End Time Babylon (pt 3)

This passage is about the end-time luxurious world superpower, symbolically called the “Harlot Babylon” in the Bible.


Isaiah 47:7-11 And you said, 'I shall be a lady forever,' So that you did not take these things to heart, Nor remember the latter end of them. (8) "Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children'; (9) But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments. (10) "For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, 'No one sees me'; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.' (11) Therefore evil shall come upon you; You shall not know from where it arises. And trouble shall fall upon you; You will not be able to put it off. And desolation shall come upon you suddenly, Which you shall not know.


This is describing the lack of understanding of the people in this once-


great country. It describes a phenomenon labeled the “normalcy bias” by psychologists. Wikipedia defines the normalcy bias like this:


“The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.”


One of the most notable examples of the normalcy bias and its effect on people in a time of impending tragedy occurred during World War II in Nazi Germany. Jewish people observed friends and family disappearing against their will, and even those with the means to leave stayed in Germany, refusing to believe something terrible was happening. New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina is another example. Even though a monster storm was bearing down on the city, residents refused to believe the levees could break. Thousands died even though they had several days of warning, and numerous means of being transported from, or sheltered in, the area. Many refused to believe anything bad would really happen, even though all evidence was to the contrary.


The normalcy bias is the number one problem with seeing the most traumatic event coming at you. Jesus said it like this:


Luke 17:26-30 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: (27) They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (28) Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; (29) but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. (30) Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.


God’s people have been warned to “watch” for the generation that would see the Great Tribulation for thousands of years. The country that leads the way of the destruction…the end-time Babylon… is ironically one inhabited by MANY of God’s people. This is how the prophet Isaiah described the end-time Babylon’s people. The Bible is clear that many of God’s people live in the end-time Babylon:


Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.


Revelation 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth."


Throwing off the normalcy bias is key to understanding when to “come out.”


There is an anti-Christian bias rising up in the earth. Much preparation is required for enduring the time that is speeding at the world like a freight train. It will be here before we know it…months and years…not years and decades. It is already rampant in countries like Egypt and Iran, where Christians are killed daily, but the sentiment behind it is becoming more and more apparent in the headlines here, as well. The Bible is clear that this will increase in EVERY nation of the earth. A clear understanding of the promises of the Bible is important. Some of the prophecies given by Jesus are very “time sensitive” there is a time to pray for the revival of a whole country, BUT there is a time to “come out” of her, to throw off the normalcy of comfort, as well.


Understanding the time is ESSENTIAL to agree with Jesus:


Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. (10) And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. (11) Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (12) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. (13) But he who endures to the end shall be saved.


There are many false prophets in the land who are happy to help you keep the blanket of self and comfort on. Many of them are extremely popular, and all of them claim to speak for Jesus. They are popular because they tell people what they want to hear: enough Jesus to feel inspired, but enough self to do little about it. They teach that you can have God’s presence without His leadership…that your own personal preferences can filter the truth of the Bible…They preach a self-focused Gospel. These shepherds will lead many astray. This is an end-time passage:


Isaiah 56:10-12 His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. (11) Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. (12) "Come," one says, "I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant."


The false prophets are encouraged by the people who love what they say! There are many who refuse to accept what the Bible PLAINLY says over and over. Because they don’t understand that Jesus’ love REQUIRES his justice, they refuse to believe that the end-time events described in the Bible are real, knowable, and WATCHABLE. They simply ignore them because everyone else does, symbolize them, or write them off as historically fulfilled. This is what people WANT to hear. No one wants to believe they live in the most intense generation to ever live on earth!


2 Timothy 4:3-5 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; (4) and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (5) But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.


Paul told Timothy that this WOULD happen. Then he told Timothy what those loyal to Jesus should do in those days: watch, endure, tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Watching and knowing are essential for followers of Jesus. It is amazing how many people who name the name of Jesus have completely stopped watching the news! This was one commandment Jesus gave His followers over and over:


Mark 13:32-33 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (33) Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.


Matthew 25:11-13 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' (12) But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' (13) "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.


Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."


(note: the word interpreted “escape” means to “flee out of,” to experience the pressure and live through it…not to be whisked away. Jesus was saying it is a great responsibility and honor to live in this generation that will stand as the Bride in purity, and then get to stand before Him in confidence. Think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego escaping the fiery furnace…not Left Behind)


Acts 20:30-31 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. (31) Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.


Paul was concerned to the point of tears about this 2,000 years ago! And now, we live in the age of the fullness of this warning, yet most do not recognize it. We want to say no negative thing about anyone else, but yet Jesus promised that MANY false teachers and prophets would rise up. Paul warned to the point of tears, and we think the polite thing to do is smile and mind our own business! Just like Paul told Timothy, if you stand for this truth, many people will not like it. If you stand for truth, there should be some people offended by you.


This is what Jesus said, as well:


Matthew 5:11-13 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. (12) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (13) "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.


There is one true posture the Church should take as we watch the events of the day fulfill scriptural prophecies one after the other: It is a full court press to establish our geographic location as a City of Refuge. There is a Joel 2:12-32 prescription to do it. There are the Leviticus 26 promises for those who will do it. There are the precedents of Sodom, and Ninevah, Noah and his ark. There is Jesus’ promises to avenge those who cry out night and day. The Bible is literally FULL of this information.


We are literally witnessing the love of mankind growing cold right before our very eyes. We are literally seeing the end-time “raising up of the tabernacle of David” in the most dramatic way imaginable as hundreds and hundreds of night and day prayer centers are popping up all over the globe. We are seeing unprecedented events in Israel and the middle east, alliances of countries that were foretold thousands and thousands of years ago…the uprooting of leaders and governments by one man…unprecedented increases in natural disasters, sorcery, murder, theft…This is it, friends…the entire creation is screaming it! And this is Jesus’ plea to God’s people in end-time Babylon…the last gentile super power to meddle with His plans for Israel…the ones who think they are rich, but they are spiritually destitute because they think they can have God’s presence without His leadership:


Revelation 3:14-22 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: (15) "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. (16) So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (17) Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— (18) I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (20) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (21) To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (22) "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' "


Be zealous and agree with God oh Babylon, you once Golden City! Do you know who you are?


Revelation 18:7-8 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' (8) Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.





Isaiah 47:13-15 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels; Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, And the monthly prognosticators (read television news pundits) Stand up and save you From what shall come upon you. (14) Behold, they shall be as stubble, The fire shall burn them; They shall not deliver themselves From the power of the flame; It shall not be a coal to be warmed by, Nor a fire to sit before! (15) Thus shall they be to you With whom you have labored, Your merchants from your youth; They shall wander each one to his quarter. No one shall save you.