Monday, April 19
I will show you the judgment on the great prostitute. —Rev. 17:1.
Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, has brought much reproach on God’s name. She has taught lies about God. She has prostituted herself spiritually by forming alliances with earth’s rulers. She has used her power and influence to exploit her flocks. And she has spilled much blood, including the blood of God’s servants. (Rev. 18:24; 19:2) Jehovah will destroy “the great prostitute” by means of “the ten horns” of “a scarlet-colored wild beast.” That figurative wild beast represents the United Nations. The ten horns represent the current political powers supporting that organization. At God’s appointed time, those political powers will turn on symbolic Babylon. They “will make her devastated and naked” by plundering her wealth and exposing her wickedness. (Rev. 17:3, 16) That swift destruction —as if in one day— will come as a shock to those who supported her, for she has long boasted: “I will never see mourning.” —Rev. 18:7, 8. w19.09 10 ¶10-11
Where to begin? On the one hand, the Watchtower has shown at least some insight into the prophetic mysteries, particularly in identifying Babylon the Great as the world empire of false religion. True, long before the Watchtower picked up on it, in his groundbreaking book, The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop went into considerable detail revealing how ancient Babel spawned false religion in the form of Nimrod worship, which over the ensuing centuries has morphed into the recognizable religions of today—especially the Catholic Church.
In all likelihood, the United Nations will be the agency God will use to eliminate demon religion. And no doubt the world will be shocked when God judges the great prostitute. That much is surely true. But there are a few problems with the Watchtower’s interpretation.
First, Babylon the Great has not brought reproach on God’s name. Only the Watchtower has. Not only that, the Watchtower has taught lies about God. The Watchtower is guilty of perpetuating one of the biggest hoaxes ever—the lie that Christ has already returned. Furthermore, the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses has prostituted itself with the very institution it identifies as the scarlet beast that will destroy Babylon the Great. The Watchtower has used its power and influence to exploit the flock—using them as free labor to construct grand, palatial headquarters, and kingdom halls, hundreds of which are flipped in the real estate market for cash. Lastly, the Watchtower has stumbled many making the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses blood guilty before God.
In short, the men running the Watchtower are guilty of the very same evils for which they have condemned Christendom’s clergy. With the foregoing in mind perhaps now we can better appreciate what Jehovah stated in the prophecy of Ezekiel: “According to their way I shall act toward them, and with their judgments I shall judge them; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.” (7:27)
Shall God pardon such gross wickedness and hypocrisy on the part of those who bear his name? God provides the answer in the book of Jeremiah: “And you must say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies, the God of Israel, says: “Drink and get drunk and vomit and fall so that you cannot get up because of the sword that I am sending among you.”’ And if they refuse to take the cup out of your hand to drink, say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah of armies says: “You must drink it! For look! if I am bringing calamity first on the city that bears my name, should you go unpunished?”You will not go unpunished, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,’ declares Jehovah of armies.” — Jeremiah 25:27-29
Jerusalem was once the city where Jehovah placed his name. It is indisputable that the Watchtower bears God’s name today in hundreds of languages.
The seers of Bethel have overlooked a few important details. The United Nations as it presently exists cannot possibly accomplish the liquidation of all religions. That is because nationalism stands in the way. Consider the fact that Babylon has prostituted itself to the kings of the earth. What has been her pay for conferring holiness and legitimacy upon the political rulers? The kings protect and promote their favored religions. Simply put, it is politically infeasible for a paper tiger organization like the U.N. to eliminate religion. But God will put it into the hearts, JW’s will retort. Yes. But having the will requires the way. What must happen? Before the United Nations can acquire the power to accomplish God’s will first the nation-state system must be taken down. That is what is symbolized in Revelation as the seemingly mortal wound upon the head of the beast.
The nation-state system is not as old as you might imagine. Yes, nations have been in existence for a few thousand years, but the nation-state system, so-called, only came into existence a few hundred years ago. Specifically, with the Treaty of Westphalia 1648, which recognized nations as the ultimate sovereign—not popes, not empires, not feudal lords.
The political trend over recent decades has been the dissolution of the nation-state system, such as with the European Union, which essentially has abolished the national sovereignty of individual member nations.
When we appreciate that the central banks are privately owned institutions, including the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States; and such institutions are in the process of flooding the world with money that is proportionately decreasing in value while the debt of nations increases, it should be obvious that the central banks are Trojan horses intended to bring about the collapse of nations—especially the greatest nation, America. The bankrupted nations will then be put into receivership and made subservient to a central bank and world government. That’s because in a world ruled by Satan money is fake but the debt is real.
Since the bureaucratic infrastructure is already in place it seems most likely that the United Nations will assume sovereignty of all the nations. Then and only then, in the aftermath of a colossal global crash, will the United Nations finally have the power to accomplish the words of God.
We should not imagine, though, that the system will simply collapse. War is on the horizon—a war the Watchtower claims cannot happen. The outbreak of global war will signal that Christ has begun ruling and that Satan has come down in great anger. Imagine the utter horror that will befall those who are so cocksure of their righteous standing with Jehovah!
