The Doom of Babylon

As much as she (Babylon) glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and grief. Because she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never see grief,' therefore her plagues will come in one day--death, and grief, and famine. She will be burned up with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is mighty. - Revelation 18:5-8 HCSB

God apparently did not think that it was important to give us precise time cues as to the timing of His Son’s return.[1] It should be enough for us that He knows. Our responsibility is to be constantly ready, watching and working.[2]

Instead of dates and times, our Master gave us sign posts to look for. One that we discussed yesterday is the rise of a wealthy and wicked merchant city named Babylon. She will rise on the backs of seven landed kings and ten “landless kings” (perhaps corporate moguls). Like many cities before her, her allies will be her undoing.

Another sign will be when the Antichrist and the ten lesser kings rebel against[3] and destroy her.[4] This cabal will time her destruction carefully, taking advantage of a power vacuum. Of the seven kings, five will fall.[5] Whether from assassination, an internal purge or through an accident, we don’t know. The process of replacing those kings will begin and they will succeed in getting one back in the saddle. The Antichrist, a powerful world leader by this time, will be tapped to become one of those kings.[6] However, his ambition will lead him to create a temporary alliance with the Ten and use this opportunity to topple Babylon.

A plague that will result in death, grief and famine will strike Babylon in a single day. However, that plague will not actually be her final undoing, which will occur in a mere hour. A tremendous fire will take place and its source will cause the witnesses (which are described as sailors and shipmasters) to stand off at a distance in fear of her torment.[7]

This will instigate a chain reaction that will result in the collapse of the planet’s economy.[8] Worse, it seems to signal further destruction. A description of the series of catastrophes that God will rain upon recalcitrant Earth seems to coincide with this terrible catastrophe. In describing the horsemen, the sequence is white (the conquering of the Antichrist which gives him land to give to the Ten), red (describing internal revolution), black (describing famine as seen above), and then pale green (which represents the death of ¼ of all the earth through sword, famine and plague).

This would imply to me that the destruction of Babylon is represented by the Second Trumpet.[9] If that is the case, at that point four more will follow in quick succession. Very soon the Antichrist will take His place in the rebuilt Temple and soon afterward our Master will return.

[1] Matthew 24:36, 50; Acts 1:7
[2] Matthew 24:42, 44; 25:1-13; Mark 13:29, 33-36; Luke 12:36-40; Revelation 3:2-3
[3] Revelation 17:16-17
[4] Revelation 17:16; 18:1-8
[5] Revelation 17:10
[6] Revelation 17:11
[7] Revelation 18:8-10
[8] Revelation 18:9-24
[9] Revelation 8:5-10