Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 198

July 20:   Revelation 18:11;   256/260(I);   ‘The God of Money’

Revelation 18:11 The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.     NLT

We saw in Revelation 17 that Almighty God, uses the devil to destroy the religious system that satan has promoted for all of these years.  The antichrist has no need of religion any longer, since he, inspired by the devil wants the worship.  The devil is a pawn of the Lord and once false religion is no longer needed, the devil discards it.  Everything is coming down to what it really has always been, the Lord Jesus against satan.  Babylon was the seat of false religion and it started there with Nimrod and the tower of Babel.  Babylon is also the home of the secular economic system.  In a sense, false religion is continued in the economic system, the worship of money.  As Jesus Christ begins to destroy the economic system of the world, based on greed, power and the lust for more wealth, those who have become rich through this system, weep and lament that their means of riches is crumbling.  The deception of these naturally powerful men and women is staggering.  The Lord is moving on the earth in incredible ways, doing all he can to win the hearts of those bound by pride, religion and the love of money.  This verse teaches that these people are not weeping because they have finally seen where wrong priorities have taken them.  They are weeping because their means of becoming richer is gone.  Do some of them repent and turn to the Lord?  They still can, but the decision is theirs.  There will have to be a diametric change in their life and priorities.  Perhaps most of them have already received the mark of the beast, refusing to be denied the ability to buy and sell.  Eternity lost for money.