Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 18
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Chapter Eighteen
ENCOMIUM OF VICTORY
1 And after these things I saw another angel come
down from heaven, having great power; and the earth
was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is
become the habitation of devils, and the hold of
every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the wrath
of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of
the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of
her delicacies.
Devils are deceptions and vices. In this instance, birds_/1 are
impure souls or spirits. "... We have warned the faithful to
andicipate the appearance of the Birds of Darkness. There can be
no doubt whatever that the croaking of the Raven shall be raised
in certain lands, as it hath been heard in recent years." "Like
the bats of darkness, they lift not their heads from the couch
except to pursue the transient things of the world, and find no
rest by night except as they labor to advance the aims of their
sordid life."--Baha'u'llah_/2
But birds can also represent clean souls or spirits. "Bursting
through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing
his flight to his holy and everlasting nest."--Baha'u'llah_/3 In
Luke, in answer to the question, "'Where Lord (shall be the
kingdom of God)?' and he said unto them, 'Wheresoever the body
is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.'"_/4
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4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God
hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double
unto her double according to her works: in the cup
which she hath filled fill to her double.
(RSV translates verse 6 as
"Render to her as she herself has rendered, and
repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught
for her in the cup she mixed.")
These verses and those to follow anathematize the whore, the
corrupted Word of God and her city (institutions), Babylon.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived
deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:
for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall see no sorrow.
The whore pretends that she is the Bride, the undefiled Word of
God, and that she is married to the Lamb, that is, the living
Covenant. That the Lamb has been slain is explained in
Revelations 5:12. In 19:7 the Lamb, remanifested and alive, is
to be married to the Bride, the renewed and purified Word of God.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be
utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord
God who judgeth her.
The whore will be destroyed in the Last Day, and she will be
burned with the fire of spiritual torment.
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9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed
fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall
bewail her, and lament for her, when they see the
smoke of her burning.
10 Standing afar off for fear of her torment saying,
Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty
city! for in one hour is thy judgement come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and
mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise
any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious
stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple,
and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all
manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of
most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and
marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and
frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and
wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and
chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are
departed from thee, and all things which were dainty
and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt
find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made
rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of
her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was
clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and
decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
These verses remind us that the kings and merchants of the earth
have become rich by making use of false doctrine, the services of
the whore. Verse 10 informs us that her judgement will come at
the "Hour," the time of the end. Verses 12 to 14 describe the
commodities of luxury that have been made possible through her
activities and warn us that these things will be taken away.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to
nought.
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And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships,
and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar
off.
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning,
saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried,
weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great
city, whaerein were made rich all that had ships in
the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour
is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy
apostles and propohets; for God hath avenged you on
her.
Smoke is the visible or tanglble evidence of spiritual torment.
The destruction of Babylon will be apparent to everyone.
21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great
millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus
with violence shall that great city Babylon be
thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
The zodiacal band is likened to a
great millstone* (figure 4). The *The "fabled mill of
inexorable Precession of the Amiodhi," etc. styled as
Equinoxes will cause the Age of "Hamlet's Mill" by de
Prophecy to come to an end, and the Santillana and von
Age of Fulfillment will begin. The Dechend, Reference 58.
verse promises us that the Word of See Note 5.
God will never again be corrupted.
22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of
pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at
all in thee; and no craftsmen, of whatsoever craft
he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the
sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all
in thee;
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at
all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of
the bride shall
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be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants
were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries were all nations deceived.
These verses tell us that the music played in glorification of
the whore will no longer be heard. Nor will the machinery of
commerce be dependent upon her. The Candle of Guidance that she
blasphemously carried will be snuffed out. Marriages wil no
longer be performed under her laws.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and
of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
earth.
The whore, the corrupted Word of God, is the cause of war, the
martyrdom of the prophets and saints and of all others who have
been murdered for the Cause of God.
Notes to Chapter Eighteen
1. The Bird can also be a Manifestation of God, e.g., "Bird of
the Celestial Throne," or "Bird of the Realm of Utterance." The
ancient Egyptians represented the ba (soul) by a bird. The ba or
soul was supposed to contain the animating principles or
attributes of the person and was contrasted with the knu or
spirit. Ezekiel used the bird to describe a freed soul. (Ezekiel
13:20; cf. Psalm 24:7.) In antiquity, birds were often used to
symbolize special attributes and principles. For examples: <G
#4>
The phoenix Immorality (Egypt)
The phoenix Prosperity (Persia)
The hawk Keen vision (Egypt)
The raven Messenger (Assyria)
The owl Wisdom (Greece)
The swan Beauty (Greece)
The dove Constancy (Greece)
2. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, pp. 339-340,
181.
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3. Ibid, p. 321.
4. Luke 17:20, 37.
5. In Islamic legend, Amiodhi was the Lord of the Golden Age. He
owned a fabled mill that, in the Golden Age, ground out peace,
plenty, happiness, etc.. As times worsened the mill ground out
salt. Finally the mill ends up at the bottom of the sea where
it creates a vast whirlpool, the Maelstrom, and grinds out rock
and sand. The thesis of _Hamlet's Mill_ is that this myth has
roots in extreme antiquity and derives from the Precession.