THE THREE BABYLONS

Daniel, the only one who could interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream, was a nobleman of Israel, deported to Babylon in 605 B.C. in his early teens. His book describes current and future conflicts, but God's control over all events is clearly demonstrated.

Addressing Nebuchadnezzar (who represented ruler of Babylon, gold, the world system) Daniel interpreted his dream thus: "It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;

This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.(Daniel 4:22-28)

The tree stump represents Israel which is restrained with an iron ring until the time of Jesus's return.

"Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." (Jeremiah 50:17-20)

"A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

"The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

"A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. (Jeremiah 50:22-46)

"The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

"Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets. For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. (Jeremiah 51:1-5)

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

"The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness [Our righteousness is Jesus Christ]: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.(Jeremiah 51:6-14)

"Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things:and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name. (Jeremiah 51:17-19)

U.S. SEIZES PALACE AND SAYS

IT INTENDS TO REMAIN IN BAGHDAD, IN IRAQ (BABYLON, THE PLACE)

The New York Times, by Jane Perlez - KUWAIT CITY, April 7 2003 — American forces took control of a major presidential palace on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad early this morning in the strongest coalition thrust yet into the city. Explosions thundered and thick smoke covered portions of Baghdad as the Americans entered the city center in the early hours.

As many as 70 tanks and 60 Bradley fighting vehicles rolled down the wide streets as A-10 Thunderbolt planes, nicknamed the Warthog, and pilotless drones flew over Baghdad unchallenged.

There were reports of heavy machine fire and mortars during fighting around the presidential compound. American commanders on the ground said that three army battalions would stay in the city center, and not leave as happened in an initial lighter raid on Saturday.

Two American soldiers and two journalists — one Spanish and the other German — were killed and 15 people were wounded today in an Iraqi attack on a tactical operations center established by the Third Infantry Division, Second Brigade on the outskirts of Baghdad.

"Some sort of a rocket hit near the Second Brigade's tactical operation center south of the city," Major Michael Birmingham, chief public affairs officer for the Third Infantry, told Reuters.

Elsewhere, British commanders told reporters traveling with them in Basra that they had found the body of Ali Hassan al-Majid a cousin of Saddam Hussein known as "Chemical Ali." Mr. Majid, who the United States says ordered a poison gas attack which killed thousands of Kurds in 1988, is commander of Iraq's southern front and his death would be interpreted by the people of Basra as a sign that the regime was close to collapse.

The British defense secretary, Geoff Hoon, said in London that the ministry had strong indications that Mr. Majid was dead.

At the daily briefing at Central Command in Doha, Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, said that the Iraqis had blown up one of Baghdad's major bridges. He also said that there were pockets of resistance in the Baghdad area.

"What we don't see is an overarching structure that can order action from north to south and east to west, throughout the country. Only the coalition has that capability right now," General Brooks said. `And as each day passes, there's less and less that the regime can do to order action by their forces.`

In an effort to discourage too much confidence too soon among the British public, Mr. Hoon described the progress of the war as a mixed picture outside the cities of Baghdad and Basra. The results so far, he said, were not as good in some areas as the coalition forces had hoped.

This was an apparent reference to instability in towns in the south that the Americans passed by on the way to Baghdad. Mr. Hoon said that military officials estimated the operating ability of the elite Republican Guard at 50 percent.

In Baghdad, however, American officers appeared pleased with the gains today. Aside from the major palace on the river bank, American soldiers had captured another palace in the city center belonging to Saddam Hussein, they said.

"There are two palaces, we own both of them," Lt. Col. Peter Bayer, operations officer for the Third Infantry Division, told reporters traveling with the troops.

At one of the palaces, half a dozen Syrian soldiers were found, one of them hiding in a refrigerator, military officials said. The Republican Guards responsible for the security of the palace had fled.

The Americans were also reported to have toppled a statue of Saddam Hussein astride a horse.

A spokesman at Central Command headquarters described the morning's efforts in Baghdad as an armored raid through the city bringing down resistance and attacking leadership capabilities.

At the Pentagon, a spokesman cautioned that today's raids should not be interpreted as the battle for Baghdad but rather as a message that the Americans could come and go as they choose.

In Qatar, General Brooks said: `The commanders on the ground will make the decisions on what parts of Baghdad they wish to retain control of."

he defiant Iraqi information minister, Mohammed Saeed Sahaf, denied that Baghdad's defenders had lost ground.

But this morning, he was forced to appear on the streets, talking to reporters in the open air instead of the usual briefing room. The city was strong, fortified and safe, he said, a short time after the American warplanes had flown overhead and clouds of smoke obliterated the skyline.

American officers had said earlier that their forces surrounded the Information Ministry and the Rashid Hotel, but it was not clear later in the day whether those forces had stayed or had entered the facilities.

As an illustration of how the Iraqi government had lost its grip, Gen. Brooks said workers at the airport outside Baghdad had helped American soldiers turn on the electricity, and showed them around the complex.

In Basra, the second city of Iraq, British forces strengthened their control by pushing in to the narrow alleys of the old part of town. Iraqi fighters were believed to be holding out in the warren of streets where the thoroughfares are too narrow for the coalitions armored vehicles.

It appeared that British soldiers could have to flush out the Iraqis in the old city by fighting on foot. But in a show of control of the population of just over 1 million, about 400 British and American troops, guarded by tanks and helicopter gunships, walked unopposed almost to the city center this morning. The soldiers had taken off their helmets and chemical warfare gear.

Residents, including women and children who have been more reluctant to emerge, came out and smiled at the passing troops. Some of the residents asked for water.

Earlier, British troops easily took an elaborate presidential palace in Basra belonging to Mr. Hussein. British soldiers met no resistance there, and inside found an immaculate residence decorated with polished marble, mosaic tiles and fretted woodwork.

In the northern city of Mosul, coalition airstrikes continued their bombardment on military targets, particularly ammunition dumps.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/07/international/worldspecial/07CND-MILI.html?ex=

1051416000&en=21db07e191d67463&ei=5070

 

 

BABYLON: THE APOSTATE CHURCH

 

April 4, 2003 - Salina, Kansas

Before I get into our 4-hour fellowship with Michael, a professor in philosophy at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, I'd like to answer a letter from one of our brothers, which we met along the way-I think this will be helpful and it will address a number of his concerns, as well as yours.

Actually, the correspondence was addressed to Dene, but, since Dene was not in that meeting, and I was, I think that my answers will be much more realistic than Dene's, in that Dene simply was not there in Winston-Salem for the "give and take" of the conversation and atmosphere - so here goes:

Dear Jay -

I would like to answer your letter as an "open letter" to our subscribers because it will accomplish several things:

(1) Give me an opportunity to share with you the answers to your questions-yet maintain a modicum of privacy, and . . .

(2) Give me an opportunity to express how I feel to everyone out there - both our subscribers, and many individuals who will be "hitting" on our site throughout the world.

Dear Dene,

I would like to try to summarize my impressions on this eve of war. I do so with CNN faintly flooding the background with its many words.

On Friday evening I met with Steve, and Doug and a number of other saints in Clemmons, NC.

In summary, I would describe their focus as a call to, "come out of Babylon". Babylon, the, "apostate church", as reflected in the evangelical constituency of George Bush. (They made a very good case.)

As I understood them, the apostate church is riding the back of the beast which is the "American New World Order System".

In our sharing, of course, we present what we call: THE TALE OF TWO CITIES. Steve presents the "Big Picture" of God's eternal purpose and plan - i.e., that God's original intent and purpose is to build up His City, the Holy and New Jerusalem - wherein He has effectively done, and is doing so, by working with Israel from Abraham until the time of Christ (approximately 2,000 years); and then, seemingly, He has placed Israel aside for the past 2,000 years to work on the Church (from the time of Christ until today). Both Israel and the Church constitute the New Jerusalem, prepared as a Bride descending out of heaven prepared for the Lamb.

There are a multitude of Scriptures, which at each of our gatherings, we will read in order to substantiate this thesis.

Also, the antithesis of the New/Holy Jerusalem (i.e., that which is being built by God and is called the "Bride" in the Revelation) is Satan's counterfeit City: Babylon the Great. This City, as well as its administration and development, actually commences from the fall of humankind (wherein man's attempt at deification ("you shall be as God, knowing good and evil"), by partaking of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, commenced Satan's strategy to build the Great City, Babylon.

However, in actuality, after the flood, the first "expression" of such a Great City was the founding of "civilization" on the Plains of Shinar, and the building of the Tower of Babel under Nimrod. From here, although there as a "confounding" of languages and a disbursement of false unity under Nimrod by divine intervention, the concept of "Babylon the Great" continued through civilization's ever-increasing march through history until we reach the Kingdom of Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.

The CONCEPT of Babylon the Great, the counterfeit city, the antithesis of the New and Holy Jerusalem, is the ever-expanding march of the Biblical, and ultimately, the DOMINANT civilization of the world. This concept was outlined in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which was interpreted by Daniel the prophet. The dream was that of an IMAGE of a man wherein different metals and parts of the body of the image are singled out as EXPANSIONS of that ever-increasing civilization. [Source http://www.endtimesnetwork.com ]

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. (Revelation 18:1-10)

Israel is without a husband. God divorced her and she is a widow but defiantly calls herself a queen.

The vengeance of the Lord is of long standing. In the Old Testament's Book of Jeremiah 52:10-11, we find that the King of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. Next followed the destruction of the First Temple of the Lord:

"Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire: And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about". (Jeremiah 52:12-14)

The final battle will involve the great city of Jerusalem, also called Babylon, when the times of the Gentiles are concluded and the Bride of Christ is removed. The Antichrist makes his appearance in Jerusalem and claims the world's highest position and calls himself a god, a god above all gods, who is to be worshipped by all human beings of the world.

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Revelation 16:17-21)

Here is why God considers Jerusalem Babylon..

Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. (Ezekiel 6:8-11)

" Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. ... I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

"Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.

Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD...

And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;) That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.

Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger. Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.

Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman; In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire; But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them; Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness. (Ezekiel 16:1.. 37)

The ten horns depicting 10 kings will receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind.. The ten kings hate the whore, in other words they hate Israel even though they run together and they will make her desolate and naked, and burn her with fire. (see Revelation 18:12..16)

"For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:17-18)

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (Revelation 18:2,3)

The reason Jerusalem becomes the habitation of devils: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Revelation 16:13,14)

JESUS WARNED US:

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

(Revelation 16:14-15)