Jeremiah 50:9-13

Verses 9-13

"For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues."

God now tells Babylon that an assembly of great nations will come against her. This says with arrows that won't miss their mark, but in today's terms, arrows would connote missles. Again, the north part of the prophecy was literal the first time around, as Persia was partly north of Babylon. Now it is not literally north, but it is the same group of people. Notice that while Babylon the original was conquered by one nation, Medo-Persia (which technically was two nations in one) this says an assembly of nations will come against her. Persia was not an assembly of nations. This is clearly an end times prophecy about Babylon the Whore. Again it is the group of ten, that are the beast's counsel, that destroy her. They first “spoil” her before her final destruction by God. There are more Muslims in this country than people realize and when the call comes, they will answer. The following quotes are taken from an Al Qaeda magazine for American Muslims, which was shown to me.

“Jihad is individually obligatory (fard'ayn) on all Muslims from East to West until all of our lands are freed.” “..to my Muslim brothers residing in the states of the Zio-Crusader (ed. note, that's America and her allies such as England) coalition, whether they are from the emigrant communities, like those which live on the margins of society in the miserable suburbs of Paris, London and Detroit, or are from those arriving in America and Europe to study in its universities or seek their daily bread in the streets of its cities.

My brothers: know that jihad is your duty as well, and that you have an opportunity to strike the leaders of kufr and retaliate against them on their own soil, as long as there is no covenant between you and them.....So, my brothers, you must get ready to perform your vital role in the global jihad against the leaders of kufr......So come to the aid of your Islam and your brethren, and do your duty, and respond to the call of your Lord... Indeed jihad is a lifelong devotion, like prayers and fasting, and religion isn't a matter of taste, for us to leave part of it and perform another part.....Jihad is still obligatory on you as long as you are capable....So, my beloved brothers: remember your responsibility before Allah and what it is He has purchased, and respond once again to the call, and return to your stations, and finish what you started, and aid your religion and ummah, and be with your brothers the mujahidin, until victory while strengthened or martyrdom while on the advance.” When the Mahdi comes, he will be their Messiah, so they will do as he commands, and this is what he will command.”

Notice that they say that the Mahdi will be the Messiah and everyone will have to do as he commands.

Continuing on with the verses, God then blames Babylon for being the destroyer of His heritage. There are several ways to take this. First, if America (and we are still just assuming America is Babylon the Whore, as we can only look at the evidence and deduce) does not step forward to help Israel when the beast desecrates the temple (which they most likely will not, as our government is getting more and more anti-Israel in their politics), God holds them responsible for the desecration. Our present president has Muslim preferences, which does not bode well for America. We are the (supposed) Christian nation of the world and Israel is our spiritual sister. We are to be there for each other, as the rest of the world is against the two of us (Christians and Jews). But America is no longer (and her government never was) a Christian nation. Her people have turned from their God. Therefore as a nation she no longer sees Israel as her sister. The second way of viewing this, is that America is literally responsible and has somehow brought about the desecration of the temple. How that may be, I do not know, but it may be something she does that prompts the beast to do what he does.

America has grown fat (literally) and bellows as a bull. As for the fat part, I do not think that needs any comment for people to see the relevance. As for the bellowing, yes, we do make our voice heard, and not just the government. Americans, unfortunately, do have a reputation for being a loud, uncultured group of people. It is truly sad. The mother that bare us will be astounded, and ashamed that she gave birth to us. That would be England. She too was once a Christian nation. Her fall from being the leading world empire also came from not taking a strong stand with Israel. God does not stand with nations that will not stand with His people. Even if they are not completely against her, not standing totally with her is a mistake.

It says that Babylon is the hindermost of the nations. This word is very interesting, and it is the one which, when I discovered it years ago, was the nail in the coffin, so to speak, for me deciding that America was Babylon. The word hindermost in Hebrew is “'achariyth” which means the last or the end as in the tail end. In other words, the last one in a line. Babylon the Whore is the last of the great nations to come into existence out of all nations. While other nations have existed in one form or another for hundreds and thousands of years, America was really only settled as a nation (different tribal native groups around the country in small pockets do not count) in the last couple hundred years. We are also the greatest nation at the moment. We truly are the last nation on earth in terms of great world dominating nations to arise. Since Babylon is also the last greatest nation on the earth, those two clues (last and great) lead us to no other conclusion at this time, except that America is Babylon. Babylon is again said to become a wilderness,dry land, and a desert because of God's wrath against her. It will never again be inhabited and when people pass by her, they will hiss at her and the plagues that desolated her.

Jeremiah 50:1-8

Verses 1-3 “The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.”

The declaration is made that Babylon as been overthrown. She has been broken and overrun by her enemies, a nation from the north. The nation to the north was Medo-Persia. They have desolated her and nobody will live there again. Both man and beast will run from her. This was only partially fulfilled with original Babylon, so has yet to be fulfilled. While Babylon the Whore will not be overrun by a nation from the north, as for America that is Canada (and come to think of it, there are Muslims there, so we may be overrun from the north also), it says in other passages that she will be plundered and ravaged by the Medes, which correspond to the people north of the original Babylon, so we are still speaking of the same basic people. We are told in Revelation that the beast's counsel of cronies will burn Babylon with fire. As the conclusion was reached that this is an Islamic league, and this group comprises the lands that were originally part of Medo-Persia, the prophecy still is valid, although understood in a different way.

Verses 4-8 “In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. ( Editor's note. Something strange is happening with verse 4. Every time I try to paste it into the blog, it comes out in bold print. I cannot seem to change that no matter what I do. God must have some reason for that, so I will just leave it that way although I have no reason to know why it should be that way.) They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.”

At the time of Babylon's being desolated by the Medes, Israel (the ten lost tribes) and Judah (the Jews) will finally come back together as a single nation weeping and seeking the Lord. If, as suspected, America rescues some of the Jews, there will be some Israelis, American Jews, and people who may be descended from the ten lost tribes, who will seek to get back to Israel. They now turn to the Lord to get back to their covenant relationship with Him. God then relates their spiritual history. They have been lost because their shepherds (the Pharisees and other religious leaders throughout their history) have led them astray. They have been driven from their homeland, and all that persecute them say that they are not offending God by doing this. Their enemies say that Israel is only getting its just reward, because they have turned from the Lord their God, who is a just God, and this is their punishment which He pronounced upon them if they turned from Him. God then tells His people to get out of Babylon. Those who are listening and hear this instruction, (and not all will hear it) are told to be as the "he goats", who lead the rest of the flock. They are to gather the people up and get them out. It says that they will ask the way to Zion. In other passages of Scripture it also says that they are to go to Jerusalem. That is where they will be when the Lord returns and they will look upon Him and realize who He is and that they made a huge mistake.

Jeremiah 25 - Is America's Time Almost Up?

Jeremiah 25:8-14

“Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.”

These verses are the initial passage that begins the prophecy that made Daniel inquire of the Lord as to what was to happen to Judah next, as the seventy years of their captivity by Babylon was about to expire. It was a warning to Judah that they were going to be conquered by Nebudchadrezzar and go into captivity for seventy years. God seems to like to use the same visualizations when pronouncing judgment. Notice the voice of mirth, the bridegroom and bride, the millstones, and candles. These are all things mentioned about Babylon the Whore in Revelation, but in this case it was a pronouncement against Judah. Following his judgment on Judah, he pronounces judgment on Babylon. After the seventy years are up, Babylon will become a perpetual desolation and more importantly, it says that all that is written in the book of Jeremiah in the way of judgments about Babylon will be visited upon it. Some of the things written have not been fulfilled yet.

This and the words “perpetual desolation” are the keys that tells us that this may be more than just a prophecy about ancient Babylon. Without that clue, it would look as if this prophecy only has to deal with ancient Babylon, as clearly this prophecy was fulfilled as to Babylon being destroyed after seventy years. Therefore this must also be addressed to Babylon the Whore, as Iraq cannot be called a perpetual desolation. We already know from other verses that Babylon the Whore is going to be a perpetual desolation, so what is the big deal about this prophecy? Well, what about the seventy years? It says that after seventy years, Babylon will be destroyed in a perpetual desolation. True, ancient Babylon was destroyed after seventy years, but Iraq does not qualify as a perpetual desolation. Does that mean that there is a seventy year period that God is counting off for America before she is destroyed? This could be a crucial key to helping us understand the approximate time for Daniel's 70^th week.

God has given us several clues to a time frame. First there was the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-24. It said that when the fig tree started to put forth leaves, that the generation that saw that happen would not pass until everything was fulfilled. A generation (as discussed in other posts) is considered to be seventy years. (Again with the seventy). Some people think the fig tree put forth leaves when Israel became a nation, as God calls Israel His fig tree (Hosea 9:10). Some think it was when they gained Jerusalem in the six-day war in 1967. I believe it was when Israel became a nation. She came alive or out of dormancy again at that time. That is what happens when a tree puts forth leaves. It comes out of dormancy and starts to grow again. If that is correct, a generation or seventy years passing would bring us to 2018. (If we counted from 1967, it would be 2037, which I believe is too far away for the world situation to last.) If God began the countdown for Babylon at that time, it would again bring us to 2018. We do not know exactly when the destruction of Babylon occurs, but it probably happens quite close to the end of the 70^th week of Daniel. If that is when Babylon is destroyed, and that is when the generation ends, then the 70^th week of Daniel would have to start sometime in the next year or two. (We are not counting on a generation being exactly 70 years, and we do not know the exact time of Babylon's destruction, so we cannot exactly pinpoint how the seven year period would fall around those two things.) It is an interesting hypothesis based on these clues, but until I see the temple go up, I am not going to consider that I have anything definitive to tell me we are in it. I do know that the 70^th week must start sometime between September and December, as we know it ends in that time frame due to the feasts of the Lord. The next couple of years bear close watching.

Isaiah 47

Verses 1-15

“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.”

In this passage notice that he is not addressing Babylon, but the virgin daughter of Babylon. This is significant for several reasons. First, while it was, as always, initially addressed to ancient Babylon, the phrase daughter of Babylon implies a next generation or different person or entity. It leads us to the understanding that this prophecy is directed at the next Babylon, or Babylon the Whore, the daughter of the original Babylon. Then she is called a virgin. This indicates, as discussed in previous verses in Isaiah, that it is a country that has never been conquered. For a country to be a virgin, she has to have not been raped or pillaged or conquered. So we are again back to the idea that Babylon is a country that has never seen another country come in and overpower her. Again this seems to point to America. She has been called delicate and tender. America is a young country, a tender young virgin who lives a life of delicacy and splendor. She is told that she is about to be raped. Her nakedness will be uncovered and she will be shamed. God is about to enact his vengeance, and he is not going to meet her as a man coming to either offer his love or pay for her favors. He is going to rape her as an attacker. She has been the “lady of kingdoms.” Again, this certainly describes America. God was angry with the Jews, his people and polluted their inheritance, allowing the beast to drive them out and take the temple and has handed them over to Babylon. But what does Babylon do, show them mercy? No. Again, we see where the government of Babylon does not side with Israel, and she will pay for this. In her arrogance, she thinks of herself as a lady untouched, and has no mercy on those in need, forgetting how God has been with the people of her country helping them from the beginning. She has not learned from Israel's mistake of turning their backs on God and the end result of that. She is given over to the pleasures of life and lives without worrying about anyone else. She thinks she is better than everyone else and never believes that she can be a widow and childless. Again, this description so aptly fits America. God tells her that in the space of one day both of these things will come upon her. We know from Revelation that she sees her demise in the space of one hour. She is guilty of sorcery and enchantments. This country certainly dabbles in witchcraft to a great extent between actual Satan worship and witchcraft to the New Age beliefs, to the Eastern mysticism religions to our own false religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and all the little cults that exist. She trusts in her wicked ways thinking that nobody knows that she is in league with the devil, but she is wrong about that. Not only does God see, but those of us who study our Bibles know it also. Her wisdom and knowledge has perverted her. Evil, mischief, and desolation shall come upon her without her knowing from where or when it will come. God tells her to go ahead and take counsel from her sorcerers and see if they can save her. They will not be able to deliver her or themselves. They will all be burned up. Nobody will be able to help her.

This passage parallels Revelation in all respects. It simply says it a little differently. Again, the description at this time in history only really fits one person, America. It is hard to get away from that fact. Things could change, I suppose, but it is unlikely.

Isaiah 15, 16, 25 and Jeremiah 48, Babylon masquerading as Moab

In the last post it was discussed as to how the prophecies for Bozrah, Idumea, Edom, Moab, and Ammon might not all be referring to modern Jordan. Now comes the part that makes one think that the original passage in Isaiah 34 is not actually speaking of Bozrah and Idumea, or Jordan when it speaks of such a final and complete destruction.

As Moab, Edom, Bozrah, Idumea, and Ammon all refer to the country of Jordan today, the future prophecies regarding them would all either apply to the country of Jordan or to some other spiritual entity entirely. The interesting thing in looking at the prophecies, is that it becomes clear from viewing them that many clearly speak of the time of the Day of the Lord (the context makes it clear), and that there are two future prophecies given for this land in that day. One is that it will escape out of the hands of the antichrist when he rampages through the countryside conquering, and that Israel is allowed to plunder her after God’s people comes out of her and go back to Jerusalem after Daniel’s 70th week. The other is that she is destroyed and left a barren wilderness forever for animals to inhabit. Both cannot be true for the same place. Therefore the conclusion is that one set of prophecies is not actually referring to modern day Jordan, but to someone else.

First we will look at something that clearly refers to Jordan in the future. In Daniel 11:40-42 we read, “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with the chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” This appears to be speaking of Jordan, as antichrist is in the Middle East and conquering those countries around Israel. Egypt is one that does not escape his power. One then assumes that the countries mentioned are indeed Jordan. The possible reason that Jordan escapes his hand is because, as we learned when studying Revelation, it appears that this is where many Israelites run when the abomination of desolation takes place. Isaiah 16:4-5, “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler (antichrist): for the extortion is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” Verse 5 gives us the time for these outcasts dwelling in Moab, who hides them from the spoiler. It is when the Messiah will sit upon the throne of David in the tabernacle in truth and judging. That is at the end of times. So we have another verse that tells us that Israel will be hidden by what appears to be Jordan during the tribulation.

Here are some verses about Israel and what she does to Moab. Isaiah 11:12-14, “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” This verse indicates that Edom, Moab, and Ammon will be plundered and have to submit to Israel. As this has not happened yet, we see that this is the future assigned to these countries where the Israelites will be hidden during the time of Jacob’s Trouble. Is this Jordan? Jordan is east of Israel, so it would seem so. What is interesting is that Israel flies on the shoulders of the Philistines to the west. The only thing west of Israel that is filled with "Philistines" is America. Is this another passage that may indicate that we are the eagle in Revelation that helps many (but not all) of the Jews to escape antichrist? Many questions, not enough answers.

So far we have seen verses that say that the land of Moab, etc. will escape antichrist’s hands, because Israel will be hiding there, but that when Israel is called back to the land they will plunder these countries (just as they plundered Egypt upon their departure) and that country will come under Israel’s rule. This would so far seem to be speaking about Jordan.

Isaiah 15:1-9, “The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.” This passage is speaking of destruction. As destruction will happen to Jordan and the rest of the world, this is not clear as to whether it refers to Jordan, or spiritual Moab. It could apply to either.

Isaiah 16:1-14, “Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler; for the extortion is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears. O Heshbon and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.”

This passage tells us this Moab takes in some of the outcasts of Israel to hide them from the spoiler (antichrist). We know that Israel runs to Jordan, but we have also surmised that America also takes in Israel’s refugees. In fact, there are Christians in America who are quietly preparing to do so. I do not believe that the saving of the Jews is going to be a government sponsored project. I believe it will come from Christians who have been quietly organizing to do so. The government most likely will not be siding with Israel at all. This Moab, is said to be full of pride and lies. In fact this passage harps on the subject of Moab’s pride It is also a land of a great multitude. I do not know if the small section of Jordan that would be Moab could say that. America certainly is known for her pride and great multitude of people. It is said that Moab is weary on the high place and comes down to the sanctuaries to pray. The high places were where all the pagan altars were set up. America certainly has set up those. When disaster hits, like 9-11, where is the first place they run? Back to the churches or sanctuaries, for a week or so, then they run right back up to their high places. Moab will be contemned, which means despised with mockery, not condemned. That certainly describes America again. Isn’t it a coincidence that this passage begins with the taking in of the outcasts (which happens halfway through the 70th week of Daniel), and then ends three years later with weeping and wailing in destruction with a feeble and small remnant? Three years takes us to the end of the 70th week. This passage would not seem to be speaking about Jordan, but about Babylon the Whore, which I do believe is America at this time.

Isaiah 25:9-12, “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring down to the ground, even to the dust.” Again, we see the problem is pride and that this place is brought to dust. This description would seem to make it fall into the category that would not be physical Jordan, but spiritual Babylon.

Jeremiah 48: 1-47, “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done? Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; and tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD. They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.”

This passage seems to be an extension of the same prophecy in Isaiah 16. We see that Moab is destroyed and cut off from being a nation. It suffers this at the spoiler’s hand. Notice how many times through these verses that the word “spoiler” is used about antichrist. We know from Daniel that Moab, Edom, and Ammon escape the spoiler’s hand, so now we have proof positive that there are two separate Moabs in the end times. One that escapes antichrist's hands, and one that does not. One is the ancient land in Jordan, and the other is a spiritual Moab or modern day spiritual Babylon. Again the pride, the exorbitant pride and arrogance of Moab is her problem. Note that it says that “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity”. This is a land that has never, never been conquered and that has had an easy life of it. Well, that certainly describes America, in spite of the problems in our history of settling the country, revolution, civil war, and our involvement in the world wars and other wars. We have never suffered the way other countries have in being conquered. We do have an easy life of it, compared to the rest of the world. We do trust in our works and our treasures. People bemoan her destruction and ask how this can happen to Moab, the strong staff and beautiful rod (reminiscent of what is said in Revelation). She is told to come down from her glory. Again, this is a good description of America. The spoiler shall come upon her and destroy her strongholds (military bases). Her plains and cities will be destroyed. Israel has been a derision to her. This indicates that, as said before, the government will not be the one helping the Jews escape, but the Christians, who band together to do something. People are told to flee the cities and hide in the rocks. Also again, her lies come before God. The rest of the passage is extremely similar to the passage in Revelation about Babylon, so I will just let the reader draw his own conclusions.

There are more verses on Moab, and there are more on Edom, Ammon, and others. In looking at them all, there is destruction ahead for everyone, incredible destruction, but it seems that there are dual prophecies at work within the prophecies. Some imply devastating destruction, but not complete annihilation never to rise again. Others imply permanent destruction. I believe that the ones that imply permanent destruction are speaking spiritually of Babylon the Whore. It is difficult to separate them out at times, because they do overlap. The deeper you delve into God’s Word, the more profound the levels of understanding become. Initially one starts at the literal level. These prophecies were given to the ancient lands mentioned. But there is much more behind them than that. As one reads through the major and minor prophets, and one realizes that these prophecies have that secondary level, one starts to see that God has been targeting the Whore, who has reigned in all of these countries at one time or another, for total annihilation right from the start. She keeps putting on masks, but He knows who she is, so He is always speaking to her whether her name changes or not.

Now that it has been shown that there are more prophecies to Babylon than just the ones addressed to Babylon, we will continue following the thread of prophecies that are addressed strictly to Babylon. We can then return to those that are addressed to other nations and see whether or not they apply to Babylon.

Isaiah 34: 6-17

Isaiah 34 is about the Day of the Lord. The first part speaks of the events that we identify with the Day of the Lord, such as the host of heaven being dissolved, the heavens rolled up as a scroll, etc. The latter part of the chapter speaks to the sacrifice in Bozrah and Idumea. While this technically refers to the area that is now Jordan, and there was a marginal fulfillment of this prophecy upon that land when God used Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them due to their joining with the Chaldeans to persecute the Jews, it has not seen anything close to the fulfillment that is described in verses 6-17. Notice the similarity of the description of the destruction of this nation in the future and the destruction that is described for Babylon in the future. Again, while we cannot say for certain that this is meant to speak of future Babylon, just as the prophecy against Tyre does not directly mention Babylon, we can see that spiritually this is a place that will receive the punishment that we know from Revelation will be inflicted on Babylon the Whore. The question is whether Bozrah and Idumea (whose land is also called by the names Edom and Moab in Scripture - all of who now are Jordan) can possibly stand in spiritually in the second fulfillment for modern day Babylon. I believe it can and will show how in the course of this and the next post.

Isaiah 34:6-17, “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.”

Notice the streams being turned into pitch and brimstone whose smoke will rise up forever. This goes along with the idea of either nuclear war, which is what is believed to be the beast’s method of destroying Babylon, and may very well be what God uses to destroy her once and for all. Babylon will only be inhabited by wild animals and devils (satyrs) forever, just as Bozrah/Idumea is said to experience. The palaces and fortresses (military installations) will be overrun by thorns and nettles. The similarities are extreme and this kind of devastation is unlikely to be in all of these places near and around Israel, yet this prophecy is applied to almost every nation around her in the future fulfillment. This leads one to believe that it is not referring to them in the future, but only in the past and that the future prophecy refers spiritually to another entity, namely the whore. Also note that the reason for all of this is that it is not only the Day of the Lord’s vengeance, but it is a year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. God blames this nation for not standing with Israel. America is Israel’s only real friend, or at least used to be. We are or were her spiritual sister. Christians are supposed to view Jews as part of the family of God, albeit one who has not accepted the Messiah. Our presidents have been gradually moving away from being Israel’s friend, first expecting her to give up her land for peace, and now with a president who was brought up a Muslim and has overt Muslim and Arab sympathies. For those who foolishly accept that our president is a Christian, (his behavior declares otherwise) to them I say, nobody leaves Islam and does not incur the wrath of the Islamic religious leaders and many of its followers. Most pay with their lives. Nobody has said a thing about his supposed change of religion.

While I do not know if I have addressed this before, there are several verses that indicate that there is a year that God will allow the world to suffer as payment for what has been done to Zion. It is called the year of vengeance, the year of visitation. Now this does not have to mean that it is a year in length, but might only mean it is a particular year. However, there might be some reasons to suspect it is a year in length. God’ wrath does not last a year, as it has been shown that only the bowl judgments are God‘s wrath. Just as the terms “Daniel’s 70th week” and the “tribulation” have been shown to not be the same thing, even though used interchangeably by most people, I have come to believe that the term “Day of the Lord” refers to more than that thirty day period when God pours out His wrath in the bowl judgments. It is a far broader term. When the seventh seal is opened, and the mortgage on earth reverts back to Yeshua, the Day of the Lord starts in the sense that He has now regained ownership of the earth, so the Day of the Lord has started to commence, so to speak. But, as shown in the posts in Revelation, He does not start His reign until the bowl judgments, as the seventh seal was still part of the agreement terms between God and Satan for the earth to be redeemed. They still have to be carried out before Yeshua is crowned and starts His reign as King of Kings. As Satan has lost his grip on the world at the seventh seal and God has gained it back, I believe that is where the Day of the Lord starts, but this term does not necessitate that God’s wrath must begin there. The Day of the Lord contains God‘s wrath, among other things, but it is not the same as God‘s wrath. As one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day to God, (2 Peter 3:8), and that God has used the week in several ways (seven day week, seven year week, seven sets of seven year periods to a Jubilee), the world is also a “week” old. If one reckons the genealogies as Ussher did, one finds the world is approximately 6,000 years old. If one thousand years is counted as one day with God, then the world is six days old by God’s standards. He said the six days were for man, and the seventh was His day - the Day of the Lord. I believe the term Day of the Lord refers to the entire thousand years, beginning when Yeshua’s ownership of earth begins. If we look at the seven years of Daniel’s 70th week, we can see another parallel. The priests of the temple always thoroughly cleaned it on the sixth day, just before the Sabbath, to make sure everything was pure and spotless for the Lord’s Day. We know that the tribulation is going to be cut short according to Matthew 24: 22. Cut short by how much? We know the bowl judgments come after the 1260 days of the second half. That means that the trumpet judgments, which all come after the tribulation (which starts at the midpoint of the week) have to fit somewhere after the tribulation is cut short, but before the 1260 days are up. As the fifth trumpet judgment alone is five months long, the time period can be no shorter than that and is probably a bit longer, given the other judgments. It is not unreasonable to suspect that the trumpet judgments cut the tribulation short at 2 ½ years and that the last year is spent in the world receiving her recompenses for the cause of Zion. While it is not God’s wrath yet, it is the start, during the sixth “day” of that seven year week, for the cleaning process of the world (just as the priests cleaned the temple on the sixth day) before the Sabbath rest (millennium) of the Lord.

There are some other verses that refer to this year as well. Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This is the verse Yeshua quoted when He read the Scriptures in the synagogue at Nazareth. Luke 4:18-19 quotes this verse up through the words “acceptable year of the Lord,” and then Yeshua quits at that point. He does that because the first part of the verse was about Him and He tells them that “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” He was there to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, which is another way of referring to the year of Jubilee when all debts were forgiven, all property returned, all slaves set free. That is what Yeshua came to do, to forgive our debt and set us free. It was the year of Jubilee for them, if they would accept it. Had they accepted it, He would have ushered in His reign right then and there. It would have been a Sabbath rest for them, a true Jubilee. But they did not. He knew they would not, and planned accordingly. When quoting the Scripture, He left off the part about the day of vengeance, because that was yet to come in our day. When He does come, it will be the acceptable year of the Lord, or Jubilee.

Isaiah 63:1-4, “ Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength: I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger; and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Here is the connection between Edom and Bozrah. We mentioned this verse before in the context of the 144,000. It is called a day of vengeance (remember if the seven year week is thought of as seven days, the last year would be a “day”) and the year of redemption for God’s people. That would indicate no more tribulation.

Jeremiah 23:10-12, “For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourned; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.” Now it is referred to as a year of visitation. However, it is not the kind of visitation you really want. God’s “visit” is not going to be pleasant. These people are adulterers, swearers, evil, and even the pastors and preachers in God’s own house are wicked. That is not hard to find these days with pastors committing adultery on their spouses, (both heterosexual and homosexual), and pedophilia. Judgment begins with the house of the Lord, 1 Peter 4:17.

Jeremiah 48:42-44, “And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.” Again we see it is called a year of visitation. This time it refers to Moab, but Moab is merely another name for the area east of Israel and Judah, namely Edom/Idumea/Bozrah.

In the next post, I will show how the prophecies for this area of Edom/Idumea, Moab, and Ammon (yet another name for the area of Jordan) that refer to a complete and final destruction that leaves the place only inhabitable for animals forever, is in fact not talking about the modern day area of Jordan. This can be shown through the prophecies of Moab.

Brief interruption to discuss the Sabbath

I am interrupting my journey through Isaiah and his writings on Babylon to write about something that I just learned. If you follow my blog, you know that progressively as we reached Revelation, I kept talking more and more about the Sabbath day and observing it versus worshiping God on Sunday. As some quick background, God started talking to me about this a good fifteen years ago, and it took until I reached a passage in Revelation this past spring/summer for it to dawn on me why God was trying to get through to me on this. I came to realize that those who actually make it through all the judgments to the rapture have something different from other Christians who were martyred, and that was that they are observing their worship of God in a Messianic way instead of a paganized way. They keep the Sabbath. Rev. 14:12 " Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."  I have covered this before, and have pointed out that God says Gentiles are not to try to become Jews, (however they are not forbidden to practice Jewish customs such as observing the feasts of God). We are not required to eat kosher, and the civil and health laws are not really applicable in many cases these days. Those things which can still apply (like not getting tattoos) we still should observe, because it is good to show God our love by doing (or not doing) those things He would like us to do (or not do). The one thing that is mandatory though is observing the Ten Commandments (If you love me you will keep my commandments) and keeping the Sabbath is one of them. Because when God gave that commandment He said to work six days and rest on the seventh, I never thought that it should be an issue to insist that other Christians move from Sunday to the Saturday, if they did not feel led by the Lord, as God did not seem to specify the actual seventh day of the week, but that it seemed more of a case of it being one day out of seven. Since many Christians have to work jobs that require them to take their days off during the week, I thought that as long as they observed one day of rest out of the seven they were good. Now I am not so sure.

I had an opportunity to hear the testimony of a man who had been involved in the Illuminati, and apparently pretty high up, as he was at the level where people interacted directly with Satan himself. What this man said about the things that they were doing is all things that I have heard before and the Scriptures agree in many cases with what he said. Then he said something that came as a surprise. To digress a moment, I was, a short time ago, given a book by the Seventh Day Adventists which said that worshiping on Sunday was the mark of the beast. Now, as I do not agree with their theology (except they are right about the Sabbath) and I believe the mark of the beast is something else, I dismissed the concept. I still do not think it is the "mark", as that is something you wear on your head or hand. However, after listening to this man's valuable information I became much more concerned about the church's Sunday worship.

By now, if following my blog, you should know that I have said that Satan is most likely the angel who oversees our sun. This is why he is so big on sun worship, and one of the reasons why he is called the light-bearer, as well as the prince and power of the air. (There are other reasons also). Sunday was co-opted by Satan in competition with God to use as his worship day. When Constantine paganized the church in order to unite his empire, he moved the worship day (Christians had been observing Saturday as the Sabbath until then) to Sunday. Satan loved this, as now all the Christians were worshiping him on his day, not God's day. According to this man, Satan told his Illuminati followers that when they finally have a one world government in place, he will have them or the antichrist make a law that demands that all people worship on Sunday, as no matter their beliefs, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, whatever, if they worship on Sunday they are worshiping him. Knowing how Satan corrupts everything does this come as a surprise? God's day is the day His people have worshiped him for thousands of years and that day is Saturday. While I wanted to think that we had the freedom to move the day to fit the schedule we have, I now think I may have been too liberal on that front. I think if you don't care about the Sabbath, neither will God worry about arranging your schedule to accommodate it, as He will not force His will on us. However, if you have come to the decision to keep the Sabbath holy, God will change your life to accommodate your new commitment to Him. I can say this, because since realizing that our family needs to change to a Saturday Sabbath, God changed my husband's schedule so that he now has Saturdays off, which he has not had for many years. To arrange this, God had to promote him rapidly through the ranks at his job. He has set a record, more or less, for rapid promotions there. As there were others who had much more seniority, this was clearly God working on our behalf. So I now tend to believe that it is important to not only keep the Sabbath holy, but to keep it on Saturday as originally designated for Israel. Obviously this is a personal matter, and many will disagree, but I do believe it is the dividing line between who has a chance to make it to the rapture, and who does not, based on what I discovered in Revelation. It is your choice.

To see a complete article on Sabbath vs. Sunday worship see site below.
Sabbath vs. Sunday Worship

Isaiah 23:14-18

Verse 14-18 “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord, to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing.”

The ships of Tarshish are told to wail and howl (which is exactly what the merchant ships do in Revelation over the destruction of Babylon) for their major port of trade has been destroyed. Tyre is then forgotten for seventy years. While scholars try to make this fit the facts of what did happen in the past, it was not an exact fulfillment which leads us to the conclusion that there is a future fulfillment to this passage. Israel was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years, the number of years of their sin in not remembering to observe the Sabbath year rest of the land. (Found in book of Daniel) As the kingdom of Babylon lasted through the reign of one king’s family or dynasty, it was essentially the days of one king or kingdom. Tyre was also besieged by the Chaldees for thirteen years after the conquest of Israel had occurred. They finally came to an truce where Tyre acknowledged Babylon’s authority and paid a tribute, but was not conquered as Israel had been. Just as the Israelites were let go by Cyrus after the Medo-Persians conquered Babylon, so was Tyre released from the need to pay tribute and could go about their business on their own again. This however does not add up to seventy years for Tyre as it did for Israel, so the timing does not fit. Also, while Tyre may have traded with Israel, supplying their needs to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, the profits from their trade were not dedicated to the Lord. They were dedicated to their own purses. So this verse still must be fulfilled as the rest of the passage does not truly apply to the past.

Now comes a true conundrum. We know that Babylon is not supposed to have any descendants left alive to carry on the name. It will only be inhabited by animals. So now we have to question, is the hypothesis that this passage is speaking of modern Babylon incorrect, or is it being more specific to its target than the entire country of America (if America is indeed Babylon)? Tyre was not an entire kingdom, it was simply a very wealthy, powerful port city. Could this verse be aimed at New York City? There was a vague description that seemingly better fit New Orleans in an early verse of the chapter, but some of that could apply equally well to New York City. NYC is also at the delta of a very muddy river, the Hudson River. While it is not near corn, which is what the product sold by Tyre for Egypt was, that may be stretching the comparison further than the Scripture allows. New York City ranks as the top global city in the world by the criteria that is used to determine the value of a city in the global arena. It is the pride of America and knowing some of the inhabitants of that city, I believe they think they are the pride of the world. Can they be separated out from America as Babylon when it comes to the prophecies that do not allow for her to ever rise again? Or does this speak of some other major port city? Given the description, I cannot think of another city that fits the description of such a wealthy, proud, port city as New York City. It is the crown jewel of the world if one accepts the ranking of global cities. But then, it says in Revelation that Babylon is the city that rules the kings of the world, so NYC would certainly fit the bill with the U.N. there. Here is where it gets confusing, and it is difficult to see about what city God may be speaking, unless there is another city or country that will rise to the same great height as NYC and America in the years (and I believe they are few) between now and the rise of antichrist. It must be remembered that I am not omniscient and all of this is hypothesis based on comparing Scripture to Scripture and applying logical deduction. There is plenty of room for error here.

If it is NYC (or maybe it is New Orleans, or some other port city on America's coastline) we need to ask, “Why would God need a port city in a place where there will be no inhabitants on the mainland?” The answer might simply be that no matter what the world will be like topologically after the Day of the Lord, there is a need for a port at this location for the sake of shipping. Maybe after seventy years the world will have gotten back on its feet enough to need a port of call for merchant ships at that location, as they need a stop over port to get to their destinations. It does say that the only purpose this city serves is to ply her trade by fornicating (in this case making money by selling her merchandise) with the rest of the world, only to then hand it over to the Lord so that his people may eat and be clothed. That seems to be her only purpose to exist. It does not seem that it is a great place where people take their families to go to live their lives, but that people live and serve there simply to service the port of call. It would seem that after seventy years, the Lord has mercy on the place, (obviously from that statement, God has had wrath on it before) and re-establishes it by giving it this job. Just as tax collecting was a “dirty” job, it may be that trading for profit is considered a less than holy type of job, (it is called fornicating after all) yet a job that must be done nonetheless.

There is another reference in the Bible that may refer to this same situation. Ps. 22:28-31 says, “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” This psalm is the one that speaks of Yeshua’s crucifixion. It ends with a prophecy about the millennium when the kingdoms will belong to the Lord. At the end it speaks of a seed, a remnant that will serve the Lord. It will be accounted or time will be marked off for them as tally marks to the length of a generation, which is thought in biblical understanding as seventy years. While some say a generation is forty years due to the wilderness wanderings, that is not quite correct. They were punished forty years because the Lord punished them a year for each day in which they searched the land. They searched for forty days, so their punishment was forty years. Also, the punishment only applied to those over twenty years of age, so the people of the generation that was punished would be at minimum, sixty years old when the punishment ended. Getting back to the verse, as to what it means that they are accounted to the Lord for a generation, I do not believe that this means that their service will only last seventy years. It says that they are accounted or time is marked off for a length of a generation or one assumes seventy years, then it says that they will come and declare the Lord’s righteousness. Either they only serve the Lord seventy years, or the only other conclusion is that it is seventy years before they begin to serve the Lord. They serve the Lord by declaring the Lord’s righteousness to the people who are yet to be born. They serve a holy purpose for the Lord. If that is what is meant here, that after seventy years this seed will serve the Lord, this verse could seem to be another verse referring to this small remnant group at Tyre whom the Lord will have serve Him in holiness by plying their trade for Him.

New blog

To my readers,

I am continuing on with my end times blog, but at the same time I have felt a need to address other issues, which are not end times related. In cruising the internet, I have seen that many people have questions. Questions which are not being answered, because people do not know their Bibles well enough to give answers. Or they give answers that are not from the Bible, and therefore are not good answers. I wanted to create a place where conundrums, controversies, and so-called "contradictions" in the Bible are addressed in a Biblical way and where questions can be asked and hopefully answered from God's Word (if I can't answer it, it isn't God's fault, it's my lack of knowledge and understanding). To that end I have created a second blog titled What Does the Bible Say? Conundrums and Controversy. It is found at http://bibleconundrumsandcontroversy.blogspot.com. Please come and visit and ask questions that you want answered. I will be posting articles on various subjects over time, but welcome any questions and suggestions for articles.

Connie

Isaiah 23:13

Verse 13 “Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness;: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.”

Chaldea is another name for Babylon. The king of Assyria had only a short time earlier taken the nomadic mountain tribal people (the Chaldees) that lived further north and settled them in Babylon. The king had assigned these people to live there to incorporate them into his people for fresh blood for his armies. Eventually the Chaldees became strong in themselves and threw off the yoke of Assyria to establish the Babylonian empire. The last part of the verse is a little ambiguous as to whom is brought to ruin. I believe that is because God wants this verse to be applied in more than one way. We do know that Tyre was brought to ruin, although not entirely at this time. The Chaldees set up siege towers against Tyre from which to hurl missiles (the ancient kinds such as boulders) , and did bring the city down, although they were not the ones who brought about Tyre‘s complete demise. That was Alexander the Great. Another way to take this verse is to see God referring to the eventual destruction of Assyria at the hand of the Chaldees or Babylon, and Babylon's demise later on because of their own king. What makes it ambiguous is the use of the word "he" when referring to the one who brings the nation to ruin. For the verse to refer to the Chaldees bringing Tyre to ruin, it should say "they". By using the pronoun "he", it refers back to the antecedent "the Assyrian." To read it exactly as it grammatically should be taken, it would actually say that the Assyrian king who founded the Chaldean empire did, after they had put up siege towers and palaces, bring the Chaldean empire to ruin, yet that did not happen. They were brought to ruin by the Medo-Persians. Therefore it is obviously referring to something else. This is where seeing it as a future fulfillment of the Assyrian (antichrist) bringing about the end of Babylon the Whore becomes a viable interpretation.

Now comes an interesting correlation. If this is referring to America, we can see a clear connection. We are a people who was not. In all of history America (unlike even Central and South America where were the great Mayan and Incan empires) was never a nation (or kingdom or empire) until a few hundred years ago. There were tribal groups, but never did they become the great empires such as those further south. This land was ( and in some places still is) a wilderness when it was settled. We see how America has set up her “towers” (built her military bases) and raised her “palaces” (built her great buildings) around the country. The conundrum is, who is the Assyrian who founded us supposed to be? Now we come into some very interesting speculation. In other verses in the Isaiah, the Assyrian is another reference for the antichrist. Is. 10:14, 14:25, 30:31.31:8. All of these verses are referring to the Assyrian as the enemy of God in the end times. We know from Revelation that the antichrist is more than a human being. He is a spirit that has indwelt all of the oppressors of Israel over the history of the world. Is this verse telling us that America was essentially founded by the same evil spirit who inhabited the other seven kings of the seven "mountains" in Revelation, and who will inhabit the antichrist?

Many people would take issue with this statement, as they believe that America was founded as a Christian country. I believe it is true that God ordained the founding of America to be a land from which the gospel would go forth, but in learning the true history of America, we see that it really was not founded by Christian men as most people believe. The first “modern” settlement of America was at Roanoke, Virginia, but as all people who remember the history they have studied know, this settlement disappeared and it remained a mystery as to what happened to the inhabitants, although there are theories as to what happened. The next settlement was Jamestown, Virginia. Its settlement was not due to any spiritual reasons, but for monetary and power gain. They had great difficulties, opposition from the natives, and eventually the original settlement was abandoned as they moved inland. Their purpose remained unchanged though. The next settlement was Plymouth, Massachusetts. While This was a diverse group, as it included not only Christians, but the military people they hired to protect them, as well as servants, and other skilled laborers, the reason for this settlement was religious in nature. Its people’s original intent was not for monetary or power gain, but for religious freedom to worship God in truth, apart from the apostate church, and without persecution. God had prepared a place and the situation for this people to arrive and survive, although their life was not without severe problems. God weeded many out of this group the first winter. Because of this group, Christians like to believe that this country was settled as a Christian country. In the respect that God brought His people here to have a place where He could be worshiped in truth, they are correct, but that is not the whole story. A hundred and fifty years later when we declared our independence from Britain and set up our own constitution and country, it was a different story. While the leaders who signed the declaration and made our constitution all had the veneer of being Christians, the truth is most were not true Christians. The vast majority of them were Freemasons and Deists, including the "Father" of our country. (For Christians who believe George Washington was a true Christian, a close perusal of his letters tells otherwise. They indicate he was also a deist, like Thomas Jefferson. And he most certainly was a Freemason.) The first, that our founding fathers were all masons, is well documented. The second can be discerned by reading the correspondence which they wrote, whether official or of a private nature. This country was established by the Freemasons as an independent country from which they would eventually create the New World Order. There is much that one can find on this subject in books and online to prove this, so I do not feel the need to delve into this subject at the moment, as it will divert us from the subject at hand. The point in bringing this up at all was to show that the spirit of antichrist, through the machinations of the Freemasons, was really the founder of America and its laws as an independent nation, not a group of Christian men.

Isaiah 23:10-12

Verse 10 “Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.”

The inhabitants are told to get through their land swiftly as a river runs, to get out of harm’s way. They are no longer the mother of colonies, but Tyre’s children will be the children of their own colonies as they escape to there or are enslaved and sent there by Alexander the Great. Their strength as a powerful commercial center is gone and there is no help for them to escape what lies ahead.

The same advice would apply to America when her time comes. Nobody will step forward to help her, as everyone either hates her and will be glad to see her punished, or they will be incapable of helping her, as she is the one who is called upon to help everyone else.

Verse 11-12 “He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.”

The Lord makes the kingdoms of the world tremble when He acts. To see such a powerful, defensible city fall would shake up other kingdoms and frighten them. If she can be destroyed, who cannot? God puts the desire in the hearts of her enemies to overthrow and destroy Tyre. She will no more spend her time enjoying the good things of life. Her time is over. He calls her an oppressed virgin, which in the Hebrew means a violated virgin. She has never been conquered before in the way she is conquered now. This will be her first experience at being raped and plundered. She has been a virgin in that respect. Her people are told to go over to the other isles or colonies, but they will have no rest there either, as due to their luxurious way of life, they are contemptible to everyone else, so they are not looked upon with favor no matter where they go.

Tyre was first besieged by Babylon and had to acknowledge their authority, but she was completely overthrown and destroyed by Alexander the Great. The people who did not heed the advice to leave were killed or enslaved. They most likely were not welcome wherever they went. To call Tyre an oppressed virgin is only partially correct, as she did get overthrown twice. This would seem to imply that the future interpretation is more accurate in its calling her a virgin who has never been touched until this destruction. We know from Revelation that Babylon is a queen that has never been touched like this before. God does put it in the heart of Babylon’s enemies to destroy her “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their heats to fulfil his will.” Rev. 17:16-17a. When she falls, the kingdoms of the earth will tremble, as no one has been as great as this country in the modern age. Nor has this country ever been conquered. America is indeed a virgin in that sense. God's people are told to flee out of Babylon. They are given the warning just as Tyre was. While we do not exactly have colonies, we do have territories and our people come from all of the countries of the world, so those who listen and flee may run back to their own countries. Americans are not very welcome in the rest of the world. Most people resent us and with good cause in a lot of cases, although there are many who should be very grateful for what we do for them, but they are not. Jealousy is great among those who live in abject poverty or oppressive countries. People see us living in luxury, but also see our sinful ways and our pride, which irritates them. The parallel between Tyre and Babylon the Whore, who we presume to be America, is too similar to be ignored.

Isaiah 23:8-9

Verse 8-9 “Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.”

The question is asked as to who is making this proclamation against Tyre, the crown jewel of all the cities of the earth, whose merchants are the princes or wealthy noblemen and their business partners, who are the honorable (the wealthy and powerful) men of the earth. The answer is the Lord is the one making the proclamation. His purpose is to stain or sully the pride of the glory of the earth (or most opulent city) and to make it contemptible to all the rest of the nations.

Tyre was the crown jewel or the most opulent of all the cities of the earth. She was full of pride at her own glory in spite of the way she made her fortune. Her honorable are called traffickers. That is a contradiction in terms as traffickers is a term used to intimate underhanded types of dealings, or dealings in unsavory things such as slaves, or today more likely drugs. The world is the one calling these despicable merchants honorable, because they are wealthy and powerful, which in the sight of the world, means honorable. The Lord does not see things the same way. To Him they are worthy of contempt and punishment for their evil ways.

Again we see the connection to America. We are an opulent nation and New York City, our greatest merchant harbor city, is an affluent, sumptuous city. The merchants are the rich and powerful, but as we know from the news, the dishonest in many cases. The rich and powerful of other nations are their trade partners. Many of these rich and powerful people from our country and others make their money off of illegal trade, such as drugs. Even slavery still exists although it is an “underground” business. While not all is illegal, much that America trades in is immoral, for instance pornography in the guise of TV shows, movies, and books. The Lord will bring its pride (and America has great pride) to the dust, again as prophesied of the pride of Babylon in Revelation. America is contemptible to the rest of the world as we live our decadent, lavish lives while the rest of the world lives in relative poverty by comparison.

Isaiah 23:6-7

Verse 6-7 “Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.”

The inhabitants of Tyre are told to pass over to Tarshish. They will be forced out of their city and have to go to other cities that the merchant vessels visit. This may be a reference to refugees, and it may also refer to the selling into slavery of 30,000 of its inhabitants by Alexander the Great. Tyre had been a seller of slaves themselves, so they were getting their just desserts in that respect. It was a very ancient city whose founding is unrecorded. It was already a major city at the time of the Exodus. The inhabitants of Tyre were used to luxurious living and probably did not do much walking, but had slaves transport them in conveyances. Now they would be howling and weeping and have to walk on foot like refugees and slaves and travel to other places to live in poverty. Their beautiful city would be a heap of rubble. The cities where they would end up would probably be the colonies they had settled, or the places from which they had come to Tyre.

In Revelation God’s people are told to come out of Babylon so that they might not partake of her sins and receive her plagues. Rev. 18:4. When they do so, it will not be in luxurious style, it will be with the shirt on their back, running for their lives as the enemy comes after them with sword in hand to either take them captive or kill them. Americans are used to taking in refugees, not being them. People will have to flee back to the lands from which they came and the only way to do that in many cases is over the ocean, just as the inhabitants of Tyre would escape Tyre via the ships of Tarshish.