Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End - Rejoicing Over Her Annihilation

 When ancient Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and the Persians, Jeremiah prophetically said: ""And over Babylon the heavens and the earth cry out joyfully." (Jeremiah 51:48) When Babylon the Great is destroyed, the voice out of heaven climaxes its message, saying of Babylon the Great: "Be glad over her, O heaven, also you holy ones and you apostles and you prophets, because God has judicially exacted punishment for You from her!" (Revelation18:20) Jehovah and the angels will be delighted to see the annihilation of God's ancient enemy, as well as the apostles and early Christian prophets, who by now are resurrected and have taken their position in the 24-elders arrangement. - Compare PSALM 97:8-12.

Indeed, all the "holy ones"-whether resurrected to heaven or still surviving on earth-will cry out for joy, as will the associated big crowd of other sheep. In time, all the faithful men of old will be resurrected into the new system of things, and they too will join in the rejoicing. God's people have not tried to avenge themselves on their religious persecutors. They have remembered Jehovah's words: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah." (Romans 12:19; Deuteronomy 32:35, 41-43) Well, Jehovah has now repaid. All the blood spilled by Babylon the Great will have been avenged. 

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End -Merchants Weep and Mourn - Conclusion

 The account goes on: "And every ship captain and every man that voyages anywhere, and sailors and all those making a living by the sea, stood at a distance and cried out as they looked at the smoke from the burning of her and said, 'What city is like the great city?' And they threw dust upon their heads and cried out weeping and mourning, and said, 'Too bad, too bad-the great city, in which all those having boats at sea became rich by reason of her costliness, because in one hour she has been devastated!'" -  REVELATION 18:17b-19) Ancient Babylon was a commercial city and had a great fleet of ships. Similarly, Babylon the Great does much business by the "many waters" of her people. This provides employment for many of her religious subjects. What an economic blow the destruction of Babylon the Great will be for these! There will never be another source of livelihood like her. 

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End - Merchants Weep and Mourn -Continue

 The voice out of heaven says further: "The traveling merchants of these things, who became rich from her, and will stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and will weep and mourn, saying, 'Too bad, too bad-the great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, and richly adorned with gold ornament and precious stone and pearl, because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!' " (Revelation 18:15-17) With the destruction of Babylon the Great the "merchants" mourn at the loss of that commercial partner. Truly. it is "too bad, too bad for them. Notice, though, that their reasons for morning are entirely selfish and that they-like the kings-"stand at a distance." They do not get close enough to be of any help to Babylon the Great. 

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End -Merchants Weep and Mourn - Continue

 Yes, Babylon the Great was a close friend and a good customer of wealthy merchants. For example, the monasteries, nunneries, and churches in Christendom have over the centuries acquired huge amounts of gold, silver precious stones, valuable woods and other forms of material wealth. Further, religion's blessing has been bestowed on the lavish buying sprees and drunken orgies that accompany the celebration of Christ-dishonoring Christmas and other so-called holy days. Christendom missionaries have penetrated distant lands opening up new markets for the "traveling merchants" of this world. In the 17th century Japan, Catholicism, which had come with the traders, even became involved in feudal warfare. Reporting on a decisive battle under the wall of Osaka castle, The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "The Tokugawa troops found themselves fight against foe whose banners were emblazoned with the cross and with images of the Saviour and St. James the patron saint of Spain." The victorious fiction persecuted and practically wiped-out Catholicism in that land. The churches participation in worldly affairs today will likewise bring her no blessing.  

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End - Merchants Weep and Mourn

 The kings of the earth are not the only ones to regret the passing of Babylon the Great. "Also, the traveling merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full stock anymore, a full stock of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet; and everything in scented wood and every sort of ivory object out of most precious wood and of copper and of iron and of marble; also cinnamon and Indian spice and incense and perfumed oil and frankincense and wine  and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and horses and coaches and slaves and human souls. Yes, the fine fruit that your soul desired has departed from you [Babylon the Great], and all the dainty things and the gorgeous things have perished from you, and never again will people find them." - REVELATION 18:11-14.

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End

 The nations' reaction may seem surprising in view of the fact that Babylon was destroyed by the symbolic ten horns of the scarlet-colored wild beast. (Revelation 17:16) But when Babylon is gone, "the kings of the earth" will evidently realize how useful she was to them in keeping the people pacified and in subjection. The clergy have declared wars to be sacred, acted as recruiting agents, and preached the youth into battle lines. Religion has provided a screen of holiness behind which corrupt ruler have operated in oppressing the common people. (Compare Jeremiah 5:3o, 31; Matthew23:27, 28.) Notice, however, that these grief-stricken kings now stand at a distance from the doomed city. They do not get close enough to come to her aid. They are sad to see her go but not sad enough  to take risks in her half. 

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Chapter Thirty-Seven/Mourning and Rejoicing at Babylon's End

 Babylon's end is good news for Jehovah's people, but how do the nations view it? John tells us: "And the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say, too bad, too bad, you great city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!' " - REVELATION 18:9, 10.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated -"Get Out of Her, My People" - Conclusion

 Under the Mosaic Law, if an Israelite stole from his fellow countrymen, he had to pay back at least double in compensation. (Exodus 22:1, 4, 7, 9) In the coming destruction of Babylon the Great, Jehovah will apply a comparable standard of justice. She is to receive twice as much as she gave out. There will be no mercy to temper this justice because Babylon the Great has shown no mercy to her victims. She fed parasitically on the peoples of the earth to keep herself in "shameless luxury." Now she will experience suffering and mourning. Ancient Babylon felt that she was in an absolutely secure position, boasting: "I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know loss of children." (Isaiah 47:8, 9, 11) Babylon the Great also feels secure. But her destruction, decreed by Jehovah who "is strong," will happen quickly, as if "in one day"!

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - "Get Out of Her, My Children"

 The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah's words in his letter to the Corinthians, saying: "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship; do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? . . . 'Therefore get out from among them, and separate yourselves,' says Jehovah, 'and quit touching the unclean thing,' " The Corithian Christians did not have to leave Corinth in order to obey that command. They did, however, physically have to avoid the unclean temples of false religion, as well as spiritually separate themselves from the unclean acts of those idol worshipers. In 1919 God's people began to flee Babylon the Great in this way, cleansing themselves of any residual unclean teachings and practices. Thus, they were able to serve him as purified people.  - 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-17; 1 JOHN 3:3. 

Ancient Babylon's fall and eventual desolation was a punishment for her sins. "For clear to the heavens her judgment has reached." (Jeremiah 51:9) Similarly, the sins of Babylon the Great have "massed together clear up to heaven," so as to come to the attention of Jehovah himself. She is guilty of injustice, immorality, oppression, robbery, and murder. Ancient Babylon's fall was, in part, vengeance for what she had done to Jehovah's temple and his true worshipers. (Jeremiah 50:8, 14; 51:11, 35, 36) The fall of Babylon the Great and her eventual destruction are likewise expressions of vengeance for what she has done to true worshipers over the centuries. Indeed, her final destruction is the beginning of vengeance on the part of our God." - ISAIAH 34:8-10;61:2; JEREMIAH 50:28. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - "Get Out of Her, My Children"

 How, though, do God's people get out of Babylon the Great? In the case of ancient Babylon, the Jews had to make a physical journey from the city of Babylon all the way back to the Promised Land. But more was involved than that. Isaiah prophetically told the Israelites: "Turn away, turn away, get out of there, touching nothing unclean; get out from the midst of her, keep yourselves clean, who are carrying the utensils of Jehovah." (Isaiah 52:11) Yes, they had to abandon all unclean practices of Babylonish religion that might tarnish their worship of Jehovah. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - "Get Out of Her, My People" - Continue

Strong words, those! So action is required. Jeremiah urged the Israelites in his day to act, saying: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, . . .  For it is the time of vengeance belonging to Jehovah. There is treatment that he is paying back to her. Get out of the midst of her, O my people, and provide each one his soul with escape from the burning anger of Jehovah." (Jeremiah 51:6, 45) In a similar way, the voice out of heaven warns God's people today to flee from Babylon the Great in order not to receive part of her plagues. Jehovah's plaguelike judgments on this world, including Babylon the Great, are now being proclaimed. (Revelation 8:1-9:21; 16:1-21) God's people need to separate themselves from false religion if they themselves do not want to suffer these plagues and ultimately die with her. Besides, remaining within that organization would them share in her sins. They would be as guilty as she is of spiritual adultery and of shedding the blood " of those who have been slaughtered on the earth." - REVELATION 18:24; Compare EPHESIANS 5:11; 1 TIMOTHY 5:22. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - "Get Out of Her, My People!"-Continue

 Is it really so urgent to flee out of Babylon the Great, withdrawing from membership in the world's religions and making a complete separation? It is, for we need to take God's view of this old-age religious monstrosity. Babylon the Great. He did not mince words in calling her the great harlot. So now the voice out of heaven informs John further concerning this whore. "For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. Render to her even as she herself rendered, and do to her twice as much, yes, twice the number of the things she did; in the cup in which she put a mixture put twice as much of the mixture for her. To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent giver her torment and mourning. For in her heart she keeps saying, 'I sit as a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.' That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong" - REVELATION 18:5-8.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - "Get Out of Her, My People"

 John's next words point to a further fulfillment of the prophetic pattern: "And I heard another voice out of heaven say: 'Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receiver part of her plagues.'" (Revelation 18:4) Prophecies of ancient Babylon's fall in the Hebrew Scriptures also include Jehovah's command to his people: "Take your flight out of the midst of Babylon." (Jeremiah 50:8, 13) Similarly, in view of the coming desolation of Babylon the Great, God's people are now urged to escape. In 637 B.C.E. the opportunity to escape from Babylon caused much rejoicing on their part. (Revelation 11:11, 12) And since that time millions of others have obeyed the order to flee. - Compare MATTHEW 24:15, 16. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - The Traveling Merchants - Conclusion

 As foretold by the glorious angel, religion has been deeply involved in such corrupt business practices. For example, there is the Vatican's involvement in the collapse of Italy's Banco Ambrosiano in 1982. The case has dragged on through the 1980's, until the unanswered question being: Where did the money go? In February 198 Milan magistrates issued arrest warrants for three Vatican clerics, including an American archbishop, on charges that they were accessories to fraudulent, but the Vatican rejected an extradition request in July 1987, amid an uproar of protest, the warrants were nullified by Italy's highest Court of Appeals on the basis of an old treaty between the Vatican and the Italian government. 

Did Jesus have a tie-in with questionable business practices of his day? No. He was not even a property owner, for he had "nowhere to lay his head." A rich young ruler was advised by Jesus: "Sell all the things you have and distribute to poor people, and you will have treasures in the heavens; and come to be my follower." That was fine admonition, for it could have resulted in his getting rid of all anxieties over business matters.  (Luke 9:58; 18:22) In contrast, Babylonish religion often has unsavory links with big business. For example, in 1987 the Albany Times Union reported that the financial administrator of the Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, Florida, U.S.A., admitted to the church's owning stocks in companies that make nuclear weapons, R-rated movies, and cigarettes. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - The Traveling Merchants - Continue

 International trading in arms is soaring beyond $1,000,000,ooo,000 each year, while hundreds of millions of humans are deprived of life's necessities. That is bad enough. But armaments appear to be a basic support of the world's economy. On April 11, 1987, an article in London's Spectator reported: "Counting only directly related industries, some 400,000 jobs are involved in the U.S. and 750,000 in Europe. But curiously enough, as the social and economic role of building weapons has grown the actual question of whether the producers are well defended of has slipped into the background." Huge profits are made as bombs and other weaponry are traded all over the earth, even to potential enemies. Some day those bombs may come back in a fiery holocaust to destroy those selling them. What paradox! Add to this the graft that surrounds the arms industry in the United States alone, according to the Spectator, "every year the Pentagon inexplicably loses $900-million worth of arms and equipment. It is no wonder that the merchants of the earth come up unfavorable mention in Revelation!

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Chapter Thirty -Six/The Great City Devastated -The Traveling Merchants

 Who are "the traveling merchants of the earth"? No doubt we would today call them traders, commercial giants, wheeler-dealers of big business. This not to say that it is wrong to engage in legitimate business. The Bible provides wise counsel for business people, warning against dishonesty, greed, and the like. (Proverbs 11:2; Zechariah 7:9, 10; James 5:1-5) The great gain is "godly devotion along with self-sufficiency." (1 Timothy 6:6,17-19) However, Satan's world does not follow righteous principles. Corruption abounds. It is to be found in religion, in politics-and big business. From time to time the new media expose scandals, such as embezzlement by high government officials and illegal trafficking in arms.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Passion-Arousing Wine -Conclusion

 Add to Germany, Italy, and Abyssinia another nation that has fallen victim to the fornication of Babylon the Great-Spain. The Civil War of 1936-1939 in that land was sparked, in part, by the democratic government's taking steps to reduce the huge power of the Roman Catholic Church. As the war got under way, the Catholic Fascist leader of the revolutionary forces, Franco, described himself as "the Christian Generalissimo of the Holy Crusade," a title that he later dropped. Several hundred thousand Spaniards died in the fighting. Apart from this, according to a conservative estimate, Franco's Nationalists had murdered 40,000 Popular front members, while the latter had murdered 8.000 clerics-monks, priest, and nuns, and novices. Such is the horror and tragedy of civil war, illustrating the wisdom of heeding Jesus' words: "Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52) How disgusting that Christendom gets involved in such massive bloodshed! Her clergy have indeed failed utterly to "beat their swords into plowshares"! - ISAIAH 2:4. 

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Chapter Thirty-SIx/The Great City Devastated - Passion-Arousing Wine - Continue

 "In this Pastoral letter of the 10th October [1935], the Bishop of Udine [Italy] wrote, 'It is neither timely nor fitting for us to pronounce on the rights and wrongs of the case.  Our duty as Italians, and still more, as Christians is to contribute to the success of our arms.' The Bishop of Padua wrote on the 24th October, the Bishop of Cremona consecrated a number of regimental flags and said" 'The blessing of God be upon these soldiers who, on African soil, will conquer new and fertile lands for the Italian genius, thereby bringing to them Roman and Christian culture. May Italy stand once again as the Christian mentor to the whole world.'

Abyssinia was raped, with the blessing of the Roman Catholic clergy. Could any of these claim, in any sense, that they were like the apostle Paul in being "clean from the blood of all men"? - ACTS 20:26. 

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ChapterThirty-Six/The Great City Devastated -Passion-Arousing Wine Continue

 We have already reviewed the illicit religio-political relationship that catapulted Hitler into power in Nazi Germany. Other nations have also suffered because of religion's meddling in secular affairs. For example: In fascist Italy, on September 11, 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed by Mussolini and Cardinal Gasparri, making Vatican City a sovereign state. Pope Pius XI claimed that he had "given Italy back to God, and God back to Italy." Was that the truth? Consider what happened six years later. On October 3, 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia, claiming that it was "a barbarous land which still practices slavery. " Who, really, was being barbarous? Did the Catholic Church condemn Mussolini's barbarity? While the Pope issued ambiguous statements, her bishops were quite vocal in blessing the armed forces of their Italian "fatherland." In the book The Vatican in the Age of the Dictator, Anthony Rhodes reports:

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Passion-Arousing Wine

 The mighty angel calls attention to the broad extent of the harlotry of Babylon the Great, proclaiming: "For because of the passion-arousing wine of her fornication "all the nations have fallen victim, and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury." (Revelation 18:3) she has indoctrinated all nations of mankind in her unclean religious ways. In ancient Babylon, according to Greek historian Herodotus, each maiden was required to prostitute her virginity in temple worship. Revolting sexual corruption is portrayed to this day in the war-damaged Buddhists sculptures at Ankor Wat in Kampuchea and in the temples at Khajuraho, India, which show the Hindu god Vishnu surrounded by disgusting erotic scenes. In the United States, the disclosures of immorality that shook the world of TV evangelists in 1987, and again in 1988m as well as the revelation of a widespread practice of homosexuality, by ministers of religion, Illustrate that even Christendom tolerates shocking excesses of literal fornication. Yet, all the nations have fallen victim to an even more serious kind of fornication in this 20th century.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Decline of Babylon the Great - Conclusion

 Her situation also matches Jeremiah's prophecy: "There is a sword against the Chaldeans,' is the utterance of Jehovah, "and against the inhabitants of Babylon and against her princes and against her wise ones. . . . There is a devastation upon her waters, and they must be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and because of their frightful visions they keep acting crazy. Therefore the haunters of waterless regions will dwell with the howling animals, and in her the ostriches must dwell; and she will nevermore be dwelt, in, nor will she reside for generation after generation.'" Idolatry and chanting of repetitious prayers cannot save Babylon the Great from a retribution resembling God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.  - JEREMIAH 50:35-40. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Decline of Babylon the Great - Continue

 The word "demons" here is likely a reflection of the word "goat-shaped demons" (se'i-rim) found in Isaiah's description of fallen Babylon: "And there the haunters of waterless regions will certainly lie down, and their houses must be filled with eagle owls. And there the ostriches must reside, and goat-shaped demons themselves will go skipping around there." (Isaiah 13:21) It may not refer to literal demons but rather to shaggy-haired, desert-dwelling animals whose appearance made onlookers think of demons. In the ruins of Babylon the Great, the figurative existence of such animals, along with stagnant, poisonous air ("unclean exhalation") and unclean birds, signifies here spiritually dead condition. She holds forth no life prospect whatever for mankind. - Compare Ephesians 2:1, 2.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Decline of Babylon the Great

 Ancient Babylon's fall in 539 B.C.E. was the start of a long decline that ended in her desolation. Similarly, since the first world war, the influence of Babylonish religion has declined remarkably on a global scale. In Russia, the Bolshevik Revolution has continued to stifle the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church. In Japan, Shino emperor worship was proscribed following the second world war. In China, the communist government controls all religious appointments and activity. In Protestant northern Europe, most people have become indifferent to religion. And the Roman Catholic church has recently been weakened by schisms and internal dissent in its global domain. -Compare Mark 3:24, 26. 

All these trends are doubtless part of the 'drying up of the river Euphrates' in preparation for the coming militaristic attack on Babylon the Great. Thos 'drying up' is reflected, too, in the Pope's announcement of October 1986 that the church must "again become mendicant'-because of huge deficits. (Revelation 16:12) Particularly since 1919 has Babylon the Great been exposed to public gaze as a spiritual wasteland, just as the mighty angel here announces: "And she has become a dwelling place of demons and lurking place of every unclean exhalation and lurking place of every unclean and hated bird!" (Revelation 18:2b) Soon she will be literally such a wasteland, as desolate as Babylon's ruins in 20th century Iraq. - See also JEREMIAH 50:25-28.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Babylon Takes a Tumble - Conclusion

 True, Babylon the Great was not destroyed in 1919-any more than the ancient city Babylon was destroyed in 539 B.C.E. when it fell to the armies of Cyrus the Persian. But from Jehovah's viewpoint, that organization had fallen. She was judicially condemned, awaiting execution; therefore, false religion could no longer hold Jehovah's people in captivity. (Compare Luke9:59, 60) These were released to serve as the Master's faithful and discreet slave in providing spiritual food at the proper time. They had received a judgment of "Well done" and were commissioned to get busy again in Jehovah's work. - MATTHEW 24:45-47; 25:21, 23; ACTS 1:8. 

Millenniums ago Jehovah used other prophets to foretell this epoch-marking event. Isaiah spoke of a watchman who proceeded to call out like a lion: "'Upon the watchtower, O Jehovah, I am stationed all the nights.' "  And what event does that watchman discern and proclaim with lionlike boldness? This: "She has fallen! Babylon has fallen, and all the graven images of her gods he [Jehovah] has broken to the earth!" (Isaiah 21:8, 9) This watchman well foreshadows the wide-awake John class today, as it uses the Watchtower magazine and other theocratic publications to sound abroad the news that Babylon has fallen. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Babylon the Great Takes a Tumble - Continue

 So by 1919 Babylon the Great has fallen, opening the way for God's people to be released and restored, in one day as it were, to their land of spiritual prosperity. (Isaiah 66:8) By that year, Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, the Greater Darius and the Greater Cyrus, had maneuver matters so that the false religion could no longer keep a hold on Jehovah's people. No more could it prevent them from serving Jehovah and making known to all who might hear that harlot-like Babylon the great is doomed and the vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty is at hand! - ISAIAH 45:1-4; DANIEL 5:30, 31. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated -Babylon the Great Takes a Tumble - Continue

 Whom does this angel with great authority use in heralding such amazing news before mankind? Why, it is the very people that are released as a result of that fall, the remaining anointed ones on earth, the John class. From 1914 to 1918, these suffered greatly at the hands of Babylon the Great, but in 1918 the Lord Jehovah and his "messenger of the [Abrahamic] covenant," Jesus Christ, began judgment with "the house of God, those professing to be Christians. Thus apostate Christendom was brought to trial. (Malach 3:1; 1 Peter4:17) Her tremendous bloodguilt incurred during the first world warm, her complicity in persecuting Jehovah's faithful witnesses, and her Babylonish creeds did not help her in the time of judgment; nor did any other part of Babylon the Great merit God's approval. - Compare ISAIAH 13:1-9. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated - Babylon Takes a Tumble

 John continues the account, telling us: "After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, with great authority; and the earth was lightened up from his glory. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: 'She has fallen Babylon the Great has fallen.' " (Revelation 18:1, 2a) It is the second time that John hears that angelic announcement. (See Revelation 14:8.) This time, however, its significance is emphasized by the magnificence of the heavenly angel, for his glory lights up the whole earth! Who can he be? Centuries earlier the prophet Ezekiel, reporting on a heavenly vision stated that "the earth itself shone because of his [Jehovah's] glory. (Ezekiel 43:2) The only angel to shine with glory comparable t0 Jehovah's would be the Lord Jesus, who is "the reflection of [God's] glory and the exact representation of his very being." (Hebrews 1:3) In 1914 'the Son of man arrived in his glory," and since that time Jesus, installed "on his glorious throne" in the heavens, has been exercising authority over the earth as Jehovah's associate King and Judge. It is fitting then, that he should announce the fall of Babylon the Great. -MATTHEW 25:31, 32. 

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated

 It is therefore appropriate that Revelation should confirm the doom of false religion by giving us two detailed descriptions of her fall and subsequent events leading to her total desolation. We have already seen her as "the great harlot" that is finally devastated by her erstwhile lovers of the political realm. (Revelation 17:1, 15, 16) Now, in still another vision, we are to view her as a city, the religious antitype of ancient Babylon.

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Chapter Thirty-Six/The Great City Devastated

 SUDDEN, shocking, devastating-such will be the demise of Babylon the Great! It will be one the most catastrophic events in all history, making the start of the "great tribulation such as not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again." - MATTHEW 24:21.

False religion has been around for a long time. It has existed without a break since the day of bloodthirsty Nimrod, who opposed Jehovah and set men to building the Tower of Babel. When Jehovah confused the tongues of those rebels and scattered them over the earth, Babylon's false religion traveled with them. (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:4-9) Since then, political empires have risen and fallen, but Babylonish religion has endure. It has taken many shapes and forms becoming a world empire of false religion, the prophesied Babylon the Great. Its most prominent part in Christendom, which grew out of fusion of early Babylonish teachings with apostate "Christian" doctrine. Because of the long history of Babylon the Great, many people find it hard to believe that will ever be destroyed.

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Carrying Out God's Thought - Conclusion

 As if to emphasize the certainty of Jehovah's execution of judgment on the world empire of false religion, the angel concludes his testimony by saying: "And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:18) Like Babylon of Belshazzar's time, Babylon the Great has "been weighed in the balance and found wanting." (Daniel 5:27, The New English Bible) Her execution will be swift and final. And how do Jehovah's Witnesses respond to the unraveling of the mystery of the great harlot and of the scarlet-colored wild beast? The show zeal in proclaiming Jehovah's day of judgment, while answering "with graciousness" sincere searchers for truth. (Colossians 4:5, 6; Revelation17:3, 7) As our next chapter will show, all those who desirous of surviving when the great harlot is executed must act, and act quickly!

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Chapter Thirty-Fivc/Executing Babylon the Great - Carrying Out God's Thought - Continue

 Yes, the nations will use the scarlet-colored wild beast, the3 United Nations, in destroying Babylon the Great. They do act on their own initiative, for Jehovah puts into their hearts "even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast." When the time comes, the nations will evidently see the need to strengthen the United Nations. They will give it teeth, as it were, lending it whatever authority and power they possess so that it can turn upon false religion and fight successfully against her "until the words of God will have been accomplished." Thus, the ancient harlot will come to her complete end. And good riddance to her! 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Carrying Out God's Thought - Continue

 Again Jehovah uses human rulers in executing judgment: "For God put into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished." (Revelation 17:17) What is God's thought"? To arrange for the executioners of Babylon the Great to band together, in order to destroy her completely. Of course, the rulers' motive in attacking her will be to carry out their own "one thought." They will feel that it is in their nationalistic interests to turn upon the great harlot. They come to view the continued existence of organized religion within their boundaries as a threat to their sovereignty. But Jehovah will be maneuvering matters; they will carry out this thought by destroying his age-old adulterous enemy at one stroke! - Compare JEREMIAH 7:8-11, 34. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Carrying Out God's Thought

 How does Jehovah execute this judgment? This may be illustrated by Jehovah's action against his apostate people in ancient times, concerning whom he said: "In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things, committing adultery and walking in falsehood; and they have strengthened the hands of evildoers in order that they should not return, each one from his own badness.  To me all of them have become like Sodom, and the inhabitants of her like Gomorrah." (Jeremiah 23:14) In 607 B.C.E., Jehovah used Nebuchadnezzar to 'strip off the garments, take away the beautiful articles, and leave naked and nude' that spiritually adulterous city.  (Ezekiel 23:4, 26, 29) Jerusalem of that time was a pattern of Christendom today, and as John saw in earlier visions, Jehovah will administer to Christendom and the rest of false religion a similar punishment. The desolated, inhabited condition of Jerusalem after 607 B.C.E shows what religious Christendom will look like after being stripped of her wealthy and shamefully exposed. And the rest of Babylon the Great will fare no better. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Devasting the Harlot -Conclusion

 Why would the nations treat their former paramour so outrageously? We have seen in recent history the potential for such a turning against Babylonish religion. Official government opposition has tremendously reduced the influence of religion in lands such as the Soviet Union and China. In Protestant sectors of Europe, widespread apathy and doubt have emptied the churches, so that religion is practically dead. The vast Catholic empire is torn by rebellion and disagreement, which the itinerant pope has been unable to calm. We should not, though, lost sight of the fact that this final, all-out attack on Babylon the Great comes as an expression of God's unalterable judgment on the great harlot. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great -Devastating the Harlot - Continue

 Certainly, the immense material wealth of Babylon the Great will not save her. It may even hasten her destruction, for the vision shows that when the wild beast and the ten horns vent their hated on her they will strip off her royal robes and all her jewelry. They will plunder her wealth. They "make her . . . naked, "shamefully exposing her real character. What devastation! Her end is also far from dignified. They destroy her, "eat up her fleshly parts," reducing her to a lifeless skeleton. Finally, they completely burn her with fire."  She is burned up like a carrier of the plague, without even a decent burial! It is not the nations alone, as represented by the ten horns, that destroy the great harlot, but the "wild beast," meaning the UN itself, joins them in this rampage. It will give us sanction to the destruction of false religion. A majority of the 150-and- more nations within the UN have already displayed, by their voting pattern, a hostility toward religion, especially that of Christendom. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Devastating the Harlot

 God's people are not the only objects of the enmity of the ten horns. The angel now draws John's attention back to the harlot: "And he says to me: 'The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, means peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.  And the ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshly parts and will completely burn her with fire.' "- REVELATION 17:15, 16. 

Just as ancient Babylon relied on her watery defenses, Babylon the Great today relies on her huge membership of "peoples and crowds and nations and tongues." The angel appropriately draws out attention to these before telling of a shocking development: Political governments of this earth will turn violently upon Babylon the Great. What will all those "peoples and crowds and nations and tongues" do then? God's people are already warning Babylon the Great that the water of the river Euphrates will dry up.  (Revelation 16:12) Those waters will finally drain away completely. They will not be able to give the disgusting old harlot any effectual support in her hour of need. - ISAIAH 44:27; JEREMIAH 50:38; 51:36. 37. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Ten Kings for One Hour - Conclusion

 Of course, there is nothing that the rulers of this world can do against Jesus himself. He is in heaven, far out of their reach. But Jesus' brothers, the remaining ones of the woman's seed, are still on earth and apparently vulnerable. (Revelation 12:17) Many of the horns have already demonstrated bitter hostility toward them, and in this way have battled with the Lamb. (Matthew25:40, 45) Soon, though, the time will come for God's Kingdom to "crush and put an end to these kingdoms." (Daniel 2:44) Then, the kings of the earth will be in a fight to the finish with Lamb, as we shall soon see. (Revelation 19:11,12) But here we learn enough to realize that the nations will not succeed. Though they and the UN scarlet-colored wild beast have their "one thought," They cannot defeat the great "Lord of lords and King of kings" nor can they defeat "those called and chosen and faithful with him," which includes his anointed followers still on earth.  These too have conquered by keeping integrity in answer to Satan's vile accusations. - ROMANS 8:37-39; REVELATION 12:10, 11. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Ten Kings for One Hour - Continue

 The ten horns depict all the political powers that presently hold sway on the world scene and that support the image of the wild beast, Very few of the countries that now exist were known in John's day. And those that were, such as Egypt and Persia (Iran), today have an entirely different political setup. Hence, in the first century, the 'ten horns had not yet received a kingdom.' But now in the Lord's day, they have "a kingdom," or political authority. With the collapse of the great colonial empires, particularly since the second world war, many new nations have been born. These, as well as the longer-established powers, must rule with the wild beast for a short period-just "one hour"-before Jehovah brings and end to all worldly political authority at Armageddon. 

Today, nationalism is one of the strongest forces motivating these ten horns. They have "one thought" in that they want to preserve their national sovereignty rather than accept God's Kingdom. This was their  purpose in subscribing to the League of Nations and the United Nations organization in the first place-to preserve world peace and thus safeguard their own existence. Such an attitude ensures that the horns will oppose the Lamb, the Lord of lords and King of kings," because Jehovah has purposed that his Kingdom under Jesus Christ will shortly replace all these kingdoms. - DANIEL 7:13, 14; MATTHEW 24:30; 25:31-33. 46. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great -Ten Kings for One Hour

 In the previous chapter of Revelation, the sixth and seventh angels poured out bowls of God's of the anger of God. Thus we are advised that earth's kings are being gathered to God's war at Armageddon and that Babylon the Great is to be remembered in the sight of God.' (Revelation 16:1, 14, 19) Now we will learn in greater detail how God's judgments on these are to be executed. Listen again to Jehovah's angel as he speaks to John. "And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one thought, and so they give power and authority to the wild beast. This will battle with the Lamb, but because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so." - REVELATION 17:12-14. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Why Called and Eighth King? - Conclusion

 Notice that the scarlet-colored wild beast "is also itself an eighth king." Thus, the United Nations today is designed to look like a world government. At times it has even acted like one, sending armies into the field to resolve international disputes, as in Korea, the Sinai Peninsula, some African countries, and Lebanon. But it is only the image of a king. Like a religious image, it has no real influence or power apart from what is invested in it by those who brought it into existence and worship it. On occasion, this symbolic wild beast looks weak; but it has never experienced the kind of wholesale abandonment by dictator-oriented members that sent the League of Nations reeling into the abyss. (Revelation 17:8) Though holding radically different opinions in other areas, a prominent Soviet leader in 1987 joined the popes of Rome in expressing support for the UN. As John soon learns, the time will come when the UN will act with considerable authority. then it, in its turn, "goes off into destruction." 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Why Called an Eighth King?

 Additionally, original members of the League of Nations included, along with Great Britain, governments that ruled in the seats of some of the previous heads, namely Greece, Iran (Persia), and Italy (Rome). Eventually, governments ruling the territory controlled by the previous six world powers came to be supportive members of the image of the wild beast. In this sense, too, it could be said that this scarlet-colored wild beast sprang from the seven world powers. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great - Why Called an Eighth King?

 The angel further explains to John: "And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction." (Revelation 17:11) The symbolic wild scarlet-colored wild beast "springs from" the seven heads; that is, it is born from or owes its existence to, those of the original "wild beast . . . out of the sea, of which the scarlet-colored wild beast is an image. In what way?  Well, in 1919 the Anglo-American power was the ascendant head. The previous six heads had fallen, and the position of dominant world power had passed to this dual head and was now centered in it. This seventh head, as the current representative of the line of the world powers, was the moving force in establishing the League of Nations and is still the major promoter and financial support of the United Nations. Thus, in symbol, the scarlet-colored wild beast-the eighth kin-"springs from" the original seven heads. Viewed in this way, the statement that it sprang from the seven harmonizes well with the earlier revelation that the wild beast with two horns like a lamb (the Anglo-American World Power, the seventh head of that original wild beast) urged the making of the image and gave it life. - REVELATION 13:1, 11, 14, 15. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great

 By the 15th century, however, some countries were building brand-new empires. While some of these new imperial powers were found in the territory of former colonies of Rome, their empires were not mere continuations of the Roman Empire. Portugal, France, and Holland all became seats of far-flung domains. But the most successful was Britain, which came to preside over a huge empire on which the sun never set.' This empire spread at different times over much of North America, Africa, India, and Southwest Asia, as well as the expanse of the South Pacific. 

By the 19th century, some of the colonies in North America had already broken away from Britain to form the independent United States of America. Politically, some conflict between the new nation and the former motherland continued. Nevertheless, the first world war forced both countries to recognize their common interests and cemented a special relationship between them. Thus, a kind of dual world power came to exist, made up of the United States of America, now the world's wealthiest nation, and Great Britain, seat of the world's largest empire. Here, then, is the seventh 'head,' or world power, that continues into the time of the end and the territories of which the modern-day witnesses of Jehovah first got established. Compared with the long reign of the sixth head, the seventh remains only "a short while, " until God's Kingdom destroys all national entities. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great

 Rome's Eastern Empire, centered at Constantinople, endured in a somewhat uneasy relationship with the Western Empire. In the sixth century, Eastern emperor Justinian I was able to reconquer much of North Africa, and he also intervened in Spain and Italy. In the seventh century, Justinian II recovered for the Empire areas of Macedonia that had been conquered by Slavic tribesmen. By the eighth century, however, much of the former territory of ancient Rome in North Africa, Spain, and Syria had come under the new empire of Islam and thus passed from the control of Constantinople and Rome.

The city of Constantinople itself endured somewhat longer. It survived frequent attacks from Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians until in 1203 It finally fell-not to Muslims or Crusaders from the West. In 1453, though, it came under the power of the Muslim Ottoman ruler Mechmed II and soon became capital of the Ottoman or Turkish Empire. Thus. although the city of Rome fell in 410 C.E., it took many more centuries for all traces of the Roman Empire to pass from the world scene. And even then, its influence was still discernible in religious empires based on the papacy of Rome and Eastern Orthodox churches.

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great

 The Roman Empire endured and even expanded for hundreds of years after John's day.  In 330 C.E., Emperor Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. In 395 C.E., the Roman Empire was split into Eastern and Western parts. In 410 C.E. Rome itself fell to Alaric, king of the Visigoths (a Germanic tribe that had converted to the Arian brand of "Christianity"). Germanic tribes (also "Christian") conquered Spain and much of the territory of Rome in North Africa. There were centuries of upheaval, unrest, and readjustment in Europe. Notable emperors arose in the West, such as Charlemagne, who formed an alliance with Pope Leo III in the 9th century, and Frederick II, who reigned in the 13th century. But their domain, though named the Holy Roman Empire, was much smaller than that of the earlier Roman Empire at its zenith. It was more of a restoration or continuation of this ancient power than a new empire. 

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Chapter Thirty-Five/Executing Babylon the Great

 The seven heads of that ferocious beast stand for seven "mountains or seven "kings." Both terms are used Scripturally to refer to governmental powers. (Jeremiah 51:24, 25; Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45) In the Bible, six world powers are mentioned as having an impact on the affairs of God's people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Of these, fiver had already come and gone by the time John received Revelation, whereas Rome was still very much a world power. This corresponds well with the words, "five have fallen, one is. But what of "the other" that was due to come?

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