In our recent series on the Book of Revelation, we showed that God is now bringing judgment upon the world-wide system called “Mystery Babylon.” America was conquered fully by this system primarily through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 (signed into law in 1914). This neo-Babylon soon spread throughout the entire world and controls nations through the World Bank and the IMF.

This captivity is somewhat like the original captivity of Jerusalem in the days of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah. The original captivity was only 70 years long. The modern captivity is also 70 years in length, but it is modified by other factors, primarily the “Hezekiah Factor.”

Those of you who have studied my book, Secrets of Time, know about the Hezekiah Factor. It is based on the story of King Hezekiah of Judah in 2 Kings 19 and 20. It is too complex to explain in this bulletin, but in short, it is a 10-year factor in which God “turns back the clock.”

2 Kings 20:11 tells us that God turned the time back 10 degrees (lit. “steps”) on the sun dial which Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, had built in Jerusalem.

I showed in Secrets of Time how this was applicable to the modern fulfillment of prophecies. In the case of the Babylonian captivity, the 70 years would have ended in 1983-1984. However, with the Hezekiah Factor, Babylon’s time did not conclude until 1993-1994. At that point, God began to raise up spiritual warriors to pray for our release from this Babylonian captivity.

The year 1993 was also important in that it marked the end of the 40 Jubilees of the Church under Pentecost, which had begun in 33 A.D. in the book of Acts. As most of you know, 40 Jubilee cycles is 40 x 49 years, or 1,960 years in all. This time cycle is very important, because it marked the beginning of the end of King Saul, the Pentecostal type, who reigned 40 years over Israel.

The year 1993 also marked the end of the Laodicean (seventh) church in Revelation 3. The time of the seven churches was also the time of the seven seals in the book of Revelation. So 1993 ended the seven seals and began the time of the seven trumpets, one per year.

God led us to conduct a seven-year prayer campaign (1993-2000) called the Jubilee prayer campaign. This was patterned after the battle of Jericho (Joshua 6), where the people were told to blow “seven trumpets of Jubilee” (lit. translation) for seven days. Then on the seventh day, they were to march seven times around the city, for a total of 13 trips around Jericho.

The year 1999-2000 was the seventh year of this Jericho march, and it also began the final seven times around the city. These years have been marked by the seven bowls (vials) of Revelation 16. The full 13 trips (years) extend from 1993-2006.

The sixth bowl has now been poured out prophetically upon the “Euphrates.” If you recall FFI #197, we told the history of the conquest of Babylon and how the Medes and Persians dried up the river Euphrates in order to conquer Babylon. The sixth bowl thus marks the final siege of Mystery Babylon. The seventh bowl (Rev. 16:17) speaks of the actual fall of Babylon.

This is a very brief summary of what we have seen and heard in recent years.

Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans

In our last FFI, we spoke of Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005 and flooded the city. New Orleans is a type and shadow of Babylon, and so these events have great significance. I heard President Bush call New Orleans “that great city” at least twice on national television news. That is what John calls Babylon in Rev. 17:18 and in 18:10, 16, 18, 19.

Of Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah says in 50:13,

¹³ Because of the indignation of the Lord, she will not be inhabited, but she will be completely desolate. . . .

The ancient city of Babylon today is uninhabited. Even though Saddam Hussein was attempting to rebuild it, using bricks with his own name inscribed on them, the workmen themselves would not stay the night in that place. It has been uninhabited, because the people believe it is haunted by evil spirits. Mystery Babylon has the same problem, as we read in Rev. 18:2,

² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

When National Guard soldiers searched the houses in New Orleans for survivors, they reported encountering evil spirits. One CBS headline for Sept. 23, 2005 read, “Guardsmen Sense Ghostly Presence in New Orleans.” The opening lines read:

“The presence of the supernatural and the influence of voodoo long have been synonymous with New Orleans.

“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, members of the U.S. military are saying that there’s something spooky going on, and it’s not just images of death and destruction that’s haunting them.”

They had to call in Christian chaplains to clean out the houses by prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. If you want to see this CBS News report and actual video recordings of soldiers praying in the name of Jesus Christ, go to:

http://cbs5.com/seenon/local%5Fstory%5F259121855.html

If they should close this page, you could also do a web search for “New Orleans spirits.”

The mayor of New Orleans also serves as a type in this prophetic pattern. His name is Ray Nagin. Nagin is an old Sanskrit word that means “snakes.” (Naga is “snake.”) We know that Babylon is ruled by “that old Serpent” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). This is why the Harry Potter book, Half-Blood Prince, uses the name Nagini.

The Evacuation of Babylon

Jer. 51:1, 2 says in Young’s Literal Translation,

¹ Thus says Jehovah; Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, and the inhabitants of Leb—My withstanders, a destroying wind. ² And I have sent to Babylon fanners, and they have fanned it, and they empty its land, for they have been against it, round about—in the day of evil.

It is interesting that New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, “a destroying wind.” Shortly after this, the mayor of the city ordered the city to be entirely evacuated. Of course, New Orleans does not need to be permanently uninhabited to fulfill the type. The real goal is to make Babylon uninhabited—that is, to convert all the current “citizens” of Babylon to the Kingdom of God and thus make Mystery Babylon uninhabited.

In the original fulfillment of Babylon, God used non-Christians to empty the old city. In modern times, God will use Christians to empty Mystery Babylon, and it will be done by teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rev. 18:20-23 speaks of this as well.

²⁰ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her. ²¹ And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. . . . ²³ because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery [pharmakeia, “witchcraft, voodoo, drugs”].

Jer. 51:6-8 says,

⁶ Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life! Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her. ⁷ Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad. ⁸ Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken. . . .

Babylon is called “the golden city” in Isaiah 14:4. New Orleans is also called “the golden city.” Its superdome had a gold top before it was destroyed by Katrina. In the name “orleans” we see or, which is French for gold.

Rev. 17 speaks of Mystery Babylon in similar terms, saying in verse 2,

² with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.

Verse 4 continues,

⁴ And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality.

Likewise, New Orleans is the “home of the Saints.” This prophetically speaks of the believers in captivity to Babylon. Yet after Hurricane Katrina, the newspapers made mention of the fact that their football team had been out of town when the storm hit. The headlines read, “The Saints missed the wrath of Katrina.”

This speaks prophetically what Jeremiah wrote in 51:6, telling the believers to “flee from the midst of Babylon.” In Jer. 51:45, we read,

⁴⁵ Come forth from her midst, My people, and each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the Lord.

The question arises, How does one flee Babylon today, since it is a world-wide system? Where can one go?

The key is found in Jer. 51:50, which says,

⁵⁰ You who have escaped the sword, Depart! Do not stay! Remember the Lord from afar, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.

In ancient times, the people were to leave Babylon and go to Jerusalem. Today, we are not leaving the old city of Babylon, nor are we going to the old city of Jerusalem. We are leaving Mystery Babylon and going to the city of New Jerusalem. God has cast out the old city of Jerusalem, for it is the “bondwoman” (Gal. 4:25-30). There is no point in going from one house of bondage to another. We are the children of the free woman (Sarah), which is the New Jerusalem.

Much of the evangelical Church today is in bondage under Hagar, because they have placed themselves under the dominion of Hagar. This is true of those who believe that Jesus Christ will go to the old Jerusalem to set up His kingdom, that the Jews are God’s chosen people, or that Christianity is a sect of Judaism that takes the Talmudic traditions and adds Jesus to them. To such people also comes the call in Rev. 18:4,

⁴ . . . Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues.

I believe that Jerusalem will eventually be destroyed by a nuclear blast on one of the feast days, probably on the feast of trumpets coinciding with the first resurrection. If Christians are in Jerusalem at that time, thinking that they must go there to witness the coming of Christ, they will probably not live long enough to be either disappointed or surprised. Jerusalem will be destroyed and not be rebuilt, for the prophet wrote in Jer. 19:10-12,

¹⁰ Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you [the elders of Jerusalem] ¹¹ and say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Just so shall I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth [“burning”, also called gehenna] because there is no other place for burial. ¹² This is how I shall treat this place and its inhabitants, declares the Lord, so as to make this city like Topheth.

This was only partially fulfilled in the days of Jeremiah when the Babylonians destroyed the city in 586 B.C. The old Jerusalem was repaired later under Nehemiah. The city was again destroyed in 70 A.D. by Rome’s armies. But it was again repaired in later years.

The day is coming when the city will be destroyed in such a way that it “cannot be repaired.” The alternative is to believe that the Scripture CAN be broken. But I do not hold to such a view.

The old Jerusalem will share the fate of Babylon. In fact, Rev. 12:8 identifies Jerusalem with both Sodom and Egypt. Egypt is the “house of bondage” (Ex. 30:2), and so Jerusalem is in bondage with her children (Gal. 4:25). Likewise, Sodom was divinely destroyed by fire (Gen. 19:24), and Babylon was to be treated like Sodom and Gomorrah (Is. 13:19). Jeremiah 23 tells us that Jerusalem was also like Sodom and Gomorrah, and for this reason God was going to cast away Jerusalem. Jer. 23:14 and 39,

¹⁴ Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: the committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah. . . . ³⁹ Therefore, behold, I shall surely forget you and cast you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. [See also Jer. 7:12-16] ⁴⁰ And I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.

This event will be final casting out of the bondwoman and her son to make way for the New Jerusalem. As Paul explains in Gal. 4:30,

³⁰ Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall NOT be an heir with the son of the free woman.

The Inheritance

We were led to hold a Tabernacles conference in Denver, Colorado from Sept. 23-25, 2005. It was held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westminster, a suburb of Denver. When I arrived at the hotel, I was surprised to find that the DoubleTree Hotel chain was based in New Orleans, and their restaurant, the Lafitte, featured “Real New Orleans Food.” Of course, this included “Voodoo Shrimp.” The restaurant was named after the pirate, Jean Lafitte, who was part of the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.

It was like being in New Orleans. I knew immediately that something prophetic was about to be revealed.

As the week end proceeded, it became apparent that the theme of the conference was “Receiving the Inheritance.” In essence, God brought us to New Orleans (in Denver) in order to receive our inheritance. What is the connection? New Orleans is a type of Babylon, the golden city, ruled by the snake (Mayor Nagin), where voodoo and witchcraft [pharmakeia] is a way of life.

Mystery Babylon is a world system today. New Orleans is a type of Babylon and thus represents all nations. In Psalm 2:8, we read,

⁸ Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

In essence, we were led to go there and ask God to give us the nations for our inheritance. As Babylon falls, we must realize that it is the SYSTEM that is going to be destroyed. Most of the PEOPLE will be set free from the bondage of Babylon as they are converted and made citizens of the Kingdom of God.

The nations themselves will not be destroyed, though there will no doubt be a number of “natural” disasters which are designed to destroy their idols and their idolatry (Jer. 51:47) in worshiping other gods.

But inheriting the nations is not about destroying them. It is about setting them free by placing them under the authority of King Jesus and those who rule with Him. Rev. 20:6 says of the overcomers that they “will reign with Him for a thousand years.” Rev. 5:10 clarifies this, saying,

¹⁰ And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth.

To reign with Christ on the earth means to rule nations, not as tyrants, but in love, as government under God was meant to be done. Rev. 11:15 says,

¹⁵ And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.

“The kingdom of the world” is called Babylon because that city was the head of the image seen in Daniel 2. It was the Babylonian succession of empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the “little horn”) that was given jurisdiction over the earth after Israel and Judah forfeited their right to rule through continuous violation of God’s law. God judged them by giving the earth to “beast” systems (as described in Daniel 7 and 8).

Yet these beast systems of Babylon were not destined to rule the earth for all time. Their time was limited, and Daniel 7:27 speaks of the end of these days, saying,

²⁷ Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.

This is the time foreseen in Rev. 11:15, quoted above. It speaks of the time that all nations are ruled by Jesus Christ. It will take place on the earth, as Rev. 5:10 tells us. The overcomers who rule with Him will do so on the earth as well, for “the meek will inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).

The earth will not be burned up, but God vowed many years ago that “all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:21).

The nations will be judged, but not destroyed, for they are our inheritance. Our prayer is the same as David’s in Psalm 67,

¹ God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us [like Moses in Ex. 34:29]— ² that Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations. . . ⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for Thou wilt judge the peoples with uprightness, and guide the nations on the earth. . . ⁷ God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.

And so in Denver we asked to receive our inheritance, so “that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.” This is the desire of our hearts.