GOD’S PROMISES
The most wondrous aspect of our Heavenly Father is the absolute assurance given by Him, in His Word, to all His children, that the promises He made will be fulfilled. Right through the history of the Bible God had His promises written down and proclaimed openly, so that the whole of creation would be assured that His Word is unchangeable. Several prophets chronicled, in minute detail, the life and mission of His Son, so that it could be confirmed many millennia afterwards.
GOD’S PLEDGE
God also announced the end of Satan’s reign on earth, from Genesis through Revelation. His pledge to wipe out Satan’s power on earth He endorsed with the costly blood of His own Holy Son. As far back in history as Abraham, God already announced His intention when Isaac lay on the altar of sacrifice and God Himself provided a substitute. As a result of Abraham’s devotion and his willingness to sacrifice his only son, God promised that the Saviour would come from Abraham’s offspring. Abraham, therefore, served as a semblance of God as Father, who let His only Son to be sacrificed on the cross (Genesis 22:18).
GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE
So firmly God stands in His resolution to quell Satan completely that He, as a guarantee, gave His Son over to the power of His enemy, Satan, to have Him crucified and even descend to the depths of hell. But, to prove His omnipotence once and for all, He resurrected Jesus from death, and captured the hordes of hell in a triumphant march! In Colossians 2:15, it says:
“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
SETTING THE STAGE
God set the stage for the final act of the drama in which Satan’s ultimate overthrow will be acted out. By the three playwrights: the prophet Daniel (from the Old Testament), Jesus Christ, His own Son, and the apostle John, in his Revelation, God had the script written down for the final drama, so the actors could know exactly beforehand what was going to happen. Indeed, God is so much in control of the course of the history of creation that He has made it known to us in the form of a stage play. We are now going to look at one of the most spellbinding scenes in this true drama, namely the collapse of all Satan’s strongholds, the largest of which is Babylon.
WHAT IS BABYLON?
Babylon was a city founded by the mighty warrior Nimrod (Genesis 10:10). It was where mankind (the whole earth) started to build the tower of Babel as a monument to their glory. God put an end to it by confusing their languages, from which the various nations generated (Genesis 11:1-9). Babylon became a large city whose inhabitants were known for their idolatry, magic and astrology (Daniel 4:7). Later the Jews were captured by these enemies of God and taken into exile to Babylon. Chronicles 9:1 reads:
“So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.”
GOD’S ENEMY
Babylon throughout served as the enemy of God’s people, and her tyrannical rulers with their cruel powers were often used by Him as punishment of other peoples. Chapter 3 of the book Daniel describes how the king of Babylon had an image made that everybody had to worship. Owing to the loathsome sins of this city and her people God prescribed many prophecies about her destruction. Babylon was eventually destroyed by the Chaldeans – a province of the city. Jeremiah 50: 39-40 tells us
“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 forever; 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.”
ULTIMATE DECEPTION
The history of Judah’s exile serves as an example of the spiritual exile to which the Christian would be subjected on account of his disobedience and lack of faith. Satan is the king of Babylon, with his realm eventually reaching the ends of the earth. The climax will be reached with the appearance of the Antichrist, who will be worshipped by all nations. The Antichrist will come into office through an immensely deceptive complot by which the world will be thrown into anarchy through the global use of drugs, coupled with licentiousness and lawlessness.
FALSE PEACE ON EARTH
By creating a false peace on earth, man is exalted to deity, with Satan achieving his ultimate goal, namely, to be worshipped as “God”. All will be led astray by this satanic misleading, except the true children of God who, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, will refuse to bend the knee before Baal. In Daniel 3:18
“But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
FAITHFUL TO THE END
The faith that they swore in the face of death, by worshipping only God, demonstrated a prophetic saving of all God’s children. Just as God saved them from the fiery furnace and the lion’s den, just so will God uphold His children in the times of the most severe persecution of Christians during the tyranny of the Antichrist. Not that they will be exempt from physical torture or injury but that they will be endowed with the strength not to yield to the temptations and eventually cruel menaces of Satan. Every person who is sealed in God’s Spirit will remain faithful to the end.
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from Make your Stand, authored by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
