Tag Archives: the fall of Babylon

The fall of Commercial Babylon (Rev. 18)

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To start this section, it is important to know that though commercial Babylon is different in that it deals not so much with religion, but with commerce, it is still linked with the old fallen religious Babylon and still has a strong foundation in its immorality and idolatry. I think we may capture this reality best by looking at what the angel said about the coming fallen Babylon in verses two and three.

And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

I think John MacArthur comments well on these verses, pointing out the differences between the two Babylon’s.

Religious Babylon (chap. 17) lures the nations into spiritual drunkenness and fornication with false gods (17:2, 4); commercial Babylon (chap. 18) seduces the unbelieving world into a materialistic stupor so that the people of the world will become drunk with passion because of their relationship with Babylon.7

As for this Babylonian system of commerce; how is it run? Well, even before the Antichrist appears on the scene, the Scripture tells us that there will be ten kings with ten kingdoms. We don’t see this yet, but I think we will see it soon. And then, just as these kingdoms are put in place, a very powerful leader, who is the Antichrist, will come into power, and he will give authority to the ten kings. And with them, and with his prophet (the false prophet) leading, he will set up a government system by which no person on earth will be able to buy or sell anything unless he has a certain mark, a mark of the beast, on either his right hand or his forehead (Rev. 13:16-17). Hence, this Antichrist will control all commerce.

But even before this control system comes about, and even before the ten kingdoms are installed, we will see many global organizations come together in an effort to form a global government—and this will bring about these ten kingdoms and the Antichrist. But we don’t have to wait long. Most of these organizations are already in place and are making global plans with each other. There are probably over one-hundred of them, but here are the top seven.

1. United Nations (UN). It was established in 1945, and its mission is to ensure international peace and security.

2. United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was established in 1945. Its mission is to promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, and culture.

3. World Health Organization (WHO). It weas established in 1948. It is an organization that specializes in international public health.

4. World Economic Forum (WEF). It was established in 1971. Their stated mission is to improve the status of the world by engaging commercial, governmental, intellectual, and other leaders of society to influence global, regional, and industry agendas.  

5.  International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was established in 1945. Its mission is to promote global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world while relying on the World Bank for resources on a periodic basis.

6. World Bank. It was established in 1944. This international agency lends and gives money to governments in low- and middle-income nations to fund capital projects.

7. World Trade Organization (WTO). It weas established in 1995. It is a multilateral organization that regulates and supports international trade.8                                                                                                       

Most of these organizations on the surface look very good and helpful to the world’s people However, when they are used under the Antichrist system of government, they will be used for a evil.

One of the things that is progressing rather quickly is the idea of having digital currency dan a new cashless society. And it will be a currency that is programable by its leaders. In other words, we will be forced to buy and sell only the things that the Antichrist system approves of. They will control what we buy and sell.

But do not think that these things are ideas way down the road. There are actually many organizations that are presently discussing and working on these things. There is an organization called Digital Currency Governance Consortium, which is composed of 80 organizations to discuss these things. And this is all under the global organization World Economic Forum. And there are several of these groups that are promoting digital currency. Here are a few titles you should be aware of: Central Bank Digital Currency, The Digital Dollar Project, MIT Digital Currency Initiative, A New Era of Digital Money-IMF F&D. I think there is almost too many of them; too many ideas.

Big businesses will also be tied into the new Babylonian, Antichrist system. There will be nothing small anymore—no small businesses. It will be much easier to control big businesses. I’m sure that their executives will have no problem taking the mark of the beast and engaging in his evil system.

In Revelation 18:11-13 there is a list of all the “cargo” that the merchants of the earth are mourning over after Babylon falls. But that list should be updated and modernized for today. I have a list before me of one-hundred of the biggest global companies, having ten different categories (or sectors) of goods (“cargo”). Here is my revised tabulation, organized first by the ten sectors, then by the top three companies.

SectorsTop Three Companies
TechnologyApple, Microsoft, Alphabet
Consumer DiscretionaryAmazon, Tesla, Walmart
Health CareUnited Health Group, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly
EnergySaudi Aramio, Exxon Mobil, Reliance Industries
FinancialsBerkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America
IndustrialsVisa, Mastercard, Accenture
Consumer StaplesProcter & Gamble, Pepsico, Philip Morris
TelecommunicationsCisco, T-Mobile, Verizon
Basic MaterialsLinde, BHP Group
UtilitiesNextera Energy

I noticed, according to verses 11-13 that this list of companies is in no way complete. There doesn’t seem to be a category for animals, vehicles, or slaves and human lives. Yes, apparently the slave trade will reappear in Antichrist’s commercial system!9        

7 Ibid., notes on Revelation 18:3.

8 Team Leverage Edu, “Discover the Top 15 International Organizations in the World,” at https://leverageedu.com/blog/list-of-international-organizations/.

9 Visual Capitalist, “Ranked: The 100 Biggest Public Companies in the World.” At https://www.visualcapitalist.com/biggest-public-companies-in-the-world-2022/.

The Fall of Babylon: Religious Babylon

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The fall of Babylon, very simply, is the destruction by God of the Antichrist and his domain of evil in the world. It will be a display of God’s authority and dominion. It will be the toppling of an evil kingdom so that a new righteous kingdom can be put it its place.

In tackling this great subject, we will first deal with the fact that there are two Babylon’s: a religious Babylon and a commercial Babylon. In this section we will look at religious Babylon, from Revelation 17; then, in a second blog we will look at commercial Babylon, from chapter 18. Also, along the way, we will show how the two are linked and how we really can’t speak of either of them without there being a connection to the other.

I think there is no better way to study this subject than to work our way through chapter 17, one verse at a time. So, from the first two verses we see that there is a “great harlot who sits on many waters,” and the kings of the earth are allied with her in her evil doings, and all who dwell on the earth are “made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” The great harlot symbolizes the false religious system of this religious Babylon; and it is termed a harlot because of its deceptive, sinful nature—as a prostitute. The term “sits on many waters” is explained in verse fifteen—that she has a ruling power over all the nations of the world; and it seems that they are glad allies with her; moreover, all the worlds people are intoxicated with her teaching.

In verses three and four we read that the woman (the harlot) is sitting on a scarlet beast. This is the first place we see that the woman (religious Babylon) is linked to the beast. And we also read that she is scarlet (v. 4). I have two observations. First, the riding of the beast indicates that she has some control over him. Second, the fact that they both are dressed in scarlet shows us that they both are of royalty and powerful, and they also are tied to the Roman Catholic church (more on that later).

In verse four we are given a picture of this harlot: she is clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones, and has in her hand a gold cup full of abominations; then also, in verse five we see that on her forehead is a name written, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIOINS OF THE EARTH.” So, what can we make of this?

First of all, her clothing and expensive jewelry tell us of her great wealth, and also that she is of the Catholic Church. We see this in the colors of purple and scarlet, and also in the precious stores that are worn by priests. The gold cup full of abominations is, I think, the wine of immorality and sin that she partakes of and also offers to all others in the world (v. 2). Then in verse five, the name on her forehead tells us that she (this false religious system out of the Catholic Church) does not hide its abominations, rather, she parades them to the world as something she is proud of.

What we see in verse six, that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, is a further proof that this religious Babylon is of the Catholic Church of Rome; for it has a long history of persecuting and killing Christians in the most barbaric way. And when Rome is established in power, we will see the same practice and with the hearty approval of the Antichrist.

Now there are two more things in this seventeenth chapter that we will mention, which pertains to this harlot—the religious Babylon. First, from verse nine, where John says, “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads [of the beast] are seven mountains on which the woman sits…” Besides the seven great world empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Antichrist kingdom), the seven mountains (or hills) also means Rome—which sits on seven hills. I may be wrong, but I can’t help feeling that God wants us to know that the woman sits on and rules from Rome.

Also, from verse sixteen, we should know that at the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist, with his ten kings, will destroy the harlot (or make her desolate)—and they will do it by the inspiration of God (He will put it in their hearts to do it).

It is also important to know that from this point on, her wealth and the power of her control will be transferred to the beast. Hence, he will now hold all worship for himself. Thus, looking ahead, we must realize that when God destroys Babylon, it destroys not only commercial Babylon but also religious Babylon; for during the last half of the Tribulation, until the end, Babylon is not completely secular but is full of idolatry in its nature—just as it was earlier with the harlot. Hence, at the end all evil is destroyed.

Armageddon — The Fall of Babylon

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The fall of Babylon definitely occurs early in Armageddon. In Revelation 16:19, John said of Babylon: “Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.” Hence, Babylon’s destruction is something that God does. He may do it by a nuclear attack from an enemy nation, or He may do it by His own means—whatever that will be. It seems clear from Scripture that Babylon will be completely destroyed just as Sodom and Gomorrah was (Isa. 13:19; Jer. 50:40). And since Genesis 19:24 states, “Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven,” this seems to me that He may do it through the great earthquake (of verse 18). And we suggested earlier that the earthquake may be triggered by a nuclear exchange. I will talk much more about the fall of Babylon in a later blog.