Chapter 14: The Seventh Bowls in 2006

On the first day of Tabernacles, October 7, 2006, about 35 people came to Babylon, New York as witnesses when I poured out the seventh bowls of water and wine. In fact, I was led to pour out water and wine at four different cemeteries in that area—two Catholic cemeteries, one Jewish, and one at the nearby Amityville cemetery. The city has been made famous by the movie, The Amityville Horror.

Amityville is sacred to the witches of Wicca, because it was where “the father of modern Wicca,” Ray Buckland, spread witchcraft throughout the world. Buckland and Melissa Joan Hart, the owner and producer of Sabrina the Teenage Witch television show, popularized witchcraft a few decades ago.

http://www.truelegends.info/paranormal/sun.htm

Obtaining Legal Cause Against Babylon

On June 4, 2005 the daughter of a friend here in Minnesota took her own life after being on prescription pills for depression. Her name was Ann. She had been a music teacher at Queens College, and her funeral was at her church—First Presbyterian of Babylon, New York. She then had a second funeral in Mankato, Minnesota, which my wife and I attended at her mother’s invitation.

We had already received our first witness two months earlier that we were to pour out the seventh vial at Babylon, NY. But at the funeral, when the officiating minister spoke of Babylon, NY, we knew that something important was being revealed here. I felt strongly enough about it to tell her mother that I believed her daughter represented all the believers over the centuries who have lived and died in Babylon without seeing the release. I also told her that I felt that her daughter’s death (in 2005) would somehow provide us with the legal cause against Babylon in 2006.

Six months after the funeral, in December of 2005, the Lord told us that the seventh vial was to be poured out as a witness of Babylon’s fall on the first day of Tabernacles, Oct. 7, 2006. This was a departure from the usual pattern of pouring out the vial on the last day of Tabernacles. We were then to hold our Tabernacles conference a week later at the end of Tabernacles (Oct. 13-15, 2006).

On May 20, 2006 the reason for this change became apparent, when I discovered that we would be pouring out the seventh vial upon Babylon in Babylon, NY precisely 490 days after Ann took her life in Babylon, NY. The 490-day time cycle is explained in Matt. 18:22 as a time of forgiveness, after which time the King brings His servants into accountability for debt (18:23, 24).

Babylon had refused to release its captives. This was, in fact, the reason for the seven bowls of wine that were being poured out upon Babylon from 2000-2006. The final 490-day cycle leading up to the seventh bowl of wine showed us the lawful cause that God had against Babylon. Thus, at the end of the 490 days, on Oct. 7, 2006, “Babylon the great was remembered before God” (Rev. 16:19).

It is Done

When we poured out the last bowls of water and wine at the Amityville cemetery, we shouted “It is done!” In other words, we spoke the words of the seventh angel in Rev. 16:17, the Angel of the Approaching Fulness of God. As the Scripture indicates, I threw the water into the air, rather than pouring it upon the ground. We knew then that the decrees against Babylon were finished, and the judgment was set. It would only be a matter of time before the entire Babylonian system would fall to the kings from the east.

The following week end, at the end of the feast of Tabernacles in 2006, we went to Reading, PA where we held our Tabernacles conference at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel. The theme of the conference was “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.”

It had been my normal practice to take one session at our Tabernacles conferences to explain the significance of each bowl of water and wine in order to give the people some sense of what God was about to do in the coming year.

In Reading, PA I told them that the divine judgment was now set, and that they ought to expect to see the beginning of Babylon’s collapse within the coming year (that is, before October of 2007). I specifically warned them that this collapse would be seen in the financial markets, because Babylon was fueled by money in the financial system.

The Earthquake

Revelation 16:18 says,

¹⁸ And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

This description is similar to what we find in Rev. 8:5 when the seven trumpets announced the overthrow of the Roman Empire from 410-476 A.D. There too, the thunder, lightning, and earthquake was not literal, but represented earth-shattering events. The same terminology is used of the fall of Babylon. The quake that shattered the Roman Empire was a seismic shift in western history, but the one that is to shake Babylon is an even greater earthquake that will change the world.

It is a world-wide system that is being shaken, and the result—according to both Haggai and the book of Hebrews—is that when the shaking is complete, only the Kingdom of God will remain standing, because it is the only Kingdom made of “those things which cannot be shaken” (Heb. 12:27). While the metaphor is of a physical earthquake, it is clear that the prophets spoke of something huge that will shake the whole world.

The Financial Crisis

In July 2007 the subprime mortgage crisis hit the nation, although according to the movie, The Big Short, which came out some years later, the problem actually began to surface at the end of April 2007. Yet I took notice of this in July and then realized that this was the start of Babylon’s collapse. Ultimately the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 led to the banking crisis of September 2008, when Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fanny Mae, and Freddie Mac all collapsed and were then bailed out with taxpayer money.

It was clear to me that this financial crisis would not be resolved by the taxpayer’s bailout. The bailout and other massive amounts of money that were thrown at the problem did not solve the underlying financial problem causing this collapse. Subsequent “quantitative easing,” a fancy phrase for printing more money to inject into the economy by deficit spending, pumped the stock market back to its previous highs, but did nothing to resolve the foundational problem.

So we knew that Babylon had been given a reprieve—time to repent—but prophecy indicated that Babylon would not repent. It was to be destroyed and replaced by a new financial system advocated by the kings from the east. Ultimately, even this new financial system will be replaced as the Kingdom of God spreads throughout the world.

The City Divided into Three Parts

Revelation 16:19 continues,

¹⁹ And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

It seems that God is following the principle of “divide and conquer.” Since Babylon has ruled over all nations, either directly or indirectly, it is clear that events would cause certain nations to revolt from Babylonian domination. We were already given a strong hint of this in Rev. 16:12, which mentions “the kings from the east.” These rebels against Babylon have emerged as China and Russia today, along with their increasing number of allies.

The third group in the division of Babylon may be those who try to remain outside of the financial war in order to survive. However, it is possible that this refers to the Kingdom nations that will emerge after the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit has occurred. Certainly, the Kingdom of God will soon become a major factor in all of this, but whether it is the third division or not is unclear. If so, then we would understand that God has begun to carve His Kingdom out from the great city of Babylon and to lay claim to territory that is rightfully His.

Dan. 2:35 says that when the stone hits the image on its feet (at the end of the age), the stone will begin to grow until it fills the whole earth. Obviously, the “Stone” Kingdom will take over the assets of Babylon, though not all at once. Time must be allowed for the kings from the east to do their work and also to be converted and incorporated into the Kingdom of God. Scripture gives us no clear indication as to how long this will take.

Revelation 16:20 says,

²⁰ And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

Again, this is not literal. In a literal earthquake of great magnitude, one might expect to see whole islands disappear and even mountains to fall. But these represent nations of various sizes that will become “failed states” and cease to exist as national entities.

This has already happened after many great wars in the past. Small non-aligned nations, like “islands,” have been absorbed by larger, stronger nations. At other times, larger nations were broken up into smaller units, such as what happened with Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia.

Earlier, in the course of the sixth seal in Rev. 6:14, we read,

¹⁴ And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

This was fulfilled in the latter days of the Roman Empire, when whole nations were “moved.” In other words, their borders shifted. The nations appeared to move on a map. So also will this occur in our time.

The main point of John’s terminology is to show that the fall of Babylon is comparable to the fall of Rome, only in a much greater way. Rome was a city and a large empire, but it did not cover the whole earth. Babylon is a worldwide empire, ruling the nations secretly and in a hidden way (hence, the “Mystery”).

The Hailstones

Revelation 16:21 concludes by saying,

²¹ And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each [literally, “a talent”], came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

Hail was one of the ten plagues upon Egypt (Exodus 9:23). When Pharaoh begged Moses to cease this plague, he agreed to stop the plague, but yet he told Pharaoh in Exodus 9:29, 30,

²⁹ And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.

In other words, the purpose of this plague upon Egypt was to teach men that “the earth is the Lord’s” by right of creation. Pharaoh had usurped authority by going against the will of the King of Kings. But even when the hail ceased, they did not yet “fear the Lord God.” In other words, they were still not willing to comply with the will of God, nor to recognize His right of ownership.

In Joshua 10 we read of another great battle in which hailstones were seen as a divine weapon. This story is highly prophetic of the fall of Babylon, because this battle was fought against five kings of Canaan, including Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem (Joshua 10:1, 5). In this battle, “the Lord threw large stones from heaven on them” (Joshua 10:11), and “there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.”

Joshua then prayed, and “the sun stood still, and the moon stopped” (Joshua 10:13). Verse 14 says of this day,

¹⁴ And there was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.

This day was very important, as it set a prophetic precedent for the end of the age, not only by the hail, but in the fact that the enemies of Israel were in control of Jerusalem. The king ruled by the title of Adoni-zedek, which means “Lord of Righteousness.” It is interchangeable with Melchizedek, “King of Righteousness,” the title by which Shem had ruled when he first built the city centuries earlier.

The Adoni-zedek of Joshua 10 represents a usurper, a carnal king pretending to be the high priest of the Melchizedek Order. He is an antichrist, a usurper of the city of Jerusalem. He represents the “enemies” of Ariel-Jerusalem in Isaiah 29:5, which we have already explained.

The hailstones against Babylon are sent for the same purpose as in the battle against the five kings of the coalition forces uniting around Adoni-zedek. The main difference is that the hail on Babylon is not literal, for Isaiah 28:16, 17 says,

¹⁶ Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. ¹⁷ And I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the level [or “plummet”]; then hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the secret place.”

Hail represents the Truth of the word of God, which exposes all that is “secret” or hidden. When it hits “Mystery Babylon,” the lies are exposed to the light of truth by the divine “hail.” This hail is the “measuring line” and the plummet, by which truth is measured. All of this is prophesied in the context of Christ, the Chief Cornerstone, being laid as the foundation of the New Temple in Eph. 2:20 and in 1 Peter 2:5, 6.

So we see that the false Melchizedek Order will be replaced by the truth-speaking overcomers and believers in general, who are living stones and pillars in the true Temple being built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The truth will prevail and will destroy the great city of Mystery Babylon. This truth is represented by the water that is poured out along with the wine. Truth is accompanied by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which prepares the way for the return of Christ.

In the end, the earth will recognize His right to rule. But meanwhile, they blaspheme God “because of the plague of the hail.” The carnal mind hates the truth and fights against it, because, as Jesus said, “men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

This brings us to the end of Mystery Babylon and the rise of the Kingdom of God. The details of Babylon’s fall, with further revelatory details, come in the next three chapters of the book of Revelation.