TODAY’S BABYLON
Ch. 5
THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS
Babylon is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs (Rev 17:6). The
prostitute is bloodthirsty. She is responsible for the deaths of many men and
women of God. It seems possible that before the second coming of Christ, this
place Babylon will begin to kill some, or even many of God’s people. This will
be especially those who are walking in intimacy with the Lord, namely the
“saints” and “prophets” (Rev 18:24). It appears that there could be a great
persecution, a killing of those who rise up to speak out against the harlot and
her wanton ways.
As this book is being written, no place on earth comes to
mind which fits this part of the prophecy exactly. Although there are many
believers being martyred all over the earth today, especially in Communist and
Islamic countries, this is not directly connected with a nation which could be
clearly identified as the prostitute as we have seen her.
Yet, perhaps this
aspect of her personality has not yet been fully manifested. Just as Babylon’s
sin level has not yet peaked, so too maybe this bloodthirstiness has yet to
emerge. What we might find today would be the seeds of this sin – a kind of
prelude to murder. We might encounter in Babylon an increasing hatred on the
part of the worldly inhabitants for those who truly love Jesus and try to follow
Him. It could be that we could detect a rising anti-Christian sentiment, a rage
on the part of the unbelievers against God and His people which is only waiting
for the opportunity to express itself.
It is easy to imagine that wherever
Babylon is today, she has within her some citizens who do not like the direction
in which they see her going. There is within them, just as there was in Noah and
Lot, a certain moral fiber and resistance to rampant immorality. Perhaps even
now some of these folks are fighting in various ways to resist the rush of filth
and decay. It might be that they are marching, campaigning and preaching. It
could be that they are investing a lot of time and energy trying to stop the
moral slide of their society.
If this is so, their battle is destined to
fail. They can never win. All their human efforts, political maneuvering and
crusading are in vain. The tide of immorality is rising higher and higher while
the resistance to it is slowly being eaten away. The population is becoming more
and more decadent and inured to sin. Their consciences are becoming more and
more calloused. Perhaps there are some Christians who are even being seduced
into joining in with the rest (Heb 3:13).
THE DAM MIGHT BREAK
Sooner or later the tide of evil might rise so high and the resistance to
it might become so weak that the dam will break and the flood of perversion will
sweep in with great force. If this were to happen, the fabric of any society
could change dramatically overnight. Sudden social changes of this type have
happened throughout history and can happen again, especially with the power of
an evil spirit behind it. One example of this could be the rapid rise to power
of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party, along with all that was associated with his
reign. The dramatic, sudden social change which occurred was almost impossible
for many to believe.
So we are led to conclude that there may come a point in
time when Babylon will become completely unrestrained in her evil. When this
happens she could turn with a great hatred on those who speak out against her
fornication. When the tide of evil within her overflows the resistance of the
few with a little morality left, those who are wicked will hate anyone who
opposes them. This could then unleash a great persecution and even murder of the
righteous.
This sudden social change could be aggravated by actions which the
coming antichrist might take. We will be investigating this possibility in the
second part of this series entitled “Antichrist.” In that second book, we will
be looking at the ways in which the coming man of sin could pressure the world
economically, thus inducing unbelievers to cooperate with him in his program to
eradicate Christians from the globe.
Perhaps some of you readers think in
your hearts, “That could never happen here! We have laws to protect us.” Let me
be frank with you. Public opinion can change overnight. No laws are worth the
paper they are written on unless there is some support for them. For example, in
the United States, it has always been against the law to murder. But many years
ago in the South, some black people were lynched and murdered according to the
whims of local citizens. Few culprits were ever punished. No law protected these
people.
Further, laws can easily and quickly be changed. For example, I have
been told that Canada now has some new “hate crime” laws. If anyone speaks
publicly against homosexuals they face a five year jail term. Also, I am told
that Canada now considers parts of the Bible as “hate literature.” You can now
be jailed and/or fined for publicly reading parts of the Bible. Be warned, other
countries are even now considering similar legislation.
Let me tell you as
lovingly and honestly as I can, no law will protect you if and when the moral
resistance finally breaks down and the flood of unrighteousness roars in. The
Bible says that the prostitute has become drunk with the blood of the saints and
martyrs (Rev 17:6). This may indicate just such a disintegration of morality and
a vicious turning on the righteous which we have been discussing.
Further on
in this vision, we read that after Babylon is thrown down, not only was she
guilty of the blood of the martyrs but also “of all who were slain on the earth”
(Rev 18:24). How could this be? How could this end-times entity be responsible
for all the murders since the beginning of the world? This is because of the
spiritual aspect of Babylon. This spirit of lust and excess which is the spirit
of the world, has always been with us. Greed, hate and murder have been around
since the beginning.
Yet at the end of the age, this spirit comes to a great
fullness in Babylon just as it did six other times in history. So it is this sin
tendency, with the power of the spirit of this world behind it, which is
responsible for all this bloodshed. This is what has motivated every murder
and/or war throughout history. This then is why “all who were slain” since the
beginning of the world can be put on her account.
It is certain that when
this Babylon spirit rose to its zenith the last time, the killing of God’s
faithful servants was also a part of its sin. The Roman Empire definitely acted
in this way. Christians were persecuted and even killed for sport. We are not
going to see anything which is new to this world, just something which is new to
us in our generation. If and when the spiritual dam breaks and the flood of evil
pours in unrestrained, the devil will use his people to persecute the people of
God. You can count on it. This may correspond to the time we mentioned earlier
when legions of evil spirits flock to Babylon.
Interestingly, it seems to be
that when people feel the most safe and secure, they may in fact be in the most
danger. We read in I Thessalonians 5:3 that it is just: “when they say ‘Peace
and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a
pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”