FromNowUntilForeverBook8.5x5.5 REV.indd

This reign will be short lived though, as God pours forth punishment and destroys this city for good. Then an angel will proclaim, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit” (Revelation 18:2). This should come as no surprise since six centuries before the coming of Christ the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed “For this is the Lord’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken” (Jeremiah 51:6-8). Not only will this involve political and military devas- tation, but economic catastrophe as well. Kings of the earth who enriched themselves from Babylon’s wealth will cry out in terror and merchants of the earth will weep because “No one buys their cargo anymore . . . In one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!” (Revelation 18:11,17). Buying and selling saturate our society. We worship at the altar of commerce. It’s no coincidence that believers and unbe- lievers alike celebrate the birth of Jesus every December 25 by feeding the big economic monster a trillion dollars. It was said of the Great Depression, “a loaf of bread was a nickel, but who had a nickel?” I’ve walked through major department stores during off hours looking at millions of dol- lars in merchandise with no customers in sight. That said, the depression will seem prosperous compared to the great trib- ulation. The stores will be full of goods, yet, no one is buying by this point, not even those with the mark of the beast. As the Word bears witness, “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all the things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you . . .The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and

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