from the days of theGarden of Eden and it won't bechanged overnight.Christ cannot build his new societyon the foundations of theold. He cannot use its systems, itsadministrations, its habits or itscustoms. Those who were deceivedinto prolonging the oldsystem will need to be reeducated.Christ will have to startagain, with new administratorswho have learned, over the centuries,to think like he does, andwho have proved they will becompetent and loyal in applyingand enforcing the laws of God.But where will he find suchpeople in a world that has been sothoroughly misled by Satan?