Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
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REVELATION CHAPTER 18
KJV
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1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.
Rev 18,1-24
(46i)
Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls by his own wickedness
–
God has remembered the inequities of the great whore as the downfall of every
man and woman who has ever died without Christ. When we consider what God did
to judge Satan, He didn’t go through a lot of antics; Satan will destroy
himself, like a man bound by a tightening grip of a boa constrictor; every
time he moves the snake tightens its grip until there is no room to breathe,
and its victim dies of suffocation. This is happening to Satan; every time he
makes a move, God’s grip on Him tightens, eventually suffocating him through
His own actions. The book of Revelation speaks about a cup that contains
poison that Satan would have his enemies drink, but God will mix a double
portion according to his own standard and give it to him, and it will be a
lethal dose. By the very wickedness that he intended for others he will be
destroyed. God will have given Satan enough rope to hang himself, rope
representing a timeline, the longer the time the farther the fall until he
reaches the end of his rope with the noose tied around his neck, snapping it
like a twig.
(50g)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> First half of the tribulation
>> The seals of Satan's wrath >> Fall of Satan –
Chapters
17 & 18 are from an alternate view pertaining to the seals of Satan’s
wrath, the
activity of Satan. The destruction of Babylon may be a judgment of the
trumpets. In any case, Babylon
will be judged in the last days. We know it is a spiritual Babylon and that
the ancient city will never be rebuilt (Isaiah 13,17-22), yet it does have a
location, and that location changes even as the person of antichrist changes
throughout endtime prophecy. One location of Babylon will be Rome and another
will be Jerusalem.
(163j)
Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Used by Satan to destroy your own life – This is a powerful angel that is coming down
with his message, illuminating the entire earth with his glory. It says,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” When did Babylon fall and when did
chapter 18 take place? We know that the satanic world system was set up during
the seals, and it says a couple verses earlier in chapter 17 that God will use
Satan to judge his own kingdom in Rev 17-16,17, “The beast and the ten horns
you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her
naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire,” so it was nothing
God did to destroy the antichrist’s empire; rather, Satan destroyed his own
kingdom. The last verse in chapter 17 says, “The woman whom you saw is the
great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” The next verse is
chapter 18 speaking about the fallen city, Babylon. This is a picture of Satan
turning against himself. He takes the same medicine that he has prescribed
for millennia, and he coughed it up protesting the way he was treated by
another facet of himself, like the demoniac who bludgeoned himself with stones
(Mk 5,1-5). Satan hates himself but loves the evil that defines him. He is
self-destructive. He is the opposite of God, who is the giver and creator of
all things, but Satan is the destroyer. Satan is like the potion that is so
corrosive there is no bottle durable enough to contain it, so Satan tries to
contain himself in the harlot and the beast, but because he is the embodiment
of destruction, being the only thing he knows, his influence eats through
these vessels and destroys his own kingdom. The result is a burning city, and
God takes credit for it, saying that He has judged the woman.
(214c)
Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >>
God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives
the wicked just enough rope to hang himself – Once this Pope gets established in Rome as
the world’s messiah, he will accumulate all the world’s wealth, effectively
stealing it from the false prophet, who operates covertly, just like our
current monetary system lies in the shadows, being unwilling to reveal itself
as the true rulers of civilization. They don’t want notoriety or fame or popularity; they don’t
want to be glorified or to be worshipped like the antichrist. They only want to
become filthy rich, and the antichrist is withholding their wealth from them
and it has enraged the false prophet, so he buys a military and reduces Rome to ashes.
(249c) Priorities
>>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the
carnal perception of wealth >> The pursuit of
wealth brings a curse – The global moneylenders (the false prophet) uses
the Pope (his antichrist) to bring all the people together under one
religion, using him as their centerpiece upon which they can establish their
one world government and economy. They want their operations to run in the
background to keep people from discovering their true motives of enslaving the
people with their evil empire. Meanwhile the antichrist will confiscate all
the money and live luxuriously on the earth, spending the wealth of the
false prophet on himself. The deal they made is that the antichrist can
have all the fame, while the false prophet gets all the fortune, but then this
Pope, this man who calls himself Jesus Christ, this man of lawlessness will
see the opportunity to seize trillions of dollars and spend it on himself. The
beast (false prophet) will become enraged because the harlot has betrayed him, and he will
come with his army and destroy Rome, the throne of the antichrist. The
Babylonian empire of the Vatican will become a ruinous reap of smoldering
debris.
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Rev 18,1-21
(217l) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> You cannot control the judgment of
God >> You cannot control how God responds to
sin
Rev 18,1-8
(160a) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit Christ – Since the antichrist can hardly glorify himself
with a kingdom that is on fire, Satan will change his identity from pope of
the Vatican to Israel's
messiah and migrate to Jerusalem where a Christian revival is transpiring, which he will attempt to extinguish. It
may not be the same man
as the Pope, but the same spirit of antichrist. The antichrist will
not at first claim to be Jesus Christ to the Jews, but if he doesn't claim to be
Jesus Christ the gentiles will not receive him. So, the antichrist has put himself
in a conundrum; he cannot be Israel's messiah and
the gentile’s messiah at the same time; he can only be one or the other,
suggesting that when he was Pope, Israel did not receive him. The saints
will never receive him, which enrages the antichrist. The moneylenders are not
the ones who find Christianity a threat; it is the antichrist, this religious
figure, who feels threatened by the saints, who orders their execution. The antichrist will
pretend
to be Israel's friend long enough to position himself in the temple, and just
as Israel is worshipping him as their messiah, he will make the claim
to be Jesus Christ, knowing that if he doesn’t the gentiles will not receive
him. Consequently, the Jews will physically remove him from their temple. Satan has put himself in a precarious position
2000 years ago by leading Israel to reject Jesus Christ as their messiah, so
that in the last days he is damned if he claims to be Jesus Christ and he’s damned
if he doesn’t.
(172j)
Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism
>> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Jesus never to
die again >> Because His death was sufficient – Why does John the revelator depict the evil
city as a woman? It is because she is purporting to be the wife of the lamb,
the bride of Christ. This elucidates one very important point; she claims to be
Christian. This automatically excludes the Muslims, and it also excludes
Judaism. Remember, we are looking at this from God’s point of view, not from
the
Muslim standpoint or from Judaism. Catholicism is the
pseudo bride of Christ. The person that John is depicting in his imagery pertains more than to the
present, but also to a very
long and dark past of Catholicism and all the martyrs she has made of the
saints. God's judgment does not just pertain to the sins she will commit in the last days, but for all the
sins she has committed throughout the last
two millennia.
(183b) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >>
Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through satanic influence -- These
verses go with verse 23
Rev 18,1-4
(245k) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the
devil >> Manifestation of sin – We have previously determined that this city
is Rome in the most literal sense, yet every nation that participated in the
antichrist’s rise to power will be destroyed just like Babylon. This beast
that symbolizes the global money system has its very roots firmly planted in
the nation that has the strongest economy in the word at the time of the
antichrist’s rise to power, and as it stands today, if he were to come to
power in the near future, the United States would be the foundation of his
money system. There is a great price to pay for being “the greatest nation
in the world,” as we have all heard chanted. Satan will assimilate every
country he uses to rise to power, promising them a piece of the pie when he
achieves the glory that he anticipates. He will suck the monetary life force out of
them, just like a spider sucks the life out of
its victims. The spider catches an insect in its web, biting it numerous times
while bringing it to its den, until the insect's innards turn to juice; then the spider sucks out its nutrients and disposes of the dry carcass. That is essentially what Satan is doing to
countries in preparation for his imminent rise to power, only the nutrients he
wants is their economic wealth, which ultimately represents human labor. His
intension is to make slaves of us all.
Rev 18-1,2
(15g) Servant
>>
Angels >> The presence of angels denotes authority –
These verses go with verse 21. This is a powerful angel coming from heaven and
illumining the entire earth with his glory. It was a good thing he didn’t
go the way of Lucifer; he would have been our enemy! His power of darkness
would have been equivalent to his glory. Most likely Lucifer was much
greater in glory than this angel, since the name Lucifer translated means
morning star, that is, the brightest star in the sky (i.e. the planet
Venus), but darkness has a limit; once the lights are out, it can't get any
darker.
Rev 18-1
(68d) Authority
>>
Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >>
Against sin
(112h) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Light >> Light exposes sin >>
Light reveals hidden deeds
(245c) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Literal
manifestation of Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the
light of the world
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2&3 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."
Rev 18-2
(145j) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works
bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >>
Human state >> Their behavior >>
Immoral spirits -- This verse goes with verse 9
(163b) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Being slaves of men >>
Prison -- This verse goes with verse 13
Rev 18,3-10
(134i) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Immorality >>
Adultery >> Spiritual adultery -- These
verses go with verses 23&24
Rev 18-3
(21m)
Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for se curity >> The
love of money -- This verse goes with verses
15-24. When it says, “the nations have drunk of
the wine of the passion of her immorality,” it is referring to the nations
participating in martyring Christians. It says in verses 9,10 that the
onlookers stood at a distance in fear of her torment. Why should they be
afraid, except that what has come to her is surely coming to them, since the
whole world has taken part in shedding the blood of the saints. They too will
be judged during the trumpets and the bowls of God's fierce wrath. Do you see
how John is connecting the blood of the saints with the wealth
and materialism of her empire? They go together because the mark of the beast
accomplishes both, doubling as the people’s vote to eliminate Christianity from the
earth. When they cast their vote to buy and sell, they sold-out Christians for the sake of the
almighty dollar.
(159i) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >>
Drunkenness >> Having a party spirit
(164c) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan rules the world >> The world is his
kingdom
4-6 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 "Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
Rev 18,4-8
(29c) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> Delivered from death
-- These verses go with verse 20
(40l) Judgment
>>
God is glorified >> God defends His
righteousness through judgment
(230g) Kingdom of God
>>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of God’s judgment –
In Babylon they tried to build a tower to heaven, and God stopped them by
mixing their languages so they could no longer communicate. They would never
reach heaven; God wasn’t concerned about that, but in the process of
building their tower they would learn things that would have expedited man’s
knowledge and hastened the end of the world, where we find ourselves in these
last days, citing another incident where God made an effort to deter man’s
bitter end. Their tower didn’t reach heaven, but their sins did, coming
close enough to heaven to necessitate His judgment. Other nations and
generations have longed for the same things, who aspired to be equal with God
but did not aspire to His righteousness and holiness, who only wanted His
power and authority. It is man’s pride that reaches for heaven, wanting to
be like God. When God made Adam, He said, “Us make man in Our image,” and
so man has aspired to be like God, but because of the fall, his integrity did
not follow him in his search for God. To say that God has two arms and two
legs and has a physical appearance similar to God is irrelevant to being made
in God’s image. Jesus came to us as a human being in the very image of God,
who earlier spoke into existence the essence of man. Jesus embodied the
meaning that was in the mind of God when He created man, but those who would
erect a tower to be equal with God on a plane disregarding His righteousness
and holiness have judged themselves, like one who would step in front of a
moving train or put his hand in a turning saw blade. Man will fall according
to the level of his wickedness, based on the height that his tower reaches.
KJV
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Rev 18-4
(16ab) Sin
>> The sin nature is instinctively evil >>
Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's flesh is tempted to
deny God
(28f) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> Protect us through our
walk >> Wise conduct
(50h)
Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations
>> Second half of the tribulation
>> The saints flee into the wilderness - spiritual warfare
(Pre-rapture ascension)
(51g)
Judgment >>
Judging the Church
with the world
>>
No partiality between saved and unsaved
(99a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >>
Enduring the word of God >> Endure obeying the word of God
(105l)
Thy kingdom come >> Faith >>
Led by the Spirit into the fire >> Into the
wilderness >> Wilderness of
safety – This is God speaking as with a loud speaker
to the entire world. Remember that God has taken over the spirit realm where
Satan once dwelled as prince of the power of the air after winning the
spiritual battle over the dragon in chapter 12, throwing him to the earth.
Since then God has had access to social consciousness and is able to
communicate messages to the whole world in the same way that Satan disclosed
his elementary principles as god of this world. The angel’s message is for
His people to come out of her. Obviously, He is not talking about exiting
the city that is on fire (He wouldn’t need to tell us that), but to exit
the world system that the city represents, that is, the computer system
established in every developed nation and in every modern city. Thus, He is
commanding His people to exit civilization in general and flee to the
wilderness. This is a warning to mankind not to take the mark of the beast.
This verse gives us a hint as to where this chapter fits in the sequence of
endtime events. The city Babylon was established during the seals of
Satan’s wrath, and it will fall before the first trumpet of God’s
judgment. The period of trumpets is the time in which God will call His
people into the wilderness, led by the two witnesses who are part of the
144,000 Jewish ministry.
(168d)
Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the
devil >> Do not conform to the world >>
Do not conform to the world and meet God’s judgment
(191j) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Result of putting off the old man >>
Set apart >> Set apart from the world –
Civilization will resemble Babylon in endtimes that once existed and fell
and has never been rebuilt. Babylon represents the religion of antichrist.
God has no religion, but Satan is Catholic, and the cup in her hand
represents communion that she serves with demons and offers men to drink. To
the degree that Satan has enslaved mankind in the wicked institution of
Catholicism, and to the amount of the saint’s blood held in her chalice is
the degree of judgment that she will drink to herself. For hundreds of years
Catholicism has oppressed God’s true faith of the gospel and has racked up
martyrs by the thousands, and her wickedness has not ended. In the last days
she will once more reveal her true colors; she will be reinstated as a world
religion, her old ways resume of suppressing the truth and martyring the
saints. Everybody who refuses to fall down and worship her will be killed.
God intends to judge her, not just for the sins that she will commit in the
last days, but for all the sins of her existence throughout the age of
grace. Suddenly in one day her judgment will come, being a theme that runs
through the Scriptures. There will be signs to observe if we could only read
them, but there won’t be a neon sign in the horizon telling us that we
have six more months of our former lives. People will live as though nothing
is about to happen until one day everything changes, and the life they once
had will no longer be possible. Satan’s wrath will come to mankind, and
once his wrath is spent, God’s judgment will fall upon him for the sins
committed since Constantine, the emperor who in 312 AD made Catholicism the
official religion of Rome. In the last days God will judge those who have
aligned themselves with Satan’s evil intension to exterminate every
Christian on earth, a judgment so severe and complete that people will gasp
in amazement at the level of God’s revenge on those who would touch the
apple of His eye.
(192k) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Turn from sin to God >>
Repent >> Stop practicing sin >>
Run from sin
(209e) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >>
Righteous saved with endurance
(218e) Sovereignty
>>
God overrides the will of man >> God’s will
over man >> Reaping the harvest >>
We choose our actions, not their consequences >>
Reaping the harvest of our works
Rev 18,5-8
(48g)
Judgment >> Levels of judgment
>>
Judged according to your standard of measure –
For as many saints that this ruthless, satanic
system has martyred, twice as many people will die in the destruction of Rome
alone. Satan is the author of false prophesies, and now he is prophesying over
himself and it will not come true. So again, his wickedness has come back on himself.
Rev 18,6-8
(49f) Judgment
>>
Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses
17-24. This harlot claimed she would never be a widow;
who then is her husband? This goes back to King Ahab and Jezebel (1Kings
chapters 18-21). Ahab represents the beast upon which the harlot sits, as
Jezebel piggybacked on her husband’s authority. The harlot asserts herself and takes over
his power and authority and essentially hijacks his kingship as ruler over the
nations, just like Jezebel was more influential as queen over the kingdom of
Israel than King Ahab. She essentially took over his kingdom and exercised his
authority to accomplish her own objectives, which involved destroying all of
God’s prophets from Israel (the saints). We know that Elijah was in the
story with Ahab and Jezebel, who represents the two witnesses and the prophets
whom they hid in caves from Jezebel’s evil presence represented none other
than the 144,000. At the end of the story Jezebel is killed and the dogs came
and ate her flesh, symbolic of the fate of Babylon.
KJV
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7&8 "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, 'I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.' 8 "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.
Rev 18,7-11
(74i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and
desperately wicked -- These verses go with verses 15-19
Rev 18,7-10
(104c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through fiery judgment -- These verses go with verses 17-20. They will weep and lament for two reasons,
because their hope of wealth has just been destroyed, and also because they
know that what happened to the harlot is destined to happen to them also. God
has judged Babylon first, and then He will turn on the nations and give them
what they deserve during the trumpets and the bowls of His fierce wrath.
(215g) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without
warning -- These verses go with verses 16-19
Rev 18-7,8
(19c) Sin
>>
Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by
demons
(22n) Sin
>>
Pride comes before a fall
(142a) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament
bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about the
dispensation >> The end times
(166j) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >>
>>
The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >>
The carnal mind agrees with the devil
(170e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the
glory of man >> Greed and lust are the glory
of man >> Woman is the glory of man
(179f) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
False prophets
>> False prophets preach works and deny Christ
(181k) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Self deception >> Deceiving and being deceived – These multibillionaires and trillionaires can
be googled, so we can learn their names and faces who are virtually
controlling the world, but no one can stop what they are doing, and they are
above the law. It’s all too far above everyone’s head, and they are gaining
momentum and
control over the world every day. Their ultimate goal is to rule the world.
The constituents of the global money system want a country of their own to
rule, so they can make all the decisions, benefiting only themselves,
essentially making slaves of us all. Since they operate covertly, they need
a puppet to interface with the public and be their spokesman; the Pope is their antichrist. Note that the antichrist treats these
moneylenders as his puppets too, so each entity of Satan’s kingdom views
his fellow entity as a puppet, yet God has Satan dangling on a string and he
doesn’t even know it.
Rev 18-8,9
(245g) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s
justice -- These verses go with verse 21. What does it say in Rev 17-16? “The beast and
the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin
and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” Then
in Rev 18-8 it says, “Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the
Lord God who judges her.” One verse says that Satan’s kingdom will turn on
itself, and the other says that God will judge the harlot. Both are true at
the same time. God takes credit for Satan’s self-destructive ways, which is
not unreasonable in that God is indirectly responsible for Satan’s lack of
character which caused him to turn on himself. When Lucifer rebelled against
God and sought His heavenly throne however many eons ago and he changed from
Lucifer to Satan, God was obviously involved in that transformation. God
judged Lucifer and all the fallen angels and made them what they are now. They
are essentially black holes, restlessly searching for something to fill their
black void. The curse that God placed on them was that instead of reflecting
the glory of God, they should reflect His opposite nature. For example, God is
the ultimate light source, so Satan is the epitome of darkness; God is the
creator, so Satan is the destroyer; God owns everything, so Satan is in utter
poverty. God judged the great harlot the day Lucifer fell into
transgression. Everything Satan touches he destroys,
even his own kingdom. Essentially, God removed every aspect of Himself from
Lucifer, since he no longer wanted anything to do with Him. God gave
Lucifer his heart’s desire and it turned him into a monster. So yes, God
gets the credit for destroying the city Babylon.
KJV
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9-14 "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' 11 "And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more - 12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, 13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. 14 "The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.
Rev 18,9-21
(61k)
Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> The city of Satan is destroyed -- New York
City / Rome –
There are many cities in the world, but when this city was destroyed, it ended
all hope of recuperating their global economy. The fact that their economy was
up and running suggests that this happens near the beginning of the
tribulation, but since it is mentioned so late in the book of Revelation, it
also suggests that it occurs toward the end of the tribulation, and since it
cannot occur both at the beginning and at the end, it must be referring to two
cities being judged on two separate occasions with similar infractions against
God. Therefore, this judgment of the great harlot called Babylon is a two-city
prophecy, based on this biblical principle: Some endtime prophecies are meant
for two or more similar instances, traversing multiple eras and cycling
through various stages of completion, until the words of the prophets are
fulfilled. Some events are so much alike it would be difficult to tell them
apart if they were written separately, so God has them both written in one
prophecy, linking their sin together and their judgments, fulfillment at
different times. In this case the two cities are New York and Rome.
John Lennon said this about the two cities: “If I'd lived in Roman times,
I'd have lived in Rome. Where else? Today America is the Roman Empire and New
York is Rome itself.” The destroyed economy pertains to the destruction of
New York City, which takes down with it all the developed countries of the
world, which are all linked to a common global economy, so that civilization
as a whole will come to a sudden halt. Trucks that once ran groceries will no
longer run, referring to mass starvation. Owning gold and silver will be of no
use, for there will be nothing to buy, suggesting the economy was booming
before the city was destroyed, so the destruction of the city becomes the
trigger for the demise of the global economic system. New York is destroyed in
the beginning of the tribulation, but Rome is destroyed later. When it speaks
about the saints and apostles and prophets rejoicing (v20), God has pronounced
judgment against the harlot for their sakes, meaning that they had become
martyrs. The city of Satan is directly related to the wealth of her
immorality, meaning she acted immorally to obtain her wealth. This wealth was
the result of the mark of the beast; those who would not take the mark were
martyred. On the one hand, we have the city initiating the collapse of the
global economic system and on the other hand we have the city responsible for
the martyrdom of the saints. By this duality we derive the fact that we are
speaking about two cities, one that triggers the global economic collapse and
the other that signifies the end of Satan’s reign. After Rome is destroyed
the antichrist is out of options. It was the false prophet who destroyed her,
suggesting that Satan will destroy his own kingdom. Spiritual anarchy will
then replace Satan’s plan to take over the world.
(166e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >> Nature Of Man’s Wisdom >>
Man’s wisdom is fixed on gaining personal advantage
– “Immorality” primarily stands for
martyring the saints for the sake of financial gain, and it also stands for
being literally immoral. There is a literal and a symbolic
interpretation to many aspects of the book of Revelation, and some of the
symbolic meanings are multiple. For example, Babylon represents not just Rome,
but also the United States and even Jerusalem, except that God delivers the
holy city,
where He intends to place His name and His throne during the millennium.
Essentially, Babylon represents every nation that helped the beast rise to
power. When it says
that the harlot lived sensuously refers to financial wealth, for there is a
connection between martyring the saints and the one-world economy. The promise of the antichrist and
the false prophet is that if people will help him martyr the saints, he will
make them wealthy.
(202b) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Running to your sinful
nature >> Run from God by running to the world
–
The
people were not sad about their sin; they were sad about losing their
business; they were sad that the good times had suddenly ended. They showed
great remorse for the destruction of the city, but they showed no remorse for
their sins. Had they been sorry for their sins as for the city in flames, it
would have been a game-changer; endtime prophecy, the tribulation and the
judgment of God may have ceased. As it was, though, they were not remorseful
for their sins but were sorry they got caught; many criminals are sorry they
got caught but not sorry for what they did.
Rev 18,9-20
(186i) Works of the devil
>>
The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >>
Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Having a
perverted sense of justice
Rev 18,9-19
(165b) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at
enmity with God >> The world is accountable to
God
(175b) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >>
Using religion as a front
Rev 18,9-11
(16e) Sin >> Man’s
willingness to be evil >> Allowing sin to reign in your flesh >> Afraid
to deal with it
(188i) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >>
Grieving over your circumstances -- These verses go with verses 15-19
(201i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Man’s will over God >>
Man is unwilling to repent -- These verses go with verses 15-19. This
is definitely a city near the coast, and it says that people on ships will
see the smoke of her burning but not the fire itself. They could definitely
see the fire consuming New York City from its harbor, but in Rome it is
questionable if they could even see smoke, unless of course it was a
mushroom cloud that rises to the stratosphere. The people love their world,
and they have great regret for its destruction, but for their sins they have
none. There was no repentance, and for this reason, the third phase of
endtime prophecy is about to hit mankind like a ton of bricks in the plagues
delineated in the bowls of God’s judgment. It says in Rev 9-20,21, “The
rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the
works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and
of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor
hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their
sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” A total lack of
repentance for their sins and for the martyrdom of the saints is the reason
for God’s continued judgment.
Rev 18-9,10
(24d) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness
creates anxiety -- These verses go with verse15
Rev 18-9
(145j) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Demon possession >>
Human state >> Their behavior >>
Immoral spirits -- This verse goes with verse 2
Rev 18-13
(163b) Works of the devil
>>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> Being slaves of men >>
Prison -- This verse goes with verse 2
KJV
NAS
/ Navigation Bar
15 "The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
Rev 18,15-24
(21m)
Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The
love of mon ey -- These verses go with verse
3. Some
of the prophecies fit snugly with Rome being the city of Satan, but others
don’t, and for this reason New York helps to explain some of the prophecies.
They are judged together as a single judgment at different times and places.
Materialism and oppression are often found together, being the root of her
judgment, coupled with the sacrifice of morals and ethics in order to become
wealthy by paying employees very little or nothing at all, referring to
slavery. Martyrdom of the saints is also involved in her judgment. Basically,
what this passage is saying is that all forms of sin come from one source: the
love of money and materialism. When we look at the reign of Hitler, his goal
was to expand the borders of Germany and rule the entire world. In his mind,
he was trying to do the world a favor by eliminating certain undesirables and
people groups that he considered deleterious to human civilization. It is
likely that civilization today is the greatest that man has ever known, but it
is not real; it is based on a false economy, on a fractional reserve, fiat
money system. The Federal Reserve has “printed” trillions of dollars in
order to have the standard of living the people demanded. The consequences for
the destruction of New York City will have a ripple effect that will encompass
every developed nation of the world, exempting the ultra-rich who become
unimaginably wealthy. They tilted the system in their favor so all the money
ran downhill into their pockets and left almost nothing for anybody else, and
by this they will attempt to rule the world.
(146e) Witness
>>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon
possession >> Casting out spirits with a word
Rev 18,15-21
(61g)
Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Babylon—Capital city of the
abominations of the earth / Home town of the Jezebel spirit – Here we have shipmasters standing on the deck
of ships watching the smoke of the great harlot’s torment. This word
picture considerably narrows down the identity of this city, completely
eliminating Jerusalem from being Babylon as some people claim, which is a landlocked country.
As a shipmaster standing on deck, he could see the smoke of Rome from nearly
every side of the Italian peninsula. Some say Babylon is New York, which may not actually be false; however, the harlot can be
none other than Rome. New York may also burn for helping the antichrist and
his false prophet come to power. And then there are some who say that the
burning of Rome has already occurred, but they don't understand God and His principles. The timelessness of endtime prophecy is exemplified in that some of the events that take place in the last days have already occurred to illustrate several predictions for the future, implying that they will happen again, taking on different forms, extenuating from different circumstances, and specifying a different age.
Rome is essentially the only city this could be, and if it is Rome, then its
religion could only be Catholicism. If the antichrist's religion is Catholicism then the antichrist
could only be the
Pope. Also, when you go back to the book of Daniel and see the nations that
are involved in this beast, every one of them was a world empire at one time. Rome
for that reason alone must be included, the city built of seven hills. As
with Babylon, once Rome is destroyed, it will never be rebuilt, any more than
the angel's heavy millstone will be retrieved from the bottom of the ocean.
(173d)
Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism
>> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Worshipping
idols –
There
are other prophecies in Revelation that correlate with the judgment of the
great whore being Rome. For example, Rev 17,1-6 describes the great whore as a
woman with a golden cup from which she drinks the blood of the saints. It
sounds much like communion, which would indicate Catholicism, which would
implicate the Vatican of Rome. Huge numbers of people will buy into
Satan’s kingdom, obviously the entire Catholic world, including billions
of people. Then there will be many others who have no vested interest in
Catholicism who will feign loyalty to the Pope, who merely want to save their
own skins, being threatened by the mark of the beast, unable to buy or sell
without it in the new global economy that promises to be the greatest
materialistic time in human history, or else be killed if they don’t take
the mark. The
fact that shipmasters and sailors were mentioned speaks volumes about the
identity of this city that God has judged. It was located near a port. That
excludes Jerusalem since Israel is a landlocked nation, but brings Rome right
into focus.
Rev 18,15-19
(16f) Sin
>>
Man’s willingness to be evil >> Using sin to
achieve your goals – The great city, Babylon is a symbol of the
world system at that time, anyone who partakes of her wealth partakes of her
sin, in that people then will be required to take the mark of the
beast in order to participate in that economy.
(74i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and
desperately wicked -- These verses go with verses 7-11
(188i) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >>
Grieving over your circumstances -- These verses go with verses 9-11
(201i) Denying Christ
>>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Running from God >> Man’s will over God >>
Man is unwilling to repent -- These verses go with verses 9-11
Rev 18-15
(24d) Sin
>>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness
creates anxiety -- This verse goes with verses 9&10
KJV
NAS
/ Navigation Bar
16-19 saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, 18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?' 19 "And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!'
Rev 18,16-19
(215g) Sovereignty
>>
God controls time >> Suddenly >>
The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without
warning -- These verses go with verses 7-10. The
city was destroyed in one hour, suggesting that the cause was probably not
conventional warfare, though it could have been carpeted with incendiary bombs
in an air raid as with Dresden Germany, or it could have been a nuclear bomb
exploded in the center of the city. With carpet-bombing, there is much
destruction, but the city itself is usually not completely destroyed, whereas
a nuclear bomb could level the entire city.
Rev 18,17-24
(49f) Judgment
>>
Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses
6-8. God
has always had His prophets and witnesses. The apostles and prophets in verse
20 are not those who lived two thousand years ago, but are apostles and
prophets of the last days. Some think the dispensation of apostles and
prophets has ended, but there have always been prophets throughout the entire
age of grace and obviously during the time of the Old Testament. The purpose
of Old Testament prophets was to tell off the king and to correct the teachers
of the law and to write the Scriptures, whereas the purpose of the apostles
and prophets of the new covenant was to tell off heretics, to establish and
lead churches and to write Scripture. The Church has always had a prophetic
witness, and if that doesn’t seem true, it is probably because nobody
listened to them or were martyred. In the last days the apostles and prophets
that God will raise, neither the Church nor the world will be able to ignore,
just like in the days of the old covenant; they tried to ignore them, but they
continued getting in the king’s face and in the face of deceivers and
idolaters and the false prophets and those who loved and practiced lying, who
led Israel astray. So it will be in the new covenant in the last days that the
apostles and the prophets will confront the Church today, and they will either
listen to them or God will institute another plan for those who reject His
word without reference to salvation.
Rev 18,17-20
(104c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by fire >>
Purified through fiery judgment -- These verses go with verses 17-20. We
know that a prophet’s purpose is to protect, maintain and promote the word
of God, and the apostles have a similar ministry, only in addition to that
they are also church builders. The apostle Paul was the main apostle in that
he promoted the gospel of Christ in the world and planted churches wherever he
went. The main apostles of the last days will be the Jewish church consisting
of the 144,000 with two witnesses who will lead church planting. These 144,000
are also called the woman and she will be running for her life, and this verse
says, ‘Rejoice, because God has pronounced judgment against your enemies,’
suggesting that some of these Jewish apostles and prophets will be martyred
along with their children, the gentile saints throughout the nations. God will
send the enemies of the Church to hell who have participated in martyring His
people, so they will pay the price of eternal damnation for causing the
children of God to stumble.
Rev 18,18-21
(200m) Denying Christ
>>
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> He
is against Christ who does not receive Him >>
Whoever receives the world is against Christ
Rev 18,19-24
(189f) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Martyr >>
Martyrs bring about the judgment of God –
Jesus said it would be better for you to have a heavy millstone hung around
your neck and be cast into the depths of the sea, than to cause any one of
these little ones of mine to stumble (stumble: causing them to sin or causing
them to die). The implication of the millstone, then, is that when the angel
threw it into the sea, a rope was tied to it and at the other end of the rope
was the neck of the great whore, which was responsible for martyring the
saints and apostles and prophets. It would actually be fair to say that
martyrdom was the main reason for endtime prophecy in the first place. Had
Satan stopped short of martyring the saints, endtime prophecy may have never
been written, but because of the systematic murder of God’s children,
endtime prophecy was written and will be fulfilled. Once Satan and his
antichrist and all those who follow him have caused God to stand from His
glorious throne at the martyrdom of His saints, He will also judge the world
for their murders, sorceries, immorality, thefts, idolatry and lying that is
transpiring on the earth (Rev 9-21; 22-15), but these things have happened
throughout all time, and they never caused God to stand from His throne until
now. It is when they began martyring His children that He took notice.
KJV
NAS
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20-22 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her." 21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. 22 "And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer;
Rev 18-20,21
(28i) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> God crushes those who
make us stumble –
It says what happens to Babylon and how it is destroyed by fire in Rev 17-16.
One aspect of Satan’s kingdom will hate the other and will make war with it
and Satan will end up destroying his own kingdom. This is actually a worse
judgment than God could ever impose on him, yet this is in fact a judgment in
that God has interwoven the trait of self-destruction into the fabric of
rebellion against His authority. It completely shuts Satan's mouth by shutting
the door on any possibility of ever defeating God; otherwise Satan could say
that if it weren’t for the Lord's intervention he could have potentially
defeated Him, but to defeat himself proves that any confrontation against God
is destined to fail by his own hand. Satan's hope was possibly to hold the
human race hostage for a promise form God to pardon him and escape the
sentence of eternal damnation, but now he has absolutely no hope of succeeding
at that.
(29h) Gift of God
>>
God is on our side >> He fights our battles for
us –
The angel will throw a great stone into the sea as an analogy depicting the
destiny of Satan, his city and those who worship him. Just as the rock will
never be retrieved, so this satanic system and the demonic world of evil in
all its wickedness will never revive. The devil’s influence on mankind is
finished, and his spiritual reign of terror has ended. God intends to lock up
Satan for a thousand years and then release him after the Millennium just to
show mankind the influence he has had on the world since the beginning of
time. There will be a thousand years of peace, and after Satan has been
released, that tranquility will be broken by a sudden need to overthrow
Christ’s throne, and then fire will descend on His enemies and consume them
all. Take away Satan’s influence and man lives in relative peace; the fact
that Satan was here on the earth all this time is the cause for most of the
horror that he has inflicted on the earth and its inhabitants.
(39ja) Judgment >>
Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated this world
system >> Jesus defeated people who serve Satan –
God pronounced judgment against the harlot for the sake of the apostles,
prophets, and all those who resisted her religion, referring to the Catholic
Church. We know that the original apostles were all dead before the Catholic
Church came into existence, so we are talking about an entity that transcends
the Catholic Church. What then is this entity of the whore? We know for sure
that it is Satan the dragon; the entity the dragon used is a manifestation of
the spirit of antichrist, a false version of the True Church. This satanic
manifestation originated from a single thought: Jesus Christ did not come in
the flesh. 1Jn 4-2,3 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit
that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every
spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the
antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already
in the world.” The Catholic Church has always believed that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh (Council of Nicaea, 325 AD); therefore, the antichrist,
which is inextricably linked to the Catholic Church, will reject the
fundamental beliefs of Catholicism and deny that Jesus came in the flesh.
Daniel 11-37,38 says, “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or
for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he
will magnify himself above them all. But instead he will honor a god of
fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold,
silver, costly stones and treasures.” For the antichrist to reject every god
but to magnify himself and then to honor a god of fortresses, means that the
antichrist is that god of fortresses that glorifies himself and the fortress
refers to the city, Babylon.
(209g) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties --
This verse goes with verse 24. Christ
will command His angels to grab the antichrist and the false prophet and throw
them into the lake of fire, where they will be tormented day and night forever
and ever, like a heavy millstone that was thrown into the sea that was
impossible to return to the light of day; those who serve Satan will
eventually be thrown into it with them. They will be completely forgotten, but
the lessons that the saints of heaven will have learned from the experiences
of this life will remain. We will remember that there was a satanic force
against mankind inciting him to wickedness and that the whole world followed
him, except those in heaven who belong to Christ. They are the only ones
throughout the ages of mankind that escaped his grasp. Their numbers in heaven
will range into the millions, but the numbers in hell will be billions who
lived and died, and they will disappear from the land of the living.
Rev 18-20
(29c) Gift of God
>>
God is our advocate >> Delivered from death
-- This verse goes with verses 4-8
(242a) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Killing God’s prophets -- This
verse goes with verse 24
Rev 18-21
(15g) Servant
>>
Angels >> The presence of angels denotes authority –
This verse goes with verses 1&2
(245g) Kingdom of God
>>
Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >>
Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s
righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s
justice -- This verse goes with verses 8&9
KJV
NAS
/ Navigation Bar
23&24 and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth."
Rev 18-23,24
(181j)
Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception
>> Deceitfulness of sin – Why should God judge the world if people were
deceived? Actually, God will judge them for their willingness to be deceived.
A person who is deceived wants to believe what he believes. Most of our deceptions come from our temptations to believe a
lie, and if they came from temptations, then there must have been a promise of
reward, and that false promise was none other than wealth. From the great men who became
wealthy from the harlot, catering to all her wishes and wants, all
the way to the little guy that held out his hand to receive the mark, they sacrificed the saints for an opportunity
to participate in Satan’s global economy, knowing all the while the
implications of what they
were doing.
(134i) Temple
>>
Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the
body >> Immorality >>
Adultery >> Spiritual adultery -- These
verses go with verses 3-10
Rev 18-23
(183b) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >>
Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through satanic influence -- This
verse goes with verses 1-8. The
spirit of antichrist has been in the world from the very beginning; it is a
spirit that diametrically opposes the very essence of God. This satanic entity
called the dragon (or serpent) manifested itself in the last days as the great
whore and used Catholicism as a front to resist the will and purpose of God
with the result of martyring many saints. God has executed judgment against
her not only because of the martyrs she accumulated in the last days but for
the martyrs she accumulated over the last 2000 years and before that. The
spirit of antichrist existed even in Old Testament days, which led Israel
astray to believe in the many idols and religions of the neighboring countries
to worship Baal in the days after King David, sacrificing their children to
the fertility gods, and then later mutating to paganism, which followed man
across covenants and now attempts to worship God through various incantations,
seeking His favor through mental ascent without the need for faith and love.
Rev 18-24
(209g) Salvation
>>
The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with
difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties --
This verse goes with verse 20,21
(242a) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >> Killing God’s prophets -- This
verse goes with verse 20. When it says, “In her was found the blood of
prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth,” it
includes more than just the last days of those who refused to take the mark of
the beast, but also throughout the centuries of Catholicism’s crimson past
of all the saints and prophets whose blood has been shed on the earth. Jesus
said in Mat 23,33-36, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape
being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and
teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your
synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the
righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel
to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the
temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this
generation.” Jesus spoke these words to the Jews, but what difference is
there between the Jewish heart that has turned to stone and the gentile heart
that has turned to stone? Take another look at what Jesus said, “I tell you
the truth, all this will come upon this generation” He was referring to two
generations at the same time, both His own and the the last
days. He was saying that the
sins of man from Adam to the last-born sinner will be judged on the cross though His own
blood, but for Jesus to send them "prophets and wise men and
teachers," He would have had to send them after his resurrection to the
Church. Who in
the Church would kill their own prophets and wise men and
teachers but the Catholic Church? After Jesus' blood was spilled and people went on
willfully sinning, God
will make mankind pick up the tab in the last days. So many Christians were
killed in the name of truth and righteousness over the last 2000 years,
Protestants who refused to accept the heresies of the Catholic Church, this fraudulent
church has condemned them as heretics, though the Catholics themselves were
the true heretics. According to verse 24, God reduced the Vatican
to ashes because of the martyrdom of the saints. The bloodiest wars that man
has ever fought have come and gone, but the violence did not trigger the end
of days until
they martyred God’s people who worship Him in spirit and truth.
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