Herbert W Armstrong

   Now, for the past two or three weeks, we've been going through the prophecies, what's going to happen to the United States. But I think we're all very much concerned also about what's going to happen to Russia. So now let's come to the prophecies of Russia.

   We've been getting into a lot of prophecies of what is going to happen to the United States. We have seen that there is to be a yoke on our neck and we've seen that it is not Russia that is going to put it there and we have seen that there is going to rise up in Europe, an assembly, a union of 10 nations. It's going to be a resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire in the territory of Europe and around the Mediterranean. It's going to absolutely startle and dumbfound the nations and the people of this world. When this thing comes, as you read in the 17th chapter of the Book of Revelation in your Bible. That is all whose names as it says in that prophecy, all whose names are not written in the Book of Life. They're going to be absolutely dumbfounded because it's the thing that the world today least expects.

   Now, I've shown you that in this time of trouble to come, the great tribulation, Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24 that there would be a time of trouble such as had never happened before, since there was a nation and never will again. And except those days should be shortened, that no flesh could be saved alive. In other words, it is a time when mankind has proceeded along scientifically and technologically to the place where he has invented such mass destructive measures, such powers of destruction that at last, it becomes possible to blast human life off the face of this earth. Now, in the very past few years, for the first time, our scientists are telling us that that is now possible and we have already had the warning that it is now possible to lay waste an entire continent, not just a town, not just a city, but an entire continent. And without warning, that is now possible. There has never been such a time before.

   Now, we read in Daniel in Daniel, the 12th chapter that at the time of certain things, when this same power in Europe is going to actually take over the land of Palestine and half of the city of Jerusalem and set up the palace of his Tabernacle over there that at that same time, the archangel Micheal will stand up for our people. And then there's going to be a terrible time of trouble among nations such as has never happened on the face of this earth until that same time, never happened before. Never will again. Well, that's the same time that Jesus Christ was talking about. There can't be two times of trouble, each of which is greater than the other.

   And then we have seen back in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah that at that time, there is going to be a yoke on our neck. And that, that same time of trouble is the time of our national trouble in the 30th chapter of Jeremiah. It's a time so great that there is none like it never has been and it's the time of our national trouble and there is to be a yoke on our neck. Now, we turned back to see who's going to put that yoke on our neck into the 47th chapter of Isaiah. Remember we've gone into this so many, many times and back here we found about this Babylon, but it is the virgin daughter of Babylon. Come down and sit in the dusty virgin daughter of Babylon Isaiah 47.

   Now, let's pick it up. I want to identify the people being spoken of here in these prophecies. Once again, this is not the Babylon of Jeremiah's Day or Isaiah's Day. This is not the ancient Chaldean Empire. 600 years before Christ. This is the daughter of that Babylon and this says O virgin daughter that Babylon was always spoken of in the male gender. This one is spoken of in the female gender (Isaiah 47:1-6). A daughter of Babylon sit on the ground. There is no throne, no daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Now, verse five (Isaiah 47:5), Sit thou silent, get the end of the darkness. O daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. A woman now, now here is a woman, a lady who is a lady of kingdoms. In other words, a woman ruling over nations or kingdoms. Then God says I was wroth with my people. I polluted mine inheritance. That's Israel and given them a thine hand, the hand of this daughter of Babylon. Now in our time and our day and thou didst show them no mercy upon the ancient. That's Israel. Hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

   Now, there is the power that is to lay the yoke. We've covered all of that ground and thou sadist, verse seven (Isaiah 47:7), "I shall be a lady forever so that thou didst not lay these things to heart and neither didst remember the latter end of it."

   Now, then if you will turn over to Revelation 18, we saw the same identical things mentioned over here, Revelation 18 and verse seven (Revelation 18:7-8). We've gone into this before. "How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously. Here's a woman, so much torment and sorrow give her for she saith in her heart, 'I said a queen and I am no widow and shall see no sorrow.' And therefore the next verse 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 that judges her and the kings of the earth who have committed fornication live deliciously with her.

   Now, here is a lady committing fornication with the kings of the earth. Here is a woman, a lady ruling over the governments of the earth. And in verse four (Revelation 18:4), God had said to his people, 'Our people come out of her, my people that you be not partakers of her sins and that you receive not of her plagues.' The Bible definition of sin, my friends is the transgression of the law of God.

   Now, then in the 17th chapter of Revelation, you find this lady, this daughter of the ancient Babylon described in the first verse (Revelation 17:1). Here comes one of the angels with one of the seven last plagues that are her plagues that God is going to pour on her, her judgments.

   All right, here is one of these seven angels that had the seven vials. And he talked with me saying unto me, 'Come hither and I will show thee,' speaking to John who wrote it now, John is seeing this in vision and in vision, he sees this angel, one of the angels that had one of the seven last plagues saying to John who wrote it? John is not the revelator. John is merely the recorder who recorded it but saying I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.

   Now here is a great woman, but she's a fallen woman called by a very ugly name, an immoral name. And she is, of course, speaking spiritually, she is spiritually immoral. Now, here is a great woman that sat upon many waters. And verse 15 (Revelation 17:15), says the waters which thou sawest where the fallen woman sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. In other words, this woman setting over many nations now read right on, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.

   Now, this is the same lady that is spoken of in Isaiah 47 the daughter of that ancient Babylon. Now let's get the identification with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And the inhabitants of the earth has been made drunk with the wine of her fornication, spiritual fornication. They're drunk spiritually, a man drunk, physically, doesn't see clearly physically. Everything is out of focus before his eyes, maybe he sees double, but he doesn't see and a sharp, clear focus. Everything is all fuzzy. It's all hazy. It's all out of focus. He doesn't see clearly.

   Now, my friends, when you're drunk spiritually on spiritual wine, your mind is blurred up spiritually. You can't see spiritual truth. You just can't understand the Bible. It doesn't seem to make sense. Well, that's what people say today. The whole earth is like that. You know our author who said the Bible is the book that nobody knows. Like Christ is the man that nobody knows. Bruce Martin it was, The Book That Nobody Knows.

   Now, here's this woman has committed fornication with the kings of the earth. The inhabitants are drunk. In other words, the people of the whole earth have been deceived. This is a deceiving power. It is a power of Satan, the devil. Satan has deceived all nations. They're honest. They're since they're people. Yes, they're good people as good as human nature because there's good in human nature as well as evil. There's a lot of evil in it too and it's in every one of us.

   And we need to look down into God's spiritual mirror and see the dirt that's on our hearts. There's plenty there and every one of us unless God is washed it away by the blood of Jesus Christ, it's there. So verse three (Revelation 17:3), he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman. Now here's this woman, sit upon a scarlet colored beast. Now this beast, my friends is the civil governments with whom this woman has been committing spiritual fornication. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color purple is the color of royalty. The royal purple and scarlet. The color of a harlot, a fallen woman, decked with gold and precious stones and ornaments, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication and her fornication is that she has this relationship with the kings of this earth. And upon her forehead was a name written.

   Now, listen, who is this woman? Here's her identity, here's her name. Listen, and upon her forehead was the name written mystery Babylon. Why her name is Babylon. This is a female Babylon. This is the daughter of the ancient Babylon, Babylon the Great the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. Why my friends, she has carried the same philosophies. She has carried the same practices. She has carried the same religious practices and the same doctrines as the Ancient Babylon. Write down to this very end time.

   Now here is something to appear and listen, this beast that thou sawst was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. Now I've shown you my friends before that, I think that every, well, I, I would think that every kind of church or denomination that is Christian or goes by the name of Christian that is called Christian and claims to be Christian in the Western world opposed to the possession of this beast here is the ancient Roman Empire, the beast that thou saws was and is not and shall ascend out of the volume of fit.

   Now, let's go a little further. The ancient Babylon did fall and that was the type of the fall of this modern daughter of that Babylon. Ancient Babylon fell. Ancient Chaldea. The Chaldean Empire fell and was conquered by the Persians. God saw to it that they fell. God gave them that kingdom. In the second chapter of Daniel, you will find that the prophet Daniel stood before the King Nebuchadnezzar of that ancient Babylon, 600 years before Christ. And he said, but God of heaven has given you a kingdom and power and strength and glory. You were this head of gold. God gave you your kingdom, but he wouldn't believe it. He admitted that God existed, but he never would surrender to the government of God. He never would acknowledge that God rules. He continued to think that he ruled. And so, God limited his kingdom and then that of his son. You remember the handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar and his kingdom was numbered and he was killed that same night. He died that night. And so, God saw to it that the kingdom passed over to the Medes and the Persians and the Persian Empire appeared on the scene and dominated the world. It was the greatest empire in the world, but they wouldn't acknowledge God's government either. And so, in due time along came Alexander the Great and conquered them. And then the Greco-Macedonian Empire was set up.

   But in the meantime, Rome was beginning to grow in the West and Rome was coming along farther East and gobbling up more and more territory all the time. And of course, the old Macedonia Grecian Empire was divided into four divisions after Alexander's death and one by one, the Roman Empire began to come of that as Rome began to develop into an empire that just swallowed up one by one, those four divisions until it dominated the world. Now, you see it was the successor, this Roman Empire was the successor politically and so as far as civil government is concerned of the ancient Babylon. Now, here is this modern Babylon, the whole system is called Babylon, but here is a woman tied up with this Babylon. The Babylon is in the male gender. The Babylon is the father and the great fallen woman pictured here is the mother.

   Now then verse eight (Revelation 17:8), The beast that thou sawest was and is not. That's the ancient Roman Empire. And shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. It's going to be resurrected that's coming in our time. Now, we have seen that it is yet to come. That is coming. It's a prophecy, it's going to happen. It isn't here right now. It's the beast that was and is not, it isn't now and yet it is because the germ of it is there and it's going to rise.

   Now, listen, it has seven heads. The seven heads are seven mountains and the mountain is the symbol of a nation. Seven nations are seven dynasties of government on which the woman sitteth now there are seven kings, five are fallen. One is, and the other is not yet come. And I have given you the names of them repeatedly on this program. And there is one more yet to come. And it's forming right now in Europe, if you have the eyes to see if you can understand world conditions and you can't understand world conditions unless you understand Bible prophecy. Because one-third of your Bible is prophecy and it outlines world conditions, it tells what's happening and what's going to happen and the cause of it. God almighty rules. He rules over the nations of men. Men don't know it today, men won't acknowledge it today. They're going to have to acknowledge it.

   Herbert W Armstrong will return in a moment. But first this offer concerning literature of related interest.

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   Request your free copy of, The Middle East in Prophecy. See the future of this pivotal part of the world unveiled, The Middle East in ProphecyThe Middle East in prophecy. Send your request to Herbert W Armstrong, Post Office Box 111, Pasadena, California 91123. That's Herbert W Armstrong, Post Office Box 111, Pasadena, California 91123.

   Now let's hurry along. I want to come to Russia. I want to show you what Russia is going to do. But first let's get this background.

   Now, there were ten horns on this last head, the same as there were the seven heads on the beast. The seventh head had ten horns on it. The ten horns thou saw us are ten kings. You see the horns are symbols, the heads are symbols, the heads are symbols. There are seven mountains. That's the symbol. But always you find in the Bible, it explains it itself in the Bible that a mountain is the symbol of a kingdom or a government or a nation.

   Now, the ten horns, there are ten kings, kings and kingdoms are used synonymously in these prophecies. The kings or kingdoms which haven't received no kingdom as yet but received power as kings one hour with the beast. Now it's a very short time. So, they're dictators. They don't inherit their kingdom from a previous dynasty or from a father on back. So, they are dictators.

   These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He is and will be the King of kings and the Lord of lords, only, and not until his second coming when all the kingdoms of this world, it is pronounced in the 11th chapter of Revelation in your Bible shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ.

   Now, I want you to notice these are only going to last a very short time and these make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for his King of kings and Lord of lords. But they're only going to continue a short space. They're going to have power one hour, very short space with a beast. It doesn't mean a literal hour. It means a very short time. I've seen some people try to figure it out on the day for a year basis to 15 days. Well, they will have that power longer than 15 days. Every prophecy indicates it and makes it plain. But it will be a comparatively short time. I will say this. It will not be over seven years, now, and I'm not trying to set the exact time but it will not over seven years. Now, they're only going to last a short time after the resurrection of the Roman Empire. They are going to fight Christ at his second coming. They will last then not more, that is, they will come into existence not more than we'll say, approximately seven years. Supposing it should be a very, very little more than that. It will be a very short time prior to the second coming of Christ. So, you see it is yet future. It has not yet happened.

   Now, we have this Babylon and the whole system. As a matter of fact, my friends listen in a larger sense, this modern Babylon, this daughter of the Ancient Babylon is symbolic of our entire Western way of life and civilization today. Now, I'm not speaking of what we call our American way of life in contradiction to the way of life they have in Europe. I mean, something broader than that. I'm not speaking even that specifically, but there is a general way of life that we have that we call our modern civilization today in our entire Western world. And the whole thing, my friends is merely patterned after and is copied after the ways of the Ancient Babylon. And even prior to the Babylon that we call the Babylon, the Chaldean Empire named after its capital city Babylon. There's the old Babylonia way back before that. And it really goes clear back to the Ancient Babylonia and it goes back to the civilization that was started by Nimrod who you read of in the 10th chapter of Genesis in your Bible and his wife Semiramis. And there's a great deal in the annals of history of various nations about her. She is the original Venus. She is the original that call herself the mother of God. She is the original Easter, believe it or not. That set herself up as a pagan deity and had the people worshiping her, way back there hundreds upon hundreds of years before Christ, way back in ancient history. That was the very beginning. And my friends out of those roots have our modern civilization more or less developed. I tell you, my friends, we need to wake up. We don't realize why we do the things we do today. We don't know where our modern customs came from.

   You can go to any library, you can look it up in the history and encyclopedia in your library. You can check these things. Why is it people won't check the truth? You know, the truth isn't always present, always pleasant. I mean, it is usually present, I guess that was a slip of the tongue, but it isn't always pleasant. And so, we don't like to face it. We want to believe what we want to believe, not what is always true. Now you just go to the library and you check up on some of these things you believe, why do you believe in Christmas and New Year's and Easter, for instance, go to the library and check up a write in for our booklet on Christmas and New Year's if you want to and they will show you where to check up. But you go to the library and check up and find out whether this is verified and whether it's true. But you read both before and after and all around it and be sure it is true. You better get a little experience in research and learn how to study because a great many people seem to have never done it. It seems my friends, people don't want to use their minds.

   I've heard of a lot of lazy people. I've seen a lot of them. I've had to deal with a lot of lazy people. But we think of people that are lazy as physically lazy. Listen for every man that's physically lazy that doesn't like to move his hands and arms and work with his hands or something. I want to tell you there are at least 100 people for every one of those, there are another 100 people that are lazy mentally. They just don't want to think. They hate to use their minds. The one thing that God gave you that lists you above an animal. My friends is a mind and God gave you your mind to use. Why don't you people use your minds. Let's begin to use them. Now, I'm, I'm not mad at you. I'm just in earnest. That's all right. Sometimes. You know, I think the way I preach, the way I say these things, some of you people think I'm really angry at everybody. No, I'm not. I'll tell you though, if you're going to know the truth, it's disillusioning when I was a young man, 16 years of age, ambition was awakened in me and a desire to try to make something of myself a thirst for knowledge and above everything. The one thing that I wanted, the one thing I craved the one great desire of my heart and my life was to have understanding.

   I wanted to just understand. You know, my father used to say when I was a little boy, five years old, I can remember it yet. I was only about five years old and my father used to be very provoked with me. And he said to me when I was a little boy, he said, Herbert, when you grow up, I'll tell you what you're going to be. You know what I thought I'd be when I wanted to be, I wanted to be a street car, motorman. You know, they had just gotten rid of the old horse cars about that time and they had the first electric street cars and they were little bitty cars too. Those little dinkies we used to call them. I remember you ask any little boy, five years old and he'll have some funny ideas what he's going to be when he grows up. Well, of course, he never is. But I tell you what my father said, I'd be, he said Herbert, he said, you're going to be a Philadelphia lawyer when you grow up, he said you can ask more fool questions than any boy I ever knew. I always did have an inquiring mind. I wanted to know all about it. I asked why and how and whether and everything else until my father got so tired answering my crazy questions. Well, I got information that way.

   Well, I want an understanding and especially after I passed age 16 and I used to go to the libraries. I used to spend my time back in the books of philosophy and the philosophy division. And, and I, I used to love to read Socrates and Plato and Epictetus and, and some of the ancient philosophers and I could see that they weren't exactly right in their thinking too quite often. So, I asked for understanding. And when I came to know enough to really ask God for something I didn't ask for wisdom like Solomon or just knowledge. There is a difference. I asked for understanding. Well, now God gave me a certain measure of it. I won't brag at all about how much. But he did give me some and I learned this that the more understanding you acquire the more disillusioned you're going to be.

   And listen, my friends, let me give you a little warning because I've had a lifetime of going through this. I asked God for understanding. He gave it. If you ask him for it, he'll give it to you. But listen, don't ask God for understanding unless you first ask him for a great deal of tolerance and the kind of love that can come to a still broader understanding to understand people and have a lot of tolerance for them because you're going to be disappointed in people when you come to really have understanding.

   Now, a lot of people in this world go around, they make a fetish and almost a religion of wanting to trust people. Well, the Bible says, put, not your trust in people don't trust any man. That's, that's what your Bible teaches. The Bible teaches you to trust God believe in God. But what does the Bible teach you to do with men? Your fellow man? It's what we don't want to do. It's have love for your fellow man, have charity for him. You know, he needs it and you need it from him because there's plenty wrong with you too. And you need a lot of charity from your neighbors. You see thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is the great commandment. But you know, we think no, I would rather trust my neighbor than get mad at him when he disappoints me.

   Now, I'm just getting down now to where Russia comes in. I wanted to establish this Babylon and this is the Babylon that's coming. Well, I can just go a little further. I wanted to get a little bit here in the 47th and 48th chapters of Isaiah first. Now notice here, for instance, let's read on to verse 11 (Isaiah 47:7-11). Thou said I shall be a lady forever. This is this Babylon now, that is to put the yoke on Israel so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart. Neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore, hear this now thou that are given to pleasures that dwellest carelessly, that say in thine heart, am and none else beside me, I shall not sit a widow. Neither shall I know the loss of children. But these two things shall come to thee. And now listen to what God says to this Babylon. These two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood and they shall come upon thee in their perfection for a multitude of vice sorcery and for the great abundance of thine enchantment for thou hast trusted in thy wickedness. Thou hast said none seeth me, thy wisdom and thy knowledge and have perverted thee. He says to this modern Babylon now, and thou thou said in thine heart, I am and none else beside me, they have even rejected God and made God out of themselves. Therefore, shall evil come upon thee and thou shall not know from whence it riseth and mischief shall fall upon thee. Thou shalt not be able to put it off. Desolation shall come upon thee suddenly when thou shalt not know. And that desolation and that thing is on this newly revived Europe that is coming up, it's coming from Russia and I'll have to show you that in the next program because time is up.

   Now, if you want to know where Russia is going to march and when and what's going to happen, be sure to tune in at this program every single day and either this same time or the announcer will announce a different time. Now, remember that booklet, The United States In Prophecy, you can understand prophecies without it and the Plain Truth, get your name on the mailing list for the Plain Truth. Just first tell me the call letters of your station and there's no charge and send your request then to Herbert W Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California, Herbert W Armstrong Box 111 Pasadena, California. So, until tomorrow, then, goodbye, friends.

   You have heard the World Tomorrow with Herbert W Armstrong sponsored by the Worldwide Armstrong, sponsored by the Worldwide Church of God. For literature offered on this program, send your request along with the call letters of this station to Herbert W Armstrong Box 111 Pasadena, California. 91123. That's Herbert W Armstrong Post Office Box 111 Pasadena, California 91123.