"Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."
Revelation 17:1
She is beautiful, for God has created her that way. Her beauty was meant for Him, but she has used it as an instrument of power and control. Her ruby soft lips invite you to come. Her bed has been adorned with rare perfumes, promising fulfillment and pleasure. Her body is young. A perfect figure. Long flowing, golden hair—eyes that are wild and free. She rides a beast that has great power. In her right hand, she holds a cup filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries (Rev 17:4).The kings of the earth have become her lovers. They have tasted from her golden cup, intoxicated with her insatiable desires.
She has gained control over the entire earth. ...where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (Rev 17:15). The wealth of the world will be spent on her bed of pleasures. Lust has no cultural barriers!
As time passes, she will grow old. Terminal disease as a result of her affluent life, will eat away at her heart. Blush and rouge will be unable to cover a beauty that has been used up like an old wine skin. Her lovers begin to hate her and so will the beast on which she rides. She will see their hatred and laugh, knowing that they are in her control. Her once soft eyes will become hard and callous, filled with pride.
Drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev 17:6), she senses a shift in the spiritual realms. She looks up with an expression of terror. Far above, a silence falls over heaven. The universe holds its breath, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll (Rev 5:2). Before the throne of God, enters ...a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain (Rev 5:6).
As the seals are broken by the Lamb, God's wrath begins to be poured out upon the prostitute. The terminal decay within her takes its toll. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire (Rev 17:16).
"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great."
Revelation 18:2
Who is this harlot in Revelation, this modern–day Babylon?
In the Old Testament, the image of a prostitute is given to unfaithful Israel. Modern Babylon in Revelation is described as a prostitute. This reveals that her spiritual roots are in New Covenant Christianity. The image of the Harlot riding the Beast is a Christian people that have compromised a marriage covenant with God for the pleasures and power rewarded by the Beast.
the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries...'Was there ever a city like this great city?' (Rev 18:3, 18) Modern Babylon will be the most powerful economic nation in the world. She will import from around the globe. The world's economy will be tied into her unquenchable desire for materialism. When Babylon falls, it will send a shock wave that will cause economic chaos across the earth. The merchants and the kings of the world will stand shocked and terrified at her demise. How could a nation, so affluent and economically stable, fall with such violent swiftness? (Rev 18:18, 19)
The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth (Rev 17:18). In our modern day technology, to rule over all the kings of the earth, Babylon would have to possess the strongest army and the most powerful nuclear weapons. Because of the extent of her political power, the beast will not be able to rule until Babylon has fallen. (Rev 17: 15–18) She rides on top of the beast, in control, using the beast to establish her authority. The waters you saw where the prostitute sits are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages (Rev 17: 15). As in the days of Daniel, the tentacles of Babylon's authority will reach to the ends of the earth (Daniel 4).
Prophecy teachers have been in a quandary over why the United States, the single most powerful nation in the world, is not found in prophecy. This is because there has been a misunderstanding of the interpretation of modern–day Babylon. Babylon will be a world superpower, politically and economically strong with Christian roots. There is only one nation that fits this description. Babylon is the United States of America!
The USA has more churches and Christian denominations per capita than any other country in the world. She has sent missionaries into the far reaches of the world, affecting the culture and ideals of the most isolated communities. Her money proclaims, In God we trust. The USA is a Christian Nation.
On April 29, 1607, the first English settlers claimed a new land that would become a home for their children and children's children. When their feet first touched the Atlantic shore, they erected a seven foot high oak cross in the sand and bowed in prayer proclaiming a new nation for the glory of God and his Son, Jesus Christ. The law and culture of America was founded on the knees of godly men and women.
During the American Revolution, a British officer became separated from his unit. Silently, he walked through the forest trying to make his way back to camp. Entering a clearing, he was shocked to see an American General on his hands and knees, his face buried in the ground in fervent prayer. Tears came to the officer's eyes when he realized that it was General George Washington, commander of the American forces. He proclaimed later, When I saw that sight, I knew we were defeated for any army whose commander was so humble before Almighty God could never lose the war.
On Sept. 17, 1787, George Washington became one of the founding fathers of the American Constitution that would become the cornerstone of the United States' law, rights, and moral and ethical values. This constitution acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ and America as a Christian nation.
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 expresses, everyone appointed to public office must say, I do profess faith in God the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost... and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration.
During the early revivals in the 1700's, America looked upon herself as being the Holy City on a Hill, the New Jerusalem, a Light to the World.
On March 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln and the United States Senate officially proclaimed a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer. In this powerful proclamation, this most loved and respected President stated the Supreme Authority and Just Government of Almighty God. Lincoln was convicted that America had become proud and had forgotten that her strength, peace and prosperity came from obedience and humility before God.
"Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self–sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln was well aware that the United States’ unusual blessing and affluence were there because her moral values, laws and social behaviors were founded on a reverent fear of an Almighty God. Even in those early years, he saw a pride and corruption that were beginning to fester in the fabric of America. This could only result in inevitable judgment by the hand of God. An image of America from coast to coast on their knees in humble fasting, prayer and repentance is a stark contrast to the present–day, brazen, proud, ungodly, country that laughs and shakes its fist defiantly in the face of the Almighty. The success that Lincoln referred to, has not only intoxicated America, but has spread its corrupting influence over the entire earth. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries (Rev 17:2).
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