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September 11

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GAMBLING

QUESTION

 

After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. He gave a mighty shout, "Babylon the Great is fallen - that great city is fallen! She has become the hideout of demons and evil spirits, a nest for filthy buzzards and a den for dreadful beasts.

For all the nations have drunk the wine of her passionate immorality. The rulers of the world have committed adultery with her, and [businessmen] throughout the world have grown rich as a result of her luxurious living."

Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, "Come away from her, my people; do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. For her sins are piled high as heaven, and God is ready to judge her for her [crimes]. Do to her as she has done to you, and more – give double penalty for all her evil deeds.

She brewed many a cup of woe for others – give twice as much to her. She has lived in luxury and pleasure – match it now with torments and with sorrows.

She boasts, ‘I am queen upon my throne. I am no helpless widow. I will not experience sorrow.’

Therefore the sorrows of death and mourning and famine shall overtake her in a single day, and she shall be utterly consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord who judges her."

And the world leaders, who took part in her immoral acts and enjoyed her great luxury, will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, "How terrible, how terrible for Babylon, that mighty city! In one single moment God's judgment came on her."

The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods. She [was their biggest customer for] gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, finest linens, purple silks, scarlet cloth; and every kind of perfumed wood, and ivory goods and most expensive wooden carvings, and brass and iron and incense, ointment and frankincense, wine, olive oil, and fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and slaves – and even traded in human lives.

"All the fancy things you loved so much are gone," they cry. "The [dainty] luxuries, and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again.

They are gone forever."

[And so] the merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things shall stand at a distance, [fearing danger to themselves], weeping and crying, "How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She was so beautiful – like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!

In one single moment, all the wealth of the city is gone!

And all the ship owners and captains of the merchant ships and their crews will stand [a long way off]. They will weep as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, "Where in all the world is there another city such as this?"

And they will throw dust on their heads in their sorrow and say, "How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour all is gone…"

But you, O heaven, rejoice over her fate. And you, [O children of God and] the prophets and the apostles! For at last God has given judgment against her for you.

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder as large as a great millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted, "Babylon, that great city, will be thrown down as violently as I have thrown away this stone, and she will disappear forever.

Never again will the sound of music be there – no more [pianos], songs, [saxophones] or trumpets.

No industry of any kind will ever again exist there, and there will be no more milling of grain.

Dark, dark will be her nights; not even a lamp in a window will ever be seen again.

No more joyous wedding bells and happy voices of the bridegrooms and the brides.

Because her [salesmen], who were the greatest in the world, deceived the nations with her sorceries.

In her streets the blood of the prophets was spilled. She was the one who slaughtered God's people all over the world."