Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Revelation 14:9-13.

 What I am about to say, is what I see, sense, and understand.

One of the goals of the New World Order is to bring the population down to a manageable 500 million people. The county that I live in has a population of 10+ million. Pause and think about that for a few seconds. There is nothing in the minds of these greedy people that says, let’s keep this guy. Consider our President Joe Biden, who claims he has taken both doses of the C19v and a booster shot. This seems like a critical mistake for a President, seeing as medical experts tell us that devastating health aspects will strike you at about six months, and for many people, will ruin you physically in as little as 10 minutes. 

In talking about this C19 garbage with my wife, she pointed out that for those we are calling Babylon - the harlot that rides the beast, there would be a benefit in eliminating senior citizens (think about this in terms of Social security payouts) and Christians – because many Christians find the boldness to cling to an attitude of faith and challenge the government over the C19 illegal mandates and restrictions, which are bogus, and to go after their local school boards over their integration of pornographic textbooks into the school curriculum. If you think this is funny and something you can ignore, it is not, as it sexualizes our children over and above the garbage that the world is trying to feed them. 

Revelation 14:8 NASB And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."

Having covered this extensively in my previous post, I only include it here to point out that the “whole” world seems to think that Babylon and the Harlot, are good and fun. If you could only realize that you are the target of their pleasure and they do not care for you.

James 4:4 NASB You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

(The Christian community in America is riddled with fear, and fear is something that the Bible addresses and that we are NOT supposed to live in. The religious community is frequently the ones who will fight against you when you begin to share with them about something exciting, especially about Eschatology – end times events, and I speak from experience.)

Having sat under my fair share of hellfire and brimstone preaching, I do not find it captivating, nor are people drawn to it. One of my family members chooses to believe that a good God would not punish people.

Is that the case?

Scripture seems to be clear on the punishment for those who change masters.

Revelation 14:9  NASB Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,”

If you give in, worship the beast, his image, and take his mark, you have condemned yourself to eternal punishment. Thus, verse 9 creates the context for verse 10 in which it says, the one who does this will:

Revelation 14:10 NASB “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

The “he” is that person who gives themselves over to the beast, and unfortunately, there will be many.

Revelation 14:11  NASB “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

It sounds relatively black and white to me, but it is a three-part, intentional process. It would be inappropriate to condemn a small child to hell who was forced to be chipped. They, in many cases, do not have a clue, and to think otherwise about God and his mercy shows me that you know nothing about the character and nature of God. 

There is a day coming in which those in opposition to God will come to our “peaceful” streets with an overwhelming level of violence. And, just like we have seen in the African nations where Boko Haran members (a sect of Islam) have fired bombed churches with the attendees inside, or merely shot or beheaded those who claimed to be Christians.

Do you think that won’t happen here in America?

Then you are deceived already. The coming day falls under the category of “the day of the Lord,” the time of wrath. The time in which God pours out his wrath upon unbelievers - Israel and the nations. We, the church in general, were not meant to receive God’s wrath; this has nothing to with the tribulations of life.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 NASB (9) For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Why?

Because:

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36 NASB

Romans 5:8-10 NASB “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

As Israel wandered and complained in the desert, God sent serpents (adders) to punish them [Look this up in Numbers 21.] People began to die and so cried out to Moses for mercy. At God’s instructions, Moses had an image of the serpent made and placed upon a pole. That was a type of Jesus Christ and, just as the serpents, which did not go away because of the serpent upon the pole, but became a salvation for the people when they looked upon it. Christ became sin upon that cross and took all of the wrath due to us because of the sin built into us. Sin did not go away, but its impact, the wrath, went away when we looked to the cross where sin hung and died. 

Why then are some continuing to migrate toward wrath and eternal punishment? 

Because some are suppressing the truth.

Romans 1:18 NASB For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

While others, because of their stubbornness and unrepentant hearts, are storing up wrath for themselves.

Romans 2:5 NASB But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

I am telling you of things to come, although much of this has already happened in third world nations as Islam has been allowed to rise to power. Since Agenda 21 and now Agenda 2030 are designed to bring America and the Western European countries down to third world nation status for population reduction, we can expect to see Islam filling our streets with violence.

It seems like there is nothing you can do. But that is not the case as this time is not upon us yet; it will come. I know this because this is the pattern that I see in scripture. However, we have the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. This is the same power and Word that parted the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian army in that same sea as they tried to cross. This is the same word that brought fire down from heaven to consume God’s enemies. The same Word of power caused the earth to open up and swallow the Philistines while blasting others with lightning. 

What’s my point?

That God is still looking for those through which he can show himself strong. 

Someday soon, God will remove His church from the earth. At that point, the game is on, and the wrath will begin to pour out of every crack. And, people will continue to be godless, killing machines, all in the name and power of their god, the beast.

So what happens after the rapture? 

Revelation 14:12-13 NASB (12) Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. (13) And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

Who is he talking about when he says, Saints?

We love to generalize considering everybody sitting in the pews to be saints. However, Matthew 25 does not tell me that. It shows me that 50% are ill-prepared, having no extra oil, and will not make it through the gates when he comes because they are off roaming the streets in the middle of the night, looking for more oil. Revelation 14:13 says, “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”

It is God who does the generalizing when he defines saints as:

"O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want."

(Psalms 34:9 NASB)

We all comprehend fear as an aspect of cowering under an oppressive ruler, but God never wanted a relationship like that. Fear then conveys a respectful relationship in which we understand we have no control over anything and because of this relationship there is no want for anything.

Once the church is caught away, the number of people coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ will be uncountable. This also tells me that almost as many will be put to death because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Revelation 14:13 NASB And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."

These, because of their relationship with Jesus Christ, are deemed, saints. They die because of their testimony – this testimony may or may not be elaborate and many, in their last utterance may cry out their newfound affection for the Savior. Their actions are their deeds and these acts of simple kindness follow them into eternity for a remembrance.

Those that embrace a judgmental, unforgiving God frequently have problems with God showing mercy to people. Here, in the time of wrath, it is so much easier to perceive what happens to these people as God punishing them for their rejection. The problem with that kind of thinking is that you fail to understand that Jesus took all the wrath mandatory for the punishment of sin, upon himself.

Whom then is God's wrath being poured out upon?

The nations and Israel for rejecting him. It is never about the church. Because of the timing involved with the gathering of the body to himself, some will escape all wrath; while others, joining themselves to the body of Christ after the in-gathering, will it seems, have to prove their allegiance through death. It seems the only alternative I can see.

Matthew 25: 31-46 offers us a comparable scenario when it comes to deeds that follow them. Jesus, at the end of the thousand years, having called the dead from the nations to himself, separates them into two groups – the sheep and goats. These are not Christians for they were not caught up in the rapture nor the resurrection of the saints prior to the thousand years. The nations are generally thought to be anyone outside of a relationship with Christ, and yet, the Sheep are given their status because of their deeds, acts of kindness.

This is defined as Jesus said,

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; (Matthew 25:35 NASB)

These simple acts of kindness gained them entrance into the eternal kingdom.

If I thought it wise to take this gamble I would be making a serious mistake. I cannot even pick a line at the market without it coming to a screeching halt for some reason. It is wiser to live in the grace given to me, clinging tightly to his robe.

Consider a piece of wisdom we see in the story of the prodigal's son. Having spent all on riotous living, this Jew, a man who would not have considered touching an unclean pig, ends up not only slopping the hogs but having to eat what they would reject. This was the young man's bottom and looking up meant going back to his father that he had insulted. As he approaches the ranch, the father who had been looking and longing for his son's return spots him a long way off and runs to him with outstretched arms. This is the Father and an example of the love he has for us. So, it will not be so much you merely catching a corner of his robe, but Him wrapping his arms around you to welcome you home.

Babylon the Great has fallen; I wish. Revelation 14:8.

Revelation 14:8 almost seems to stand alone.

Revelation 14:8 NASB And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

If we try to define the Babylon we see in Revelation we have to ask, what is it and what are the implications for us; and, can we obtain a clue from the passage itself??

• "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, ..”

God had used Babylon to punish Israel for ignoring the Shemittah (times of rest and restoration), because of this they went into captivity for 70 years and might play a role in its utter destruction. Thanks to the interactions we have between Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, we know that during the reign or Nebuchadnezzar Babylon was great. Daniel - in explaining the statue dream to Nebuchadnezzar - told him that he, as representing Babylon, was the head of gold.

Daniel 2:37-38 ESV You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, (38) and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all--you are the head of gold.

Considering that Nebuchadnezzar had threatened to kill all the wise men if no one could tell him the dream and what it meant; it was probably the wiser choice to say, you are the head of gold.

Does Babylon exist anymore?

The answer is no.

Can we make the connection between a Babylon that was once great and the modern day world?

No, so greatness carries a different connotation these days. Babylon, having served its purpose, was to receive God's wrath.

Jeremiah 51:29 ESV “The land trembles and writhes in pain, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

When you read this it is easy to say, “that happened and therefore does not apply to today.” We see this same logic applied to the temple of the last days. Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple and Israel saw that happen in 70 A.D.; yet his words also applied to a time in the distant future in which there would be a third temple. Therefore these words about Babylon could just as easily apply to a future time, a time which I happen to believe is upon us now.

You might not be aware that Saddam Hussein was attempting a restoration of Babylon. He built one of his fortress-like residences on a hill just outside of Babylon along the Euphrates. Chuck Missler told us that while active combat missions in Iraq were still ongoing, the military was running high speed communications cables into Babylon.

Does any of that literally mean that Babylon, as a city, would be resurrected to greatness?

No, therefore we should be looking for something else, something more symbolic. I believe the key phrase here is “her sexual immorality”.

Clearly Revelation 14:8 is speaking about a sensuality, and there is nothing sensual about the region in which Babylon was built. So the context has more to do with something spiritual. Bel Marduk might fit that bill.

• 
  “...she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."

Since things seemingly went well for Daniel, we assume that all went well for Israel. We also assume that Babylon was just a beautiful, fun loving place, but that was not the case. If you think about the fact that they threw Daniel's companions into the fire, then its easier to understand that evil lurked in the background. Babylon was conquered by successive empires, of which two are clearly defined: The Medo-Persian, and the Grecian empires. It is clear that something happened.

Now, what do we do with this cryptic sentence - “...she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”?

Apparently we know far too little about Babylon because Revelation focuses, rather intently, on the words sexual immorality. The prophet Jeremiah spoke a word against Babylon:

Jeremiah 50:1-2 ESV The word that the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet: (2) "Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.'

Commentary from the IVPBBC:

Bel and Marduk. “The title Bel was applied to the supreme god of the Akkadian pantheon, which until the beginning of the second millennium B.C. was Enlil (the patron of the city of Nippur). After the emergence of Babylon as the chief city of Mesopotamia, the title was transferred to its patron deity, Marduk. Evidence of this succession to divine supremacy can be seen in Marduk's prominent place in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish and in the prologue to the Code of Hammurabi. In both instances, Marduk is said to have achieved the rank of chief god through his combative powers and the will of the other gods. The name Bel Marduk then continues to be used by the Assyrians and the Neo-Babylonians, and his New Year's festival is the celebration of the renewal of fertility and life (see comment on Isa_46:1). Even the Persian king Cyrus looked at his own accession to power and the capture of the city of Babylon as having been achieved through the assistance of Bel Marduk. Connections in the northwest Semitic pantheon with Bel are to be found in the name Baal, also translated as “lord.”

Now again, the question is, how do I perceive and apply this information?

Mark Hitchcock, in his book The Second Coming of Babylon, states rather simplistically, “The city and the tower (of Babel) represent the two aspects of Babylon that continue today: political power balanced against rebellion and apostasy.” Mark Hitchcock continues, “The city they built represents the political unity of the city of Babylon. Babylon was a literal place, ruled over by a literal king who exercised political power over all the inhabitants of the world.”

I had to think about Mark Hitchcock's comments for a moment.

So, is Babylon, a lasting, global, political power?

I already pointed out that God decreed devastation upon Babylon. Common sense then should tell you that Babylon's ability to persist has to first be spiritual. Many years after its establishment by Nimrod, and after the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon is captured by Cyrus, but this line from the IVPBBC is very telling:

“ Even the Persian king Cyrus looked at his own accession to power and the capture of the city of Babylon as having been achieved through the assistance of Bel Marduk”

We are introduced to the beginnings of Babylon in Genesis chapter 10, when we are told about the generations of Noah. The son of Ham was Cush, and Cush fathered Nimrod.

Let's explore this lineage of Ham for a minute.

Genesis 10:8 ESV Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.

“He was the first on earth to be a mighty man” ???

The word mighty in the Hebrew is: gibbôr it means powerful; and by implication warrior, tyrant.

Another instance of the word gibbôr is used to depict a mighty man, comes before the flood, and describes the Nephilim upon the earth.

Genesis 6:4 ESV The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Most do not believe Nimrod to have been a giant as much as he was of a reckless ferocity.

Reckless ferocity – What names come to your mind when you think about the words reckless ferocity?

Og, the king of Bashan who may have been 13 feet tall; how about Ghengis Khan, or Vlad the impaler.

How did Nimrod become the first on the earth to be a mighty man when clearly the earth was filled with violence and there were giants or mighty men prior to the flood?

Genesis 6:10-13 ESV And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (11) Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. (12) And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (13) And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Genesis 9:9 ESV "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,

Genesis 10:1 ESV These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

So Noah, and his generations are the fresh start. It only took three generations for everything to go sour again. Nimrod was the controlling authority and driving force behind the tower of Babel. That may or may not be the case, but it is clear that all known inhabitants were of the same mind and direction.

Genesis 10:8-10 ESV Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. (9) He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." (10) The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:8-10 fills in a few blanks, for it tells us that Nimrod founded the towns of Babel, Erech, Accad (the Accadian race) and Calneh. All in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 11:1-4 ESV Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."

I want to you to see something before we move on.

Genesis 11:4 LITV And they said, Come, let us build a city and a tower with its head in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, that we not be scattered on the face of all the

If you are anything like me you would have read a verse like this, for years, and said, how nice, and never grasped the depth of what is happening here. It is not as simple as it looks and requires that you dig a little.

1. God has yet to state that he will scatter them, but they almost seem to be prophesying over themselves by declaring: “that we not be scattered on the face of all the earth.” As you know that happened.

2. If we hear of someone who made a name for himself there are generally admirable thoughts that go along with that, like having a beautiful park named after that person. However there are those that were not so admirable, like: John Wayne Gacy, Charlie Manson, or Ted Bundy. They certainly made names for themselves.

3. Here in America we have Donald Trump – the business mogul. He ran for President and won for one term. As a notable person he has his name plastered on the many things he has built. The height and design are not necessarily the issue, and there is something more implicated in Genesis 11:4.

let us build us a city H5892 - (a place guarded by waking or a watch)

and let us make H6213 - accomplish

for ourselves a name H8034, - the Name (as designation of God)

I get the sense that they were trying to make their own name a god. “Babylon also represents false religion.”

According to Mark Hitchcock:

“The first organized false religion has passed down from Babylon into all other false religions of the world. Their tower symbolizes the religious unity that dominated Babylon.”

The IVP Bible Background Commentary on the Old Testament tells us:

“The central feature of these early cities in southern Mesopotamia was the temple complex. Often, the temple complex was the city. The temple complex in this period would have been comprised of the temple itself, where the patron deity was worshiped, and, most prominently, by the ziggurat. Ziggurats were structures designed to provide stairways from the heavens (the gate of the gods) to earth so that the gods could come down into their temple and into the town and bring blessing. It was a convenience provided for the deity and his messengers. These stairways were featured in the mythology of the Sumerians and also are portrayed in Jacob's dream.”

By the way, The Hadron collider, often called CERN, has two major goals: “Two of the major goals for CERN is to collapse and break apart the God Particle that creates and maintains our physical world and to tear a hole through the veil that is the barrier protecting our physical universe from the unknown, non-physical universes and other non-physical dimensions believed to be located outside our physical universe.”

So one might say, that CERN, in a sense, is just another tower, in the attempt to bring the gods down to earth.

John Walvord summarizes the Babylonian religious system:

“Nimrod, who founded Babylon, had a wife known as Semiramis who founded the secret religious rites of the Babylonian mysteries, according to accounts outside the bible. Semiramis has a son with an alleged miraculous conception who was given the name Tammuz and in effect was a false fulfillment of the promise of the seed of the woman given to Eve (Gen 3:15).”

“Various religious practices were observed in connection with the false Babylonian religion, including recognition of the mother and child as God and of creating an order of virgins who became religious prostitutes. Tammuz, according to the tradition, was killed by a wild animal and restored to life, a satanic anticipation and counterfeit of Christ's resurrection.”

Walvord adds:

“Babylon then, is the symbol of apostasy and blasphemous substitution of idol-worship for the worship of God in Christ.”

As to this last quote. Nimrod probably had no concept of Christ, so I do not think it is fair to pin that on him. However, since God found Noah to be favorable (there is a tremendous mystery about this man having to do with the heritage that might intrigue you, but I do not have the time here) you might assume that Noah had a strong concept of who God was. Keep in mind that any knowledge of God had to be verbally passed to the next generations. As the generations begin to rebuild something very dark creeps in and Noah curses one of his sons. It did not take that long for one generation to essentially move away from God. Project this idea three generations ahead and we have Nimrod.

The worship of Baal

Isaiah 21:9 LITV And, behold, here comes a chariot of a man, a pair of horses. And he answered and said, Babylon has fallen, has fallen! And He has smashed the graven images of her gods to the earth.

There is a clear sense of multiple gods. The prophet Jeremiah identifies two of them: Merodach and Bel.

Jeremiah 50:2 LITV Declare among the nations, and make them hear, and lift up a banner. Make them hear, do not hide it; say, Babylon is captured, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is broken in pieces, her images are put to shame, her idols are broken in pieces.

From John Gill's commentary:

“Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth,.... These are names of the idols of Babylon. Bel is by some thought to be the contraction of Baal, the god of the Phoenicians, called by them Beel; so "Beelsamin" (h), in the Phoenician language, is Lord of heaven: but rather this is the Belus of the Babylonians, who was a renowned king of them, and after his death deified; whom Nebuchadnezzar, according to Megasthenes (i), calls Belus his progenitor, and by whom Babylon was walled about. This idol is, no doubt, the same with Jupiter Belus, who had a temple in Babylon with gates of brass, and which was in being in the times of Herodotus (k), as he reports. This name is sometimes taken into the names of their kings, as Belshazzar or Beltesbazaar. Nebo was another of their idols, an oracular one, from whom, by its priests, prophesies of things future were pretended to be given out...”

Back to Mark Hitchcock's book The Second Coming of Babylon.

“From the beginning then, Babylon was both a town and a tower, a city and a system, a place and a philosophy. We will encounter this same twofold depiction of Babylon later when we look at Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18.”

From the very beginning Satan has been at war. Sometimes it is hard to tell who he hates the most – God, or those that follow after him.

After Satan deceives the woman we have God saying:

You and this woman will hate each other; your descendants and hers will always be enemies. One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel." (Genesis 3:15 CEV)

Hitchcock defined this epic struggle like this:

“The situation at Babylon in Genesis 10-11 played right into Satan's plan. While he is not mentioned by name, we can be certain that the old serpent introduced in Genesis 3 was working feverishly to energize this rebellious plan. In this setting he could influence and direct world affairs through one man.” …. “He could be 'god' in the eyes of all men, through occult worship and practices. After all, this is his desire.” ….. “The masses could also be converted to his false religion, with little to stand in his way.”

Make no mistake, God is, and has always been in control. Man, living in the illusion that he is in control, found out differently, for God came down and confounded their language, and scattered man across the face of the earth. Thus ended the first global community.

As Mark Hitchcock puts it:

“Globalism was put on hold.

But Satan wasn't finished.

He set out immediately to bring the world back together so he could control all of it once again.

In a sense, human history is the story of Satan working to bring man back to Babylon under his rule.”

More and more every day, I am convinced that we are witnessing Babylon the great – the harlot that rides the beast (they are one and the same) plays its hand by manipulating the economy, the food chain, and worst of all, the population of the earth through propaganda and this phony immunizing agent – as though it has some benefit in dealing with a flu virus (which happens to be humanly designed to fuel their desires to bring about a severe population reduction and global governance. 

So in trying to understand what Babylon is, keep this passage in mind.

Jeremiah 51:29 ESV “The land trembles and writhes in pain, for the LORD's purposes against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

We are looking at power structures, guided by the gods of greed and sensuality.

i John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible; Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)