The Scarlet Woman - pt 2
14. The Tribulation People
Revelation 18.1 ¶ After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
In the previous study we learned about the Woman, her position in the last days, and the fact that the 10 horns, (kings who join with the beast right near the very end of the tribulation) will destroy the woman from off of the back of the beast.
But God wants us to know something else about this woman. What He wants us to know is incredibly important because it applies to many believers, especially here in the west.
So what we are seeing in chapter 18 is like a bit of a flash-back.
An angel appears with an announcement. This, of course, is before Babylon gets destroyed by the 10 horns.
His announcement begins, Babylon the great is fallen … is fallen!
We are not told when, exactly, that her fall took place, but what is implied is that at one time she was not ‘fallen’. By taking a quick look at a verse that is coming up, we note that at one time she was a cultural center, an industrial center, a supplier of food, a place of ‘light’, and a place where the voice of Jesus was prominent.
18.22 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.
23 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.
We were told in verse 2 that she fell to an incredibly low level. Demonic activity has either brought her down, or she went down first by simply ‘forgetting God’ and then the demons entered into the picture.
What we are NOT told is, when. We don’t know when the demonic activity became prominent in her. Are we talking about something that happened over two thousand years ago? Are we assuming that we are talking about the Lord’s true church which became known as the Roman Catholic church … who ‘fell’ and became a habitation for demons and foul spirits? Are we assuming this because she is responsible for killing the ‘re-baptizers’ (the ana-baptists) from the third century and throughout the dark ages until the reformation? Is this why Revelation says that she is drunk from the blood of the martyrs?
Even though these things have been done over a period of centuries, and even though protestants of the past have considered the Catholic church to be the Scarlet woman and the pope as the antichrist, I have reason to believe that this may not be accurate. That is, I see no direct connection between the Scarlet woman and the Roman Catholic church. Nor can I see how an ecumenical church of the future can fit the description.
First I want to point out that those in the past ages who were guilty of putting God’s children to death are themselves already dead. The Roman Catholic church was responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people they called heretics. To our way of thinking, for the most part, they were christians who believed that baptism must follow conversion. Hence, infant baptism was not practiced by them. The Roman Catholic church took this as a ‘slam’ against a doctrine of the church. Since, at that time they were the ‘authorized’ state church, they felt entitled to remove the dissenters, the heretics. But there is no way that God can pour out His wrath upon them … they are not here anymore. He is going to pour out his wrath upon a ‘woman’ or system, that will be alive at that time, and be guilty for killing God’s elect who are currently were alive. The Roman Catholic church is not known for killing heretics today. So I lean toward believing that this is an entirely different entity that God is calling Mystery Babylon, the harlot, the woman in scarlet.
And secondly, I want to point out that this woman is not particularly noted for doctrines or beliefs. She is noted for culture, excess, pleasure, and some kind of economic dominion or control over the kings of the earth. She has been responsible, through her dominion, to have provided much of the world with luxury and pleasure.
We were told in verse 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
She has ‘blessed’ the earth with her abundance and set the standard for the economy of the world.
The next verse is rather startling.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
She is about to be judged … destroyed. But God first calls His people out of her. This is a rapture. The timing is the outpouring of bowl seven, the sounding of trumpet seven, and the opening of the Scroll’s seventh seal.
This is not saying that there has not been a rapture seven years prior to this, but this is clearly a rapture right at the outpouring of God’s seventh bowl of wrath. He removes His people. This bowl is not like the fifth bowl when darkness came over the beast’s kingdom and unbelievers cursed God because of the darkness and because of the sores and pain that they were suffering. The believers did not suffer from this bowl of God’s anger. They were miraculously protected and God brought them ‘through it’.
But the destruction of Babylon is going to be so complete that God’s children, His people, would not be able to avoid the effects of it, unless they were physically removed. And that is exactly what God does here. So what we just read about in verse 4 is a rapture of believers. If we are of the pre-trib view this constitutes the second rapture of believers. If you are of the NON-pre trib view, this would be the rapture of the church and any living believers. (I Corinthians 15:52)
The extent of her sinfulness matches the judgment of God upon her. We read, 5 “For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’
Remember that this woman is not a mere mortal woman. She represents an entire group of people, a country even, that was prosperous, cultured, extravagant, squandering, lavish, excessive, reckless and irresponsible.
8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day — death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
It will be the ten kings, used by God, to destroy the woman. Therefore, I think it is reasonable to believe that the means that are used to “burn her with fire”, will be natural, not supernatural, weapons. In other words, this is not fire coming down from heaven. This would be an occasion where we could imagine a rocket with a ‘war-head’, a barrage of rockets, or one rocket with a nuclear warhead or anything of that nature.
The result of her destruction has a far reaching effect on the rest of the world.
9 ¶ “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
10 “standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
12 “merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
13 “and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
These are things that the woman ‘bought’. I think it is obvious that trade would be involved. The woman/economic system is described as being wealthy and extravagant. She would have things to export. However, the list of goods mentioned in these verses are items and examples of what the woman purchased from abroad.
18:14 “The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
The destruction of this mighty and controlling woman/system is to be permanent.
18:15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 “and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 ‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 “and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
Some bible teachers have said that they believe there are two Babylons in Revelation. They think that the Mystery Babylon in chapter 17 is a different one from chapter 18. They are saying that they both ride on the back of the beast. One is a harlot representing the apostate endtime church and the other is a harlot representing an economic system. Why do they come up with this view? I believe the answer lies in that they have not seen that all the ‘sevens’ occur at the same time. So they teach that the first woman is active in the first three and a half years and the commercial one in the last three and a half years.
Prior to doing this study I had not heard of this view. I looked at it carefully but had to reject it totally.
The woman of chapters 17 and 18 is only one woman. The lack of Godliness, the absence of the voice of the Bridegroom and economic prowess are both in the same woman.
I want to insert a ‘copy’ of this endtime scenario from Daniel 11. By reading through the events describing the last conflicts before the return of Jesus, we must compare his picture of the end with that of John in the Revelation.
Here are the elements to compare.
Daniel portrays three ‘balancing’ world powers.
The king from the north who makes a pact with Israel, and proceeds to consider himself king of the world.
An alliance of other ‘kingdoms’ who amalgamate with him at the very end.
The king from the south who disputes his rights to claim such a position and maintains some kind of a resistance to the northern king’s ambitions.
The kings of the east who are mentioned only minimally.
Revelation portrays
a beast (together with the false prophet)
Ten kings who join the beast at the end
A woman who restricts (financially) what the Beast wants to be free to do.
Kings from the east mentioned only minimally.
So now we can make some equations
- The Beast and False prophet represent the king of the north and his army.
- The kings of the east need no ‘equating’.
- The woman represents the king of the south in Daniel.
Both Revelation and Daniel paint a picture of three somewhat ‘balancing’ world powers.
If we want to apply any of this to our present age, we would have to say that the king of the north, identified in scripture, is Gog and Magog and will become in agreement with and support Israel for a price. Today we would take this to mean Russia and/or Turkey.
The ‘kings of the east’ would have to include China.
The king of the south equates with the woman on the beast. That is the only option for the last piece of the equation/puzzle.
Here is the question. What is the one balancing world power that would be restrictive to Russia’s doing what it wants in the world after colluding with Israel?
And the answer excludes China, since they are the ‘kings from the east’ and are not on the back of the beast.
We may only be left with one choice … America. But America, left to a general sense, may not ‘fit’ all that well.
We need to get a little more specific.
I will do this in question form.
Did America once hold a ‘high’ place of moral and spiritual importance originally?
Yes. They called themselves one nation under God.
Their coins contained the inscription ‘In God we trust’.
Children’s readers were produced for schools that contained whole passages of scripture.
Has America ‘fallen’ considerably?
Yes. In the 60’s prayer and Bible reading was removed from the classroom. The origin of man and the universe progressed from creationism to the theory of evolution to evolution as fact. The result has been removing God from public life wherever possible. Abortion, Homosexuality, Promiscuity, Divorce, Pornography, Dishonesty, Crime have increased dramatically in the past century.
Has America had any influence in the world culturally?
Yes. Through the arts but principally through dissemination of humanism, ungodliness, selfishness, etc. through the production of movies and television series.
Has America had any influence economically?
Yes. For many years the basis of international trade has been the American dollar.
Has America had a history of import and export?
Yes America has imported over 3.3 Trillion dollars worth of merchandise and exported about 2.3 Trillion dollars worth.
Has America been the physical location of the World Bank and the International Monetary fund?
Yes. The Bank headquarters are in New York.
Is America the location of banking for the richest elite in the world?
Yes. The elite trillionaires own and are in control of the world’s largest banks, located in New York.
Has America been guilty of taking innocent lives via abortion?
Yes. Their supreme court made it legal in 1973
Has America been guilty of purchasing slaves?
Yes. Over 12 million slaves were brought over from Africa to America. From there the number of slaves grew as the owners caused them to multiply.
18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
22 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.
23 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
The beast is finally rid of a power that has been an opponent to be reckoned with. Heaven rejoices as well.
19:1 ¶ After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
2 “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”
3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”
5 ¶ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
All of God’s children are in heaven while the Scarlet woman meets her destruction.
Mystery Babylon is no more. The antichrist is now free to do what he has wanted to do for some time.
This is where we will continue in the next session.
2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
In the previous study we learned about the Woman, her position in the last days, and the fact that the 10 horns, (kings who join with the beast right near the very end of the tribulation) will destroy the woman from off of the back of the beast.
But God wants us to know something else about this woman. What He wants us to know is incredibly important because it applies to many believers, especially here in the west.
So what we are seeing in chapter 18 is like a bit of a flash-back.
An angel appears with an announcement. This, of course, is before Babylon gets destroyed by the 10 horns.
His announcement begins, Babylon the great is fallen … is fallen!
We are not told when, exactly, that her fall took place, but what is implied is that at one time she was not ‘fallen’. By taking a quick look at a verse that is coming up, we note that at one time she was a cultural center, an industrial center, a supplier of food, a place of ‘light’, and a place where the voice of Jesus was prominent.
18.22 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.
23 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.
We were told in verse 2 that she fell to an incredibly low level. Demonic activity has either brought her down, or she went down first by simply ‘forgetting God’ and then the demons entered into the picture.
What we are NOT told is, when. We don’t know when the demonic activity became prominent in her. Are we talking about something that happened over two thousand years ago? Are we assuming that we are talking about the Lord’s true church which became known as the Roman Catholic church … who ‘fell’ and became a habitation for demons and foul spirits? Are we assuming this because she is responsible for killing the ‘re-baptizers’ (the ana-baptists) from the third century and throughout the dark ages until the reformation? Is this why Revelation says that she is drunk from the blood of the martyrs?
Even though these things have been done over a period of centuries, and even though protestants of the past have considered the Catholic church to be the Scarlet woman and the pope as the antichrist, I have reason to believe that this may not be accurate. That is, I see no direct connection between the Scarlet woman and the Roman Catholic church. Nor can I see how an ecumenical church of the future can fit the description.
First I want to point out that those in the past ages who were guilty of putting God’s children to death are themselves already dead. The Roman Catholic church was responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people they called heretics. To our way of thinking, for the most part, they were christians who believed that baptism must follow conversion. Hence, infant baptism was not practiced by them. The Roman Catholic church took this as a ‘slam’ against a doctrine of the church. Since, at that time they were the ‘authorized’ state church, they felt entitled to remove the dissenters, the heretics. But there is no way that God can pour out His wrath upon them … they are not here anymore. He is going to pour out his wrath upon a ‘woman’ or system, that will be alive at that time, and be guilty for killing God’s elect who are currently were alive. The Roman Catholic church is not known for killing heretics today. So I lean toward believing that this is an entirely different entity that God is calling Mystery Babylon, the harlot, the woman in scarlet.
And secondly, I want to point out that this woman is not particularly noted for doctrines or beliefs. She is noted for culture, excess, pleasure, and some kind of economic dominion or control over the kings of the earth. She has been responsible, through her dominion, to have provided much of the world with luxury and pleasure.
We were told in verse 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
She has ‘blessed’ the earth with her abundance and set the standard for the economy of the world.
The next verse is rather startling.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
She is about to be judged … destroyed. But God first calls His people out of her. This is a rapture. The timing is the outpouring of bowl seven, the sounding of trumpet seven, and the opening of the Scroll’s seventh seal.
This is not saying that there has not been a rapture seven years prior to this, but this is clearly a rapture right at the outpouring of God’s seventh bowl of wrath. He removes His people. This bowl is not like the fifth bowl when darkness came over the beast’s kingdom and unbelievers cursed God because of the darkness and because of the sores and pain that they were suffering. The believers did not suffer from this bowl of God’s anger. They were miraculously protected and God brought them ‘through it’.
But the destruction of Babylon is going to be so complete that God’s children, His people, would not be able to avoid the effects of it, unless they were physically removed. And that is exactly what God does here. So what we just read about in verse 4 is a rapture of believers. If we are of the pre-trib view this constitutes the second rapture of believers. If you are of the NON-pre trib view, this would be the rapture of the church and any living believers. (I Corinthians 15:52)
The extent of her sinfulness matches the judgment of God upon her. We read, 5 “For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.
7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’
Remember that this woman is not a mere mortal woman. She represents an entire group of people, a country even, that was prosperous, cultured, extravagant, squandering, lavish, excessive, reckless and irresponsible.
8 “Therefore her plagues will come in one day — death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
It will be the ten kings, used by God, to destroy the woman. Therefore, I think it is reasonable to believe that the means that are used to “burn her with fire”, will be natural, not supernatural, weapons. In other words, this is not fire coming down from heaven. This would be an occasion where we could imagine a rocket with a ‘war-head’, a barrage of rockets, or one rocket with a nuclear warhead or anything of that nature.
The result of her destruction has a far reaching effect on the rest of the world.
9 ¶ “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
10 “standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
12 “merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
13 “and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
These are things that the woman ‘bought’. I think it is obvious that trade would be involved. The woman/economic system is described as being wealthy and extravagant. She would have things to export. However, the list of goods mentioned in these verses are items and examples of what the woman purchased from abroad.
18:14 “The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
The destruction of this mighty and controlling woman/system is to be permanent.
18:15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 “and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 ‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 “and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’
19 “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
Some bible teachers have said that they believe there are two Babylons in Revelation. They think that the Mystery Babylon in chapter 17 is a different one from chapter 18. They are saying that they both ride on the back of the beast. One is a harlot representing the apostate endtime church and the other is a harlot representing an economic system. Why do they come up with this view? I believe the answer lies in that they have not seen that all the ‘sevens’ occur at the same time. So they teach that the first woman is active in the first three and a half years and the commercial one in the last three and a half years.
Prior to doing this study I had not heard of this view. I looked at it carefully but had to reject it totally.
The woman of chapters 17 and 18 is only one woman. The lack of Godliness, the absence of the voice of the Bridegroom and economic prowess are both in the same woman.
I want to insert a ‘copy’ of this endtime scenario from Daniel 11. By reading through the events describing the last conflicts before the return of Jesus, we must compare his picture of the end with that of John in the Revelation.
Here are the elements to compare.
Daniel portrays three ‘balancing’ world powers.
The king from the north who makes a pact with Israel, and proceeds to consider himself king of the world.
An alliance of other ‘kingdoms’ who amalgamate with him at the very end.
The king from the south who disputes his rights to claim such a position and maintains some kind of a resistance to the northern king’s ambitions.
The kings of the east who are mentioned only minimally.
Revelation portrays
a beast (together with the false prophet)
Ten kings who join the beast at the end
A woman who restricts (financially) what the Beast wants to be free to do.
Kings from the east mentioned only minimally.
So now we can make some equations
- The Beast and False prophet represent the king of the north and his army.
- The kings of the east need no ‘equating’.
- The woman represents the king of the south in Daniel.
Both Revelation and Daniel paint a picture of three somewhat ‘balancing’ world powers.
If we want to apply any of this to our present age, we would have to say that the king of the north, identified in scripture, is Gog and Magog and will become in agreement with and support Israel for a price. Today we would take this to mean Russia and/or Turkey.
The ‘kings of the east’ would have to include China.
The king of the south equates with the woman on the beast. That is the only option for the last piece of the equation/puzzle.
Here is the question. What is the one balancing world power that would be restrictive to Russia’s doing what it wants in the world after colluding with Israel?
And the answer excludes China, since they are the ‘kings from the east’ and are not on the back of the beast.
We may only be left with one choice … America. But America, left to a general sense, may not ‘fit’ all that well.
We need to get a little more specific.
I will do this in question form.
Did America once hold a ‘high’ place of moral and spiritual importance originally?
Yes. They called themselves one nation under God.
Their coins contained the inscription ‘In God we trust’.
Children’s readers were produced for schools that contained whole passages of scripture.
Has America ‘fallen’ considerably?
Yes. In the 60’s prayer and Bible reading was removed from the classroom. The origin of man and the universe progressed from creationism to the theory of evolution to evolution as fact. The result has been removing God from public life wherever possible. Abortion, Homosexuality, Promiscuity, Divorce, Pornography, Dishonesty, Crime have increased dramatically in the past century.
Has America had any influence in the world culturally?
Yes. Through the arts but principally through dissemination of humanism, ungodliness, selfishness, etc. through the production of movies and television series.
Has America had any influence economically?
Yes. For many years the basis of international trade has been the American dollar.
Has America had a history of import and export?
Yes America has imported over 3.3 Trillion dollars worth of merchandise and exported about 2.3 Trillion dollars worth.
Has America been the physical location of the World Bank and the International Monetary fund?
Yes. The Bank headquarters are in New York.
Is America the location of banking for the richest elite in the world?
Yes. The elite trillionaires own and are in control of the world’s largest banks, located in New York.
Has America been guilty of taking innocent lives via abortion?
Yes. Their supreme court made it legal in 1973
Has America been guilty of purchasing slaves?
Yes. Over 12 million slaves were brought over from Africa to America. From there the number of slaves grew as the owners caused them to multiply.
18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
22 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.
23 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
The beast is finally rid of a power that has been an opponent to be reckoned with. Heaven rejoices as well.
19:1 ¶ After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
2 “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”
3 Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!”
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”
5 ¶ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
All of God’s children are in heaven while the Scarlet woman meets her destruction.
Mystery Babylon is no more. The antichrist is now free to do what he has wanted to do for some time.
This is where we will continue in the next session.