A Vision for Babylon

I saw a vision of the sky being separated from the earth by fire, and this Word came to me:

Babylon must fall, and Babylon will fall. The walls of Babylon will be thrown down, not one stone left on another, for this was written from the beginning. Who will hide behind walls for safety? Who will hide in a brick house when the earth shakes? Abandon Babylon, for she cannot save you. Run from her as from a burning building, for her beams are dry and rotted, they are ready to burn. Her grain has been harvested, and the straw is ready for the fire.

When the fire dies, will you plant nettles or wheat? Willow or oak? Will you build on sand or rock? Using straw or brick?

There is but one rock from which your feet will not slip, the one rock that stands through the ages. Turn from temporary things and seek a firm foundation!

And again the Word came to me:

People, what have I not given you? You live in luxury, yet you crave more. Your food is more abundant than you can eat, yet you do not share it. What do you leave for the gleaners among you? Your wealth could have built anything, but you built Babylon. “In God we trust,” you say, but in your hands are weapons of war. You trust in kings. Indeed, you make and destroy kings as if you were gods! Too long I have called you and you have not listened. Too long have you played the games of children.

You built a great white tower of brick and knowledge. You build walls to keep you separate. You, a people of the world, now separate yourselves from the world! “We are the chosen,” you say. But you don’t act like my chosen. Who, then, were you chosen by?

And when your child forgets who is the parent, will you not remind him? And if words fail, will you not take stronger measures? Then that child will cry, for how could his parent do this to him? Take heed, my children, for my patience wears thin.

I want to highlight some things about this. First, what is coming is yet preventable. Were we to change our ways, God would be satisfied. But that seems unlikely, so we will be disciplined. Yet the purpose of that discipline is to convince us to return to God and live as he has instructed. God promises not destruction, but transformation. But that’s not to say that his discipline will be pleasant or easy. Make no mistake: we’re headed for the wood shed.