"After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth became illumined by his splendor. He cried out in a mighty voice: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a haunt for demons. She is a cage for every unclean spirit, a cage for every unclean bird, (a cage for every unclean) and disgusting (beast). For all the nations have drunk the wine of her licentious passion. The kings of the earth had intercourse with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her drive for luxury." Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Depart from her, my people, so as not to take part in her sins and receive a share in her plagues, for her sins are piled up to the sky, and God remembers her crimes. Pay her back as she has paid others. Pay her back double for her deeds. Into her cup pour double what she poured. To the measure of her boasting and wantonness repay her in torment and grief; for she said to herself, 'I sit enthroned as queen; I am no widow, and I will never know grief.' Therefore, her plagues will come in one day, pestilence, grief, and famine; she will be consumed by fire. For mighty is the Lord God who judges her." The kings of the earth who had intercourse with her in their wantonness will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her pyre. They will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her, and they will say: "Alas, alas, great city, Babylon, mighty city. In one hour your judgment has come." The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because cargo of gold, silver, precious stones there will be no more markets for their cargo: their, and pearls; fine linen, purple silk, and scarlet cloth; fragrant wood of every kind, all articles of ivory and all articles of the most expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human beings. "The fruit you craved has left you. All your luxury and splendor are gone, never again will one find them." The merchants who deal in these goods, who grew rich from her, will keep their distance for fear of the torment inflicted on her. Weeping and mourning, they cry out: "Alas, alas, great city, wearing fine linen, purple and scarlet, adorned (in) gold, precious stones, and pearls. In one hour this great wealth has been ruined." Every captain of a ship, every traveler at sea, sailors, and seafaring merchants stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her pyre, "What city could compare with the great city?" They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning: "Alas, alas, great city, in which all who had ships at sea grew rich from her wealth. In one hour she has been ruined. Rejoice over her, heaven, you holy ones, apostles, and prophets. For God has judged your case against her." A mighty angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone and threw it into the sea and said: "With such force will Babylon the great city be thrown down, and will never be found again. No melodies of harpists and musicians, flutists and trumpeters, will ever be heard in you again. No craftsmen in any trade will ever be found in you again. No sound of the millstone will ever be heard in you again. No light from a lamp will ever be seen in you again. No voices of bride and groom will ever be heard in you again. Because your merchants were the great ones of the world, all nations were led astray by your magic potion. In her was found the blood of prophets and holy ones and all who have been slain on the earth."
Revelation Chapter 18
Showing posts with label revelation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revelation. Show all posts
Friday, March 5, 2010
BABYLON THE GREAT MAY BE ABOUT TO FALL
Ioannes posted this chapter from the Book of Revelation at his website today and I think he may be on to something. Replace Babylon with America and think seriously about our current place in the world. Is this why there doesn't seem to be any mention of America in any of the end times scenarios? Are we about to get everything we've asked for?
Friday, January 29, 2010
IS FICO THE MARK OF THE BEAST?
I offer the question above partly in jest but also as a real possibility. Like so many things in the Bible there are many layers to this whole idea of a mark. I know that the Book of Revelation speaks of a physical mark but it is the effect of the mark that I am thinking of here.
I know that I’m stretching just a bit but think about it. While we may not be physically marked by our FICO score we carry it with us wherever we go. The system uses it to judge our character and our credit worthiness. Insurance companies use it to determine whether they will allow us to buy their product. Employers use it to pass judgment on us. Go a day or two late on a payment and creditors will threaten you with their ability to lower it.
If you use credit as so many do for their day to day financial transaction their FICO score can literally determine whether they can buy or sell. As the world moves further away from cash based economies this will become even more of an issue. Those that don’t maintain a high score will be excluded. They will live in a shadow economy constantly under threat of discovery. They will have to live in such a way as to completely avoid any contact with the mainstream financial world because if they are noticed by the system they will be forced to bow before it and play by its rules. If they reject the system they will be punished. This means that those that choose to live in a way that isn’t dependent on some bureaucratic decision maker determining their value will have to live completely off the grid; a complete outcast.
Pushed to its logical end this number will force anyone that wants to live in a “normal” fashion to abide by the rules set by the people that control the number. The FICO number doesn’t have to reflect reality or really mean anything. It will just be used to control.
This is almost where we find ourselves today. The FICO number as a means of determining credit worthiness is useless. The banks are not reporting to the credit agencies many of the people that have stopped making mortgage payments because that would force the bank to realize these losses on their balance sheets. I read on the Market Ticker that some people have noticed that credit card defaults are not being reported in some cases, either. So FICO is no longer a reliable credit tool because the reporting it relies on is fundamentally flawed. Yet, it’s still being used to judge us.
This is because it has become a tool of control. The banks are using it to keep the unruly masses in line. The people that lend the money are scared to death that the people that owe it might figure out that if things get much worse none of this matters anyway. When the economy as we know it collapses no one will remember much less care what their FICO scores are. We will return to local economies where we deal with people we know, not some bank that will bundle our loan with others and sell it to a group of investors in some country half way around the world.
So, what would happen if today we all decided that we aren’t going along with the program? What if, the next time you get behind on a payment because you don’t have a job, your hours have been reduced or the only thing you can find is part time, what if when the creditor threatens you with dinging your credit if you don’t pay RIGHT NOW, you say go ahead. What if, as a nation, we just decide to opt out of the system?
What if we tell these bankers, these Shylock’s that have been sucking off the public tit, taking the money from generations to come just to line their own pockets, what if we tell ‘em to pound sand? Why do we have to continue to pay into a system that cannot stand? If the bankers and politicians were making an honest effort to turn this thing around, well then I’d say let’s do what we can. But they’re not. All they're doing is sucking every last bit of wealth out of the system on their way out the door. They are going to walk away leaving us in a state of abject poverty that it will take generations to climb out of. They’re screwing us so why don’t we return the favor?
I’ve always believed that we have a moral obligation to honor our debts. I also believe we have a moral obligation to defend ourselves and our families. We are under attack by the political and financial power structure. They have thrown ethics and morality out the window. We no longer owe it to them to act in a manner that is consistent with the ethics we have all believed in. To defend ourselves and our families we must treat them just as they are treating us. This is a winner take all game. We are literally talking about the survival of ourselves, our families and the Republic.
The people must take control of not only the political system in our country but also the financial system. We have allowed ourselves to be gradually convinced that others have the right to control us; to score our lives and our value as human beings. We absolutely must put the people back where we belong; at the top of the food chain. We are supposed to control the government and our financial system. It was never meant to control us.
And that no man might buy or sell, but he that hath the character, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:17
I know that I’m stretching just a bit but think about it. While we may not be physically marked by our FICO score we carry it with us wherever we go. The system uses it to judge our character and our credit worthiness. Insurance companies use it to determine whether they will allow us to buy their product. Employers use it to pass judgment on us. Go a day or two late on a payment and creditors will threaten you with their ability to lower it.
If you use credit as so many do for their day to day financial transaction their FICO score can literally determine whether they can buy or sell. As the world moves further away from cash based economies this will become even more of an issue. Those that don’t maintain a high score will be excluded. They will live in a shadow economy constantly under threat of discovery. They will have to live in such a way as to completely avoid any contact with the mainstream financial world because if they are noticed by the system they will be forced to bow before it and play by its rules. If they reject the system they will be punished. This means that those that choose to live in a way that isn’t dependent on some bureaucratic decision maker determining their value will have to live completely off the grid; a complete outcast.
Pushed to its logical end this number will force anyone that wants to live in a “normal” fashion to abide by the rules set by the people that control the number. The FICO number doesn’t have to reflect reality or really mean anything. It will just be used to control.
This is almost where we find ourselves today. The FICO number as a means of determining credit worthiness is useless. The banks are not reporting to the credit agencies many of the people that have stopped making mortgage payments because that would force the bank to realize these losses on their balance sheets. I read on the Market Ticker that some people have noticed that credit card defaults are not being reported in some cases, either. So FICO is no longer a reliable credit tool because the reporting it relies on is fundamentally flawed. Yet, it’s still being used to judge us.
This is because it has become a tool of control. The banks are using it to keep the unruly masses in line. The people that lend the money are scared to death that the people that owe it might figure out that if things get much worse none of this matters anyway. When the economy as we know it collapses no one will remember much less care what their FICO scores are. We will return to local economies where we deal with people we know, not some bank that will bundle our loan with others and sell it to a group of investors in some country half way around the world.
So, what would happen if today we all decided that we aren’t going along with the program? What if, the next time you get behind on a payment because you don’t have a job, your hours have been reduced or the only thing you can find is part time, what if when the creditor threatens you with dinging your credit if you don’t pay RIGHT NOW, you say go ahead. What if, as a nation, we just decide to opt out of the system?
What if we tell these bankers, these Shylock’s that have been sucking off the public tit, taking the money from generations to come just to line their own pockets, what if we tell ‘em to pound sand? Why do we have to continue to pay into a system that cannot stand? If the bankers and politicians were making an honest effort to turn this thing around, well then I’d say let’s do what we can. But they’re not. All they're doing is sucking every last bit of wealth out of the system on their way out the door. They are going to walk away leaving us in a state of abject poverty that it will take generations to climb out of. They’re screwing us so why don’t we return the favor?
I’ve always believed that we have a moral obligation to honor our debts. I also believe we have a moral obligation to defend ourselves and our families. We are under attack by the political and financial power structure. They have thrown ethics and morality out the window. We no longer owe it to them to act in a manner that is consistent with the ethics we have all believed in. To defend ourselves and our families we must treat them just as they are treating us. This is a winner take all game. We are literally talking about the survival of ourselves, our families and the Republic.
The people must take control of not only the political system in our country but also the financial system. We have allowed ourselves to be gradually convinced that others have the right to control us; to score our lives and our value as human beings. We absolutely must put the people back where we belong; at the top of the food chain. We are supposed to control the government and our financial system. It was never meant to control us.
Monday, December 14, 2009
EU ICONOGRAPHY - SIGNPOSTS TO THE FUTURE?
"The Lisbon Treaty, which came into full effect on December 1st, basically ended the national sovereignty for most European nations. Most of the important decisions for the citizens of Europe will now be made by a small group of European elitists - many of them totally unelected. But for the global elite, the consolidation of the EU is just one step towards a larger goal. You see, the ultimate desire of these elitists is to merge regional alliances such as the EU into a world government. In fact, in symbols used on official European coins, posters and artwork, the elite have sent us a message telling us exactly what they are planning to do to all of humanity - if anyone out there is willing to listen."
Signs of the Last Days
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