End Time Babylon – Part 11 of 11
Regions of Refuge Built with Singing
God has one plan for the whole world. This brilliant, simple, and strange plan will come to a conclusion in the last 7 years leading up to the return of Jesus. Revelation describes the events that will precipitate the final strokes of this brilliant plan. Many people think that Revelation is mostly symbolic, or cryptic, or “unknowable”, but the truth is, Revelation is incredibly simple.
Revelation is simply the story of everyone getting what they want!
The Bride (everyone who wants to be in a family covenant love relationship, co-heir with God’s Son Jesus and legal sons and daughters of the Father God) gets her groom, and everyone who doesn’t want to be “married” (inherit the family status of) to Jesus gets to taste death (life without God), incrementally until that choice to live with, or apart, from God is made final. It really is that simple!
The Book of Revelation is the story of this exact thing happening in a really short amount of time. Most of the Book of Revelation, Everything in chapters 6 to 19, happens in the course of 3.5 years!! This much “stuff” happening in such a short period of time makes the Book of Revelation very intense. The reason many people have such a hard time getting familiar with the Book of Revelation is that they look for ways to “explain away” the intensity. Jesus said that His return is like a baby being born:
John 16:20-22 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (22) Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
The process of birth is THE primary analogy the Bible uses of how Jesus’ return will unfold:
Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
1 Thessalonians 5:3-4 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
No matter how you look at it, the active labor of the delivery of a baby is intense. There is NO WAY AROUND THE INTENSITY coming, just like there is no birth without intensity. God wants me to see the intensity of the Book of Revelation and prepare, not explain it away!
In the parable of the 10 Bridesmaids in Matthew 25, right after describing to his disciples privately the chronology and intensity of the events leading up to His return, Jesus describes the condition of the Bride and her company awaiting these intense events. The Bride WILL get married, but many who are a part of the Bride right now will quit…they will “fall away” and not go in to the wedding. This is a very serious message to the church, but also a very unpopular message in the church. No one wants to believe that believers will quit. But they certainly will. No one seems to really talk about this much, but it is actually quite plain and simple:
Matthew 25:1-13 "Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. (all of the bridesmaids are believers…they are all actively looking for the return of Jesus) (2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. (3) The five who were foolish didn't take enough olive oil for their lamps,
(these believers called foolish approached the “looking” for Jesus’ return “casually”…they were watching but not ready. Every time Jesus spoke of His return he said to “watch”, “pray”, and “be ready.” The truth is, the vast majority in the Church in USA are barely or not even actively watching, even fewer are “getting ready” in agreement with Jesus’ very specific, simple, and clear plan, and even fewer are actively praying in specific agreement with this plan!)
(4) but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.
(the wise believers prepared in advance…this is key! They knew what to expect, took it seriously even though they weren’t totally sure how long it would take, and they made sure they could “endure the long dark night” if necessary)
(5) When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. (the waiting will seem longer and harder than expected whether you are ready or not, the night will grow DARKER than most people expect, is the point) (6) "At midnight (the darkest point) they were roused by the shout, 'Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!' (7) "All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. (the darkest part , the most intense part, will be when you REALLY need the “oil of preparation”) (8) Then the five foolish ones asked the others, 'Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.' (9) "But the others replied, 'We don't have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.' (the oil is the faith…the “gold”… bought from God in a history of praying, then taking risks when God opens the door, and seeing God move in power. This takes time! Faith is “confidence” that God WILL move, and you build confidence over time. You cannot share your confidence with anyone! Confidence is deep in the heart and built over a history of encountering God. You can only build your own history in advance of the time you will need it. P.S. God has a specific plan for communities to do this TOGETHER, and those that do will experience glorious safety and revival!) (10) "But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. (when you need the oil, it will be too late to get it) Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. (11) Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, 'Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!' (12) "But he called back, 'Believe me, I don't know you!' (13) "So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.
So, Jesus was clear that advanced specific preparation was not only necessary, but he was clear that the intensity of the night would be more than even the prepared had anticipated. This is a really important nuance to pick up on. Elsewhere, when describing these exact events, Jesus said this privately to the believers:
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.
So, again, the intensity coming is real, and endurance is what the disciples will need. Understanding with clarity the intensity is the whole point of the book of Revelation, but very few western believers understand this truth. Western believers have a western mindset that is conditioned for comfort. We actually believe that the sticky comfort we are stuck in, or working hard to acquire, is a blessing…a sign of God’s favor, but it is not! We are really poor, blind, wretched, and naked:
Revelation 3:17 You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
The western church rarely teaches this truth. This is, in my opinion, because either they have not actively studied the book of Revelation, or, they have been taught to explain away the intensity. According to the Bible, teaching others to symbolize or otherwise explain away the intense tribulation that is coming is called “sin” and has very real consequences during the tribulation:
Amos 9:10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.'
By the brilliant design of God’s plan, the comfort we are mired in is going…suddenly! This will be very intense. This sudden loss of comfort will cause many Christians to quit in an effort to hang onto the comfort God is trying to separate them from!!
God LOVES all of us comfort-minded (ironically, very few of us are actually comfortable) western Christians! He doesn’t want to take us up before the tribulation, He wants to GROW US UP before the tribulation. That requires believing the tribulation is actually coming!
Teaching people to expect something less than what is really coming is a serious thing to God. Interestingly, there are several warnings about teaching that something less intense will happen, but there are zero warnings in the Bible about teaching people to expect something more intense. BUT, most Bible teachers, especially end-time teachers, explain away the intensity. This is how most people explain away the intensity:
1. They make it symbolic - the truth is the Bible is only symbolic when it says it is symbolic. There are only seven symbols used in the entire book of Revelation. Otherwise, the book means what it says and says what it means. The Bible was given to all men, not just Bible scholars with lots of time to speculate what things might mean! A simple reading of the Bible in its plain understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit is all that is required. Jesus told the Pharisees that it was their actual studying of the word (reading too much into it) apart from the main and plain meaning revealed by the Holy Spirit that was part of why they missed His very arrival!
John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!
2. They try to weakly connect the intensity to smaller events that have already happened in the past – the events of the Book of Revelation have never happened. Some of those events are ½ of the worlds population dying in 3.5 years, the sun going dark, the moon turning blood red, 1/3 of the water of the earth being poisoned, demons that look like locusts stinging natural-bodied people for 5 months while those people cannot die….none of these events have ever happened, and certainly not globally, which the plain reading of Revelation requires. Many have tried to symbolicly tie these events to past events, and many line up in smaller ways. This is because most prophecy in the Bible is “dually fulfilled” like the arrival of Jesus, first He came as a lamb, but He will return as a lion…the prophecies about Him reflect that very principal.
3. They try to attach the intense events to angels and unbelievers and remove the Bride from her own wedding story – the Book of Revelation, when you take the time to really understand what it is saying, describes the most pure, spotless, and victorious moment for the Bride produced by the events of the tribulation and the last Biblical revival that is promised to accompany it. The book of Revelation is not a warning to unbelievers. Unbelievers DO NOT READ OR BELIEVE THE BIBLE! God knows this, and that is why he has made you and I the warning to unbelievers. The Book of Revelation describes the greatest harvest of people into the kingdom of God the earth will ever see! This requires the Bride fulfill the great commission. The great commission was given to the Church and no one else!
Romans 10:13-15 For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (14) But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (15) And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"
So, there is a very intense time coming, and it results in the “burning” of the end-time Babylon with fire. Forever, the end time Babylon will be desolate!
Isaiah 13:19-22 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. (20) Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep. (21) Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. (22) Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon's days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.
This didn’t just happen to ancient Babylon in an initial small way, it will also happen to the much bigger end-time Babylon in a much BIGGER way:
Revelation 18:8-14 Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine. She will be completely consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty." (9) And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. (10) They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, "How terrible, how terrible for you, O Babylon, you great city! In a single moment God's judgment came on you." (11) The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. (12) She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. (13) She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and bodies—that is, human slaves. (14) "The fancy things you loved so much are gone," they cry. "All your luxuries and splendor are gone forever, never to be yours again."
I have been laying out for the last 10 segments of this train of thought why I firmly believe that the USA is this end-time Babylon. Right now, according to the Bible, God’s people are supposed to be “coming out” of the end-time Babylon. We are supposed to be preparing places within Babylon that will not be desolate! We do this by trading the comfort-mindset, for “spiritual violence” in the place of fasting and prayer, like John the Baptist did before Jesus came the first time! The more we save now, the less will be lost in the burning of Babylon! What we do really matters!
Many of God’s people…the end time Matthew 25 bridesmaids…live in the end time Babylon:
Revelation 18:2-4 He gave a mighty shout: "Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal. (3) For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich." (4) Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, "Come away from her, My people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.
So how do we come out?! The answer is so simple anyone can do it, and so simple few will…at first. As time goes on, more and more will…but right now, because the USA Church has gotten so sleepy, very few are actively watching, getting ready, or praying. This is how you come out of Babylon, you SING!!:
Isaiah 48:18-22 Oh, that you had listened to My commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. (19) Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name." (20) Yet even now, be free from your captivity! Leave Babylon and the Babylonians. SING OUT THIS MESSAGE (emphasis mine)! Shout it to the ends of the earth! The LORD has redeemed His servants, the people of Israel. (21) They were not thirsty when He led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink. (22) "But there is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD.
Jesus’ is going to allow this luxurious, lustful, passionately immoral, wealthy, extravagant country to be made desolate…for real. If you don’t want to share in that desolation, you come out by singing and worshipping…praying to music…day and night.
Day and night praying to music is really the main end-time plan for the Bride in the Bible. There are lots of things the Bride will sing about, and lots of things we will pray for (Israel being chief among them), and lots of ways that praying and singing will cause to go out and gather in the harvest from all nations, but the most simple “gist” of the solution is to help build geographic centers of night and day prayer to music. The promise of the Bible is that God answers that work of “faith”…praying, then taking risks when God opens the doors, by moving in power and transforming the land where these night and day prayer centers are. These night and day prayer centers, called the “House of Prayer,” will literally result in the geographic region that participates becoming MORE lush, healthy, and vibrant…filled with signs and wonders and provision, than they are right now under the world’s comfort mindset!!
In the Isaiah 48 passage above, God reminds his people that He can provide abundantly and daily even in deserts, as he did for Israel in the Exodus from Egypt. What God did in a small way in Egypt, He is going to do in a full and global way in the last 7 years leading up to Jesus’ return!
The events of Revelation are intended to shake every foundation of mankind that isn’t completely based on Jesus. The shaking will destroy every lesser pleasure…every comfort mindset that says you don’t need to change anything to keep on living! This is because Jesus is the only way to continue living. God is the source of life, you cannot live without Him. Love…free will…requires that God not only choose to give you life, but that you choose life back. There is NO LIFE apart from the source of life. The alternative to life with God is a barren lake of fire…existing with no life. God doesn’t want anyone to choose this:
2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
It is God’s desire to save that is the “why” behind the events described in Revelation. God is going to use the least intense means necessary to get everyone who is willing to actually wholeheartedly come into agreement with Him. His plan is entirely based on shaking every other lie about what life is about: money, status, sex, fame, food, wine, clothing, military power, political cunning…he is literally going to demonstrate that all of these, if pursued outside of God, lead to death and desolation….and then He is going to show the entire world that making God your strength like David did is the only way to live! He is doing this right now, before your very eyes. This is what night and day prayer is all about. Do you believe it?
Luke 18:7-8 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? (8) I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?"
God has one plan for the whole world. This brilliant, simple, and strange plan will come to a conclusion in the last 7 years leading up to the return of Jesus. Revelation describes the events that will precipitate the final strokes of this brilliant plan. Many people think that Revelation is mostly symbolic, or cryptic, or “unknowable”, but the truth is, Revelation is incredibly simple.
Revelation is simply the story of everyone getting what they want!
The Bride (everyone who wants to be in a family covenant love relationship, co-heir with God’s Son Jesus and legal sons and daughters of the Father God) gets her groom, and everyone who doesn’t want to be “married” (inherit the family status of) to Jesus gets to taste death (life without God), incrementally until that choice to live with, or apart, from God is made final. It really is that simple!
The Book of Revelation is the story of this exact thing happening in a really short amount of time. Most of the Book of Revelation, Everything in chapters 6 to 19, happens in the course of 3.5 years!! This much “stuff” happening in such a short period of time makes the Book of Revelation very intense. The reason many people have such a hard time getting familiar with the Book of Revelation is that they look for ways to “explain away” the intensity. Jesus said that His return is like a baby being born:
John 16:20-22 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (22) Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
The process of birth is THE primary analogy the Bible uses of how Jesus’ return will unfold:
Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
1 Thessalonians 5:3-4 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
No matter how you look at it, the active labor of the delivery of a baby is intense. There is NO WAY AROUND THE INTENSITY coming, just like there is no birth without intensity. God wants me to see the intensity of the Book of Revelation and prepare, not explain it away!
In the parable of the 10 Bridesmaids in Matthew 25, right after describing to his disciples privately the chronology and intensity of the events leading up to His return, Jesus describes the condition of the Bride and her company awaiting these intense events. The Bride WILL get married, but many who are a part of the Bride right now will quit…they will “fall away” and not go in to the wedding. This is a very serious message to the church, but also a very unpopular message in the church. No one wants to believe that believers will quit. But they certainly will. No one seems to really talk about this much, but it is actually quite plain and simple:
Matthew 25:1-13 "Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. (all of the bridesmaids are believers…they are all actively looking for the return of Jesus) (2) Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. (3) The five who were foolish didn't take enough olive oil for their lamps,
(these believers called foolish approached the “looking” for Jesus’ return “casually”…they were watching but not ready. Every time Jesus spoke of His return he said to “watch”, “pray”, and “be ready.” The truth is, the vast majority in the Church in USA are barely or not even actively watching, even fewer are “getting ready” in agreement with Jesus’ very specific, simple, and clear plan, and even fewer are actively praying in specific agreement with this plan!)
(4) but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.
(the wise believers prepared in advance…this is key! They knew what to expect, took it seriously even though they weren’t totally sure how long it would take, and they made sure they could “endure the long dark night” if necessary)
(5) When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. (the waiting will seem longer and harder than expected whether you are ready or not, the night will grow DARKER than most people expect, is the point) (6) "At midnight (the darkest point) they were roused by the shout, 'Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!' (7) "All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. (the darkest part , the most intense part, will be when you REALLY need the “oil of preparation”) (8) Then the five foolish ones asked the others, 'Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.' (9) "But the others replied, 'We don't have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.' (the oil is the faith…the “gold”… bought from God in a history of praying, then taking risks when God opens the door, and seeing God move in power. This takes time! Faith is “confidence” that God WILL move, and you build confidence over time. You cannot share your confidence with anyone! Confidence is deep in the heart and built over a history of encountering God. You can only build your own history in advance of the time you will need it. P.S. God has a specific plan for communities to do this TOGETHER, and those that do will experience glorious safety and revival!) (10) "But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. (when you need the oil, it will be too late to get it) Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. (11) Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, 'Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!' (12) "But he called back, 'Believe me, I don't know you!' (13) "So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.
So, Jesus was clear that advanced specific preparation was not only necessary, but he was clear that the intensity of the night would be more than even the prepared had anticipated. This is a really important nuance to pick up on. Elsewhere, when describing these exact events, Jesus said this privately to the believers:
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.
So, again, the intensity coming is real, and endurance is what the disciples will need. Understanding with clarity the intensity is the whole point of the book of Revelation, but very few western believers understand this truth. Western believers have a western mindset that is conditioned for comfort. We actually believe that the sticky comfort we are stuck in, or working hard to acquire, is a blessing…a sign of God’s favor, but it is not! We are really poor, blind, wretched, and naked:
Revelation 3:17 You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
The western church rarely teaches this truth. This is, in my opinion, because either they have not actively studied the book of Revelation, or, they have been taught to explain away the intensity. According to the Bible, teaching others to symbolize or otherwise explain away the intense tribulation that is coming is called “sin” and has very real consequences during the tribulation:
Amos 9:10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.'
By the brilliant design of God’s plan, the comfort we are mired in is going…suddenly! This will be very intense. This sudden loss of comfort will cause many Christians to quit in an effort to hang onto the comfort God is trying to separate them from!!
God LOVES all of us comfort-minded (ironically, very few of us are actually comfortable) western Christians! He doesn’t want to take us up before the tribulation, He wants to GROW US UP before the tribulation. That requires believing the tribulation is actually coming!
Teaching people to expect something less than what is really coming is a serious thing to God. Interestingly, there are several warnings about teaching that something less intense will happen, but there are zero warnings in the Bible about teaching people to expect something more intense. BUT, most Bible teachers, especially end-time teachers, explain away the intensity. This is how most people explain away the intensity:
1. They make it symbolic - the truth is the Bible is only symbolic when it says it is symbolic. There are only seven symbols used in the entire book of Revelation. Otherwise, the book means what it says and says what it means. The Bible was given to all men, not just Bible scholars with lots of time to speculate what things might mean! A simple reading of the Bible in its plain understanding with the help of the Holy Spirit is all that is required. Jesus told the Pharisees that it was their actual studying of the word (reading too much into it) apart from the main and plain meaning revealed by the Holy Spirit that was part of why they missed His very arrival!
John 5:39 "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!
2. They try to weakly connect the intensity to smaller events that have already happened in the past – the events of the Book of Revelation have never happened. Some of those events are ½ of the worlds population dying in 3.5 years, the sun going dark, the moon turning blood red, 1/3 of the water of the earth being poisoned, demons that look like locusts stinging natural-bodied people for 5 months while those people cannot die….none of these events have ever happened, and certainly not globally, which the plain reading of Revelation requires. Many have tried to symbolicly tie these events to past events, and many line up in smaller ways. This is because most prophecy in the Bible is “dually fulfilled” like the arrival of Jesus, first He came as a lamb, but He will return as a lion…the prophecies about Him reflect that very principal.
3. They try to attach the intense events to angels and unbelievers and remove the Bride from her own wedding story – the Book of Revelation, when you take the time to really understand what it is saying, describes the most pure, spotless, and victorious moment for the Bride produced by the events of the tribulation and the last Biblical revival that is promised to accompany it. The book of Revelation is not a warning to unbelievers. Unbelievers DO NOT READ OR BELIEVE THE BIBLE! God knows this, and that is why he has made you and I the warning to unbelievers. The Book of Revelation describes the greatest harvest of people into the kingdom of God the earth will ever see! This requires the Bride fulfill the great commission. The great commission was given to the Church and no one else!
Romans 10:13-15 For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (14) But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (15) And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"
So, there is a very intense time coming, and it results in the “burning” of the end-time Babylon with fire. Forever, the end time Babylon will be desolate!
Isaiah 13:19-22 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride, will be devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them. (20) Babylon will never be inhabited again. It will remain empty for generation after generation. Nomads will refuse to camp there, and shepherds will not bed down their sheep. (21) Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. (22) Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon's days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.
This didn’t just happen to ancient Babylon in an initial small way, it will also happen to the much bigger end-time Babylon in a much BIGGER way:
Revelation 18:8-14 Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine. She will be completely consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty." (9) And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. (10) They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, "How terrible, how terrible for you, O Babylon, you great city! In a single moment God's judgment came on you." (11) The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. (12) She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. (13) She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and bodies—that is, human slaves. (14) "The fancy things you loved so much are gone," they cry. "All your luxuries and splendor are gone forever, never to be yours again."
I have been laying out for the last 10 segments of this train of thought why I firmly believe that the USA is this end-time Babylon. Right now, according to the Bible, God’s people are supposed to be “coming out” of the end-time Babylon. We are supposed to be preparing places within Babylon that will not be desolate! We do this by trading the comfort-mindset, for “spiritual violence” in the place of fasting and prayer, like John the Baptist did before Jesus came the first time! The more we save now, the less will be lost in the burning of Babylon! What we do really matters!
Many of God’s people…the end time Matthew 25 bridesmaids…live in the end time Babylon:
Revelation 18:2-4 He gave a mighty shout: "Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal. (3) For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich." (4) Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, "Come away from her, My people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.
So how do we come out?! The answer is so simple anyone can do it, and so simple few will…at first. As time goes on, more and more will…but right now, because the USA Church has gotten so sleepy, very few are actively watching, getting ready, or praying. This is how you come out of Babylon, you SING!!:
Isaiah 48:18-22 Oh, that you had listened to My commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. (19) Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore—too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name." (20) Yet even now, be free from your captivity! Leave Babylon and the Babylonians. SING OUT THIS MESSAGE (emphasis mine)! Shout it to the ends of the earth! The LORD has redeemed His servants, the people of Israel. (21) They were not thirsty when He led them through the desert. He divided the rock, and water gushed out for them to drink. (22) "But there is no peace for the wicked," says the LORD.
Jesus’ is going to allow this luxurious, lustful, passionately immoral, wealthy, extravagant country to be made desolate…for real. If you don’t want to share in that desolation, you come out by singing and worshipping…praying to music…day and night.
Day and night praying to music is really the main end-time plan for the Bride in the Bible. There are lots of things the Bride will sing about, and lots of things we will pray for (Israel being chief among them), and lots of ways that praying and singing will cause to go out and gather in the harvest from all nations, but the most simple “gist” of the solution is to help build geographic centers of night and day prayer to music. The promise of the Bible is that God answers that work of “faith”…praying, then taking risks when God opens the doors, by moving in power and transforming the land where these night and day prayer centers are. These night and day prayer centers, called the “House of Prayer,” will literally result in the geographic region that participates becoming MORE lush, healthy, and vibrant…filled with signs and wonders and provision, than they are right now under the world’s comfort mindset!!
In the Isaiah 48 passage above, God reminds his people that He can provide abundantly and daily even in deserts, as he did for Israel in the Exodus from Egypt. What God did in a small way in Egypt, He is going to do in a full and global way in the last 7 years leading up to Jesus’ return!
The events of Revelation are intended to shake every foundation of mankind that isn’t completely based on Jesus. The shaking will destroy every lesser pleasure…every comfort mindset that says you don’t need to change anything to keep on living! This is because Jesus is the only way to continue living. God is the source of life, you cannot live without Him. Love…free will…requires that God not only choose to give you life, but that you choose life back. There is NO LIFE apart from the source of life. The alternative to life with God is a barren lake of fire…existing with no life. God doesn’t want anyone to choose this:
2 Peter 3:9-10 The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
It is God’s desire to save that is the “why” behind the events described in Revelation. God is going to use the least intense means necessary to get everyone who is willing to actually wholeheartedly come into agreement with Him. His plan is entirely based on shaking every other lie about what life is about: money, status, sex, fame, food, wine, clothing, military power, political cunning…he is literally going to demonstrate that all of these, if pursued outside of God, lead to death and desolation….and then He is going to show the entire world that making God your strength like David did is the only way to live! He is doing this right now, before your very eyes. This is what night and day prayer is all about. Do you believe it?
Luke 18:7-8 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don't you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? (8) I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?"
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