Revelation 18 posts:
5: Second Angel’s Proclamation (18:1-3)
6A: Warning Voice from Heaven (18:4-8)
6B: Voice from Heaven Continues! And the Crash? (18:9-11)
6C: No More Trade, No More Luxury (18:12-20)
7: A Mighty Angel’s Millstone (18:21-24)
Appendix 4: Rise of the Merchant Class (Colonial Era)
Appendix 5: Rise of the Merchant Class (20th Century and Beyond)
7: A Mighty Angel’s Millstone (18:21-24)
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.
23 The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
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Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea… (18:21)
Again, a mighty angel is sent to deliver a crucial message. This angel grabs our attention by throwing a “great millstone” into the sea – an impossible act for human beings. And this dramatic action vividly illustrates the fate of the Harlot.
“Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.” (18:21)
“With violence.” An appropriate phrase to use for a nation that loves violence, so violence is what America’s going to get! Not only within her own borders, but America loves to perpetrate it on other peoples, especially the poor nations of the Earth; and has wrecked one nation after the other! Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and the list goes on. (See here and here in Appendix 3, which expound on this subject.)
Similar to what the other angel said at the beginning of this chapter (18:1-3), the message here declares that the Harlot’s depravity will result in her utter devastation and describes how it will manifest – so thorough that the Harlot “shall not be found anymore.” We can only speculate on what this could mean. At the least, the United States will cease to exist as an independent nation. She may break up into separate regions – smaller areas that managed to escape nuclear devastation. Or if the nuclear fallout is bad enough, the nation may become completely uninhabitable.
Whatever happens, America will become spiritually desolate, as described at the beginning of this chapter, “a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!” (18:2)
And the spiritual desolation is reflected in the physical desolation, described as “her plagues” that “will come in one day – death and mourning and famine.” (18:8) These will take their toll, bringing drastic change into the everyday life and activities of the Harlot nation:
1) The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. (18:22) Music is a sign of happy times; a day’s work is done, and one has time to relax and enjoy music or dancing. Amidst “her plagues”, whatever they may be, such times will become a distant memory. The grim realities of survival amidst turmoil, shortages, flight to safety, disease, nuclear fallout, and who knows what else, will put an end to the happy times.
2) No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. (18:22) No more factories, no more manufacturing of all those steel goods, especially those armoured tanks and ballistic missiles and guns and atom bombs that have caused so much wreckage and death throughout the world.
3) The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. (18:23) In ancient times, without a supply of lamp oil, there could be no lighting. Nowadays, no lamplight means no electricity. And without a functioning electricity grid, a lot of other things also won’t work: electric heaters, air conditioning, fans, electric stoves, computers, and the list could go on and on. Modern civilization exists in a vulnerable state because of its dependence on the use of electricity.
4) The voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. (18:23) In a devastated land and emergency conditions, who has time even to think about, much less begin, a married life and raise a family? For the citizens of the Harlot, there will be no more enjoyment of their riches gained at the expense of the poor of the World and their suffering and martyrdom.
For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. (18:23)
Here we come to the crux of the matter. The angel points to the perpetrators behind the Harlot’s unruly decadence and behavior, which has triggered the displeasure of the Almighty. Much has been said already about the “merchants” (in the observations made in Post 6B, in the first few paragraphs of Post 6C, and in some of the news article excerpts from Appendix 3). To trace their historical rise to power, check out Appendix 4 (Colonial era) and Appendix 5 (20th Century and beyond).
Although their activities are carried on in secret for the most part, it is known that, in this historical era, the “merchants” have managed to organize themselves on a worldwide basis; and have a definite plan (their plan) for keeping the world under their subjection. (Post 6B has some helpful information on that subject.)
A brief summary here: Ancient empires were managed by powerful military-political rulers. In modern times however, much has changed. The merchant class of the ultra-rich has taken over the government of this End of the Age empire known as the Great Harlot. They have become the “great men of the earth” instead of the military-political rulers. (See some helpful news article excerpts in the Footnote.)
Since their goal is profit, rather than the welfare of the nation or of the world, these power-brokers have worked hard to maintain their financial supremacy. And it has been done cleverly through the use of deception. “For by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.” Through “sorcery”, or devilish wisdom, most nations of the world have been deceived into joining the American money system and trading empire; and thus kept in bondage, serving American needs and interests rather than their own. And those nations who do not comply end up getting devastated financially and/or militarily.
The term “sorcery” could include witchcraft – activities that go on behind closed doors and involve weird and sometimes ghastly rituals. How much the “merchants” participate in this sort of activity is hard to say. The main point here is their focus on, even worship, of the realm of spiritual Darkness, by which is imparted to them the dark wisdom they need to keep the world under their subjection.
To achieve their goals, the “merchants” have enlisted the political-military establishment to enforce their rule over the world. This is how the United States government operates nowadays, regardless of whatever veneer of democratic idealism it tries to paint over her brutal behaviour in the international arena. And sad to say, the voices of her mainstream churches have remained silent or even enlisted themselves in active support of her violent behaviour in the world.
Forget about forging world peace, taking better care of the environment, raising the standard of living in poor nations. If any of these concerns get in the way, the “merchants” are quick to set aside such inconvenient hindrances to their profit-margins.
As a result Harlot America has set a false and negative example to the world of how a nation should behave. And since the world sees America as the bastion of Christianity, the world is getting a false portrayal of what Christianity stands for. America’s example has done more to sour potential truth-seekers and enslave souls to the captivity of sin than if she were an outright Beast power forcing its citizens to worship a demagogue.
Christian America is a replica of the ancient Laodicean church which said, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” This attitude of complacent indifference was so contrary to what the Lord expected of His Church that he said, “I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16-17)
Indeed, how can a nation that lays claim to being a Christian stronghold be at the same time the most materialistic and violent nation on the face of the Earth? No wonder then that God is allowing Russia and China to rise up against American tyranny as His instrument of chastisement on a wayward nation.
God does not have to worry about His reputation (the way we often do), and He is also very merciful. But there are times when, for the sake of His justice and His righteousness, chastisement must be given. And when it is time, He’s quite capable of delivering it.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth. (18:24)
How the modern Harlot has fulfilled what this Scripture claims was explained here in Post 3 (and its related links). And all through history it has been the same story. As empires degenerated into decadence, they became harlot-like in spirit, intent on extinguishing those voices of truth they didn’t want to hear.
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And so ends this study about the modern Harlot, as outlined in the Book of Revelation, chapters 17-18. It has been a real eye-opener to discover how closely the revelation corresponds with modern events. These mysterious passages are starting to leap out from the pages of the Revelation Book into historical reality! The events predicted so long ago are now coming to pass before our eyes! It is exciting, and challenging, to realize that world history is taking some major steps closer towards the End of the Age and the glorious Return of Christ.
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For interest’s sake, see also
Appendix 1: Ancient Babylon, Forerunner to Modern Babylon
Appendix 2: Harlot/Beast History, Merchant Class in Ancient Times
Appendix 3: Shattering Delusions – News Excerpts
Appendix 4: Rise of the Merchant Class (Colonial Era)
Appendix 5: Rise of the Merchant Class (20th Century and Beyond)
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FOOTNOTE: Merchants, Great Men of the Earth – News Article Excerpts
The End of American Independence by Justin Raimondo, Antiwar.com, 1 July 2012
All sorts of “multilateral” institutions—not only the UN but also the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the proposed North American Union… are inhabited and controlled by a wealthy, arrogant, continent-hopping elite that owes no allegiance to any national entity, but only to its own interests as an emerging ruling class. Centered not just in Washington, but in all the capitals of Europe and the developing world, this unmoored elite of government officials, international bureaucrats, transnational corporate honchos, and professional do-gooders is hungry for its turn at power, and ruthless about attaining it. There is no international “crisis” where they haven’t meddled, making it worse—and providing an opening for direct military intervention by the Western powers.
How the New American Empire Really Works By Paul Craig Roberts, Counterpunch, 27 March 2012
…Washington’s empire extracts resources from the American people for the benefit of the few powerful interest groups that rule America… Americans’ incomes have been redirected to the pockets of the 1 percent. That is how the American Empire functions.
…It happens without achieving conquest. The American military did not conquer Iraq and has been forced out politically by the government that Washington established. There is no victory in Afghanistan, and after a decade the American military does not control the country.
… success at war no longer matters. The extraction takes place by being at war. Huge sums of American taxpayers’ money have flowed into the American armaments industries and huge amounts of power into Homeland Security. The American empire works by stripping Americans of wealth and liberty.
This is why the wars cannot end, or if one does end another starts…
Our Economic Malaise Is Fueling Political Extremism by Umair Haque, HBR, 5 June 2014
Yet, today, the situation Keynes foresaw is repeating itself—only more subtly. The problem today isn’t a small number of creditor nations, to whom the vast benefits of global wealth are flowing. It is a small number of super rich individuals: oligarchs, monopolists, scions. In a sense, the same problem, of vast, unjust imbalances, has reemerged; this time beyond national boundaries. Today, the super-rich and their empires span multiple nation-states; whisked from home to home and country to country by private transport, they use different infrastructure (who cares if roads and airports are crumbling when you’ve got a helipad?), play by different rules (do tax laws really matter if your assets are all offshore?), and even different methods of wielding political influence (why knock on doors when you can fund your own super-PAC?). [PAC: political action committee]
While the super-rich are vastly disproportionately enjoying the fruits of global prosperity, too many are being left behind. What is common in societies with extremists on the rise? The poor and the middle feel cheated—because they are. In the sterile parlance of economics, their wages aren’t comparable to their productivity—but more deeply, their lives are literally not valued in this system. And so they turn, in anger and frustration and resignation, to those who promise them more.
Red Capitalism by Observer R for the Saker Blog, 15 February 2022
It appears that China is ahead of the US in realizing that certain policies favored by the oligarchs could be dangerous to the economy and the State. However late to take action, China has recently cracked down on the chiefs of many giant enterprises in a move to curtail their power and influence. They were beginning to rival the authority of the Communist Party. There is always a potential for oligarchs to find common cause with oligarchs in other parts of the world and joining in schemes such as the New World Order, thus possibly escaping control by the national governments. This power struggle in China will have ramifications throughout the world. In the US, it is not even a struggle—the oligarchs are generally considered to be on the top of the heap and nothing much is even considered in the way of curtailing their power. Considering former President Trump’s experience with them, they are way ahead in the power game and are also alleged to be behind the curtain as far as President Biden is concerned.
America’s Oligarch Problem by Markus Feldenkirchen, Der Spiegel, 10 September 2015
The ability to exercise political influence rises in proportion to wealth, which in turn further cements America’s economic divide. By their very nature, most of the super-rich in the US oppose increasing taxes for the super-wealthy. They also reject a dignified minimum wage, a statutory healthcare system and public universities. They are against just about anything that might help the bottom 90 percent to rise.
Given that the economic and political direction of the country is being steered today by a small number of billionaires, the United States has taken on many of the characteristics normally associated with oligarchies. “We’ve seen a complete subversion of our political system,” former President Jimmy Carter recently said, diagnosing the ailment. He said that unlimited money in politics “violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it’s just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being the essence of getting the nominations for president or to elect the president.”
Michael Hudson, Katie Halper and Aaron Maté: UPDATE 3 May 2022, partial transcript of Katie Halper podcast, 29 April 2022
And the West is not a democracy anymore. The Chinese are trying to prevent the financial class from becoming an independent class, pursuing policies that impoverish labor, because for them banking and credit is still a public utility. That’s the most important sector to be [saved] in China, and that’s what makes China so different from the United States. You could say that bankers and Wall Street are the central planners of the US, and their central planning is in favor of the finance, insurance, and real estate sector, and bankers are in charge of China through the Treasury, which is run by party officials that are not seeking to make capital gains for wealthy families but are using finance to build up their industry and infrastructure and make themselves independent of the West, so that America can never do to China what it did to Russia.
