What the Bible says about Coming out of Babylon
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Matthew 24:28 In addition to a wake of vultures being a symbol of God's judgment of shame, a gathering of vultures also indicates a diseased spiritual condition. In Revelation 18:2, Babylon the Great is described as being “a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.” Vultures are undoubtedly at the top of the list of unclean and hated birds! End-time Babylon is the focal point of demonic spirits, which are likened to unclean birds. Both of them prey on the sick and the injured, and they gather where death is. Even so, our greatest threat is not the Tribulation at the end! As bad as it will be, far worse is being spiritually unprepared when Christ returns and being judged as unworthy to enter the Kingdom. This is what the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Wedding Feast describe. This is the substance of the warnings about Christ's return being like a thief in the night—coming when He is completely unexpected. This is why He warns us against neglecting so great a salvation and against being led astray by the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures of life. Jesus warns us to keep us on the path of life, so that we do not fall to the birds of prey that stalk the spiritually dying. We are given the charge to come out of Babylon, so we do not share in her sins or in her judgment (Revelation 18:4). If we have a discerning heart, we should have a good idea of what will attract the vultures, as it will be giving off the smell of spiritual death. God gives us that discerning heart, so we can make good choices. Do we really believe the scriptures about the swiftness of Christ's return? It is easy to look at world events and compare them to our understanding of prophecy; we know that things are bad and getting worse—but the end still seems to be just over the horizon. Because it is not here yet, it is easy to conclude, even subconsciously, that there is no need to become serious just yet. However, this conclusion is filled with assumptions. One is that our understanding of end-time events is correct! A second assumption is that, even if we do have correct understanding, we will never lose it through deception. A third is that our faith will remain constant until the end. A fourth is that, when we do decide to get serious, that we will have ample time to build character, take on the image of God, and complete our sanctification. A fifth is that our Creator will go along with our agenda of pushing Him off until the last minute. These are a lot of assumptions! If we are misjudging these things, we may hear those terrible words, “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23)! If we are delaying the time to start seeking God, the vultures may be eyeing us as ones who may not spiritually survive what lies ahead. Perhaps all of us have seen this happen to people we care about. If we are spiritually sick or injured, there is no time like the present to seek our Healer and Protector to beat off the hated birds! In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the foolish ones thought they had more time. They were probably aware that their reserves of oil were not as full as they could be, but they may have assumed that they could always attend to that later. They did not count on falling asleep. They did not count on life happening, that something would prohibit them from taking care of preparations they had put off. A lesson we can draw is that, if we are not putting everything we have into our calling right now, how much time is left does not matter. If that is the case, we may find ourselves, like the foolish virgins, suddenly awake and realizing we cannot get ready in time. What we claimed we wanted will have slipped through our grasp, one day at a time. Judgment is coming on the world, but it is on the house of God right now (I Peter 4:17). A gathering of eagles—a wake of vultures—is a symbol of God's judgment on those who stubbornly resist coming into alignment with Him. Vultures will literally gather for those who rebel against God in the final battle (Revelation 19:17-21), and they are metaphorically already circling those who cannot tear themselves away from Babylon—those who are on such good terms with the world that they are giving off the scent of spiritual death. The multitude of warnings and prophecies means that it is a possibility for us, because it is a certainty for some. Yet, with all that God makes available, there is no good reason for that judgment to fall on us. David C. Grabbe Where the Eagles Are Gathered Related Topics: Babylon the Great | Babylon, Coming out of | Cares of the World | Coming out of Babylon | Deceitfulness of Riches | Demonic Spirits Likened to Unclean Birds | Diseased Spiritual Condition | Judgment on House of God | Parable of the Ten Virgins | Spiritual Preparation | Vulture Imagery | Where the Eagles are Gathered

1 John 4:8 The word "tolerance" makes not even one appearance in the King James or the American Standard versions of the Bible. Why? Because, before 1960, translators could find no place that it fit. It was not until the New International Version and the New American Standard Version made their appearances that "tolerance" also made its first appearance, and even then, in less than five places. Why? Because the older versions used terms better suited to those narrow contexts: "forbearance," "endurance," "patience," and "long-suffering." Tolerance has several common usages in our time: "the capacity to endure hardship or pain"; "the endurance of the presence or actions of objectionable persons, or the expression of offensive opinions"; and "the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others." By themselves, none of these are objectionable to a Christian. The problems lie in the modern twist given to it by those who frequently use it in advocacy. Revelation 18:4 challenges us to come out of the world, a most difficult task because we live our lives physically immersed in the world. No matter which way we turn in the activities of life—whether in employment, entertainment, schooling, government, and religion—we are confronted by the world's conduct, attitudes, beliefs, and programs for actively maintaining its cultures. In every level of society in this multicultural world, a Christian meets tremendous diversity head-on. Indeed, in every culture and every aspect of society, the Christian's loyalty in exercising his faith in the laws and principles of God's way of life is being challenged, for God's way touches on every facet of life. Simultaneously, most of this world's beliefs and practices are anti-Christ. The world's religions are clearly anti-Christ, but concepts and practices drawn from false religions permeate this world's governments, education, entertainment, and employment. Virtually every day we see clear examples in the news of an energetic movement to remove every concept of the Christian God and His commandments from government, schooling, and entertainment. Yet, what is replacing Him? He is being replaced by the god of secularism—by man himself. Secularism is a religion people practice, accept, and adhere to, even though it has no formal congregations or places of worship. The same is true of evolution, which is in reality nothing more than random and blind chance, yet this false god dominates academia, especially the sciences. Much of the modern environmental movement is a New-Age-driven worship of Gaia, the so-called earth goddess. Here, the modern twist in the usage of tolerance has a strong influence. In the minds of many, tolerance is acceptance on an equal level, not merely forbearance or putting up with something. If one does not accept this worldly standard, he is then accused of lacking love. Can a Christian honestly tolerate, that is, accept outright, paganism as being equal with the God of creation and His moral and spiritual absolutes? Can a Christian wholeheartedly accept the writings of Buddha, Mohammed, or anybody else under the influence of a demon as being on an equal level with the Holy Bible? God's own Word will clarify this. I John 4:8 reads, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." No single word describes the character of the God of creation any better than "love." In Deuteronomy 7:2-6, as the Israelites were about to enter their inheritance, He commands them: And when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The same Person who became Jesus of Nazareth and out of love died for the sins of the world gave these commands. The Bible says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). In His command, He does not tolerate evil in the least. Instead, in telling them to destroy evil, He expresses His overwhelming love for His people. Do not be tricked into accepting this modern tolerance of sugar-coated, sinful paganism. We must not tolerate such concepts in our lives. John W. Ritenbaugh Tolerance and Love Related Topics: Coming out of Babylon | Demon Worship | Endurance | Environmentalists | False Religion | Forbearance | God is Love | God's Patience | God's Tolerance | Loyalty to God | Multicultural Society | New Age Beliefs | Paganism | Patience | Secularism | Tolerance for Evil | Tolerance for Sin | Tolerating Evil

 

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