“Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaded; they are a burden to the weary beast.” - Isaiah 46:1
I must warn you in advance: this is a long devotional. However, I felt it necessary to write it, as I was led by the Holy Spirit, that it may serve not only as a history lesson of Babylon, which represents disobedience to God, but also as a warning of what happens when we as individuals and the nations put our faith and trust in the false gods of the world instead of in the One true God: God the Father that sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. There are many similarities to the Babylon of long ago and the nations of our world today, which are living deep in sin and are disobedient to God. May we take the time to read about the consequences of Babylon’s sin long ago and also the consequences that will happen upon a mystery Babylon that will arise in the last days of human history, a Babylon that has eerie similarities to the United States. Most importantly, may anyone reading this who has not been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, turn to Him today and be saved, before it’s too late.
As human beings, we have learned absolutely nothing from history. We have many examples of nations that once ruled the earth, conquered other nations, became full of pride and had a haughty spirit, were very wealthy, and put their trust in false gods and idols instead of the one true God. These nations thought they could never be conquered and ended up seeing their own demise, which came severely upon them. One such nation is the nation of Babylon. It is worthwhile to consider several passages in the Bible when Babylon is discussed. I do not think it any coincidence that Babylon is mentioned all throughout the Bible, including the first and the last books of the Bible and also near the middle, and in the book of Isaiah, which is said to be like a miniature Bible. God wants us to know about Babylon throughout His word so that we will not be like it was - rejecting the one true God and instead putting its faith and trust in false gods and idols but that instead we will put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father and be saved from all our sins instead of suffering the same fate as Babylon.
The first mention of Babylon in the Bible is in the book of Genesis, and it was referred to as “Babel.” The Hebrew meaning of “Babel” is “to confuse or confound.” God sent the great flood to destroy all but Noah and his seven family members because except for them, all of mankind and things of the earth had become severely corrupted. After the flood, Noah and his family were commanded by God to go and repopulate the earth. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham had four sons, one of whom was named Cush. Cush had several sons, including one called Nimrod. The Bible tells us of Nimrod:
“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accede, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” (Genesis 10:8-10)
The Bible tells us in Genesis 11, “And the whole earth was one language, and of one speech.” (Genesis 11:1). I do not think it is any coincidence that in our modern world today, technology is being used to automatically translate languages. The Bible tells us that the people in the time of Nimrod decided to make themselves a city and a strong high tower made out of brick and mortar. However, they didn’t want to make the tower to honor God but to honor themselves, to make a name for themselves. They wanted all the people to live in the city because they didn’t want to be scattered around the earth; they wanted to be unified in their rebellion against God:
“And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there, And they said one to another, Go to [come], let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime [asphalt] had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:2-4)
This is the exact opposite of what God had told them to do after the flood: “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish [fill] the earth.” (Genesis 9:1) Instead, they had become prideful and rebellious against God, perhaps thinking that if they were unified into a single city, speaking the same language and having built a high tower that they could be protected from future judgments of God. God knows that the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and that power concentrated into one or a few number of men would have disastrous consequences. Consequently, God scattered them across the earth and they spoke different languages, and that has remained true even until now:
“And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined [propose] to do. Go to [come], let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel [Babylon]; because the LORD did there confound [confuse] the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:6-9)
As time went on, the nation of Babylon, which was located in modern day Iraq, rose to power. We read about this Babylon in the Bible when God used Babylon to bring judgment upon His own chosen people, the Jews, who lived in the kingdom of Judah. The once unified kingdom of God - Israel - had become divided into two kingdoms - the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Both kingdoms had sinned severely against God. The kingdoms had ignored the warnings of God’s prophets, including Elijah, Elisha, and Jeremiah, and they remained in their sin. Consequently, God allowed the northern kingdom of Israel to be taken into captivity by Assyria and the southern kingdom of Judah to be taken into captivity by Babylon.
Babylon was the ruling empire of the world at the time that Judah was overtaken by it. Babylon destroyed most of Judah’s capital, Jerusalem, and completely destroyed the Jewish temple. Babylon took captive most of the Jewish inhabitants of Judah and brought them to Babylon. The Babylonians worshipped multiple pagan/false gods made by man’s hand with gold and silver, including its chief false god called “Bel” or “Marduk” or “Marodech/Merodach.” They put their faith and trust in something that was made by their own hands in order to save them and hoped that the false gods would bless them. However, it wasn’t just the Babylonians who worshipped false gods; so did the Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The passages of Scripture below describe the idolatry committed by Israel:
“And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity and became vain [they followed idols, and became idolaters], and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove [wooden image], and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal [a false god]. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was not left but the tribe of Judah only.” (2 Kings 17:15-18)
The southern kingdom of Judah also committed idolatry, particularly one of its kings, King Manasseh:
“And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places [places for pagan worship] which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove [wooden image], as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven [the gods of the Assyrians], and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times [practiced soothsaying], and used enchantments [witchcraft], and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards [mediums and spiritists]: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven image [a carved image of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess] of the grove that he had made in the house [temple], of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever…” (2 Kings 21:2-7)
As happens when a nation or kingdom becomes powerful and worships false gods and idols, destruction comes upon it, and it happened with both Israel and Judah. This also happened thousands of years ago when Babylon was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire, led by the Persian king, King Cyrus II in 539 BC.
Just like the Jewish kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the Gentile kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon, not to mention many others, who failed to heed the warnings of God, so too are the nations in our world today. We have many false gods that are worshipped in the various religions of the world. The nations bow down and worship them, as they did long ago. We have other things and people that people worship as gods, including entertainers, sports figures, politicians, powerful militaries, the earth, and perhaps even that which is worshipped most of all: the false god of self, and Satan couldn’t be happier. He has deceived the majority of the world’s population into believing in everything and in everyone except the one true God: Almighty God the Father who sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ so that “whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
While God did use Babylon to bring punishment to the people of Judah with the goal of causing them to see their own unrighteousness and to return to Him, Babylon went too far in its treatment of God’s people. Babylon, like the USA today, thought it would never be brought down, brought low; it thought it was too big to fall, but it was wrong. Judgment came upon it, and it came suddenly. I believe America is headed in the same direction as Babylon.
God Himself foretold through the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah that destruction would come upon Babylon because of their merciless treatment of His people from the kingdom of Judah and for Babylon’s wickedness and pride of heart:
“I was wroth [angry] with my people, I have polluted [profaned] my inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly [securely], that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection [fulness] for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee [led thee astray]; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief [trouble] shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly which thou shalt not know.” (Isaiah 47:6-11)
“And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.” (Jeremiah 25:12)
Almighty God prophesied through the prophet Isaiah that the false gods and idols in whom Babylon put their faith and trust could not and would not save them from what was to come upon them:
“Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators [those giving knowledge for new moons], stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander one to his quarter [own side or way]; none shall save thee.” (Isaiah 47:12-15)
Read again the words of the Scripture above. God is not addressing the people of Judah; no, He is addressing the people of Babylon:
“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate [pampered]. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks [remove thy veil], make bare the leg [take off the skirt], uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man [arbitrate with a man]. As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of the kingdoms.” (Isaiah 47:1-5)
God not only foretold through the prophet Isaiah the overthrow of Babylon, but He also prophesied the name of the man He would use to bring an end to Babylon, and his name would be Cyrus. Approximately 150 years before Cyrus would overthrow the Babylonian empire, this prophecy was made. Notice in the Scriptures below that God, through Isaiah, is addressing Cyrus, who had not been born yet. God would have Cyrus set His people free from the yoke of Babylon. God also made it clear that His purpose in doing so was for the world to know that He is God and there is no one else like Him:
“Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden [held], to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins [armour] of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates [double doors]; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before them and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass [bronze], and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil [calamity]: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:1-7)
The prophet Jeremiah also prophesied of Babylon’s fall:
“The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and publish [proclaim], and set up a standard; publish [proclaim], and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded [humiliated], her images are broken in pieces. For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate [a horror], and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.” (Jeremiah 50:1-3)
The prophet Daniel, who had been taken captive to Babylon from Judah as a young man with three of his young Jewish friends, all of whom were chosen to serve the Babylonian kings, was summoned one night to the son of the last king of Babylon, King Nabonidus. The king’s son, Belshazzar, who was acting king while his father was away, had a drunken orgy with a thousand of his nobles. Belshazzar had the gall to take the gold and silver vessels which had been seized from the Jewish temple in Jerusalem by his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar before he burned the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem. Belshazzar gave the vessels to his princes, wives, and concubines and they all drank wine from them. As they drank, they “praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass [bronze], of iron, of wood, and of stone.” (Daniel 5:4) This action of defiling the temple vessels and simultaneously blaspheming the one true God by praising false gods set Belshazzar’s fate in motion, for that very hour, the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote on the wall a message. The knees of the king literally knocked when he saw it, for he was filled with fear. The king summoned all of his various staff who served him and had told him what he wanted to hear, pretending they could tell the future and interpret his dreams. He told them to interpret the writing but they could not. The queen, possibly the king’s mother, told him of a man who had served his grandfather and could interpret dreams, whom the king had named Belteshazzar but whose Hebrew name was Daniel. She said he could interpret the writing on the wall. Daniel was summoned and brought to the king. The king told Daniel that if he could interpret the writing, he would clothe Daniel with scarlet [purple], put a chain of gold on his neck, and make Daniel third in charge over the kingdom. Daniel told him to keep his gifts and give the rewards to another but that he would interpret the writing for the king. Daniel reminded the king of the time his grandfather had become puffed up with pride and had consequently had been deposed from his throne by God and was humbled by living as a beast with animals, eating grass, until Nebuchadnezzar knew this:
“…that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.” (Daniel 5:21)
Daniel then told Belshazzar that he (the king) had not humbled himself, as his grandfather had done, but had exalted himself “against the Lord of heaven.” (Daniel 5:23) He reminded Belshazzar that although he knew this had happened to his grandfather, yet still he chose to worship his false gods and commit acts of abomination against the one true God, the God of Israel and Judah:
“…and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified… (Daniel 5:23)
Then Daniel told Belshazzar the consequences of his actions:
“Then was the part of the hand [palm, fingers] sent from him; and this writing was written. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” (Daniel 5:24-28)
After hearing Daniel’s interpretation, the king fulfilled his promises to Daniel. That very night, as Daniel had foretold would happen, Babylon was brought down by the Medo-Persian empire. Gotquestions.org has a good article that describes what happened: (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/Belshazzar.html)
That night, the Persians invaded. Cyrus the Great, king of Medo-Persia, broke through the supposedly impenetrable wall of Babylon by cleverly diverting the river flowing into the city so that his soldiers could enter through the river duct. Historical records show that this invasion was made possible because the entire city was involved in a great feast—the feast of Belshazzar mentioned in Daniel 5. “That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom” (Daniel 5:29–30). The demise of King Belshazzar illustrates the truth of Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
God had not only identified the man by name 150 years prior to his birth who would set free the captives of Judah from the grip of Babylon, but God also prophesied that Cyrus would rebuild Jerusalem and its temple:
“That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shall be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.” (Isaiah 44:28)
“I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways [or make all his ways straight]: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 45:13)
“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house [temple] at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:1-3)
The nations of the world today have learned nothing from history. If they had, they would realize that God means what He says and always does what He says He will do. He has given us warning after warning, example after example that when a nation becomes full of pride and worships false gods, it is setting itself up for destruction. I believe that is exactly what is coming for the USA and all nations that worship false gods and are filled with pride. Babylon never thought it would be destroyed, but it was, and it happened in one night. The nations of our world today, as in the days long ago, either ignore or don’t believe the numerous warnings in the Bible, including:
“He [God; the God of Israel], increaseth [makes great] the nations, and destroyeth them; he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth [guides] them again. He taketh away the heart [understanding] of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.” (Job 12:23-25)
“All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity [worthless]." (Isaiah 40:17)
“All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.” (Psalm 22:27-28)
“Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon [above] the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.” (Isaiah 40:21-23)
Read the Scripture verses above again. God is not only writing to Israel but to all nations and to every single person who has ever lived.
Before God sends judgment upon a nation, upon a people, He always gives them advance warning to turn from their sin and to turn to Him and be saved. That is exactly why He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
However, world leaders today are oblivious to the word of God and what it foretells is soon to come upon the entire world. They reject what the prophets in the Bible have warned us about, and instead they listen to the lies of the false prophets who are being led by Satan, just as Israel and Judah did long ago. They have no understanding of what God’s word says of all the events that are happening now and that they signal the 7-year tribulation period that will precede the second coming of Jesus Christ. They truly are wandering in the wilderness with no direction because they have outright rejected the one true God and have bowed down to false gods and idols, to their own peril. The nations of our world today are staggering as a drunken man because they have rejected the light of Jesus Christ and have instead chosen to remain in the darkness of Satan.
We are soon coming to the point in history, which is foretold in the Bible, that God will send judgment upon the world for seven years, and it will be the worst time in human history. In the Bible, Babylon represents rebellion against God. Babylon doesn’t want to worship the one true God and it doesn’t want to obey God’s commandments. Instead, it wants to do whatever it wants whenever it wants, no matter how vile and disgusting the acts. It seeks out false prophets who will tell it sweet-sounding lies and make it feel good in its sin. Doesn’t that sound a lot like many nations in our world today, especially the United States?
In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, it speaks of Babylon once again:
“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:5)
The beginning of the chapter describes the reasons that judgment that will come upon her:
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials (bowls), and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” (Revelation 17:1-2)
We do not know who exactly Babylon the Great will be at the time the events of the tribulation period take place. Some believe it will be a literal, rebuilt Babylon located in Iraq, while others believe that Babylon represents the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, Italy. Some believe it is the United States or two of its cities, possibly Hollywood or New York City, while others believe it is the 10-king system that will be set in place that will support the coming final Antichrist, which is written about in the book of Revelation. Some believe there is a religious Babylon, which will be led by the Roman Catholic Church, and an economic Babylon, which will be led by ten kings where the kings are not kings of governments but are powerful business owners, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and others that do whatever the one world government tells them to do. Are we not already seeing them do this now? There are also those who believe Babylon is being built by Saudi Arabia that will be a linear "smart” city called “The Line” and is being built in a place called “Neom.” In an eerie statement, one of its architects stated: (See: https://www.oilandgasmiddleeast.com/news/neoms-the-line-will-be-the-new-babylon-architect-says-in-rare-documentary)
“I can’t think of anybody that wouldn’t want to be part of this project,” said architect Thom Mayne, while another architect Peter Cook said that “if it succeeds, it will be a new Babylon”.
Other articles have been written that compare this hi-tech, futuristic city to Babylon. It is planned that The Line will be in the shape of a line, stretching to 105 miles long, comprising 10,200 square miles, covering multiple regions, and is anticipated to house nine million people. To me, this sounds more like a prison.
We don’t know now who or what Babylon the Great is but the entire world will know who Babylon the Great is during the tribulation period, and it will be extremely wicked. Babylon the Great will hate God, the Jewish people, and all believers in Jesus Christ. This Babylon will align itself with the coming Antichrist, the false prophet, and the coming 10-king system. This will be a one world government, religion, and economic system that are all aligned with and controlled by Satan. However, at some point, they will turn against the whore of Babylon:
“…these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16)
The apostle John was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book of the Bible. This book speaks of Babylon and how all the kings of the earth will commit fornication with her, conduct business with her and become rich through her:
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils [demons], and the hold of [a prison for] every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful [hated] bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed [have become] rich through the abundance of her delicacies [luxury]. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double [repay] unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill her to double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously [luxuriously], so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” (Revelation 18:1-7)
When I read that description of the whore of Babylon, I must admit that it sounds an awful like the United States. I don’t know if there is any country other than the USA that has lived more luxuriously than any other nation that has existed, importing the goods of many nations, which is full of immoral sexuality, and exporting its vile filth across the world like a deadly virus. But God…He will destroy her in a single hour. The Babylon that rose its wicked head early in mankind will finally be put to death:
“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously [luxuriously] with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” (Revelation 18:8-10)
“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked [adorned], with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought [nothing]. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness [wealth]! for in one hour is she made desolate.” (Revelation 18:15-19)
There are many parallels between the Babylon written about by the prophet Isaiah that existed in his time and which took the people of Judah captive and the Babylon that it written about by the apostle John in the book of Revelation. Both Babylons will be brought to ruin suddenly, in a single day. There is also another interesting similarity and that is both Babylons were into sorcery. Let’s read again what Isaiah wrote about sorcery in the days of Babylon when it took Judah captive from approximately 607 - 537 BC and how Babylon’s trust in false gods could not save her from God’s judgment upon her:
“But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection [fulness] for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee [led thee astray]: and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth [where it arises]: and mischief [trouble] shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off [cover it]: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.” (Isaiah 47:9-12)
Now let us compare to what the apostle John wrote of Mystery Babylon’s usage of sorcery in Revelation 18:
“And the light of a candle [lamp] shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” (Revelation 18:23)
The Hebrew meaning of the word “sorcery” that is used in Isaiah refers to the usage of sorcerers, magicians, soothsayers, fortune tellers, enchanters, and people practicing witchcraft and divination and trying to speak to the spirits and dead people in order to know something, including to know the future. This was done by the Babylonian kings, including King Nebuchadnezzar, who was the king of Babylonian who had taken the people of Judah captive. He had his circle of people that he used to tell him his dreams and to interpret them.
Almighty God specifically forbids us to have anything to do with sorcery, for it is not of Him but of Satan. Before God allowed His chosen people to enter the Promised Land, He told them though Moses not to do the things that the people who lived there had done, referred to as the Canaanites, and whom His people would conquer, for the things they did are an abomination or a detestable thing to God. God had given the Canaanites - which was a name given to them that included the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and the Jebusites - over 400 years to change their ways but they did not change and God allowed His people to enter in:
“When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire [be burned as an offering to an idol], or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)
One thing I want to point out in the Scripture above is that God told His chosen people that they must not allow their children to pass through the fire, meaning they must not burn their children as an offering or a sacrifice to an idol. However, they did not obey His commands to them. Many years later when God judged the then-divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, He specifically told them He would bring judgment to them and when He listed the reasons why, child sacrifice was one of the reasons. Again, the nations of the world today have not learned the lessons from history and instead are sacrificing their children in the horrific practice of abortion, even when the child is full term with some even pushing for post-birth abortion so that the mother will not be “burdened” by having the child. Today, we sacrifice billions of our children so that we can worship the “god” of self. According to a 2024 report, 29% of all pregnancies worldwide were ended by abortion and 73 million abortions are performed each year worldwide. (See: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/abortion-rates-by-country). Anyone who thinks that abortion is not Satanic need only read what The Satanic Temple calls abortion on its own website: “religious abortion ritual.” (See: https://thesatanictemple.com/pages/rrr-campaigns) Clearly, our world is not obeying God’s commands, and we continue to commit the same sins as people committed thousands of years ago. We will be judged by God for the slaughter of these innocent human beings, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Now, let us consider the meaning of the word “sorceries” Revelation 18:23. The book of Revelation is written in Greek, and in the passage, “…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived,” the Greek translation of “sorceries” is “pharmakeia” from which we get the English word “pharmacy.” Strong’s Concordance defines this as “the use of medicine, drugs or spells.” Clearly, this is linked to the same definition of sorcery as in the Hebrew language. However, it also appears to go further than that. We know that illegal drugs alter the mind and put people into a drug-induced state but now it is not limited to illegal drugs. We have many legal - prescription - drugs that do the same thing, with millions of people using drugs that are prescribed by a pharmacist. Per a June 26, 2023 article, the United States is the largest producer of medicines and the leading importer of pharmaceuticals: (See: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-16-medicine-producing-countries-120134464.html#)
The United States of America (USA) has the distinction of being the largest producer of medicines in the world. Some experts even consider it the best country for the pharmaceutical industry due to the advancements in technology taking place in the country. Interestingly, the USA also leads the list of top pharmaceutical-importing countries, highlighting its significant role in the global pharmaceutical market.
2024 prescription drug statistics in the United States include: (See: https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/prescription-drug-statistics/)
About 66% of U.S. adults take prescription drugs (Health Policy Institute, 2021).
There are more than 20,000 prescription drugs that are approved for marketing (FDA, 2020).
The leading drug classes in the U.S. are antihypertensives, pain relievers, and mental health drugs (Statista, 2021).
The article referenced above also states:
The coronavirus pandemic has increased prescription drug use and impacted the way people get their medications. In the past year, SingleCare saw increases in prescription fills among many drugs, especially drugs thought to treat COVID-19, supplements, antidepressants, and stimulants for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Let me reiterate that these are statistics only for prescription drugs. Many states have now legalized marijuana, and Oregon has legalized psychedelic mushrooms and other drugs that formerly were not legal. We have an epidemic of people using fentanyl, and the number of people who have died from drug overdoses has increased drastically from 1999-2021. Per the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the number of people of all ages in the USA who died from a drug overdose rose sharply from just under 20,000 annually in 1999 to over 106,000 in 2021, the latest year that was reported. (See: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates) Just recently, on February 21, 2024, it was reported by Breitbart News that there is a 1,530% increase in Oregon of the number of fentanyl overdoses. (See: https://www.breitbart.com/health/2024/02/21/oregon-fentanyl-overdoses-increase-by-1530-largest-spike-in-the-nation/)With the legalization of many drugs and a country with virtually no borders where the flow of drugs coming into our nation has turned into a flood, these statistics are likely to increase. Our nation clearly is in severe trouble.
Read the passage of Scripture from Revelation 18:23 again: “for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.” If we read this as the Greek translation, it would read “by thy pharmacy or pharmaceuticals were all nations deceived,” and this does include vaccines. What are we hearing now, that many of us were saying four years ago about vaccines? How many knew that the COVID-19 vaccines were not properly tested, did not undergo the same rigorous clinical trials that prior vaccines underwent, and were allowed to remain in use even when many dangerous adverse events and side effects were reported by healthcare providers that if they had been reported by any other vaccine in the past would have seen the pulling of that vaccine from the shelves? For that last point, see https://openvaers.com/covid-data for a list of reported adverse events post-vaccine by healthcare providers. This site has been in use since 1990 for reporting of adverse events from vaccines. Just on February 19, 2024 it was announced that these vaccines are “linked to small increase in heart and brain disorders, study finds.” (See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/19/covid-vaccines-linked-to-small-increase-in-heart-and-brain-disorders-study-finds-but-risk-from-infection-is-far-higher/?sh=53b5ce3760ff). I venture to say that the actual numbers of these disorders is much higher than is being stated publicly, and that the increase in cancer rates, especially young people, is also linked to the vaccines. However, thus far, this is being disputed by those who continue to claim these vaccines are “safe and effective.” How many times when the vaccines were introduced we were told that we wouldn’t get COVID if we were vaccinated but as people received one or more doses of it did in fact contract the virus? We saw them change their story and said you won’t get as sick or you won’t get long COVID if you took the vaccine However, the vaccines continued to be pushed and are still being pushed now.
Per an article from ourworldindata.org, 70.6% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine and 13.57 billion doses have been administered worldwide. (See: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations). Is this the deception that is spoken about in Revelation 18:23? Was there any other time in history when entire countries were locked down, businesses shuttered, churches closed, people were threatened and coerced into taking these new vaccines? Was there any other time in history when people were bribed with lottery tickets, free donuts, and other things if they took the vaccine? How many other times in history could people not conduct business or go to a business, such as a restaurant, or go on a cruise, or visit a sick loved one without showing proof of being vaccinated? How many times did churches willingly close, no longer opening their doors to telling the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ while at the same time re-opening only to become vaccination sites? This, I believe, was conditioning people into taking something in order to live their lives, in order to buy and sell. For those who know the Bible, this should sound eerily familiar to the mark of the beast that is written about in Revelation 13.
To deceive someone is to lie to them and to hide the truth from them. Merriam-Webster defines “deceive” as “to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid.” Was this not done with these vaccines and many prescription drugs in general? When people take illegal drugs, they very likely know the dangers of them but choose to take them anyway so that they can “get high” and “escape from reality” for a while. However, when people take prescription drugs and/or receive vaccines promoted by governments, we expect them to have undergone rigid clinical testing to ensure they truly are safe and effective. Per Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s own website: (See: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/vaccines/timeline#:~:text=Typical%20Timeline,vaccine%20doses%20for%20widespread%20distribution.)
“A typical vaccine development timeline takes 5 to 10 years, and sometimes longer, to assess whether the vaccine is safe and efficacious in clinical trials, complete the regulatory approval processes, and manufacture sufficient quantity of vaccine doses for widespread distribution.”
However, the COVID vaccines were placed on an accelerated timeline referred to as “Operation Warp Speed” lasting from May 15, 2020 – February 24, 2021 (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Warp_Speed). If the COVID vaccines were thoroughly tested and found to be safe and effective, then why are so many healthy young people dying suddenly of heart-related conditions? How many other vaccines, including the 1976 swine flu vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 (Influenza A) vaccines, both of which were pulled due to people having adverse events from them, and also prescription drugs once thought to be safe, have been found to be very harmful, even deadly? Remember the painkiller called Vioxx that was approved by FDA in 1999? 88,000 Americans who took this deadly drug died from heart attacks. It was eventually pulled from the market in September 2004. In the meantime, Merck made billions off the drug. Is this rampant use of both prescription drugs and receiving the vaccines the deception of the nations that is written about in Revelation 18:23? It is no coincidence that when the apostles of Jesus Christ asked Him what would be the sign of His second coming and of the end of the age, the very first thing He told them was a warning: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:4)
In chapter 9 of the book of Revelation, there is another reference to”sorceries” and it is when God sends the sixth trumpet judgment when one third of the people alive at that time will be killed because they will have chosen to remain in their sin rather than believing in Jesus Christ, whom God sent to save them from their sins. Instead of asking God to forgive them and believing in Jesus as their Savior, which will still be possible during the 7-year tribulation period, they will dig their heels in further in their rebellion against God:
“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20)
In this Scripture, the word “sorceries” in the Greek language is “pharmakōn.” Strong’s Concordance defines this word, numbered as 5333 (e) as, “a poisoner, sorcerer, magician.” (See: https://biblehub.com/greek/5333.htm) I sincerely believe that both many prescription and all illegal drugs are tools of Satan that he is using to deceive many. These drugs are keeping a lot of people in a state of mind that dulls their perception and reality and keeps them from seeing what is really happening in the world: we are in a spiritual war that Satan is raging against us because he knows his time is short before Jesus returns. However, it is our choice whether or not to take these drugs and receive the vaccines, and the blame is on us if we take them. The blame is on us if we reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation, and we will reap the consequences of it for eternity.
Read the chilling words of globalist and atheist Yuval Noah Harari during an interview when he talks about how many people will become “useless” due to the advances in technology and artificial intelligence and what should be done about them: (See: https://simonmercieca.com/2022/11/06/wef-advisor-yuval-noah-harari-explains-how-drugs-and-video-games-have-been-used-to-control-world-populations/) To view the video from which this quote was taken, go to: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjt6quF2cGEAxXtJEQIHVqAALMQwqsBegQIDBAG&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQkYWwWAXgKI&usg=AOvVaw01pPb1OAVX95nmlu9mOo-m&opi=89978449
“The biggest question may be in economics and politics of the coming decades will be what to do with all these useless people. The problem would be boredom and how, what to do with them and how will they find some sense of meaning in life when they are basically meaningless, worthless. My best guess at present is a combination of drugs and computer games as a solution for more… it’s already happening under different titles, and different headings, you see many more people spending more and more time or solving the inner problems with the drugs and computer games, both legal drugs and illegal drugs.”
In Deuteronomy 28:58-64, God promised His people that if they did not do all the things that He commanded them to do, He would drive them out of the land that He was giving them and He would scatter them among the nations of the earth. That is exactly what happened when the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah were exiled to Assyria and Babylon. God’s chosen people did not obey God, and they did not learn from the historical precedents of God’s judgment. Our world today, the nations of the world, including the USA, has learned nothing from the historical precedents either, for if we had, we would not be practicing witchcraft, worshipping Satan and other false gods, sacrificing our children, and seeking to numb our feelings and fix all our problems through illegal and prescription drugs. However, instead, we are seeing an increase in all these things and a massive turning away from the one true God.
God was clear in His commandments to us, and His first and second of the Ten Commandments clearly tell us not to worship any other gods or idols:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down [worship] thyself to them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:3-5)
Just as the false gods that Babylon worshipped, including Bel and Nebo, were brought down from their high places and were put in carriages and carted off by the cattle and beasts when King Cyrus, the man chosen by God before he was even born, conquered Babylon, proving the false gods worthless, so too, will the false gods of this world be brought down and proven useless:
“And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.” (Isaiah 21:9)
Just as He has always done, God will tear down the false gods of our lives, and He will reveal to all that He alone is God and there is no other:
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure…” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
All who put their faith and trust in any false god to save them will not be saved and will spend their eternity in hell, a place of darkness and torment. However, the righteous who have been saved by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone to save us, will be glad in heart, for we know that our hope is not in this world system, not in any false god, but in Jesus Christ alone. We will spend our eternity with Him and in the glory of His light:
“The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD. For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” (Psalm 97:6-12)
As history continues to repeat itself because the majority of mankind refuse to read and heed God’s word, let us who have been saved by Jesus Christ remember that God will not allow wickedness to go on forever. Let us remember what is written in the Bible and that we are nearing the time when God will finally put an end to all the evil in this world, and that includes the final fall of Babylon. We who have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus will ultimately see the creation of a new heaven, a new earth, and a new holy city, the new Jerusalem, where there will be no more sin, sorrow, or death:
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed way; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst [who is thirsty] of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful [cowardly], and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers [sexually immoral], and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burnt with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8)
Finally, I leave you with the cautionary words from Joshua before he died which he spoke to the people of Israel after he had led them by the power of God into the Promised Land. We all will serve a god; sadly, most people will serve false gods, whose origin is of Satan, but some of us have chosen to serve the One true God, as did Joshua:
“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood [The Euphrates], and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14-15)