Posted on 09/11/2001 6:01:43 PM PDT by semaj
REV 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.
REV 18:3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."
REV 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
"Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
REV 18:5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
REV 18:6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
REV 18:7 Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, `I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.'
REV 18:8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
REV 18:9 "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
" `Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'
REV 18:11 "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more-- 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
REV 18:14 "They will say, `The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' 15 The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16 and cry out:
" `Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
REV 18:17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'
"Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, `Was there ever a city like this great city?' 19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
" `Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
LOL
Yesterday's disaster isn't even a blip on the radar screen compared to the scope of this prophecy.
Nah... I see the whore of Babylon as being a revived anti-Christian religion. Maybe even Islam. There are reasons I think this, based on references to Baal worship in the old testament, which was the ancient Babylonian idol. The "new" whore of Babylon would be the religious system adopted by the people of Babylon today, which would be Iraq and the other Arab nations, which are predominantly Islamic.
To suggest that Revelation 18 was somehow fulfilled today is to suggest that America is the whore of Babylon, and frankly, there are no parallels to suggest such a thing at all.
I think what we're seeing, if we want to relate today's events to Biblical prophecy, are simply more of the setup leading to the end. We started with Israel becoming a nation once again, and it has been ongoing with the buildup of forces against Israel. There were times in '67 and '73 that one could have thought that the armies massing against Israel were as prophesied, but the sequence of events wasn't right yet.
No, not yet, but close... very close. IMO, the next few days, when we find out who was responsible and when the US decides how to retaliate, will certainly be interesting. If we attack some Muslim targets, what will the Arab world do? Another embargo like '73-'74? Or will the response be more physical in nature, and not just economic?
The world markets certainly are keeping an eye on such possibilities, thus the spike in the price of oil.
We also see problems brewing inside Afghanistan itself, and their upset neighbors to the north, Russia, certainly have an interesting in what goes in too. I'm not sure how Russia would align itself if we struck targets in Afghanistan, but I think they wouldn't mind so much, considering their own war with Afghanistan in the 80's.
What I wonder about is, if we de-stabilize Afghanistan, would Russia march into the void, taking over that area? The army of the north, moving even closer to the Holy Lands?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.