Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "apocalypse"
Woe to You, Mystery America
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." Isaiah 5:20
This 2,800-year-old warning from Isaiah is so appropriate for us that it seems he had America in mind when he wrote it. Maybe he did. In addition to this warning, Isaiah, as well as Jeremiah 200 years later, and John almost 700 years after that, made many prophecies concerning a future, or "Mystery," Babylon that so closely resembles America, that I'm fairly certain that it is we who will be known as the daughter of the lion, or... "Mystery Babylon."
The city of Babylon was built around 2300 BC, after the Great Flood. It was located just south of present day Baghdad, Iraq. Babylon reached its peak between 604 and 562 BC under Nebuchadnezzar II but then declined during the reign of Belshazzar. The end of the great city came in 478 BC when the Persian King Xerxes destroyed it. It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from about 1770 to 1670 BC, and again around 612 BC. It was perhaps the first city to reach a population of over 200,000. - from Wikipedia
Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of Babylon. He also prophesied that the city would never be rebuilt and it hasn't, although Saddam Hussein attempted it. So, why would the book of Revelation speak of the coming destruction of a city already destroyed? In Revelation, the city is called “Mystery Babylon” and in an analogy is described as a woman: "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17: 3-5
The prophets describe the end-time Babylon as a hammer of the whole Earth (superpower) whose power reaches the heavens. She will sit over many waters with many different peoples, nations and languages. She will intoxicate the other nations with her immorality and will export her sins worldwide. She will be extremely wealthy; an economic powerhouse. She will be so wealthy that other nations become wealthy just in trading with her. She will sit as a queen, incredibly arrogant, and mistreat God's people, convinced she will never see judgment. Again, how is this a description of a destroyed city? Or, is this future decadent place called Mystery Babylon only because of its similarity to the original? If so, it sounds like a place I know. It sounds like the place I call home.
As I attempt to see our nation as God might, I see that we have taken our gift of greatness for granted. I truly believe that we were once the greatest nation that had ever existed, and then we squandered it. It's worse than that, really. We became so arrogant as to believe that it was our gift to ourselves. We have become so evil that we go so far as to destroy our own for our convenience. And, for this and other sins, we will pay a dear price.
However, God once spared the wicked city of Nineveh upon their repentance and might be inclined to do the same for us. Maybe He will wait for a different nation to rise up and be the Mystery Babylon (some believe it will be Vatican City). We should take the opportunity to make this plea; that we be allowed to correct our behavior and call on His mercy, acknowledging Him and His sovereign power. If not, trouble is coming and, contrary to what many say, we will play a role at the end. We will be Mystery Babylon, about whom He says:
“Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one. You said, ‘I am forever—the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.” Isaiah 47:3,7-11
This 2,800-year-old warning from Isaiah is so appropriate for us that it seems he had America in mind when he wrote it. Maybe he did. In addition to this warning, Isaiah, as well as Jeremiah 200 years later, and John almost 700 years after that, made many prophecies concerning a future, or "Mystery," Babylon that so closely resembles America, that I'm fairly certain that it is we who will be known as the daughter of the lion, or... "Mystery Babylon."
The city of Babylon was built around 2300 BC, after the Great Flood. It was located just south of present day Baghdad, Iraq. Babylon reached its peak between 604 and 562 BC under Nebuchadnezzar II but then declined during the reign of Belshazzar. The end of the great city came in 478 BC when the Persian King Xerxes destroyed it. It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from about 1770 to 1670 BC, and again around 612 BC. It was perhaps the first city to reach a population of over 200,000. - from Wikipedia
Jeremiah had prophesied the destruction of Babylon. He also prophesied that the city would never be rebuilt and it hasn't, although Saddam Hussein attempted it. So, why would the book of Revelation speak of the coming destruction of a city already destroyed? In Revelation, the city is called “Mystery Babylon” and in an analogy is described as a woman: "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." Revelation 17: 3-5
The prophets describe the end-time Babylon as a hammer of the whole Earth (superpower) whose power reaches the heavens. She will sit over many waters with many different peoples, nations and languages. She will intoxicate the other nations with her immorality and will export her sins worldwide. She will be extremely wealthy; an economic powerhouse. She will be so wealthy that other nations become wealthy just in trading with her. She will sit as a queen, incredibly arrogant, and mistreat God's people, convinced she will never see judgment. Again, how is this a description of a destroyed city? Or, is this future decadent place called Mystery Babylon only because of its similarity to the original? If so, it sounds like a place I know. It sounds like the place I call home.
As I attempt to see our nation as God might, I see that we have taken our gift of greatness for granted. I truly believe that we were once the greatest nation that had ever existed, and then we squandered it. It's worse than that, really. We became so arrogant as to believe that it was our gift to ourselves. We have become so evil that we go so far as to destroy our own for our convenience. And, for this and other sins, we will pay a dear price.
However, God once spared the wicked city of Nineveh upon their repentance and might be inclined to do the same for us. Maybe He will wait for a different nation to rise up and be the Mystery Babylon (some believe it will be Vatican City). We should take the opportunity to make this plea; that we be allowed to correct our behavior and call on His mercy, acknowledging Him and His sovereign power. If not, trouble is coming and, contrary to what many say, we will play a role at the end. We will be Mystery Babylon, about whom He says:
“Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one. You said, ‘I am forever—the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. “Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and all your potent spells. You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.” Isaiah 47:3,7-11
The Other Way It Is
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