Gates of the City

A Stronghold of Devil

Revelation 17:11 – And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Revelation 18:1 – And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  2 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.

Revelation 18:21 – And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Revelation 13:9 – If any man have an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰ He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. ¹¹ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. ¹² And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. ¹³ And he does great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

After one of the angels who had the seven vials explained to John the mystery, concerning “the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters,” John then sees another angel descend down out of heaven with such great power and authority that it causes the earth to be lit up by his glory. Now, whether this lighting of the earth is literally caused by the angel, or prophetic of some cosmic event being caused by him, or even if it is related to that making fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, mentioned in the verse above, which take note, was preceded with the admonition, “If any man have an ear, let him hear, for He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity, and he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword, and whether this is the cause for which the angel is sent, to proclaim the consequences for such a transgression which has been deemed irreversible by God, and therefore to be met with certain judgment and His wrath, we can only speculate, However what we can be certain of is that at this time Babylon the Great, having fallen, now begins it fatal fall towards certain annihilation and destruction.

By the angel’s words we can see the motivation for God’s judgment against America is multi-faceted, the greatest perhaps being that the sins of America have open such doors as to permit this country to become the habitation of devils, which God would only permit if the house, which was once cleaned and swept, was never properly occupied by the rightful owner and therefore taken over by squatters.

Matthew 12:43 – When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he said, I will return into my house from where I came out. And when he has come, he finds it empty, swept, and decorated.  ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and live there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so it also shall be to this evil generation.

 So, the angel continues declaring that a deluge demonic power has ascended upon America as “unclean and hateful” birds in a “cage.” The use of the word “cage” might cause some conclude this implies their imprisonment, as the Greek word phulake has been translated here as “cage,” has in other scriptures has been translated “prison” or “prisons.” However, the same word has also been translated “watch,” and that in the sense of one, or a group, watching guard over that which has been allocated to one’s supervision and control.

Luke 2:8 – And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch [phulake] over their flock by night.

Luke 12:37 – Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he comes shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.  ³⁸ And if he shall come in the second watch [phulake], or come in the third watch [phulake], and find them so, then blessed are those servants.

Consequently, a careful examination of the text conveys the idea of an assigned or conquered territory whereby both devils and unclean spirits have been given power to ensnare the inhabitants of the land through their corrupt and seductive deceptions. This, however, can only happen when the restraint of evil by God’s grace has been frustrated because the inhabitants of the land have both lazily and stubbornly rejected His pleas for them to repent and return unto Him.

Waxing worse and worse, the wicked persistently reject the obvious signs of His waves of judgments being directed against them, ever-increasing in their frequency and intensity, always warning them of a greater display of wrath to follow. Yet for all this they will not repent, but only harden their hearts and blaspheme His Holy name, and curse His holy precepts while celebrating their own wickedness. That said, in many ways the spiritual condition of America has fallen to that of Israel’s just prior to her going into her Babylonian captivity.

Jeremiah 5:1 – Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, see if you can find a man, if there be any that executes judgment, any that seeks the truth; and I will pardon it. ² And though they say, The LORD lives; surely they swear falsely. ³ O LORD, are not Your eyes upon the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock and have refused to return. ⁴ Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. ⁵ So I will get Me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these, they have altogether broken the  yoke, and have burst the bonds. ⁶ Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: everyone that goes out shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. ⁷ How shall I pardon them for this? Their children have forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are not gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. ⁸ They were all as fed horses in the morning where everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

  Accordingly, spiritual Babylon has fallen and has “become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,” for their workings are being testified against by this prophetic description of their being unclean and hateful birds, evil creatures seeking any opportunity to oppose every seed of holy truth not buried deep in the heart of faith of every believer. For these reasons, Revelation 18:2 in some translations depict Babylon not as a “cage” or “prison” for the forces of evil, but rather as a demonic stronghold where foul spirits easily conquer the rebellious, ignorant, and religious unbelievers. 

“It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird.” Revised Standard Version

“. . . is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.” American Standard Version

“. . .  she has come to destruction and has become a place of evil spirits, and of every unclean spirit, and a hole for every unclean and hated bird.” Bible in Basic English

“. . .  has become the habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird.” Darby’s Translation

“. . .  she became a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.” Young’s Literal Translation

“Now she is a dwelling-place of demons, A stronghold of every foul spirit, A stronghold of every foul and hateful bird.” Montgomery’s New Testament

“She has become an abode of demons, a stronghold of every wicked spirit, a stronghold of every foul and hateful bird.” Twentieth Century New Testament

“…has become a home for demons and a stronghold for every kind of foul spirit and for every kind of foul and hateful bird.” Weymouth’s New Testament

The proclamation of the angel is simple; the Eighth Beast having so fallen in her sins has now been conquered, resulting in her having become the dwelling place and stronghold of fallen angels and demons. Not surprising considering prayer has been removed from public schools, students and teachers are being forbidden to publicly express their faith or openly read their Bibles, or display Christian symbols, and the Ten Commandments are being outlawed and forbidden to be displayed in government buildings, or are vandalized. Yet, for some reason allowances are increasingly being made for the LGBT community and those of the Muslim faith.

Meanwhile, hidden from the eyes of the public, rivers of innocent blood continue to flow in sewers under cities all across the nation: blood spilt by the sacrifice of unborn babies being slaughtered daily in abortion mills across the land, and their carcasses being sold or discarded in dumpsters. At the same time an ever-increasing number of disabled citizens, veterans, and aging parents are being banished into nursing homes under the guise of giving them “proper care,” robbing them of the love and honor God specifically commanded. So really, what could God do to intervene for such a nation when leaders in both the churches and government have so compromised and surrendered to the seductive powers of darkness just as surely as did Adam? …and yet the majority of the people both love and fight for it to be so.

One hardly needs to labor to find proof of the rapidly increasing profane and malicious agendas of the depraved cultures which were once covertly practice in unpublicized gathering places. But now they are the boldest and loudest in the public eye, brazenly challenging with pride and arrogance every aspect of morality in America. Having now reached sixty years of age, I can remember stories from my youth about homosexuality existing, lurking out there in the shadows as it were, yet for the most part barely seen in society. Its existence and practices once brought a sense of revulsion to most when envisioning how the obvious natural order for society’s continuance, which depended upon a strong and virtuous family environment, could be so damaged and polluted with such unreasonable lusts and affections. For the thought of one’s father having no affection for your mother, or even for other women, but rather lusting after another man was inconceivable.

At a very young age I remember hearing of the most revolting indulgences of the immorality in homosexuality, that a man would think to utilize what was by divine design created for procreation (to which all nature bears witness is for the planting of life-bearing seed into a womb) and seek to be thereby enjoined to another male through that orifice from which bodily waste is discharged – such a thought back then was so revolting that surely it had to be a myth cruelly designed to frighten children. How things have changed, for now the American armed forces are actively training its leaders on what to tolerate or discipline regarding public displays of affection by openly homosexual recruits, as well as requiring chaplains to perform same-sex marriages in military chapels, yet forbidding any proselytizing in the name of Jesus with threat of being court-martial.

It really isn’t difficult to establish this “hateful bird” aspect of verse 2 in America, for this is a country where many people actually love their hatred. That might seem like an odd statement, but when you consider that the heart of any love is a commitment to the intent and desire of its passion, then it becomes easier to understand. Such is why there are so many groups, fraternities, associations and even religions which are strongly committed to the promotion of their hostility against the objects of their hate.

Many rationalized their hatred to the point of asserting it is not only reasonable, but actually virtuous as well. Therefore, certain hatreds in some societal circles have become widely acceptable, like their relentless loud cries of “intolerant” against those whose beliefs aren’t viewed as “tolerant.” For whenever hatred can be justified, the next step will always be to present hatred as something admirable to others; turning hate into a moral obligation to intimidate others to abandon their passiveness and obligate them to join the corporate aggressive action of hating with resolution, focus and vision. Therefore, the more they persecute others who don’t agree with their lawless tolerance, the more self-righteous they become in their exhibiting hate towards those who hold to an absolute standard of right and wrong.

Surely many will have similar stories like my own they could tell, of growing up in Miami and having experienced race riots in school between “the whites and the blacks.” Add to that tense environment the steady inflow of Cubans and Haitians into Miami that was literally taking over certain communities, and there was a growing tide of resentment and hatred overflowing on all sides. So much so, many native Floridians left south Florida half-jokingly saying, “Will the last American to leave please bring the flag.”  Even when my time in the Air Force obligated my Cuba born wife and I to move to Idaho, we were both taken back by the extreme prejudice and hatred openly expressed towards the local Indian populace. It just doesn’t matter where you go, people apparently have a need to hate. It seems almost every country in the world now has made celebrities of supposedly religious men who literally make an extravagant living by stirring up hate and strife within their own race towards others; proving that a fire which is constantly fanned and fueled will only burn hotter and hotter. Any religion that ignores forgiveness is truly a false religion.

Then of course, there is the legislation for defining “hate crimes.” Having witnessed so much hatred I would normally be inclined to embrace the “hate crime” concept. However, it seems that both the media coverage and the enforcement of hate-crime laws are favorable towards certain social or ethnic groups and not equitably enforced with others. It would almost seem as if both the law and its enforcement were actually designed as a weapon of retaliation to be utilized by those who have risen to power to force their own immoral itinerary upon the rest of society.

Proverbs 17:13 – Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

Isaiah 1:21 – How has the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. ²² Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water: ²³ Your princes are rebellious, and are companions of thieves: everyone loves gifts, and runs after rewards: they judge not for the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them. ²⁴ Therefore says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease Me of mine adversaries, and will avenge Me of Mine enemies: ²⁵ And I will turn My hand upon you, and purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin.

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; those that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! ²¹ Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! ²² Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: ²³ Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! ²⁴ Therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. ²⁵ Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against His people, and He has stretched forth His hand against them, and has smitten them, and therefore did the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still against them.