Jerusalem Blade
Puritan Board Professor
In 2007 the former managing editor of Atlantic Monthly, Cullen Murphy, wrote the book, Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America. It was a critically acclaimed entrée into the genre of understanding America and its fate by comparing it to nations of the past (reviews by salon.com and New York Times). This present piece (which shall be but a brief outline) differs in that, first, it is a spiritual exploration of a Biblical theme, although historical background is extremely important, and, second, because it is spiritual it can only be spiritually discerned; it may well seem foolishness to those not in Christ’s kingdom.
On the other hand, it is similar in that America is again being compared to an ancient political entity, this time Babylon. To complicate things somewhat, for the New Testament writers, particularly the apostles Peter and John, Babylon was a code name for the Roman Empire. As commentator G.K. Beale points out,
Some commentators on the Book of Revelation take the view that the mentions of “Babylon” in chapters 14, 16, 17, 18 and 19 refer to an economic, cultural, and religio-philosophical world system generally speaking, while others consider the possibility it may be based in a particular nation, which is not far-fetched as the two primary predecessors / prototypes – Chaldean Babylon and Rome – were empires controlled by specific nations from their capital cities.
This sketch will focus on three aspects of America as a modern-day empire: the cultural, the economic, and the military / political. These aspects will have some overlap, especially the cultural and economic. I started an initial exploration of this theme in a previous Babylon thread. This is a development of that.
Part 1, The Culture of the American Empire
A. Sorceries
I want first to consider a point pretty much overlooked by commentators, although one – Simon Kistemaker – does focus on it, and that is the statement in Revelation 18:23, giving as part of the cause for the horrific judgment meted upon Babylon, “for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived” (all scripture quotations will be from the Authorized Version unless otherwise noted; I may on occasion modernize the language).
Kistemaker comments on this phrase,
Merrill F. Unger in his, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, says “Sorcery is . . . the practice of the occult arts under the power of evil spirits or demons and has been common in all ages of the world’s history.” (p. 1039)
Lest anyone think this is but some archaic or esoteric practice unrelated to our 21st century world, I shall proceed in a moment to show its current relevance. Other commentators (who I value greatly) often think of “sorceries” rather loosely as merely deception and deceptive practices, apart from a connection to the magic arts, but I don’t think their view does justice to the Biblical data. As this is a key reason why I see America a strong candidate for being the Babylon spoken of in Revelation, I shall be developing this point. First, for understanding’s sake, some New Testament Greek background; I excerpt from The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, by Spiros Zodhiates,
To show why the use of “sorceries” in the Rev 18:23 passage refers to activities involving certain kinds of drugs rather then mere deceptive practices, consider the classes of transgressors in Rev 21:8 who are consigned to “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”: “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars”. Sorcerers (from pharmakeus) here specifically means one who administers or uses a certain class of drugs to “enchant”, to cast a psychic spell upon by use of drugs and demonic power. It doesn’t mean a deceiver generally or even figuratively, but specifically one who uses sorcerous potions. Likewise in Rev 22:15 where a similar Greek word, pharmakos, is used for sorcerer, with the same meaning as pharmakeus in 21:8. So here we have real drug-dealing “sorcerers” declared liable for judgment.
Some modern examples of sorcerers as used in Revelation? Timothy Leary, for one, the Harvard psychology professor who became an evangelist for LSD in the 1960s, encouraging an entire generation to partake of the consciousness-altering drugs, of which LSD was perhaps the staple. He wrote books to guide them on their “trips” so as to experience other “wavelengths” of awareness. The world-famous poet Allen Ginsberg was likewise a sorcerer, encouraging multitudes to, in Leary’s words, “turn on [to the drugs], tune in [to the ‘cosmic consciousness’], and drop out [of the ‘straight’ world]”. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, et al, all these promoted the acid consciousness of the sixties, exporting the use of these drugs throughout the entire world. They were indeed a generation of sorcerers. Charles Manson also was in this class, although patently demonic, while the others presented themselves as benign sages – they actually thought they were, but were themselves deceived and deceiving.
Recall Unger’s previous statement that “Sorcery is . . . the practice of the occult arts under the power of evil spirits or demons and has been common in all ages of the world’s history.” What happened in the Beat, Hippie, and Woodstock generations was no small thing. Although it was prettied up with Eastern spiritual talk and concepts, the drugs (this includes those one takes in by smoking them) were sorcerous potions that – as per their use in India by “holy” men, or shamans in Native American tribes – enabled one to make direct contact with entities in the spirit world, which we know as evil spirits. Sometimes these demons got their human hosts to “channel” them so as to speak directly to the world, and sometimes remained behind the scenes and powerfully affected the consciousness of the humans without making themselves known. Such were our singers, poets, and writers of those days. Off the top of my head I think of poets Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, novelists Ken Kesey and Tom Wolfe, and a multitude of their peers. These all spread the consciousness that was a direct result of demonic activity in the human spirit through hallucinogenic drugs. This is sorcery, and these are sorcerers. Now, in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, this activity continues, although quietly, under cover, having permeated much of the advertising and cinematic fields, many musicians, actors, writers, and others also having “turned on”. Other nations and cultures, having been leavened from within by these sorceries, became vulnerable to satanic deception in its various forms. They became open to input from the satanic realm mentally and spiritually. The one defense against it, the Christian faith, is being slowly marginalized and even criminalized, and this latter is the purpose and design of the demonic realm. That it is allowed by the High Throne of heaven shows that it is part of His decree and plan.
Anyone who has studied the history of LSD in America knows that its use was not limited to the counter culture, but the CIA and other military agencies used it extensively, both among themselves and experimenting on others, as a prospective weapon of war. Politicians (JFK was reported by the CIA to have taken it), academics, therapists and psychiatrists, artists, men and women from a wide variety of professions all tried this new “wonder drug” – as it was touted – and were transported to another realm of consciousness, what I call “the satanic wavelength”, though others will give it a more euphemistic spin. There is a resurgence now of its supposed “therapeutic” use, per (among other sources) the NY Times of Apr 11, 2010: “Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again”. There is also a widespread campaign for the legalization of “medicinal marijuana”. It is surprising to see even some Christians saying that smoking grass is no big thing, and that the government should keep their hands out of any legislation concerning it. I have seen professing Christians say that they would have no trouble smoking it, especially if it were legalized. It remains sorcery, prohibited – on pain of eternal death – by Scripture, notwithstanding the much gainsaying by some.
Even the purported therapeutic use of LSD and medicinal use of marijuana do not evade their sorcerous properties. Whatever benefits may accrue to users – and there may indeed be some – they are outweighed by the opening of the spirit-world to their consciousness. Spirits may work lying wonders, but the end thereof is death.
The Isaiah 47 connection
To demonstrate this point from another angle: in Rev 18:7 “harlot Babylon” is quoted as saying, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow”. The retort of the Almighty to that boast is, “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 . . . in one hour is thy judgment come” (Rev 18:8, 10).
Scholars acknowledge this image of Babylon and her judgment comes directly out of Isaiah’s chapter 47, who likewise was prophesying against Babylon – Chaldean Babylon of some 2,700 years ago. Listen to the prophet’s words:
“Lady” in the phrase “lady of kingdoms” is the feminine of a Hebrew word for lord or master, ghebeer; it could be translated, “mistress of kingdoms”, and is equivalent to Rev 18:7’s “I sit a queen”. The “loss of children” means she shall not retain the vassal nations which make up her wealth and support; “I shall not sit as a widow” means she shall never be desolate and grief-stricken as widows are. In short, nothing shall disturb her peace, luxury, and dominance over the nations. And this ancient Babylon, as her incarnation some 2,700 or more years later will be, was judged for the multitude of her sorceries and abundance of her enchantments, as well as her idolatry, pride, and the cruel persecution of God’s people.
We see that not only did this ancient Babylon oppress the nations, extracting their wealth and goods by virtue of her military conquests and economic dominance, she also was greatly exercised in “sorcery”.
Regarding this word [your] sorceries in Isaiah 47:9, 12, [size=+1]%yIp;êv'K.[/size], it is clear that the classic definition accrues to it. In their respective commentaries on Isaiah,
J.A. Alexander says of it, “occult arts” (Vol 2, p. 202)
H.C. Leupold, “occult arts” (Vol 2, p. 154)
Matthew Poole, “magical practices”, “diabolical artifices” (Vol 2, p. 433)
E.J. Young, “magical practices”, “enchantments” “spells” (Vol 3, p. 238)
Keil & Delitzsch, “witchcrafts”, “magical arts”, “the black art” (Vol 7, pp. 240, 242, 243)
John Calvin, “divinations” (OT commentaries, Vol 8, p. 458)
Word Study Dictionary of the Old Testament, (Strong’s #3785) “occult magic”; also translated “witchcrafts” in 2 Kings 9:22, Micah 5:12, Nahum 3:4.
Matthew Henry, “Witchcraft is a sin in its own nature exceedingly heinous; it is giving that honour to the devil which is due to God only, making God’s enemy our guide and the father of lies our oracle. In Babylon it was a national sin . . . Such a bewitching sin this was that when it was once admitted it spread like wildfire, and they never knew the end of it; the deceived and the deceivers both increased strangely. (On Isaiah 47:7-15, IV)
Old Testament Word Studies, by William Wilson, “keshep – sorcery – ‘to practice magic arts, sorcery, charms, with an intent to do mischief to men or beasts; to delude or pervert the mind . . . magical rites’ ” (p. 405)”
With regard to the related word translated “enchantments” in Isaiah 47:7 – from, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Harris, Archer, and Waltke:
What was true of ancient Babylon – a prototype – is also true of her final manifestation: a world system based in a nation with by far the mightiest military power the world has ever seen, as well as being the most culturally and technologically advanced of the nations, able to attain a political, economic, and cultural hegemony over most of the world.
Please understand that, despite my strong conjectural assertions, I am still in the conjectural stage and not saying America is definitely the Babylon of Scripture. But there are very strong correspondences between the two. Let me wrap up the sorcery connection before I go on.
It seems indisputable to me that the saying in Rev 18:23, “. . . for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived”, does find exclusive fulfillment in the United States, with its exportation of the “psychedelic” drug culture throughout the world. No other nation fits this bill.
The irreversible damage done to the nations is clear to those with eyes to see. The United Kingdom, closely connected in the sixties with American culture, and thoroughly permeated with the counter-culture music, thought, and drug use, is presently in such rapid spiritual decline, due in part to the postmodern juggernaut energized by the evolving thought-forms and ethics of that era, that it is constantly seeking to ratify legislation outlawing the Christian faith. It is on its way to becoming a truly wicked kingdom.
The consciousness of sorcery is inimical to the claims of Christ; hostile to God’s laws; intolerant to the Christian witness to these things. All over the world the church has been weakened, and in the spiritual and moral vacuum Islam has leapt in with a vengeance, flexing its satanic muscles. The only place it cannot spiritually overwhelm is the living precincts of the faithful and witnessing church.
Into this same vacuum has leapt the homosexual vanguard, flexing its moral relativity and ensuing rights. In the public arena the faithful and witnessing church is shrunken to insignificance in the postmodern lens of society’s vision. We are a hindrance to the development and welfare of a free, just, and modern society unencumbered by “primitive fundamentalist guilt-based and psychologically unhealthy religious views”. The explosive opening of sorcery and its Pandora’s onslaught from the Pit into the common consciousness of humankind has paved the way for a new age, an age where Christ and His people are in the way, are blocking the road of “progress”.
The polyanna eschatologists may pipe up and say that in a few thousand more years this too shall pass and things will get better, but that’s a pipe dream. It was not for nothing the Lord said,
This concludes the first section of Part 1, The Culture of the American Empire, section A. Sorceries. I would next like to look at other aspects of the culture of empire. It may be a while before I post it.
If these – and upcoming – conjectures turn out to be valid, the implications are enormous, at least for those of us who live in America (I’m not home now, but am planning to return).
On the other hand, it is similar in that America is again being compared to an ancient political entity, this time Babylon. To complicate things somewhat, for the New Testament writers, particularly the apostles Peter and John, Babylon was a code name for the Roman Empire. As commentator G.K. Beale points out,
“Babylon was the ungodly world power under which Israel had to live in captivity. While Israelite saints did not go along with Babylon’s religious practices, they were nevertheless tempted to compromise. When they remained loyal to their God, they underwent trial by their oppressors (see Daniel 1-6). The ungodly social, political, and economic system dominated by the Roman Empire placed believers in the same position as Israel was in under Babylon... Therefore, here in the Apocalypse Rome and all wicked world systems take on the symbolic name ‘Babylon the Great’...” [emphasis added –SMR] (The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text, p. 755)
Some commentators on the Book of Revelation take the view that the mentions of “Babylon” in chapters 14, 16, 17, 18 and 19 refer to an economic, cultural, and religio-philosophical world system generally speaking, while others consider the possibility it may be based in a particular nation, which is not far-fetched as the two primary predecessors / prototypes – Chaldean Babylon and Rome – were empires controlled by specific nations from their capital cities.
This sketch will focus on three aspects of America as a modern-day empire: the cultural, the economic, and the military / political. These aspects will have some overlap, especially the cultural and economic. I started an initial exploration of this theme in a previous Babylon thread. This is a development of that.
Part 1, The Culture of the American Empire
A. Sorceries
I want first to consider a point pretty much overlooked by commentators, although one – Simon Kistemaker – does focus on it, and that is the statement in Revelation 18:23, giving as part of the cause for the horrific judgment meted upon Babylon, “for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived” (all scripture quotations will be from the Authorized Version unless otherwise noted; I may on occasion modernize the language).
Kistemaker comments on this phrase,
“. . . Babylon deceived the nations with sorcery. The expression sorcery relates to the practice of magic (9:21). While it allows a person ‘to control the gods, it is at the same time a gift and revelation of the gods to men’ [Colin Brown, “Magic,” New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 2:556]. This sin is an utter abomination to God (Deut.18:10-12). All those Israelites who practiced sorcery or witchcraft were to be put to death, according to the Law of Moses (Exod. 22:18; Lev. 20:6. 27). . . And John states that those who practice the magic arts will be consigned to the lake of fire and burning sulfur (21:8; 22:15).” [New Testament Commentary: Revelation (Baker 2001), p. 503].
Merrill F. Unger in his, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, says “Sorcery is . . . the practice of the occult arts under the power of evil spirits or demons and has been common in all ages of the world’s history.” (p. 1039)
Lest anyone think this is but some archaic or esoteric practice unrelated to our 21st century world, I shall proceed in a moment to show its current relevance. Other commentators (who I value greatly) often think of “sorceries” rather loosely as merely deception and deceptive practices, apart from a connection to the magic arts, but I don’t think their view does justice to the Biblical data. As this is a key reason why I see America a strong candidate for being the Babylon spoken of in Revelation, I shall be developing this point. First, for understanding’s sake, some New Testament Greek background; I excerpt from The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, by Spiros Zodhiates,
“Strong’s # 5331, pharmakeia, from pharmakon, a drug, which in the Gr. writers is used both for a curative or medicinal drug, and also as a poisonous one. Pharmakeia means the occult, sorcery, witchcraft, illicit pharmaceuticals, trance, magical incantation with drugs (Gal. 5:20; Rev. 9:21; 18:23; Sept.: Ex. 7:22; Is. 47:9, 12). (pp. 1437, 1438)
“Strong’s # 5332, pharmakeus; gen. pharmakeos, from pharmakeuo, to administer a drug. An enchanter with drugs, a sorcerer (Rev. 21:8 [TR]) (Ibid., p. 1438)
“Strong’s #5333, pharmakos, gen. pharmakou. A magician, sorcerer, enchanter (Rev. 21:8 [UBS]; 22:15; Sept.: Ex. 7:11; 9:11; Deut. 18:10; Dan. 2:2). The same as pharmakeus (5332). The noun pharmakeia (5331) means the preparing and giving of medicine, and in the NT, sorcery, enchantment.” (Ibid.)
“Strong’s # 5332, pharmakeus; gen. pharmakeos, from pharmakeuo, to administer a drug. An enchanter with drugs, a sorcerer (Rev. 21:8 [TR]) (Ibid., p. 1438)
“Strong’s #5333, pharmakos, gen. pharmakou. A magician, sorcerer, enchanter (Rev. 21:8 [UBS]; 22:15; Sept.: Ex. 7:11; 9:11; Deut. 18:10; Dan. 2:2). The same as pharmakeus (5332). The noun pharmakeia (5331) means the preparing and giving of medicine, and in the NT, sorcery, enchantment.” (Ibid.)
To show why the use of “sorceries” in the Rev 18:23 passage refers to activities involving certain kinds of drugs rather then mere deceptive practices, consider the classes of transgressors in Rev 21:8 who are consigned to “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”: “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars”. Sorcerers (from pharmakeus) here specifically means one who administers or uses a certain class of drugs to “enchant”, to cast a psychic spell upon by use of drugs and demonic power. It doesn’t mean a deceiver generally or even figuratively, but specifically one who uses sorcerous potions. Likewise in Rev 22:15 where a similar Greek word, pharmakos, is used for sorcerer, with the same meaning as pharmakeus in 21:8. So here we have real drug-dealing “sorcerers” declared liable for judgment.
Some modern examples of sorcerers as used in Revelation? Timothy Leary, for one, the Harvard psychology professor who became an evangelist for LSD in the 1960s, encouraging an entire generation to partake of the consciousness-altering drugs, of which LSD was perhaps the staple. He wrote books to guide them on their “trips” so as to experience other “wavelengths” of awareness. The world-famous poet Allen Ginsberg was likewise a sorcerer, encouraging multitudes to, in Leary’s words, “turn on [to the drugs], tune in [to the ‘cosmic consciousness’], and drop out [of the ‘straight’ world]”. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, et al, all these promoted the acid consciousness of the sixties, exporting the use of these drugs throughout the entire world. They were indeed a generation of sorcerers. Charles Manson also was in this class, although patently demonic, while the others presented themselves as benign sages – they actually thought they were, but were themselves deceived and deceiving.
Recall Unger’s previous statement that “Sorcery is . . . the practice of the occult arts under the power of evil spirits or demons and has been common in all ages of the world’s history.” What happened in the Beat, Hippie, and Woodstock generations was no small thing. Although it was prettied up with Eastern spiritual talk and concepts, the drugs (this includes those one takes in by smoking them) were sorcerous potions that – as per their use in India by “holy” men, or shamans in Native American tribes – enabled one to make direct contact with entities in the spirit world, which we know as evil spirits. Sometimes these demons got their human hosts to “channel” them so as to speak directly to the world, and sometimes remained behind the scenes and powerfully affected the consciousness of the humans without making themselves known. Such were our singers, poets, and writers of those days. Off the top of my head I think of poets Gregory Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, novelists Ken Kesey and Tom Wolfe, and a multitude of their peers. These all spread the consciousness that was a direct result of demonic activity in the human spirit through hallucinogenic drugs. This is sorcery, and these are sorcerers. Now, in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, this activity continues, although quietly, under cover, having permeated much of the advertising and cinematic fields, many musicians, actors, writers, and others also having “turned on”. Other nations and cultures, having been leavened from within by these sorceries, became vulnerable to satanic deception in its various forms. They became open to input from the satanic realm mentally and spiritually. The one defense against it, the Christian faith, is being slowly marginalized and even criminalized, and this latter is the purpose and design of the demonic realm. That it is allowed by the High Throne of heaven shows that it is part of His decree and plan.
Anyone who has studied the history of LSD in America knows that its use was not limited to the counter culture, but the CIA and other military agencies used it extensively, both among themselves and experimenting on others, as a prospective weapon of war. Politicians (JFK was reported by the CIA to have taken it), academics, therapists and psychiatrists, artists, men and women from a wide variety of professions all tried this new “wonder drug” – as it was touted – and were transported to another realm of consciousness, what I call “the satanic wavelength”, though others will give it a more euphemistic spin. There is a resurgence now of its supposed “therapeutic” use, per (among other sources) the NY Times of Apr 11, 2010: “Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning In Again”. There is also a widespread campaign for the legalization of “medicinal marijuana”. It is surprising to see even some Christians saying that smoking grass is no big thing, and that the government should keep their hands out of any legislation concerning it. I have seen professing Christians say that they would have no trouble smoking it, especially if it were legalized. It remains sorcery, prohibited – on pain of eternal death – by Scripture, notwithstanding the much gainsaying by some.
Even the purported therapeutic use of LSD and medicinal use of marijuana do not evade their sorcerous properties. Whatever benefits may accrue to users – and there may indeed be some – they are outweighed by the opening of the spirit-world to their consciousness. Spirits may work lying wonders, but the end thereof is death.
The Isaiah 47 connection
To demonstrate this point from another angle: in Rev 18:7 “harlot Babylon” is quoted as saying, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow”. The retort of the Almighty to that boast is, “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 . . . in one hour is thy judgment come” (Rev 18:8, 10).
Scholars acknowledge this image of Babylon and her judgment comes directly out of Isaiah’s chapter 47, who likewise was prophesying against Babylon – Chaldean Babylon of some 2,700 years ago. Listen to the prophet’s words:
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness [utter obscurity], O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, the lady of kingdoms . . . And thou saidst, I shall be a lady forever: so that thou didst not lay these things to heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection [fullness] for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments (Isaiah 47:5, 7-9).
But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection [fullness] for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments (Isaiah 47:5, 7-9).
“Lady” in the phrase “lady of kingdoms” is the feminine of a Hebrew word for lord or master, ghebeer; it could be translated, “mistress of kingdoms”, and is equivalent to Rev 18:7’s “I sit a queen”. The “loss of children” means she shall not retain the vassal nations which make up her wealth and support; “I shall not sit as a widow” means she shall never be desolate and grief-stricken as widows are. In short, nothing shall disturb her peace, luxury, and dominance over the nations. And this ancient Babylon, as her incarnation some 2,700 or more years later will be, was judged for the multitude of her sorceries and abundance of her enchantments, as well as her idolatry, pride, and the cruel persecution of God’s people.
We see that not only did this ancient Babylon oppress the nations, extracting their wealth and goods by virtue of her military conquests and economic dominance, she also was greatly exercised in “sorcery”.
Regarding this word [your] sorceries in Isaiah 47:9, 12, [size=+1]%yIp;êv'K.[/size], it is clear that the classic definition accrues to it. In their respective commentaries on Isaiah,
J.A. Alexander says of it, “occult arts” (Vol 2, p. 202)
H.C. Leupold, “occult arts” (Vol 2, p. 154)
Matthew Poole, “magical practices”, “diabolical artifices” (Vol 2, p. 433)
E.J. Young, “magical practices”, “enchantments” “spells” (Vol 3, p. 238)
Keil & Delitzsch, “witchcrafts”, “magical arts”, “the black art” (Vol 7, pp. 240, 242, 243)
John Calvin, “divinations” (OT commentaries, Vol 8, p. 458)
Word Study Dictionary of the Old Testament, (Strong’s #3785) “occult magic”; also translated “witchcrafts” in 2 Kings 9:22, Micah 5:12, Nahum 3:4.
Matthew Henry, “Witchcraft is a sin in its own nature exceedingly heinous; it is giving that honour to the devil which is due to God only, making God’s enemy our guide and the father of lies our oracle. In Babylon it was a national sin . . . Such a bewitching sin this was that when it was once admitted it spread like wildfire, and they never knew the end of it; the deceived and the deceivers both increased strangely. (On Isaiah 47:7-15, IV)
Old Testament Word Studies, by William Wilson, “keshep – sorcery – ‘to practice magic arts, sorcery, charms, with an intent to do mischief to men or beasts; to delude or pervert the mind . . . magical rites’ ” (p. 405)”
With regard to the related word translated “enchantments” in Isaiah 47:7 – from, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Harris, Archer, and Waltke:
“heber – bind, cast a spell – ‘The usual translation is “enchantments” referring to the means the charmers employed to influence people or the results of their charming efforts (Deut 18:11). All aspects were divinely forbidden to covenant people.’ ” (pp. 259, 260)
What was true of ancient Babylon – a prototype – is also true of her final manifestation: a world system based in a nation with by far the mightiest military power the world has ever seen, as well as being the most culturally and technologically advanced of the nations, able to attain a political, economic, and cultural hegemony over most of the world.
Please understand that, despite my strong conjectural assertions, I am still in the conjectural stage and not saying America is definitely the Babylon of Scripture. But there are very strong correspondences between the two. Let me wrap up the sorcery connection before I go on.
It seems indisputable to me that the saying in Rev 18:23, “. . . for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived”, does find exclusive fulfillment in the United States, with its exportation of the “psychedelic” drug culture throughout the world. No other nation fits this bill.
The irreversible damage done to the nations is clear to those with eyes to see. The United Kingdom, closely connected in the sixties with American culture, and thoroughly permeated with the counter-culture music, thought, and drug use, is presently in such rapid spiritual decline, due in part to the postmodern juggernaut energized by the evolving thought-forms and ethics of that era, that it is constantly seeking to ratify legislation outlawing the Christian faith. It is on its way to becoming a truly wicked kingdom.
The consciousness of sorcery is inimical to the claims of Christ; hostile to God’s laws; intolerant to the Christian witness to these things. All over the world the church has been weakened, and in the spiritual and moral vacuum Islam has leapt in with a vengeance, flexing its satanic muscles. The only place it cannot spiritually overwhelm is the living precincts of the faithful and witnessing church.
Into this same vacuum has leapt the homosexual vanguard, flexing its moral relativity and ensuing rights. In the public arena the faithful and witnessing church is shrunken to insignificance in the postmodern lens of society’s vision. We are a hindrance to the development and welfare of a free, just, and modern society unencumbered by “primitive fundamentalist guilt-based and psychologically unhealthy religious views”. The explosive opening of sorcery and its Pandora’s onslaught from the Pit into the common consciousness of humankind has paved the way for a new age, an age where Christ and His people are in the way, are blocking the road of “progress”.
The polyanna eschatologists may pipe up and say that in a few thousand more years this too shall pass and things will get better, but that’s a pipe dream. It was not for nothing the Lord said,
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13, 14)
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13, 14)
This concludes the first section of Part 1, The Culture of the American Empire, section A. Sorceries. I would next like to look at other aspects of the culture of empire. It may be a while before I post it.
If these – and upcoming – conjectures turn out to be valid, the implications are enormous, at least for those of us who live in America (I’m not home now, but am planning to return).
Last edited: