Book of Revelation - Ch. 17, Vs. 3-Ch. 18, Vs. 10 (01/20/2019)

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Bro. Bill Nichols

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Yes. And I think my sound is good.
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Yes, but it's a lot warmer than it was yesterday. The temperature is not, but it feels way warmer.
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I was excited when I got out and wandered around this morning. There's not a rule that we have to sit at the back, but there is a rule we have to sit on this side for this session.
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We fill the whole room up for the next one. I'm going to go ahead and get started. We probably will have a few people come in still, but we're going to begin by reviewing what we did last week anyhow.
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And so if you're with us last week, you will know that I'm just rehashing some stuff.
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We're going to deal with Mystery Babylon today, and we're going to eventually get to the second aspect of Mystery Babylon.
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But we'll begin with chapter 17 and a little bit of a review.
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But first, let's pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all our many blessings.
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Thank you for bringing us together. Thank you for providing for us a place, a book, your
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Son and the Holy Spirit to guide us, protect us, help us to understand those things that you wish us to understand.
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Take us to those questions that you wish us to discuss. Go through the service with us, this and the next.
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Bring us back again next week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we're dealing with Mystery Babylon, the mother of all false religions.
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A false religion that started in Babel and spread throughout the world. A false religion that was used by Nimrod to unify the world in his rebellion against God.
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As you know, Nimrod's rebellion was a disaster. But man, inspired by Satan, continues to chase the same folly, that of false religion.
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False religion will be used once again, this time by Antichrist, to unify the world in his rebellion.
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That's what chapter 17 is about. The devil deceived the people at Babel, and from there he launched multiple false religions over the entire world.
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He didn't care whether it was Buddhism, Muslim, worship of trees, worship of nature.
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He didn't care what it was, as long as it was not the worship of the One True God. As long as it was not the worship of the
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One True God, it suited Satan's plans just fine, and he encouraged it, and continues to encourage it.
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He will return to Babylon, Satan will with his focus, and once more deceive the nations.
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But this time, rather than launching multiple false religions, he will focus on just one, the worship of Antichrist.
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So we're going to begin in chapter 17, verse 3, and I'm going to read a little bit, skip a little bit, until we get to where we need to be.
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So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit on a scarlet -colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
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And then I skipped down to the middle of chapter 6, not chapter 6, verse 6. I get my chapters and verses mixed up, but that doesn't really matter, because the
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Bible didn't come in chapters and verses anyhow. So that's okay. Chapter 17, verse 6, and when
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I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. We talked about that last week.
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That word admiration is probably a poor translation. It would have been better had it been,
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I wondered, or I was in great awe, or marveled. And in fact, you'll get that from chapter 7, when the angel says unto me,
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Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
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The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition.
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And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
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When they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom.
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The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings, five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come.
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And when he cometh, he must continue a short space. Now a lot of commentators take that woman sitting on the seven mountains to be the
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Roman Catholic Church. And it very well includes, could include the
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Roman Catholic Church. But it's not talking about that at all. It's talking about the seven great world empires that existed.
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Empires that ruled the world. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo -Persia,
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Greece, Rome, and that of the Antichrist. Some of those kingdoms were also mentioned in the book of Daniel, chapter 2, verses 37 through 45.
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I'm not going to read that. But the five that have fallen, one is, and one is not yet come.
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When John wrote, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo -Persia, and the
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Greek Empire had gone out of existence. Those are the five that had fallen.
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Rome still existed. That's the one that is. And the
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Antichrist Empire, that's the one that is not yet come. So I look back and said in Revelation 12, 12,
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I'm just going to read a couple verses. Therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath, for he knoweth he hath but a short time.
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So Satan has fallen. He is on the earth. He is constrained no longer to be in heaven.
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And he knows he doesn't have much time left. In fact, from the time he has fallen until the time of his end, the
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Lord tells us in verse 13, chapter 13, and there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue 42 months.
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That's three and a half years. And then here in verse 17, 11, and the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and he is on the seventh and he goeth into perdition.
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Antichrist kingdom is said to be both the seventh and the eighth kingdom because he is supposed to have died and been resurrected.
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He's the seventh king, counted as the seventh king before his resurrection, and he's counted as the eighth king after.
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It's then that he destroys the harlot's religious empire and demands exclusive worship of himself.
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That's when he sacrifices the pig in the altar. Chapter 17, verse 16.
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And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
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So what Antichrist does is he uses the false religious system to unify all the world kingdoms and to gain control over them all.
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Then the Antichrist, with the help of his ten sub -rulers, will turn against the religious system, plunder it, destroy it, and seize all power and worship for himself.
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So there will come a time when Antichrist demands that people worship only Antichrist. At that time there will only be two things worshipped,
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Antichrist and the true God. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will the ten kings.
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For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree and to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God should be fulfilled.
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So why did they do it? Because God told them to. They're doing exactly what God demanded that they do.
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They're just carrying out God's will, which believe it or not, we all do. Whether we want to or not, whatever we do, we will be doing
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God's will. And the woman that thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
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That's Mystery Babylon, the representative of the false religious system, ultimately destroyed because it was
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God's will that that be so. So now we're going to take a look at the second aspect of Mystery Babylon.
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I'm not going to let you get away with that, John. I said
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I'm not going to let you get away with slipping back there and thinking I don't see you. I know, it is a real...
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The time that you're a minute late, the train comes. I experienced that every morning, and I used to have an alternate path.
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When I came out of my driveway, not my driveway, my gravel road, sometimes a train is parked there.
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And when it's parked there, there's no room to wait. So there's two ways you can go and get around the train.
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But now one of the ways is now blocked off by the detour. So when you go around it, you can't go back up that way.
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So now I've only got one way to go. Actually, two. I could always go way around the 10 -mile way.
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But today I was clear and clean and got here early. So I don't blame you at all.
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I just wanted you up here in front so I could call on you. Call John instead. But now see,
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John, we're just going over things that we went over last week, and so you didn't miss a thing. So we're going to look now at the second aspect of Mr.
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Babylon, the false system of commerce. Just as God's true religious system was corrupted and replaced by Satan's false system, so will the system of commerce that's approved by God be corrupted and replaced by Satan's false system.
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From the beginning, even before the curse, God's plan of commerce was for man to work and to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
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In fact, if you wish, turn to Genesis chapter 2 verse 15, and we'll just read what the
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Lord did with Adam. And this is chapter 2.
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The fall occurs in chapter 3. And the
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Lord God took man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
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And the Lord commended of the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.
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Okay, so in the beginning, in chapter 2, God says, tend the garden, keep the garden, work, and eat the fruits of the product.
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The work was not introduced because of the curse. Work is not an evil thing. Work is not something that was introduced because the earth was cursed.
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It's simply that after the curse, the work was harder. In chapter 3 verse 17, after the curse, the
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Lord says this to Adam. And to Adam, he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which
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I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake.
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And Brother Otis always had an interesting concept here. Why in the world would you say,
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I'm going to curse the ground for your sake? Remember him talking about that? He said,
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How could that be for my sake? That's to keep you from living forever in this path that's going to take you straight to hell.
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So it really is for your sake. Come right on in.
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You haven't missed a thing. We're just redoing last week. John had to entertain.
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He just now got here. So we'll give you a train pass. Whether you need one or not.
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And there are two main differences between me and Brother Otis, which we've spoken of a lot.
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Number one, Brother Otis is much more learned about the Bible than I am. So that's one thing.
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The other thing is, I am much more patient with the late comers than Brother Otis. Brother Otis would scold you right now, even if he didn't know you.
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And we love him and we only talk about him that way because we really do love him. Okay, I'm going to restart
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Genesis 3, 17. And to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which
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I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. And in sorrow shall they eat it of all the days of the life.
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Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the field.
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In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.
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For out of it thou wast taken, for dust thou art, and into dust shalt thou return.
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So it's not that work is something from the curse, but that work being difficult is from the curse.
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Adam enjoyed the work that he did. And if you're doing a job that you enjoy, you are blessed, yes sir.
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I think the thorns were not sticky. I think the thorn was there and it was like a, it just didn't have rigidity to it.
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It was, but I think it's the fact that, it's like snakes.
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Snakes existed, we know the serpent did. Snakes had teeth, they had fangs, they could bite you, but they didn't.
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Yeah, all of the thorns and the thistles and the poisonous snakes and all of that came later.
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I've heard people say that the snakes before the curse would, if something happened to you, they would bite you and it would be a medication for you.
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I don't know that that's true, but people say that. Carabao proved it in the laboratory.
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Okay. It's more than just said now. Higher pressure.
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Well, okay. Now I had heard that. I didn't know where it came from.
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I didn't know where I heard it. So I didn't want to vouch for it, but I'd heard it. Okay. The basic plan then,
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I'm just going to skip that. The basic plan then was that every man should work and every man should receive the rewards for his work.
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Now, in Satan's corruptive system, corrupted system, some men will work and others will receive the benefits.
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What do we call that today? I'm sorry?
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I'm sorry? Well, almost. That's one notch away.
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We call it socialism. We call it socialism. I work and we divide my wealth amongst all of you guys because you are not as bright as me.
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You can't earn as much as me. I should say Brother David. Brother David works and we all take his profit.
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I don't make enough money, guys. If you divided my wealth, we'd all starve to death.
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But the idea of socialism is one works and those that do well, their wealth is shared with others.
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Today we call that socialism. The ultimate extension of socialism,
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John, is slavery. That's the next step over. And so what I said was go ahead and link those two words.
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The first always leads to the last. When you agree to socialism, you are agreeing to ultimately slavery.
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According to the Hebrew sources and ancient scribes, it was Nimrod in Babylon who introduced slavery into the world's commercial system.
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He was described in the Bible as a hunter, a mighty hunter before men. But what's implied is what was he hunting?
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He was hunting men. It was not that he was a hunter of leopards or lions or elephants.
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He was a hunter of men. And what did he do with the men that he hunted? He made them slaves.
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And what did he do with the slaves that he had? He built the Tower of Babel. I did actually quote that verse,
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Genesis 10, verse 8. Cush begat Nimrod and he began to be a mighty one on the earth and he was a mighty hunter before the
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Lord. Wherefore he said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And we talked about that word before.
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It was like in the face -off rather than before. So how did Nimrod become a mighty one in the earth?
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By enslaving other men. Now when we get into Revelation 18 later today,
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I don't think we'll get to this list today, but I'm going to read it. Go ahead and turn to Revelation 18 and verse 13.
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And there's a list of things that are bought and sold in the Antichrist kingdom. And I'm going to start with.
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And cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine and oils and fine flour and wheat and beast and sheep and horses and chariots.
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And I'm going to stop. Those are all normal items bought and sold.
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But then we come to the next two. Read those. And slaves and the souls of men.
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Slave trade has been banned by civilized nations for a long time.
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We fought the Civil War in order to ban slavery from the
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U .S. At that time there was a lot of slavery. Now there's not so much. Well, I'm going to take that back.
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In the Antichrist false commercial system, this trade, the slave trade, will reappear.
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In fact, slave trade is already beginning to reappear in the world today as we approach the end times.
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If you go to other parts of the world, you'll find men enslaved, bought and sold, and women and children.
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In fact, if you go into various places in the United States, you'll find one of the issues with the building the wall across the southern border is human trafficking.
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People are brought across into the United States against their will, children and women, and I don't know about men, but probably men too, and against their will, sold into slavery.
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And there is no way out. And we can't even find them because we don't know where they are. They just wander over and back as they wish.
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It is a sign, I think, of the end times.
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Okay, I want to pause there and ask if there's any questions or comments about chapter 17 because we're now almost ready to lunge into chapter 18.
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Okay, so now for chapter 18. And after these things, this is verse 1, and after these things
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I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.
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A lot of commentators try to identify this angel as Jesus, and sometimes angels are used to reference
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Jesus. But in this case, there's a word that tells us that it's not.
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The word another is allos, which is another of the same kind, another of the same kind as the one that appeared in chapter 17, instead of heteros, which would mean a one of a different kind.
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If the angel that bore the seventh vial and introduced 17 was of the different type than this angel, then this angel could be
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Christ. But if it's of the same type, then this one has to be just like the one in 17.
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Not the same one, but the same kind of an angel. So it's not likely that this is
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Christ. But he does light up the world, so he is a potent, powerful angel.
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And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.
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Is the angel stuttering? The angel is emphasizing.
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When it's said twice, that means it's really fallen. This is a great fall.
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I'm going to emphasize that. I'm going to go through that as we pass through this, because next week we're going to look at something that Brother David mentioned to me the first time we dealt with Revelation.
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Schofield, in his Bible, had a notation that said, this great city could not be
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Babylon because Babylon had already fallen. But it hadn't fallen, fallen.
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It had fallen, it had fallen so small, it had fallen so small that most of the residents of Babylon didn't even know it was fallen for four or five days.
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So this is not a fallen, fallen situation. This is a barely fallen.
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Every word counts, especially when they're double like this. So I wanted to hit that right in the middle now, because we're going to come back to it several times.
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I want to read that again. That was so much fun. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
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Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils, and the hole of every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird.
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Now, to me, it's unclear whether Babylon is fallen because it has become the habitation of devils, or it has become the habitation of devils because it has fallen.
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I kind of think it's both of them. For all nations, and by the way, that word,
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I looked it up, is pos, and it's the one that Brother David talks about all the time, can mean all, all, all, or it can be all kinds of.
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And you have to kind of deal with it in its context, as to whether this is all kinds of nations or all nations.
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But all nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of a fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
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Now, if you remember back in chapter 17, religious Babylon lures the nations into idolatry by the use of false gods, getting people to worship false gods.
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Commercial Babylon, chapter 18, seduces the unbelieving world into a materialistic stupor, in which people of the world will substitute their passion for material goods for God, and materialism will become their god.
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Now, it was about halfway through Brother David's sermon last week that he came to the, he was doing, he was doing, he had entwined in his sermon the parable of the sower.
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And he'd gone through the sower, the good soil and the bad soil, on the path and on the stony ground, and he finally came here to the thorny ground.
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And after his sermon, he and I discussed this a little bit, and, you know, he had brought up a point that I had never seen before because I was too focused on who that thorny ground represented.
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What did the thorny ground represent? Was that a saved person that was caught up in the cures of the world, or was this just an unsaved person?
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And I was so focused over that that I didn't focus on what I should have been focusing on.
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It doesn't matter whether it was a Christian that he's talking about, or whether it was a
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Christian wrapped up in the world, or whether it was a sinner that would never be wrapped up in Christ.
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It is a lifestyle, a form of life, that you don't want to be participating in. Whether it's, it's a type of life that one should avoid.
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I'm going to read the passage that he did, Matthew, Mark. It's in Matthew and Mark, but it's in Mark.
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Now, Brother David will recognize this. He won't have missed a thing. And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it become unfruitful.
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He then contrasted this to the life that one should pursue. That was the life that one should stay away from.
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Christian or not, stay away from that life. You don't want a life where the cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, lust of things entering in, choke the word, and you become unfruitful, or it become unfruitful.
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He contrasted that life to the life that one should pursue. And that was out of Romans 6, 5, which is where he jumped off to get back to here.
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For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection.
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So what we should do is live a life entwined with Christ, not a life choked with the cares of this world, with the deceitfulness of riches, and with the lust for things.
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And I thought that would just fit so well what we're going to do today that I had to mention it.
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What did he just say in Revelation? Well, I haven't got to it yet.
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I thought I'd already passed it. And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
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Come out of her, my people, that ye not be partakers of her sin, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
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He's talking to his people that are in the world at this time.
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God still has his people on the earth. And this is his call for them to disentangle themselves from the world system and to walk hand in...
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I'm sorry? Well, this probably is, but it's not the angel.
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The angel that was speaking to John is one thing, and this is another voice from heaven.
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And it very well could be Christ that's speaking. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues.
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So I believe that is Christ. I hadn't really... I just read past that another voice.
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Is that another of the same kind? It's another of the same kind.
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Probably not. That's our total research right now, and I wouldn't make a statement just on that much.
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But that's... Yeah. And I didn't. I guess
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I should have said the my is the word that I missed. Okay.
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God still has his people on the earth, and this is his call for them to disentangle themselves from the world system and now walk hand in hand with Jesus before they're destroyed along with the commercial system.
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And of course, Paul in Romans 12 says this, and be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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Okay. So verse 5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
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Remember any other time when God heard something coming up from the earth?
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What's that reminiscent of? Does it remind you of anything? Oh, okay.
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I'm gonna give you a hint. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
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I will go down now and see whether they have done all together according to the cry of it which is coming to me.
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And if not, I will know. That was Sodom and Gomorrah. The cry is great.
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Verse 5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
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You know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? Totally destroyed.
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And when Adam looked out across the plain, all he saw was what? The column of smoke coming up.
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Total destruction. Well, let's go on and see if we see that imagery again.
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Verse 6. Reward her even as she rewarded you.
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He's talking about Mr. Babylon. And double unto her double according to her works in the cup which she has filled to her double.
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The angels request that God give back to Babylon double according to her deeds.
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It is a request that Babylon's punishment fit her crimes. Double has been her iniquity.
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Double must be her punishment. Verse 7.
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How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her.
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For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
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Now, Isaiah presents another view, the view of the Lord. In Isaiah 42, 8.
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Don't go there. I'm just going to read it. I am the Lord. That is my name, and my glory
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I will not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Babylon has committed sins for which she will be punished.
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She has glorified herself. She has given to herself what belongs to God. She has lived deliciously.
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She has replaced God with materialism. I sit as a queen and see no sorrow.
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She has taken pride in her ability to take care of herself with no help from God. Therefore, her plagues shall come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire.
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What's he talking about? Babylon. Death, mourning, famine, utterly burned with fire.
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That's not a barely fallen. I was trying to think of the word.
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That's not a barely fallen. That's a fallen, fallen. For strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
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Babylon's doom is certain and cannot be avoided. No one can frustrate
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God's plans or keep him from accomplishing what he purposes to do. Job said,
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I know that thou canst doeth everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
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In Proverbs, the psalmist says, Despite the many devices in man's heart, nevertheless, the counsel of the
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Lord shall stand. Isaiah said this, The Lord God of hosts has sworn, saying,
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Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall it stand.
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This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations.
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For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, who shall turn it back?
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A chastened and humbled Nebuchadnezzar, in chapter 2 of Daniel, I'm sorry, chapter 4 of Daniel, said this,
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God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him,
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What doest thou? So who is in control and who determines what is done is
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God. Nothing else anybody can do will do anything to alter or stay his purpose.
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All right, now let's look at the kings of the earth. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and live deliciously with her, shall bewail her and lament her when they shall see the smoke of her burning.
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Just like Abraham looked out across the plains and saw the smoke rising from Sodom and Gomorrah, these kings will look out and see the smoke rising from the burning.
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The kings of the earth are the first of four groups of earth dwellers who lament the fall of Babylon. Remember, Babylon represents both a false religion and an entire world system of commerce.
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They lament the fall, they don't lament her sin. Now here are the groups, and if you go through and read chapter 18, you're going to see all these groups.
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Political leaders, you'll see political leaders identified as kings of the earth.
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Sellers of merchandise, the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her.
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Transporters of merchandise, and every ship master and all the company in ships and of sailors and as many as trade by the sea and stood afar off and cried.
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And the fourth group is the consumers of the merchandise. No man buys their merchandise anymore.
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We talked about that last night in the family as we went over this. You've got everything right there.
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You've got the rulers that derive their power from merchants.
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You've got the merchandise that they're selling. You've got those that move the merchandise.
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You've got the consumers. All of these groups of people will be mourning the fall of this great commercial system.
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And I said as we work our way through chapter 18, we'll encounter all of these groups. Now verse 9, and the kings of the earth,
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I'm not going to read the rest of that, 10, standing afar off for the fear of her torment saying,
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Alas, alas, that's another double. If you think it's bad, it's really bad.
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Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come.
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And I thought several things are interesting. Number four, where are they standing afar off?
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What do you think? Well, it tells us for fear of her torment.
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They don't want to be bound up in her torment. They're standing off and looking at it, and they're weeping and mourning, not out of sympathy for the city, but because it's collapsed.
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With its collapse, they have been stripped of the key source of their political power.
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The commercial system that put them and keeps them in power has now been destroyed, and they can see where they're going.
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They've been stripped of the political power. They have no power anymore. One hour.
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What does that mean? Quick, sudden, severe.
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A mighty city, a mighty world system, a mighty commercial system, a mighty religious system destroyed in an amazingly short period of time.
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But it's a real city, too. Now, we are approaching the end of my allotted time, and I'm just going to go ahead and give you a homework assignment and then ask for questions.
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Several years ago, as we studied the book of Revelation, Brother David called attention to a notation in the
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Scofield Bible, which referred to a passage in Isaiah that Scofield used to make the case that the events surrounding the destruction of Babylon had already occurred, and that the great city described here could not be the real city
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Babylon. He also pointed out that Scofield did not take the passage into context, and therefore he misinterpreted it.
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I don't remember. Do you remember that, Brother David? But I kept it written in my notes, and I'm sure that now that I've mentioned it, you could probably...
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Do you have your Scofield Bible with you? It's Isaiah 13.
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I think it would be in Revelation, and that would be probably on around 18, 9, or 10.
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It would be 18, 9, probably, and it's been too many years.
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I don't remember. Actually, I just put it down here in my notes.
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It says, Babylon. Scofield is wrong.
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My kids after I'm dead and gone, they don't know. Yeah, yes, and also, so what
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I would like for you to do is read Isaiah 13. Just read it all from the beginning.
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You don't have time to read it now, Brother David. Yeah, kind of for homework. Between now and next time, read
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Isaiah 13 and read Revelation 18, and you'll see a set of events that very closely parallel one another, and what we're going to do next time when
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I come is we're going to look at the historical account. Now, the historical account of Babylon's falling is entirely different.
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It's the one that is so quiet that the people didn't know for three or four days, so you've got two accounts.
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Well, which one is correct? Well, they're both in the Bible, so that means they're both correct.
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There is the quiet fall, and there's the fall that takes place that's so severe that not even lizards and grasshoppers will live in Babylon anymore.
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I maybe picked the wrong animals, but that doesn't matter. Nothing will be there. People lived in Babylon for years and years and years, tending crops, tending their sheep, using the stones to build huts for years.
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In fact, Alexander, when he came, picked Babylon to be his capital of the world.
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It was a thriving city then, and this is way after the fall in Daniel. So you've got two accounts of two different falls.
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The thing that probably tripped Scofield up is in the passage it says, and I will stir up the meads, and he took that to be at the time of the first fall.
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Okay, that's it for me. Do we have any comments? Yes, in fact, when we did this the last time in 2014,
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I was just totally confident that I knew the answers because Saddam Hussein was in the process of building
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Babylon, and I thought, wow.
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Well, in the meantime, we had shock and awe and all that stuff, and so it's not being rebuilt right now, but that doesn't mean it won't be, and it doesn't take long.
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So I just think my timing was a little bit off. I'm not as comfortable they will happen within the next two years, and by the way, tomorrow night, no, tonight.
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I looked this up last night. Tonight is another blood moon. I'm sorry?
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Around midnight tonight, so you guys buckle up and get ready for your transport. The world is about...
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Is this the first time that's happened? It happens every time.
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I got up to walk my dog this morning, and I looked, and I said, that, the big, right before we went down, the moon was reddish, and it was almost full.
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I thought it was full, and I thought I just missed it, but it's tonight, and so I didn't miss the train yet.
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Yeah, you caught the train. Anything, and I'm sorry, and I couldn't resist that.