Unavoidable Consequences - Rumore notes 138

 Revelation 14

9 Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

saying with a great voice

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet saying, "What you see, write in a book and send..." (Revelation 1:10-11)

If anyone worships the beast and his image

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed. (Revelation 13:8)

He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. (Revelation 13:12)

It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:15)

As we unpacked previously, worship is all about where we acquire our sense of worth and who we authorize to assign to us our identity. Worship involves who we come to reflect in the way we relate to both our own perceptions about who we are as well as how to treat those around us. These warnings are addressed to all who admire and become like the beast and its image and reflect their disposition.

receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand

He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. (Revelation 16:2)

The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20)

It is important to keep in mind here what this mark actually represents. First, this is not an outward mark that can be seen physically but rather a disposition shaped by the source relied on from which one gets their identity and learns how to act like themselves. Because we are reflectors by design, whatever opinions and beliefs we receive and retain in our perception of what our God is like and how He relates to us and those around us, determines the reflection or image of who we become like. This is the likeness aspect of our creation design, for we take on the likeness, disposition, attitude and characteristics of whomever we worship, as that is what worship actually means.

Let me be even more plain here. Many people have been carefully taught various ideas about the composition, meaning and implications of this mark as well as the composition of the seal of God. In my heritage it was deeply engrained into me that the mark of the beast was primarily about compliance to laws requiring observance of Sunday as the right day to worship God. In contrast, the seal of God was taught to mean keeping the right day of worship, the seventh-day Sabbath. This was bolstered by select texts and logical explanations to prove this as truth, and these instructions were cemented into my psyche with generous doses of fear in ensure that I never forget which supernatural entity had the most power to punish those who resisted compliance to their demands.

I am not at all suggesting that the issue of which day is right to worship God and rest from our labors will not be a key element involved in the showdown involving the mark of the beast and his image. But what is becoming increasingly clear to me is that when I simply allow Scripture to define these symbols through the context of the teachings and disposition of Jesus, I see far more evidence convicting me that the mark of the beast has much more to do with becoming infected by the disposition of the beast who relies on fear, force, intimidation, compulsion and law enforcement to compel compliance to its demands more than anything else.

I have little doubt that enforced Sunday rest will be a central aspect of Satan's efforts to take total control over all who dwell on the earth, and he is even now working through human agents bent on acquiring supremacy by any means possible. Yet even though Sunday observance will likely will play a pivotal role in the final showdown between Christ and Satan, simply resisting Sunday rest and clinging tenaciously to the practice of seventh-day Sabbath observance may actually be discovered to be one of the most seductive deceptions the enemy has contrived to deceive us into believing we are staunchly standing for truth when in our heart we have failed to be transformed by the power of God's love for us personally, setting us free to love our enemies as Jesus commanded and demonstrated so clearly by His teachings and example.

I agree that the first angel's message outlines how the Sabbath of creation is a symbol of God's authority and is a key aspect of living in harmony with the truth. Yet just as the Jews wandered so far from God's will because their hearts were hardened against love to the extent they had the Author of love and life crucified for violating their rules, so too we are in just as much danger of following their example by putting more emphasis on keeping the right day while failing to be transformed by the presence of the One who is Lord of the Sabbath.

Does this lessen the importance of the Sabbath truth? Some may see this stance as scandalous and declare me a heretic for suggesting such an idea. Yet I am under increasing conviction that clinging tenaciously to keeping the 'right' day of worship may be a ploy of the enemy to divert our attention away from the true purpose of both the Law and especially the Sabbath. If I fail to experience genuine heart transformation that brings me into alignment with the disposition of the meek and humble Lamb of God, no amount of Sabbath obedience will have any power to save me. If I know all the right facts, have all the right doctrines, fiercely cling to the right rituals and adhere to all the instructions regarding what to do on what day, yet fail to receive a disposition of unconditional love and forgiveness for my enemies without resistance, I will discover too late that knowing the right facts and keeping the right day holy will prove to be a false hope, and I have inadvertently received the real mark of the beast despite all my efforts to avoid its outward mark of Sunday observance.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:1-5 NIV)

Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh. Many waters can't quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)

He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the Earth belongs to the Earth, and speaks of the Earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. (John 3:31-33)

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:35)

Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation,--in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:12-13)

The Jews of Christ's day were deceived by the same spirit very much alive today. They were obsessive about protecting the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath of the Lord. They were constantly criticizing and condemning Christ for violating their Sabbath laws intended to protect people from infringing on the Sabbath by improper behavior on that sacred day. They misunderstood His actions and motives and so became incensed over His seeming careless disregard for the holiness of that day. They argued that His Sabbath violations proved He could not possibly be the promised Messiah, for the true Messiah would be a faithful law-keeper, not a law-breaker. But love was not on their priority list.

Jesus did keep the law perfectly, but not in the way prescribed by religion that darkens and obscures the true meaning and purpose of the Law of God. Religion focuses on the externals rather than the condition of the heart, and the same deception is just as present now as it has ever been. The Law of God is merely a description of what a person's life will look like when living in harmony with Spirit of God who is love, light and truth. The Sabbath will indeed be prominent in the experience of people who genuinely appreciate the true reason for its existence as an outward expression of their belief in the real truth about God's heart. But a symptom without an authentic cause is a deception.

Clinging to a symbol without experiencing a transformed heart is like pinning fruit to a dead tree to make it look alive. The underlying issue in the final showdown between Christ and Satan is not merely about keeping up appearances or a profession of faith in God. Rather it is all about heart condition and what character is shaped through choices we make about God's disposition towards us. The true rest of the Sabbath according to Hebrews 4:10 means abstaining from trying to change God's disposition towards us and resting fully in the truth that He is completely good all the time, is only light with no darkness at all, and that His love and forgiveness are unconditional forever. As we rest in this love and live in freedom from fear, our lives are transformed to reflect His glory, the same glory as witnessed in the reflection seen in the life and love of Jesus Christ.

What this angel warns us about is the extreme danger of refusing a love of this truth and failing to avail ourselves of its healing power to restore us to reflect His likeness. Those who demand that God must resort to force to maintain the integrity of His Law, who insist that God relates to His subjects with hierarchical authority like the beast and the image does, are assimilating the disposition of the dragon through worship of his surrogates. This third angel is simply describing the unavoidable consequences in the lives of all who cling to such beliefs that transforms their life to reflect the disposition of the beast rather than the Lamb. This is the crux of what this angel's message is all about, for to spurn the Lamb's version of God in favor of worshipping a god of force and compulsion in order to keep law and order in society, such ones give their authority to the dragon, and the result is what is described in this message we are continuing to explore further.

he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God

Is this drinking of the wine forced on these individuals, or is this simply describing what happens? It makes a great deal of difference how we think God is related to these causes and effects.

Another, a second angel, followed, saying, "Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality." (Revelation 14:8)

The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. (Revelation 14:19)

The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. (Revelation 16:19)

Let's review the meaning of the wrath of God in contrast to alternative versions of wrath.

There are two Greek words usually translated into the English as wrath. In Romans 1 we find the classic definition of the true meaning of God's kind of wrath, and the word used there is orge which means intense desire, excitement of the mind.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (Romans 1:18)

This word is about intensity of emotion but is not locked to negative emotion but rather has to do with intensity of feeling; it is simply an amplifier of whatever emotion is present. In Romans 1 the subsequent verses explain what God does when His wrath is being revealed – He releases or hands people over to the natural consequences of their own choices despite His good desires for them. This is what happened in the case of Moses arguing with God at the burning bush, the very first mention of God's anger or wrath in the Bible. When we insist on having our own way and doing our own thing in resistance to His will for us, we deny His loving will and desire to bless us and He is compelled to let us go the way we have chosen for ourselves in contradiction to what is best for us.

We need a better understanding of the intense feelings aroused in God's heart related to our freedom of choice when we turn our hearts away from the true Source of love, life, peace and joy found in His presence. When we rebel against the principles of life, love and truth, and throw ourselves into indulging in evil that defaces His image in our soul, moving us towards self-destruction, God does sit by complacently while we ruin our purpose to be recipients and expressions of His agape love. Yet without freedom to choose for ourselves who will define us and how to act like ourselves, we have no capacity to respond positively to love. This is why God will not violate our freedom by forcing us to live in harmony with the principles of life in which we are designed to thrive.

The second Greek word used here in Revelation is thumos. This is fierce passion. It means hard breathing, blowing, even smoking. Its root word conveys ideas of sacrifice and immolation. This word is far more negative than orge, yet when applied to God it must still align completely with the revelation of His heart and ways solely based on the kind of God revealed by His only designated representative for Him – Jesus who is the only true Christ, both for us and on behalf of God.

Interestingly at the end of this sentence we find the other word for wrath – orge – only here it is translated as indignation or in some versions as anger. In this sentence we find both these words which helps give us a better perspective as to how to interpret them relying on the lens of how Jesus demonstrates the truth about His Father's disposition.

Why is wine mentioned here in connection with God's wrath? I believe this may be something to explore more closely. What kind of wine is connected with God, and how might such wine bring about such intense negative effects given what we understand about God's disposition in the Lamb? We will look at this more when we move to the next part of this verse.

But thus says Yahweh, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children. I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. (Isaiah 49:25-26)

Awake, awake, stand up, Jerusalem, that have drunk at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it. There is none to guide her among all the sons whom she has brought forth; neither is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons who she has brought up. These two things have happened to you. Who will bemoan you? Desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort you? Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an antelope in a net; they are full of the wrath of Yahweh, the rebuke of your God. Therefore hear now this, you afflicted, and drunken, but now with wine: Thus says your Lord Yahweh, and your God who pleads the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you shall no more drink it again: and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who go over. (Isaiah 51:17-23)

For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. (Jeremiah 25:15-16)

I believe it is necessary we clarify in our own thinking as much as possible how we perceive the emotions and feelings of God and his actual disposition when described as being angry or full of wrath. Taking into account that we have been given capacity to appreciate God's feelings as we are designed in His image, it is possible to understand what these words mean when describing God's kind of wrath and anger. But keep in mind it is not our usual version of wrath and anger.

So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (James 1:19-21)

Seek you Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:6-9)

In no way am I suggesting that God does not get angry. Rather, His anger is for very different reasons than most of our anger, and even more importantly, when God is angry, the way He acts like Himself is almost always nearly opposite of how we typically act when we get angry.

therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations: (Ezekiel 36:5-6)

If we have any capacity to care and long for the best for our own children and for those we love dearly, then we have a point of reference to be aware of what these intense words mean in regards to how God must feel when He is forced to release His protective power and agencies around those He longs to rescue and restore to health and life in His presence. The key factor we must pay attention to here to get proper perspective, is the core principle of freedom. Unless we appreciate the centrality of freedom of choice (meaning no hint of threat of force or punishment involved) in the way God designed for us to relate to Him and with each other, it will be impossible to properly understand how His wrath aligns with the foundational truths that God is light with no darkness at all in Him, and He is love that never relies on fear to elicit compliance to His will.

Wrath here involves both Greek words in the same sentence and describes the intense conflict of emotions that tears God's heart open. It was evidenced most clearly in the ripping apart of the literal heart of Jesus causing His death on the cross. The opposing passions that were allowed to contradict each other in the emotions and nervous system of Jesus' body during the last hours of his earthly ministry, demonstrate in the physical realm what God experiences in the spirit realm relating to the very same issues that brought about the death of our Savior. For it was not the beatings or the physical abuse suffered at the hands of evil men that killed Jesus, but rather the conflicting emotions that ruptured His literal heart and tore Him up emotionally so intently that it cost Him His physical life.

What we find here in Revelation is not different in some way from what Jesus demonstrated while living among us here on earth as a human. Away with the sick notion that the example of Jesus while on earth was only a partial revelation of what God is like, but when He comes again the second time His true colors will be manifest when He resorts to using His power to impose violent punishments and inflict severe harm on all who resist obeying His will. This is the doctrine of demons that has infiltrated every religion on earth but is not of God. Our own safety is to filter every idea, every interpretation, every understanding of who God is and how He acts like Himself only through the lens of the Jesus of Galilee who described Himself as meek and lowly and humble.

prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger

The word here translated as anger comes from the Greek word orge which elsewhere is translated as wrath such as in Romans 1:18. Here we find it coupled with the other word for wrath, thumos and now described as being unmixed or undiluted. The question then is, why is it unmixed? When or how was it mixed previously, and with what was it mixed before that is no longer present? This is important to appreciate in light of interpreting these symbols in light of the Lamb version of God.

They told the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:16-17)

What is lost in the thinking of those who view the passion of the Lamb of God as fierce anger rather than passionate love, is the truth about God's heart. They have rejected God's mercy in favor of belief in a god who enforces his laws with retribution against all who disobey or offend him. They view God in primarily a legal way, imagining that He is more interested in conformity to rules rather than longing for reconciliation of an intimate relationship with His estranged children.

By clinging to such dark views despite all God has done to repair their thinking about Him, they have a permanent set in their character that cannot be altered so that no amount of truth or revelation of love has any power to heal their hearts. From this perspective we see how the true meaning of God's wrath fits here, for when one has given themselves over completely to evil until their character and heart is impossible to repair, the only option left is for God to respect their determined choice to believe The Lie and to release them to experience the natural outcome of those choices, which is living in a false reality shaped and filtered by the dark, fear-based assertions of the enemy of truth.

The greatest danger for any of us is clinging to lies that feel true but only lead to death. God's judgment simply describes how when we encounter the truth that God is love and light with no darkness in Him, we react based on the interpretation that fits our settled choice of what we believe God's disposition is towards us. This is worship – choosing one side or the other as to what God is like which in turn determines our beliefs about our own identity as His reflectors. Unless we embrace the version of God as displayed by the slaughtered Lamb as the only accurate version, and allow the Spirit of the Lamb to transform our hearts, minds and disposition to reflect that version, then when we are confronted by exposure to the vivid revelation of the real truth by the up close encounter in the presence of the Lamb and the holy angels, our opinion and gut reaction to this intense revelation of the power of love will only feel like He is bringing punishment to us. This is the unavoidable result for every person whose perception of God has remained trapped in the lies of the dragon rather than transformed by the principles of love and life as experienced by those who follow the Lamb.

What can we learn from tracing the history of the cup as related to God and to the Lamb?

But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to him, "We are able." (Matthew 20:22)

He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, "All of you drink it, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's Kingdom." (Matthew 26:27-29)

He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire." (Matthew 26:39)

In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord's cup in a manner unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he doesn't discern the Lord's body. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn't be judged. But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Therefore, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait one for another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest your coming together be for judgment.... (1 Corinthians 11:25-34)

The cup of fellowship shared by those whose hearts have been softened by the tenderness, kindness, compassion and love of our Lord and Savior, is experienced as just the opposite as experienced through the mindset of the enemy that makes them afraid of closeness to God, not attracted. They interpret the blood of the Lamb to mean God will seek revenge and severely punish all who refuse to comply with His demands, despite the fact this is opposite to the actual truth. They interpret the blood of the Lamb that represents Jesus' covenant of love with His children, to be a threat of vengeance and bloodshed against all who dare oppose His will. They view the wine of the covenant of Jesus with His disciples the same as the intoxicating obsession with power in the wine used by the great harlot.

In other words, when we perceive God through the mindset of the beast and his image, the original meanings of all the symbols get perverted to fit how they are used based on the ways of this world instead of according to the Spirit. Fear interprets love as wrath, and blood infers death rather than life.

The true meaning and purpose of the blood of Christ is to cleanse our heart of distrust of God's heart. The intoxicating harlot's wine filled with lies and slander against heaven will cause us to react in terror and torment in the presence of the Lamb with the angels instead of ecstasy. The blood of the covenant is mistaken as the opposite of what the Lamb came to accomplish. Without a corrected appreciation of the real truth of mercy and the kindness of God that alone can lead us to genuine repentance, our final condition will be hopeless as there is no capacity to return to the sweetness of love we have spurned. The wine is unmixed with the truth of God's mercy, and without this key ingredient our reaction to drinking it turns tragic instead of producing healing and restoration to joy.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily. I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand.

When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message." For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in. (Isaiah 28:16-20)

For in the hand of Yahweh there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs. (Psalms 75:8)

The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning? (Isaiah 33:14)

Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" (Matthew 8:29)

When we consider carefully these passages relating to the cup and wine associated with God rather than the harlot of Babylon, and we understand that the missing ingredient in the wine that causes the wicked to live in madness and terror is belief in God's mercy, the question then becomes, why is this wine without mercy? Is it because God has ceased to be merciful, or because mercy is rejected?

It happened, when the priests were come out of the holy place, (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, and did not keep their divisions; also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and their brothers, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and stringed instruments and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them one hundred twenty priests sounding with trumpets;) it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness [mercy] endures forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Yahweh, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:11-14)

I count 40 times in Scripture that this phrase recurs emphasizing the truth that God's mercy endures forever. Yet there comes a time when the wicked, those who worship the false representation of God and receive the mark of the beast and its image, will drink the wine of wrath from the cup of God that here is said to be unmixed, undiluted. The conclusion has to be, since God's mercy does endure for all eternity, that the only reason it is missing is due to their intransigent unbelief in this reality, leaving them to perceive the passion of God as being just like their passion which puts them into terror instead of awe of God's true glory.

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for [in] yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. (Romans 2:1-11 NAS95)

What becomes clear here for those with discernment from the Spirit of truth, is that judgment as Jesus defined it in John 3:19-21 is what happens in reaction to exposure to the light of glory. The light of God's true heart does not change in relation to one side or the other, for the fact is that God is never partial, something important to keep in mind. Thus we must conclude that the contents of cup of wrath that wicked drink is the same as the cup Christ drank during the last hours of His life here on earth, and what caused the death of Christ was the weight of guilt, condemnation and shame laid on His psyche internally resulting from all the sin of every human being from all of history from beginning to end.

It may sound strange, but in truth the cup Jesus consented to drink in Gethsemane corresponded to the laver in the sanctuary symbolism which contained the water used to wash away the filth and blood involved in the sacrificial system representing the sins of the people. This water increasingly filled with the pollutants and residue of the sanctuary rituals represented what Isaiah describes as the iniquities of us all that was laid on our Messiah in order to reopen a way for many who would be willing to be reconciled.

He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we didn't respect him. Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for [by] our transgressions, he was crushed for [by] our iniquities; the punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the disobedience of my people to whom the stroke was due? They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:3-11)

The only way to discern the true meaning and purpose of the sacrifice of this Messiah who allowed all the natural effects of our sins to come on Him, is to view it apart from a legal perspective. Otherwise it distorts our perceptions of God's disposition as being different from that of His Christ who came to this world to reveal the heart of the Father, not to appease Him. What this passage describes is the willing Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world because He identified with the false identity humanity received as soon as anyone ever sinned, and took full responsibility for all of our sins upon Himself in order to make way for us to identify with His innocence and right relation with God in order to be restored back to living in harmony with heaven and thrive once again in the presence of His passionate fire of love again. This is what both the Father and the Son eagerly look towards as the outcome of this amazing display of love and grace. This is the pleasure of Yahweh that will prosper in His hand. This is the true saving knowledge, the reinstatement of intimacy with the heart of the Godhead that resets our thinking and spirit and perspective when we embrace the saving truth that our sin identity does not belong to us because our Savior purchased this identity with His own blood and let it kill His body on the cross.

This is the mercy, the loving kindness (in Hebrew checed), the magnetic beauty, attractiveness, goodness that must be at the center of what we believe God to be like. Without this core ingredient present in our heart to properly appreciate the nature of the wine given for His disciples to drink as our bond of covenant fellowship with the heart of God, all that is left in our thinking is a God who sooner or later will be compelled to use violent retribution against His enemies to enforce the laws that have been broken, and punishment is the opposite of mercy.

This is the choice every one of us faces, for what we choose to believe God to be like in His disposition towards us is the determining factor as to our reaction when we become exposed to the intense passion of His heart and how we interpret and experience that passion.

For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses' law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26-29)

But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:39)

Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt; and serve you Yahweh. If it seem evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. The people answered, Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; (Joshua 24:14-16)

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Intoxicated Spirits - Rumor notes 137

 

Revelation 14

8 Another, a second angel, followed, saying, "Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality."

made all nations to drink

He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. He deceives my own people who dwell on the earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:12-17)

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality." (Revelation 17:1-2)

He cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury." (Revelation 18:2-3)

For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. Then took I the cup at Yahweh's hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me: (Jeremiah 25:15-17)

Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink, pouring your inflaming wine until they are drunk, so that you may gaze at their naked bodies! You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh's right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. (Habakkuk 2:15-16)

wine of the wrath

The winepress was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia. (Revelation 14:20)

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth. (Revelation 17:4)

I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement. (Revelation 17:6)

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury. (Revelation 18:3)

Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink; who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice for the innocent! (Isaiah 5:22-23)

Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding. My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God. (Hosea 4:11-12)

For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense. Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh's hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go everyone into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God. (Jeremiah 51:5-10)

Note carefully what part each one plays in this scenario. Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of Yahweh, yet the contents of that cup are not in harmony with Yahweh's ways. It is Babylon's wine that makes the nations mad, not Yahweh's. The time of captivity in Babylon could have become an opportunity for Babylon to be healed, yet it could not happen without their cooperation. Once it was clear that Babylon refused the healing remedy offered, it was and is again, time to completely distance from it and return to our own country to clearly reflect the righteousness of Yahweh.

This is a good place to start unpacking this word wrath as it is very easy to misunderstand given how much this word has been exploited to misrepresent the disposition of God towards His wayward children. Part of the confusion is the mix and match way English translations use this and other words related to wrath or passion, along with the poor choice of the word itself. This has led untold millions to imagine God's disposition is little different from the great whore of Babylon detailed in chapter 17.

I find it helpful to examine how Greek words are used throughout Scripture so as to distill a more accurate appreciation of what a passage like this might be seeking to convey. The word used here translated wrath comes from the Greek word thumos that literally means passion, and most of the time it is associated with negative emotions when displayed by anyone other than God.

Thumos – shows up 18 times in the New Testament. Here is where it is used:

wrath, as in fierce anger (Luke 4:28; Acts 19:28; 2 Corinthians 12:20; Galatians 5:20; Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8; Hebrews 11:27)

...the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time." (Revelation 12:12)

indignation (Romans 2:8)

These are clearly negative, dark emotions very familiar to us and what Scripture calls on us to put away from our lives.

The other references refer to God's wrath which requires more careful discernment to appreciate how God's wrath is different from man's version of wrath.

he also will drink of the wine of the wrath (thumos) of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger [indignation](Gr. orge). He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. (Revelation 14:10) (see also wrath in Revelation 14:19; 15:1,7; 16:1)

Fierceness (thumos) of wrath (orge) (Revelation 16:19; 19:15)

As you can see here and in other places, the English word wrath is derived from several different Greek words, while several English words are used to translate the same Greek word from the original. But one thing needs to become clear in our thinking, and that is that the wrath of God cannot be defined by our assumptions about the word and how we act and feel when angry.

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20 NKJV)

While strong negative emotion is the typical definition of this word as used in reference to humans under Satan's influence, wrath as demonstrated by God must never be assessed by human standards by solely through revelation of His heart and disposition in His Son Jesus Christ, known most notably in this book as the Lamb violently slaughtered from the foundation of the world. Only as we give preference to the Lamb's definition of how God feels and acts towards us can be begin to unmask the horrible distortions and deceptions the enemy has cast over God's reputation.

This will be covered in more detail when we study verse 10 coming up soon.

her sexual immorality

Here it is important to keep in mind this is a metaphor, not to be viewed as literal sexual perversion but rather involving a much more serious condition infecting people's spirit.

But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:14)

But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:20-21)

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her sexual immorality."

He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth. And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement. (Revelation 17:1-6)

After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory. He cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury." (Revelation 18:1-3)

The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, (Revelation 18:9)

for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand." (Revelation 19:2)

We see how this issue shows up repeatedly in this symbolic book. We do well to allow the Spirit to give us better understanding so we can discern how we also may be deceived by this seductive spirit in ways we never imagined. Yet in doing so we can come to live in freedom from the power of sin.

Don't make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; (Exodus 34:15)

Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab: for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. Israel joined himself to Baal Peor: and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel. (Numbers 25:1-3)

The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots, the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies. They stumble on their bodies, because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft. "Behold, I am against you," says Yahweh of Armies, "and I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness, and the kingdoms your shame. I will throw abominable filth on you, and make you vile, and will set you a spectacle. (Nahum 3:2-6)

Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, (Romans 1:24-29)

But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:2)

Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. (Colossians 3:5-6)

For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

(1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)

Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. (Hebrews 12:14-16)

Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7)

This next passage is a bit lengthy but I find it helpful for unpacking the underlying meaning of this symbol that can be so elusive because we are so prone to deny being affected by it.

1 Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations; 3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh to Jerusalem: Your birth and your birth is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was your father, and your mother was a Hittite. 4 As for your birth, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to cleanse you; you weren't salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you, to have compassion on you; but you were cast out in the open field, for that your person was abhorred, in the day that you were born.

6 When I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live; yes, I said to you, Though you are in your blood, live. 7 I caused you to multiply as that which grows in the field, and you increased and grew great, and you attained to excellent ornament; your breasts were fashioned, and your hair was grown; yet you were naked and bare.

8 Now when I passed by you, and looked at you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you, and covered your nakedness: yes, I swore to you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Yahweh, and you became mine.

9 Then washed I you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered work, and shod you with sealskin, and I girded you about with fine linen, and covered you with silk. 11 I decked you with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain on your neck. 12 I put a ring on your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were decked with gold and silver; and your clothing was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; you ate fine flour, and honey, and oil; and you were exceeding beautiful, and you prospered to royal estate. 14 Your renown went forth among the nations for your beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put on you, says the Lord Yahweh. [Contemplate everything up to this point in the passage carefully before reading the next part, pondering deeply the amazing kindness and graciousness of God towards us with no hint of shaming or disgust.]

15 But you did trust in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by; his it was. 16 You took of your garments, and made for yourselves high places decked with various colors, and played the prostitute on them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and played the prostitute with them; 18 and you took your embroidered garments, and covered them, and did set my oil and my incense before them. 19 My bread also which I gave you, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed you, you did even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, says the Lord Yahweh.

20 Moreover you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to me, and these have you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your prostitution a small matter, 21 that you have slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire to them?

22 In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and was weltering in your blood. 23 It is happen after all your wickedness, (woe, woe to you! says the Lord Yahweh), 24 that you have built to you a vaulted place, and have made you a lofty place in every street. 25 You have built your lofty place at the head of every way, and have made your beauty an abomination, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and multiplied your prostitution. 26 You have also committed sexual immorality with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh; and have multiplied your prostitution, to provoke me to anger.

27 See therefore, I have stretched out my hand over you, and have diminished your ordinary food, and delivered you to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd way. 28 You have played the prostitute also with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; yes, you have played the prostitute with them, and yet you weren't satisfied. 29 You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren't satisfied with this.

30 How weak is your heart, says the Lord Yahweh, seeing you do all these things, the work of an impudent prostitute; 31 in that you build your vaulted place at the head of every way, and make your lofty place in every street, and have not been as a prostitute, in that you scorn pay. 32 A wife who commits adultery! who takes strangers instead of her husband! 33 They give gifts to all prostitutes; but you give your gifts to all your lovers, and bribe them, that they may come to you on every side for your prostitution. 34 You are different from other women in your prostitution, in that none follows you to play the prostitute; and whereas you give hire, and no hire is given to you, therefore you are different. (Ezekiel 16:1-34)

While these graphic descriptions of sexual immorality can feel disconcerting, remember that God is talking to a nation of people about their disposition in relation to Himself, not about physical activities described here. So we need to think deeper to appreciate the symbolism used by God so we may become aware of how we might be caught up in sexual immorality and seduced in ways we never imagined before. This describes a condition of the heart much more than a compromising of our bodies. That is merely an external symptom of a spiritually empty condition of the soul.

Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can't understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. Come you, say they, I will get wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure. (Isaiah 56:11-12)

In the New Testament outside Revelation, references to sexual immorality apply to the literal, physical problem. Yet as with all symbols in Revelation, we must come to discern the underlying elements involved so as to appreciate what is being conveyed in the context of our study.

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father's wife. (1 Corinthians 5:1)

Don't you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! Or don't you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, "The two," says he, "will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee sexual immorality! "Every sin that a man does is outside the body," but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

(1 Corinthians 6:15-20)

Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance. But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints; nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks. Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:2-5)

But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

Analysis of the Great Collapse - Rumor notes 136

 Revelation 14

8 Another, a second angel, followed, saying, "Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality."

Babylon the great has fallen

There is a specific background to this declaration that can help us to appreciate the importance of the symbolism of this prophecy. The literal Babylon at the height of its glory days, was governed by the great king Nebuchadnezzar who at first was unknowingly being used of God to release consequences on His rebelling chosen nation as well as other wicked nations. This took place by Babylon being allowed to defeat and plunder powerful nations because of their great wickedness. Nebuchadnezzar was astute man, smart, successful and well educated in philosophy, law and pagan religion.

Babylon was actually the outgrowth of the previous failed attempt to establish a worldwide system of total domination by means of a famous tower that later came to be known as Babel, not too long after the flood. Later the city of Babylon became established at or near the same location, and over time became the origin of what is now known as western civilization. This is where the concept of artificial law was refined and where mystery religions cultivated in Egypt found further development. Babylon became the symbol of the entire system invented by Satan that through history has shaped how societies are organized relying on the principles of trade involving reward and punishment. It also became the symbol of the epitome of pride.

Babylon represents trust in the power of hierarchy, wealth and worldly wisdom integrated and guided by pagan beliefs inherited from demonic inspiration passed down through generations of rebellion, particularly highlighted in the disposition described during the building of the tower of Babel.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4 NRSV)

This is the roots of what today is known as modern civilization. This spirit, later refined and enshrined in a complex system of law and pagan philosophies, came to define how the world governs. It originates from Satan's counterfeit design of government experimented with first and urged in heaven to be an improvement for social order before this world was created. The spirit of rebellion, pride, control and independence from God reflects the disposition of the king of pride.

[Leviathan] sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride. (Job 41:34)

The principles involved in trading and commerce, artificial law and its enforcement by means of threatened punishments and enticements of reward, and organization of society by means of top-down hierarchical control, compose the three pillars of Satan's design for social cohesion. Yet these are often assumed to be how God relates us in His use of authority. The truth is that all these principles and practices are out of harmony with the principles of agape love involving selfless service and other-centered living. Agape love is what was originally enjoyed and practiced by all the inhabitants of heaven before the confusion brought about by the rebellion of Lucifer that introduced sin when he chose to launch a grand social experiment to challenge the very design of creation itself and that distorted perceptions of the disposition and motives of God's heart.

Being aware of what is behind this symbol of Babylon makes it easier to see how this announcement fits into the flow of history, not just of this world but the narrative of the spiritual war that was intensifying before humans even came on the scene. This is the context from which we may better appreciate the intensity of this warning in the backdrop for all the surrounding messages by these angels. What is involved here are God's final warnings meant to alert as many as possible that the time of Satan's grand experiment is soon to come to a frightful end, and it is time to take decisive action before it is too late.

The great king Nebuchadnezzar had a fascinating life that is an illustration of how powerful the grace of God can be to reach even some of the most deeply entrenched victims of Satan's deceptions. This king was both brilliant and wise and was on the cutting edge of the development of civilization as well as a formidable and feared military leader. He was the one who destroyed Jerusalem, leveled and burned the temple of Yahweh and demolished the walls of the city of Zion while either killing or dispersing the chosen people of God, effectively bringing to an end their independence and making many of them prisoners in his own kingdom. God's prophets had warned His people of this for many years, but their own intransigence, pride and unwillingness to submit and trust God by obedience to His instructions, led to a violent end that would have been far less tragic if they had not clung to rebellion. Even the armies of Babylon was at times surprised at the intransigence of thus people who imagined their identity as God's chosen people and a temple dedicated to the God of heaven somehow would insulate them from experiencing consequences of their sins. In contrast to the offered mercies of Nebuchadnezzar's government, the people of God were even more wicked as they misrepresented Him. Yet all was not yet lost.

Nebuchadnezzar believed in humanism and believed that by extending mercy to his enemies he could gain access to resources of knowledge from around the world. He brought into his government the brightest minds from nations he conquered. This proved positive, giving him advantages to reduce resentment that could fuel rebellion in his subjects. Thus when Judah and Jerusalem were overthrown and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, on one of his campaigns he captured a number of princes and wise men to add to his kingdom in his plan to bring together wisdom of the world into one location in order to stabilize his kingdom and secure his rule over the world. His disposition and plans reflect to some extent how Lucifer originally began his attempted takeover of heaven through reliance on wisdom, widespread trading and the development of law in order to elevate his power to compete with the Almighty and draw attention to himself as highest authority.

Daniel and his three associates were among this group of elite princes taken as prisoners to Babylon. However, these four men had a different spirit and perspective than most others, for they had grown up in the days of Jeremiah the prophet who had warned for years the very things that were now happening. God had been pleading with His people for them to repent and turn away from their evil ways and go back to life under His protective shield by obedience to His instructions. These warnings had not gone unnoticed in the family of Daniel. The character of Daniel and his three friends had been shaped by parents who had received the teachings given through the prophets, yet still the vast majority of those living in Jerusalem and Judah rejected God's ways and had given themselves over to self-indulgence, arrogant independence and determined resistance to the warnings from God's prophets, and especially Jeremiah, God then could not prevent the tragedies from coming to fruition because the leaders of His people had rejected His authority, leaving them vulnerable to the enemies of God to exploit and destroy them and their place of worship.

The book of Daniel reveals fascinating encounters between God's faithful witnesses in Babylon and the progression of God's work to win the heart of the king of Babylon himself. Because of the implicit trust in God by Daniel and his friends, Nebuchadnezzar was introduced to the God of heaven who was strikingly different from any god he had every known. Yet it took years and a number of confrontations with the will of this proud king before the truth began to take deeper root in Nebuchadnezzar's heart. Yet through persistent and faithful reflection of God's kindness and graciousness through Daniel and the others, God was able to soften and draw out the heart of the most powerful king on earth with a higher wisdom and a different kind of power than anything he had ever encountered anywhere on earth.

Near the end of the story of Nebuchadnezzar came a showdown between the truth of God growing in his awareness, and his pride and lust for power that had motivated his life. Nebuchadnezzar is in some respects like many of us, for he reflected the spirit of Lucifer in his desire to exalt himself to the highest position of authority, drawing attention and worship to himself for his great wisdom, cunning and superior capabilities above others. Yet God was consistently gracious, and Lucifer was exposed to the full extent of God's kindness and compassion and might have repented and been restored if he had not chosen instead to permanently harden his heart and seal his spirit in rebellion and resistance, denying that love alone is the only safe way for the universe to function.

The same appeal to repent was encountered in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar as the Spirit in his heart conflicted with the lusts of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life that had long motivated him. As is true with each person, a point in time was reached when Nebuchadnezzar was warned that he needed to submit his will to the ways and heart of God and let go of trusting himself. This is the same identity crisis we face, for we too must choose who will be our source who defines us, our worth, our purpose for existence and who shapes our character and perspective of truth. Nebuchadnezzar was brought to this point through a dream that was so vivid he knew he had to know what it meant. By this time he knew Daniel was the only one that had the connection with heaven's wisdom who could accurately interpret his dream. We pick up the narrative part way into Daniel's explanation of what this dream meant, and we get a sense of the friendship that had developed between these two men. Daniel understands well what Nebuchadnezzar struggles against, but he also understands this is a crisis point each person faces when their carnal spirit is exposed and the will must to choose who will be Lord in their life.

This dream was heaven's warning to Nebuchadnezzar of the inevitable outcome of continuing resistance to God's drawing love in his heart. Because all true authority must be released by free choice of people themselves (not arbitrarily imposed as in hierarchy), when the will resists alignment with God's will, authority is given over to Satan, and dire consequences will ensue.

The tree that you saw, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached to the sky, and the sight of it to all the earth; whose leaves were beautiful, and the fruit of it much, and in it was food for all; under which the animals of the field lived, and on whose branches the birds of the sky had their habitation: it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.

Whereas the king saw a watcher and a holy one coming down from the sky, and saying, Hew down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump of the roots of it in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of the sky: and let his portion be with the animals of the field, until seven times pass over him; this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come on my lord the king: that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will. Whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree; your kingdom shall be sure to you, after that you shall have known that the heavens do rule. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthening of your tranquility.

All this came on the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?

While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from the sky, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from you: and you shall be driven from men; and they dwelling shall be with the animals of the field; you shall be made to eat grass as oxen; and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whoever he will.

The same hour was the thing fulfilled on Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and ate grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky, until his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or tell him, What do you? At the same time my understanding returned to me; and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness returned to me; and my counselors and my lords sought to me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase. (Daniel 4:20-37)

Now let us tie this back into our study and how Babylon figures so prominently in Revelation.

There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. (Revelation 16:18-19)

After these things, I saw another angel coming down out of the sky, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory. He cried with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! (Revelation 18:1-2)

It is helpful to be aware that in John's day this label of Babylon was understood by Christians to represent old Jerusalem. The fierce resistance to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the One claimed to be the Messiah promised to Israel for centuries, was the greatest obstacle of faith, particularly for Jewish converts. Jerusalem represented the deeply entrenched religious system of traditions enforced by religious leaders who held some political power over the Jewish nation in Christ's day. This amalgamation of religion and political power is intoxicating and leads to abuse and exploitation often in the name of God. The thirst for power at all cost in any generation has often led to gross misrepresentations of God's kind of authority, yet this is the very disposition of those who arranged for the crucifixion of the Messiah primarily because He refused to use His supernatural access to power to achieve their agenda. This pattern can be witnessed throughout history repeated over and over.

He carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored animal, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth. And on her forehead a name was written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." (Revelation 17:3-5)

The influence in Babylon of the development and refinement of law, legal traditions and perspective had an enormous effect on the thinking and logic of those exiled there for 70 years after the fall of old Jerusalem to Babylon's armies. Spending that long in the very center of law (and in many respects the birthplace of legal systems throughout the world for the rest of history), the Jews returned to their own country after the exile, bringing with them the disposition and legal orientation inculcated into them by Babylon. In Babylon they absorbed a form of religion and legal orientation very different from the family design God intended His people to model under His loving parentage. Perceiving God and His instructions through the lens of the world's mindset and governance model had become so enmeshed into their way of reasoning, that upon their return to Jerusalem their highest priority became meticulous law enforcement regardless of how much it destroyed relationships.

One of the examples of this over-emphasis on legal compliance and rigid law-enforcement at the cost of covenant relationships was the way Ezra dealt with the issue of foreign wives among those returned from Babylon. Rather than turning to God to learn how to resolve this problem in His way, they made the law of Moses their supreme standard while assuming God was furious with them and eager to punish them severely should they fail to keep those laws meticulously.

Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you: be of good courage, and do it.

Ezra the priest stood up, and said to them, You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession to Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women. Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, As you have said concerning us, so must we do. But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges of it, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be dispatched.

Among the sons of the priests there were found who had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brothers, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. They gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt. (Ezra 10:2-4, 10-14, 18-19)

In contrast, we find in Malachi God's viewpoint regarding how Ezra attempted to appease His presumed wrath by ripping families apart already settled in marriage covenant relationships.

This again you do: you cover the altar of Yahweh with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, because he doesn't regard the offering any more, neither receives it with good will at your hand. Yet you say, 'Why?' Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant. Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce," says Yahweh, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with violence!" says Yahweh of Armies. "Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you don't deal treacherously. (Malachi 2:13-16)

The history of relating to God primarily through a legal framework began at Mount Sinai when the people presumed God's words were demands to be blindly obeyed. This was later exacerbated by Israel when they demanded to have a king over them so they could be like all the other nations around them. Samuel protested against this demand, yet God's respect for free will compelled Him to leave them open to choose that path despite knowing where it would lead. Evil must to be allowed to develop and mature until its sinister fruit becomes so obvious that it loses its appeal. Their choice to turn away from God's design to follow the hierarchical ways of the world are allowed to mature until it can be seen that Satan's counterfeit designs do not result in improved conditions but always tend towards death.

There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Hierarchy and artificial law originated with Satan. This is highlighted in this key passage.

Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute? (Psalms 94:20)

After generations of kings often corrupt and exploitive as Samuel predicted, the Israelites largely lost sight of God's design for them as a special and chosen people to be a demonstration to the world of what it looks like to live in harmony with God's principles and rejoice in His favor by reflecting His selfless character. What developed instead was lust for power, pomp and pleasure that led to prostituting the advantages given by God, using them to use their power to exploit the disadvantaged and cultivate a class system of wealthy versus slaves. Rejecting God as their leader, kings increasingly exploited their power for selfish agendas. Over time God's chosen people came more and more to align with the social design developed in Babylon rather than reflecting the beauty of God's original plan for them to reveal His beauty as an attraction for other nations to desire to come within His care.

The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.' (Revelation 18:9-10)

In Revelation, Babylon represents the world's system of power and fear-based civilization. It is in sharp contrast to the city called the New Jerusalem. The earthly Jerusalem had become so infected by Babylonian thinking that its leaders relied more on its law design over the true principles given to Moses. Early Christians could see this, so Babylon became the code term used to represent the legal mentality of Jewish leaders in sharp contrast to how Christianity was birthed at Pentecost when commerce, artificial law and hierarchy literally disappeared so long as the Holy Spirit was allowed to govern the minds of each believer.

Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don't you listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman. However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.

These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:21-26)

Babylon represents all religions that rely on law and enforcement of law to define identity and worth and the social structures we rely on to regulate and control all our relationships. This whole system is how all the kingdoms of this world operate and is summed up in this metaphor of Babylon. This mindset shaped the Jerusalem of Paul's day and reflects the legal, power-based system of control that continues unabated to our time. Paul explains that the legal relationship that originated with the fear-based reaction of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai defined the disposition of Jerusalem in his day. In contrast to this legal view of God and social construct, the movement launched by the Spirit at Pentecost that is based on love rather than law, has its basis and identity in the Jerusalem that is above. By stating that this is our true Mother, Paul is linking the perspective and self-awareness of all who embrace the true gospel with the Spirit who holds the body of Christ together in unity.

But do not miss the most important part of Paul's explanation here, for the pivotal issue of freedom of will lies at the very heart of the design of how we are to live and relate to each other in His kingdom. This unwavering respect for freedom from fear, freedom to choose whom we will serve absent any threat from God for not choosing to follow Him, is what discriminates between those who follow the true God of heaven and those who live according to the flesh and are motivated by its lusts.

The symbol of Babylon reflects the disposition of those who controlled earthly Jerusalem and was shaped by trading, law and hierarchy all initiated by Lucifer at the very beginning of the war. Self-enrichment was first modeled by that mighty angel who came to view his worth and identity as founded on external criteria rather than his dependent relationship with his Maker.

Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that is hidden from you; by your wisdom and by your understanding you have gotten you riches, and have gotten gold and silver into your treasures; by your great wisdom and by your traffic have you increased your riches, and your heart is lifted up because of your riches-- (Ezekiel 28:3-5)

This same pattern of living for self and seeking after recognition and power through domination over others, was cultivated and developed in Babylon until it found its most vivid expression in the killing of the Son of God on a cross in earthly Jerusalem. This was primarily because the leaders responsible for this followed the principles acquired in Babylon rather than embracing the principles and example of the Lamb who had come to save them from their sins.

In Revelation 18 we find described the ultimate outcome of this system of trading that is reflected in all aspects of this world. Commerce as carried on in this world is foreign to the ways of heaven as witnessed in the early days of the believers after Pentecost. The origins of this design are laid out in Ezekiel 27 and summarized in 28 and constitute the first bookend to this tragic experiment of commercial supply and demand in contrast to God's design for relational dependence on His goodness. The corresponding bookend is found in the collapse of that same system of trading and exploitation recorded in Revelation 18 that parallels Ezekiel 27-28.

For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.' Every shipmaster, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away, and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like the great city?' They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!' For in one hour is she made desolate. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her." A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. (Revelation 18:17-21)

Rather than pinning down the symbol of Babylon to one specific time or organization, we must see that it represents a principle, a mindset, an entire system of social order that is earthly and rooted in principles developed in the first city of Babylon that is the root of most civilization ever since. This announcement from heaven that Babylon has fallen is not just about a physical demise and collapse, but rather the bankruptcy of its very nature and design and how it is impossible to sustain because its principles ultimately produce ruin and destruction.

Let's revisit the earliest history of this great city to discover the underlying problems associated with it in contrast to the ways God's people live who make up the New Jerusalem.

They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth."

Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. Yahweh said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. Come, let's go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth. (Genesis 11:4-9)

It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into the pit; and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit will be taken in the snare; for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently. The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again. (Isaiah 24:18-20)

You king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals', and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whoever he will.

You his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don't see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified. Then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed. This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end; TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting. PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:18-28)

Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. The Arabian will not pitch a tent there, neither will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But wild animals of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of jackals. Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will frolic there. Wolves will cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged. (Isaiah 13:19-22)

It will happen in the day that Yahweh will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!" Yahweh has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers, who struck the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, who ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.

The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet. They break out song. Yes, the fir trees rejoice with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, "Since you are humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us." Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all will answer and ask you, "Have you also become as weak as we are? Have you become like us?"

Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out under you, and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, "I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!"

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, "Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms; who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn't release his prisoners to their home?" All the kings of the nations, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast away from your tomb like an abominable branch, clothed with the slain, who are thrust through with the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit; like a dead body trodden under foot. You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The seed of evil-doers will not be named forever. (Isaiah 14:3-20)

For the Lord said to me, "Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees. When he sees a troop, horsemen in pairs, a troop of donkeys, a troop of camels, he shall listen diligently with great attentiveness." He cried like a lion: "Lord, I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime, and every night I stay at my post. Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs." He answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground. You are my threshing, and the grain of my floor!" That which I have heard from Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. (Isaiah 21:6-10)

It shall happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, says Yahweh, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever. I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall make bondservants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands. (Jeremiah 25:12-14)

Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah. I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: "This one was born there." Yes, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one was born in her;" the Most High himself will establish her. Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, "This one was born there." Selah. Those who sing as well as those who dance say, "All my springs are in you." (Psalms 87:3-7)

The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare you among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don't conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed. For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal. In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God. They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, Come you, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray; they have turned them away on the mountains; they have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain. Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh. (Jeremiah 50:1-10)

Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh. Shout against her round about: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land. (Jeremiah 50:13-16)

Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, the measure of your covetousness. (Jeremiah 51:12-13)

I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh. Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand on you, and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain. They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh. (Jeremiah 51:24-26)