Antichrist, assisted by the False Prophet, will establish a world order. The humanists and libertarians will cry "peace, peace," while all about them is desolation. The rule of man is the abomination that produces artistic, intellectual, financial, agricultural, technical, social, and educational desolation.

Babylon

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:3-5)

What Babylon is. Babylon represents the efforts of people to build the Kingdom of God by their own wisdom and strength.

The first Babylon was an attempt to reach to the heavens by human wisdom and strength.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:4)

The people wanted to make a name for themselves, and to band together in unity. Their purpose was to make themselves strong so they could accomplish their personal desires, not so they could please or worship God.

God knows that when people band together to accomplish things in their own strength they forget God, and so He brought confusion into their midst. God always will do this.

Every denomination, every religious organization, every Christian work, has in mind to band together in order to accomplish what it believes to be God's purposes. When we see the Glory of the Lord, our instinct is to do something, to build three tabernacles—or anything else!—not knowing what we are doing. But God desires that we "keep our hands off the Ark", that is, that we allow Him to build His own Kingdom.

For two thousand years people have attempted to do Christian works, to work "for God." However, it appears that almost all Christian endeavor has been performed in ignorance of God's specific will. This is why we have many denominations and works of various kinds that hold different beliefs and compete with one another. The Christian organizations of today, in many instances, are a part of Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.

At first thought it might appear that the description of Babylon in Revelation, Chapters 17 and 18 is too harsh to represent the efforts of well-intentioned people to do God's work. The truth is, the Roman Catholic organization has murdered thousands—perhaps millions—of true Christians during the Christian Era.

To attempt to build a spiritual kingdom by our own strength, to try to be like God, is close to the heart of Satan. This is why there is so much envy and hatred in religious circles. This is why the Pharisees murdered the Lord Jesus. Spiritual envy is a deadly sin.

After the death of the Apostles of the Lamb. The Apostles of the Lamb, including the Apostle Paul, lived and moved under an unprecedented anointing. They represented in themselves the fullness of the work of redemption. No other believer dared to join himself to them. They were a dispensation to the Christian Church.

To be continued.