Taming the monsters of the financial markets
The new form of financial domination. / Professor Eberhard Hamer, economist, [SME Institute of Hanover]
Examination in the light of the Bible.
How a rich Greece is acting as a financial drain on Europe. / Information briefing TOPIC 00, 10-10-2012
Fed’s Fischer: Bail-Ins Coming For Your Cash. / Brother Natanael00, 25-08-2014
The Whore of Babylon of Revelation has been understood all over
the world and on repeated occasions as a symbol of the Catholic church ‒
starting from Joachim of Flore (d. 1202) and continuing with the Franciscans,
not to mention Dante, Luther, Calvin and (rather later) Bengel in 1752, and many
other commentators. Although here at Immanuel.at we certainly have no occasion
to defend the Catholic church in any way, Excursus 03, dating from the year
1995, demonstrated on the basis of scriptural analysis that this interpretation
has to be incorrect, and why this is the case.
(See also Excursus 03: "The
Scarlet Beast")
Since that time there has been no further discussion of the
issue at Immanuel.at, for lack of clear indications in scripture ‒ with
the exception of a visiting commentary by Barney Blankenship, whose
understanding of the Whore as Jerusalem is admittedly no less dubious than the
identification of the Whore with the Catholic church
(See also Discourse 77: "Mystery,
Babylon the Great")
Based on fresh insights, however, we would like now to make the
attempt to interpret this exceedingly tricky biblical text ‒ with special
reference to chapter 18 of Revelation, which reduces the interpretation of the
Whore as the Catholic church to patent absurdity ‒ in a quite different,
and above all more realistic context.
We aim to show here that former commentators have fallen far short in their
interpretations. It is similar to the case of the seven kings of Rev 17,9, often
incorrectly understood as being the seven Roman emperors ‒ which would
have them documenting a time-bound historical horizon (see Excursus 03). These
interpretations have completely failed to understand the true significance of
the Babylon of the Bible, in their wanting to see her as a pseudo-Christian
"Catholic" (Greek = universal) church that came into being at the time
of the Roman Empire.
The origin of the Babylon of the Bible is the Babel of
antiquity. After the Flood, the clans of the sons of Noah spread out across the
earth (Gen 10:32). At that time the whole of humanity spoke one and the same
language and used the same words. One of these peoples, coming from the east,
settled on the plain of a country named Shinar ‒ the Iraq of today.
In order to make a name for themselves as a people and to prevent further
dispersal of the clan in the wide lands around, they resolved to build on this
plain a city and a tower with a top reaching into heaven (Gen 11:1-4).
(See also Table 01: "Chronological
Table from Adam to Jacob")
And God came down to see the city and the tower which the sons
of men were building. And he was afraid that nothing would any longer be
impossible to them, whatever they might attempt ‒that is to say, that the
people would become arrogant and would not hesitate to perform anything they
took it into their heads to do. And for this reason God confused their language,
and scattered them over the face of the earth. And so the work on the city and
the tower had perforce to be abandoned, because they could no longer understand
one another (Gen 11:5-9).
Later, when work on the city at any rate had been continued and its building
completed, it was actually given the name Babel for this very reason. The
name (babilu in Semitic, or "God’s door") is in its Hebrew version
a play on words, meaning "prattle" or "bibble‒babble", and Babylon
is the Greek form of Babel. The city was situated on the river Euphrates,
approximately 300 km above its confluence with the Tigris. The Euphrates flowed
through the middle of the city, dividing it into two roughly equal areas.
The mighty list of the kings of Babel/Babylon extends back as far as around 1900
BC, and includes such names as Amraphel (Gen 14:1, 9), a contemporary of Abraham’s
(Gen 14:13-14), and perhaps the most famous of the kings of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Chaldeans. The first king worldwide and ruler of
Babel, however, was Nimrod (whom some identify with Amraphel), a descendant of
Ham the son of Noah.
Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel
Gen 10,8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod;
he became a mighty one on the earth. 10,9 He was a mighty hunter before the
LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the
LORD." 10,10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and
Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 10,11 From that land he went forth
into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 10,12 and Resen
between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. Gen 10, 8-12:
In the further course of events we find repeated references to
Babylon under the various world empires. Just recently a sensational discovery
was made by Viennese archeologists digging in Egypt ‒ they found an
ancient Babylonian seal dating probably from the time of king Hammurabi
(1792-1750 BC). This proves that diplomatic relations between the courts of
Egypt and Ancient Babylon had actually started 150 years earlier than was
previously thought.
Under the following global empire, that of Assyria, the kings
Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC) extended Assyrian
power as far as Syria. After some setbacks and internal dissension,
Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC) succeeded in adding Babylon to his
dominions as well as Phoenicia, Palestine and Israel.
In the year 605 BC the remnants of the Assyrian army were
defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC), and Babylonia itself became a global
empire. Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Syria and Palestine, and destroyed Jerusalem
in 586 BC. Southern Mesopotamia, including Babylon, was at this time the
central commercial region of the Orient. The ruling caste in the kingdom was
the priestly aristocracy, who after the death of Nebuchadnezzar II were
unwilling to let a strong ruler curtail their power. Under the last king,
Nabonid (555-538 BC), an open conflict developed between the throne and the
priests.
The disunity between Nabonid and the priestly classes was
exploited by the king of the Persians, Cyrus II (558-529 BC), who now conquered Babylonia.
The priests opened the gates of Babylon to him in 539 BC, surrendering
the city without a fight. On 22 October Cyrus II followed the priests in triumph
and jubilation in the city. With that Persia became a world power.
The Greeks defeated the Persians at the battle of Marathon (490
BC). Alexander the Great met the Persian army in 331 BC in the course of
expanding his empire, finally defeating them in the battles of Issos and
Gaugamela. The Greeks tolerated Babylonian culture, supplementing it with
the theatre and other accomplishments. After the death of Alexander the Great
(he died in 323 BC in Babylon), the wars of his feuding generals (the
diadochi) devastated the land. Plundering and destruction resulted in a general
famine.
Rome conquered Greece in 200 BC, becoming the dominant power in
the Mediterranean region and in Spain. In matters of overland transport, Palmyra
played a crucial role. This was where several caravans every year, consisting of
up to 100 camels, set out for Seleucia, Babylon, Vologesias and Spasinou
Charax. On returning successfully from such a venture, the leaders were often
honored with inscriptions and statues.
As we can read in the beginning of this document (Gen 10,8-12),
Nimrod was the first mighty man or ruler, and the city he founded, Babel, was
the very first city on earth. It was the mother of all cities. It was the center
of the Babylonian world empire and the central trading region of the Orient. In
the kingdom of Alexander the Great, Babylon was still the seat of power. And
under other global empires as well, Babylon repeatedly features ‒
sometimes having economic, sometimes cultural significance. So the view of some
commentators ‒ who presume that the Babylon of Revelation only appeared in
the last of the former world empires, the Roman Empire, in the guise of the
Catholic church ‒ is actually quite incomprehensible.
In view of the historical references mentioned above, we can surely recognize
that Babel/Babylon was not just a city of antiquity. Right from the beginnings
of human history, this city has accompanied the various changing cultures and
powers of this world. It was conquered on several occasions, destroyed and
rebuilt, but its final downfall was rather a quiet one. In fact it was so
inconspicuous that historians are still arguing, right up to the present day,
about the date when Babylon actually disappeared from world history. The region
in Iraq where Babylon once stood has only a few ruins to show today, which are
being excavated by the archeologists.
But if in the Babylonian period the city was the commercial center of the
Orient, as characterized by John in Revelation it becomes the commercial center
of the whole world in the Last Days. And based on the circumstance that Babylon
in the Last Days is evidently a quite different sort of "city", we can
conclude that this Babylon represents first and foremost not a particular city,
but rather an ideological force, a principle of action.
And in actual fact a power of this kind ‒ in parallel to Babylon ‒
has always dominated world history: namely Mammon, meaning the accumulation of
riches and wealth. From the Pharaohs of Egypt through to the dictators and high
finance of the present day, we find this principle of action: "increase your
wealth and don’t worry about the consequences for other people." Mammon is
also referred to in the Bible as the archetypal symbol of unjust possessions and
wealth (Mt 6:24; Lk 16:9,11,13).
I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Rev 17,7 And the angel said to me, "Why do you
wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that
carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 17,8 "The
beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and
go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been
written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when
they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 17,9 "Here is the
mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman
sits, 17,10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other
has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. Rev 17,
7-10;
(See also Table 02: "The World
Empires in the Bible.")
As has been demonstrated in the light of scriptural evidence in
Excursus 03, the Beast of Rev 17 is Satan, and the seven mountains, always
understood by past commentators as a reference to the Catholic church (based on
Rome’s "seven hills"), stand for the seven world empires (Isa 41:15-16;
Jer 51:24-26; Dan 2:34-35). The seven kings are seven princes of the angels, who
obey Satan and direct the human rulers of these world empires. In this they are
resisted by the angel princes of God, as we know from Daniel’s reports of the
angel prince who is Gabriel. In Dan 10,13.20 the angel Gabriel tells Daniel
‒ in words somewhat astonishing to our ears ‒ that before appearing
to Daniel, he, Gabriel, has had to battle with the "angel prince of the
kingdom of Persia", and that after this he must again go forth to do battle
with the "angel prince of Greece" ‒ that is to say, the world empire
that is to follow.
The prince of the kingdom of Persia.
Dan 10,13 "But the prince of the kingdom of
Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of
the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings
of Persia. Dan 10,13;
The prince of Greece.
Dan 10,20 Then he said, "Do you understand why
I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia;
so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.
Dan 10,20;
So whereas the seven heads symbolize the seven world empires
(the seven mountains) and the seven angel princes of Satan (the seven kings) who
manipulate the rulers of these world empires, we are told above, in Rev 17,9,
that the woman sits on these mountains ‒ the world empires, that is. And
this now dovetails perfectly with the historical observation referred to earlier
that Babylon is to be found in all world empires since the start of world
history. But that, now, makes it clear that Babylon ‒ like the demonic
angel princes of the world empires ‒ is an "executive organ" of Satan.
(See also Excursus 03: "The
Scarlet Beast.")
The human rulers of the world empires achieve power with the
help of Satan’s demonic prompters. It is the latter, too, who direct the fates
of this world through the politicians and the military, until they are withstood
by the angel princes of God. Babylon, by contrast, is the other power in this
world. As a result of her deceitful trading in commerce and finance, she
achieves a fullness of power which appears bloodless on the surface, but is no
less destructive in its effects than the power of politicians and generals. Of
her we are told in Rev 18,3:
The kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.
Rev 18,3 "For all the nations have drunk of
the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have
committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have
become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." Rev 18,3;
In Isa 23,17-18 we have a very similar description of the city
of Tyre, which has become rich from its trading. Of this city we are told
likewise that she has played the harlot with all the kingdoms of the earth, and
her commercial gains are similarly characterized as harlot’s wages.
She will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
Isa 23,17 It will come about at the end of seventy
years that the LORD will visit Tyre. Then she will go back to her harlot’s
wages and will play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.
23,18 Her gain and her harlot’s wages will be set apart to the LORD; it
will not be stored up or hoarded, but her gain will become sufficient food and
choice attire for those who dwell in the presence of the LORD. Isa 23,17-18;
If we now look at the "kingdoms" or states of the present
day, it will not take us long to recognize with whom they have committed, and
continue to commit harlotry. In order to finance their lavish lifestyle, many
states have gotten so far into debt with banks and credit institutes that they
are no longer able to repay their borrowings. Consequently their
creditworthiness in the eyes of the rating agencies has suffered a decline, and
they are obliged to pay ever higher rates of interest. These debtor countries
have not lost a war ‒ but even so, as we see in the case of Greece, a
country facing bankruptcy, this is a situation where people take their own lives
out of sheer desperation.
But even a "triple A" nation ‒ one not yet demoted in the
creditworthiness stakes ‒ like tiny Austria pays a million euros of
interest to its lending banks every hour(!). And as everyone knows, that doesn’t
involve payment of a single cent of the original capital! Germany, another
triple A state, is no better off: as its burden of debts, at ca. 2 trillion
euros, is something like ten times as heavy as Austria’s, the German
government pays 10 million euros of interest every hour(!) to the banks. And
this is going on for 24 hours a day and on 365 days of the year. Just think what
could be financed with all this money, if it didn’t have to be paid to the
banks!
With its financial clout and Jewish-dominated American high finance, this second
power that is "Babylon" is increasingly coming to dominate the nations
of this world. What makes the USA, from our point of view today, particularly
suspect is the fact that the central bank / issuing bank of the USA, the FED or
Federal
Reserve Bank, one of the most important financial institutions of the world
and guardian of the currency of the world’s largest economy, has a massive
influence on the American government, and so on the entire world.
Although the American issuing bank calls itself "federal" ‒ in other
words, "national" ‒ in fact that is the last thing it is. In a
phenomenon without parallel worldwide, the American central bank is not
nationally but privately owned. The most important proprietors of the FED are a
handful of Jewish banking families, including
Rothschild Bank of London
- Rothschild Bank of Berlin
- Lazard Brothers of Paris
- Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy
- Warburg Bank of Amsterdam
- Warburg Bank of Hamburg
- Lehman Brothers of New York
- Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York
- Goldman Sachs of New York
- Rockefeller Chase Manhattan Bank of New York
- JP Morgan Bank of New York
and others.
The mentality and the business practice of these people we can
realize in a statement of the Rothschild Bank to US business partners:
"The few who understand the system will either
be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favors, that there will
be no opposition from that class. The great body of the people, mentally
incapable of comprehending, will bear its burden without complaint, and perhaps
without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests."
(Rothschild Brothers of London June 28, 1863, to US business partners.)
And this global finance lobby is becoming increasingly
influential in our own times. Here’s what Monika Wagener of MONITOR (ARD
‒ Germany’s association of public broadcasting corporations) has to say
about it:
It isn’t just German companies feeling queasy, it’s
the Germans. And with good reason. We are witnessing on a daily basis the way in
which an unfettered financial system puts the economy, standards of living and
society at risk. Stock exchanges go crazy, markets get out of control, hedge
funds bet against the euro. And the politicians? They just seem clueless and
harassed. We should remember that in the wake of the bank crisis of 2008,
politicians vied with one another in calling for radical measures to control the
financial markets. But what has happened to those urgently needed reforms? Where
are the regulations that would really restrict speculation? Nada. Stephan
Stuchlik, Kim Otto and Andreas Orth set off to investigate why this is. What
they found was lobbyists who had done a really good job.
(Die
Finanzlobby [The finance lobby – in German])
Taming the monsters of the financial markets
And the economist Professor Eberhard Hamer (born 1932)
also gives an excellent summary in his statement quoted below:
The new form of financial domination consists not in
subjugating peoples by military might, but rather in offering them massive
credits, so as to achieve financial and economic domination of the country
on the basis of the interest payments (a practice known as interest
servitude). In the euro crisis as well we recognize the same picture. Greece
was actually already broke when it was dragged into the euro zone, with the
help of balances and creditworthiness ratings cooked up by [the American
bank] Goldman-Sachs. In this new network the international banks have
continued to extend more credit to Greece with even fewer inhibitions than
in the past, until Greece was not just over-indebted but actually incapable
of repayment.
Instead of allowing Greece to make a clean break by declaring
national bankruptcy, the international banks claimed that there was "no
alternative" to calling on the other euro countries to provide a "bailout
fund", supposedly for Greece but in reality for the banking debts, and
this was what they got. So now the international banks no longer have just
Greece as a debtor ‒ these individual debts have become the collective
debt of all European countries and the EU has become a transfer union as
part of the ESM (European Stability Mechanism ‒ the "bailout"
package). So in the next 50 years Europe will be working not to create
wealth for itself, but rather to pay the interest on the loans extended by
high finance.
Quoted in TOPIC no. 10, October 2011 / Ulrich Skambraks, D 57206 Kreuztal/Siegen)
"Give me control of a nation’s money and I care not who makes its laws,"
(Mayer Amschel Rothschild)
Let us now endeavor to examine the supposition expressed
earlier, namely that "Babylon" may be a symbol of the financial industry, of
the stock exchanges and banks of this world, in the light of the relevant
scriptural passages.
Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation are essentially concerned with three groups of
persons, presented to us right away in the first two verses of chapter 17
The great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.
Rev 17,1 Then one of the seven angels who had the
seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the
judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the
kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on
the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." Rev 17, 1-2;
So here we have the "great harlot" of whom we are
later told:
She reigns over the kings of the earth. (Rev
17,18)
Her reigning over the kings of the earth seems comparable with a
kind of supreme authority, and it is just this kind of financial supremacy which
is in fact exercised by the global banking system over many nations of this
world. This can be seen in our own day, not least, in the way in which the banks’
rating agencies place ever greater burdens on the shoulders of the countries
they judge unreliable, by demoting them in the creditworthiness stakes and so
forcing them to pay higher interest (or tribute).
(See also Discourse 1042: "Are
all governments of the world ordained by God?")
Then we find a mention of "the kings of the earth":
And the kings of the earth, who committed
acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her. (Rev 17,2; 18,3: 18,9?
Here we can take it, without need of any lengthy explanation,
that the "kings of the earth" stand for the governments of the individual
nations of the world. The "immorality" they carry on with the global banking
system is their taking money on loan, or on credit, which is not their own
money, as it has not been acquired by the labor of its own citizens (is not part
of the GDP, or Gross Domestic Product) or by the taxes levied on the latter
‒ instead, it is external capital which has to be paid for in the form of
interest. This makes them comparable with married men for whom their spouse (the
GDP) is not enough, so they go to a harlot (a bank) and pay her a harlot’s
wages, namely the interest payments.
Finally we are told about a third group, "those who dwell on the earth":
Those who dwell on the earth were made drunk
with the wine of her immorality. (Rev 17,2; 18,3)
While these people need no interpretation ‒ clearly the
population of the world is meant ‒ the statement that they have been "made
drunk" is still a little puzzling. If we presume, as seems reasonable, that
the "wine" of the immorality carried on by governments with the banking
system can only be money, money which the banks then distribute to the
population in hope of being re-elected, we can detect the heedlessness
(overindulgence, drunkenness) of the population in dealing with money as
revealed in their lifestyle and working habits.
And here, if we refer to the example of the current situation in Greece, we will
find an exceedingly convincing demonstration. Although Greece is on the verge of
bankruptcy, the Greeks are nonetheless able to afford the following "social
services":
o Greece has 900,000 civil servants, more than
any other country in the EU.
o The employees of partially nationalized
enterprises receive 17.5 annual salaries.
o If you are 35 years of age and unmarried, you
receive a 15% markup on your basic salary.
o You get bonus payments for copying work, and
also for washing your hands (!).
o The start of your working day is not, as you
might suppose, the time when you reach the office, but the time when you leave your house.
o The Greek government turns a blind eye to tax
fraud amounting to 60 billion euros.
o More than 100,000 dead persons continue to
receive pension payments, which are pocketed by their relatives.
o Greece has 134,000 soldiers ‒ in
relation to the country’s 11 million inhabitants, this is the biggest army in
Europe.
o At around 7 billion euros or 4% of the Gross
Domestic Product the Greek military budget is three or four times as high as those of other EU states (1-1.5%)
o The Greek army is now planning to use the
money from the "bailout fund" to acquire 400 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks from
the USA, with overhaul costs of between 15 and 150 million euros.
Above all in times of crisis, such as we have been living
through for some years in Europe now, this behavior on the part of the Greek
government and the Greek population seems to betoken not just partial
drunkenness but total intoxication. – ‒ Unless, of course, we should have to
see this behavior as the result of a deliberately planned strategy, as suggested
by the following report from TOPIC.
Greece is rich ‒ even extremely rich ‒ or to be more
accurate, Greece could be one of the richest European countries. But never
in the whole history of Europe has a country received so much in
international aid as Greece has done. The EU Commission calculated at the
start of this year that 380 billion euros in international aid has been
poured into Greece to date. Even before these payments, Greece had already
pocketed hundreds of billions from the Brussels Regional and Structural
Funds, in some cases squandering the money on perfectly useless projects. At
the end of September it emerged that the Greek budget deficit is even bigger
than had been supposed. A new deferral of the country’s debt will probably
be unavoidable. This would cost the German taxpayer eight billion euros at a
stroke. All these past billion-strong payments, however, would have been
quite unnecessary if Greece had cashed in on the reserves of raw materials
that it possesses, of which it has been well aware for decades.
As long ago as 1976 "Der Spiegel" reported (on 08.16.1976) about
mineral oil reserves close to the North Aegean island of Thasso, which
German companies had located in the course of test drilling. At the time
Greece began to exploit these mineral oil resources with the help of foreign
firms, but made no effort whatever to look for further petroleum or natural
gas reserves off its coasts. Only at the beginning of the new millennium did
it continue with test drilling operations, which hit pay dirt immediately.
Greece possesses gigantic quantities of mineral oil and natural gas. Even
before the start of the Greek economic crisis in 2010, the north European
consortium Scandic Org offered the Greeks credit amounting to more
than 250 (!) billion euros. In exchange, the north European investors asked
for exclusive rights to the production of natural gas and mineral oil on
Greek soil for a period of five years. The proposed deal involved splitting
the profits in a ratio of 80 to 20 (20% going to Greece). But the Greeks
showed no interest. Instead, they preferred to draw on billions of euros
under the auspices of a European "parachute fund", and went on to secure
a debt cutting agreement whereby their creditors waived their right to 107
billion euros (so far) of their legitimate claims.
In mid-August the Kopp-exklusiv news channel reported (33/12) that it
was in possession of information from the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) [the
German Intelligence Agency], according to which Athens was deliberately
trying to maneuver itself out of the euro zone in order to return to the
former national currency of the drachma. The object of this was to compel
Greece’s creditors to waive their right to even more of the debt owed
them. For the time following their exit from the euro, the Greeks had
apparently concluded extensive agreements with the Americans, who are keen
to go to town immediately on the exploitation of the Greek mineral oil and
natural gas reserves. Kopp-exklusiv commented on this "Greek game plan"
as follows: "So you can forget everything you have heard in these last
months about Greece and its debt crisis. Behind the scenes, what is being
played out is a brutal poker game for military power, raw materials and oil
profits."
Source: TOPIC no. 10, October 2012 / Ulrich Skambraks, D-57206 Kreuztal/Siegen
Now we know from the statements of Professor Hamer, quoted
earlier in this document (The new form of
financial domination, that Greece "was only drawn into the euro zone
with the help of falsified balances and credit ratings" which were kindly
supplied by "[the (Jewish Investment) US bank] Goldman-Sachs".
In the light of the facts on which TOPIC reports above, this apparently
altruistic action of the Americans now shows in a completely different light.
What is going on here is not a "Greek game plan", but rather a subtly
contrived "game plan of the United States".
Acting with deliberate intent, the Americans have clearly landed the EU with the
"rotten egg" that is Greece, with the aim of forcing the country out of the
euro zone, and then going into partnership with the Greeks in order to exploit
the gigantic oil fields off the Greek coasts. If prior to this Greece had
already benefited from a few hundred billion euros of European funding, the
Greeks would have no reason to complain. And if it were actually to result in
the collapse of the euro zone, that would not be an undesirable outcome in
American eyes.
But let us continue with our demonstration of proof in the light of the Bible.
We found it written in Rev 17,1 above:
Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great
harlot who sits on many waters.
And Rev 17,15 then promptly gives us a more detailed description
of these "waters":
The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples
and multitudes and nations and tongues.
The global banking system does indeed sit on "many waters".
Probably there is no nation of this world where you would be unable to find a
bank of some kind or other.
But now we also find there is a fourth, rather passive group of persons,
featuring in these two chapters of Revelation. These are the merchants.
The merchants of the earth have become rich
by the wealth of her sensuality. (Rev 18,3; 18,11; 18,15)
Your merchants were the great men of the earth. (Rev 18,23)
And this fits in seamlessly with our interpretation so far. If
the nations and the population have so much money, they will proceed to spend
it. On daily living, on trips, on goods and services. And so these "merchants"
‒ the international groups and industrial multinationals, whose owners and
shareholders are of course in many cases drawn from the ranks of banking and
high finance ("your merchants", i.e. Babylon’s) ‒ will
naturally become rich and go on getting richer.
But seeing that these products and goods do have to be conveyed to the end
consumer, after all, of course the transport industry is going to do very well
out of it. And that is just what we find now, in Rev 18,19:
All who had ships at sea became rich by her
wealth.
As we are in a position to learn from daily reports in the
media, "all who have ships at sea" do not just become rich by providing
services ‒ the transport of goods ‒ but also as a result of their
carelessness and lack of responsibility, as witnessed in the ever more frequent
oil catastrophes on the seas of the world.
Rev 18,23 gives us a statement that is a little more difficult to interpret:
All the nations were deceived by your sorcery.
What kind of "sorcery" are we to imagine deceiving the
nations? If we follow the relevant reports in the media, we can ascertain that
the world’s 82 biggest economies are in debt to the tune of something like 41
trillion (41,000,000,000,000) euros ‒ including the US, which alone has
debts amounting to 10 trillion. And we can further ascertain that the
governments of these countries have no thought of retrenchment or of repaying
their debts ‒ in fact, most of them continue to take out further loans,
while throwing money in the form of interest payments in the insatiable gullets
of the banks.
Any responsible private household, any company managed in accordance with the
rules of good commercial practice, would come to its senses in a situation like
this and try to do something about it. Not so the governments of most of these
countries. Many of them continue to mark up budget deficits every year, and so
increase the burden of the national debt.
As we can hardly suppose that the population of the world has elected complete
idiots to public office, there must have been some kind of "sorcery" at work
(Nah 3:4), to cloud the judgment of these politicians and somehow give them the
impression that the situation really is not so problematic and it is easy to
find a solution ‒ in the form, of course, of further loans, which will be
pressed on them by banks all over the world.
But the politicians of some countries have now woken up from this deluding
dream, and have realized that the banks and their rating agencies are just
forcing them to pay ever higher rates of interest. These countries are wanting
to get their finances under control again, and are demanding radical economies
on the part of the population, willy nilly. Not only does this come as a
surprise to their citizens, but the proposed measures are seriously
life-threatening ‒ and so they have been met by protests and strikes.
Which brings us to the reality of the present time, and the question now
suggests itself where we can find all this in the prophecies about Babylon.
In fact it is not all that easy to find the indication we are looking for in
chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation. But it is still there. It is to be found,
somewhat concealed, in a passage dealing with the downfall of Babylon. Here we
are told, in Rev 18,6:
Pay her back even as she has paid, and give
back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed,
mix twice as much for her.
She is to be paid back, then, "as she has paid", and the cup
which she has mixed is to be returned in double measure. This would mean that no
mercy is to be expected from high finance, from the creditors of these
countries, no compassion for the precarious situation of the population. This is
"the cup which she has mixed". Whether it is really going to turn out in
this way will depend, in the first instance, on the negotiations about a "haircut"
‒ that is to say, a 50-60% remission of debts for afflicted countries on
the part of the lending banks.
The next passages referring to Babylon herself are relatively easy to
understand, if we stay focused on the global power of the financial industry, so
we probably do not need any specific explanation at this point:
She says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am
not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ (Rev 18,7)
he glorified herself and lived sensuously. (Rev 18,7)
She has in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things
of her immorality. (Rev 17,4)
But one statement in these two chapters of Revelation actually
is quite hard to understand. This is the reference to the "saints, prophets
and witnesses of Jesus" in Rev 17,6 and 18,24:
She was drunk with the blood of the saints, and
with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have
been slain on the earth.
Since both of these passages are concerned with martyrs, we
might refer here to the characterization of the martyrs in Rev 6,9 and 20,4 and
so understand the "prophets and saints" as the martyrs of the Old Covenant
and the "saints and witnesses of Jesus" as the martyrs of the New Covenant.
This would presumably support the view that Babylon persecuted the faithful even
in Old Testament times. But the background information ‒ especially the
question how the blood "of all who have been slain on earth" was to be found
in her, and who these persons are ‒ is likely to remain a riddle for some
time yet, and may only reveal its secrets at some future time (perhaps in the
light of a persecution of Christians in the Last Days).
(See also Table 19; "The
persecution of the Christians in the Last Days."
The last quotation, though, is again quite easy to interpret. In
Rev 18,4 we find the invitation:
Come out of her, my people, so that you will
not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
This is a warning against the banks ‒ those
share-cropping, loan-peddling sharks who persuade people to take up any amount
of securities and speculation options (even worthless government bonds!) and so
get finance for their own downfall. It should be made clear at this point that
we are not called on to boycott banks and banking services altogether, when it
comes to the management of our cash. Otherwise we would have to renounce money
on the whole. Let us think of the apostles: Judas looked after the money of the
group, and the Lord had nothing against it. The banks, like Judas, will
certainly receive their punishment, but until that time comes, Christian
believers can continue to avail themselves of their services, like the Lord and
the apostles with Judas.
Finally we still have to answer the question why Babylon is referred to in
Revelation as "the great city". This undoubtedly goes back, first of all, to
the original city of Babel mentioned earlier ‒ which in fact was the first
city on the face of the earth. And in subsequent centuries, Babel/Babylon
continued to be present as a city in the great world empires.
But in our day as well, and against the background of the interpretation of
Babylon that has been advanced above as the global financial industry, we find
that there is one city of this world ‒ leaving other cities out of account
‒ where the threads of industry and finance come together in a particular
sense, and that is New York with its Wall Street. Just as in primeval times
Babel was the first city of the world and the center of all its political and
economic activities, so too New York is now the global center of high finance,
and with its stock exchange constitutes the hinge and fulcrum of the global
economy.
But there are still more similarities with Babel. If in Babel the construction
of "a tower whose top will reach into heaven" (Gen 11,4) was prevented by
the confusion of tongues, New York succeeded in 1931 in completing a tower of
this kind, a "sky-scraper" as a world first. Like the tower of Babel, with
its height of 443 meters (to the top of the aerial) the Empire State Building
was the highest building on earth in its time, and still was until 1972. Now of
course its record has long been superseded. The Burj Khalifa extends more than
800 meters into Dubai’s desert heavens, and almost all major cities of the
world today can boast skyscrapers which would make the Tower of Babel resemble a
lookout post.
And in much the same way as in Babel, after the confusion of tongues, a lot of
languages continued to exist alongside one another, so too in New York there are
quite a few "quarters" (Italian, Chinese, Spanish, German etc.) where the
various nationalities speak their own language. And as in ancient Babel the
river Euphrates flowed through the middle of the city and divided it into two
approximately equal areas, so too the East River flows through New York and
divides Manhattan from Brooklyn. But as suggested above, these prophecies
undoubtedly have significance for the near and more distant future. And here it
would not be at all out of the question if New York were actually to develop
into the global capital ‒ in which case other prophecies in Revelation
would also become a reality.
But above all in connection with these issues we should not omit to point out
that what we have in the Bible frequently turns out to be a "foreshadowing".
This is an event with characteristics closely approximating to the biblical
prophecies, but without actually being their fulfillment. So for example we can
find in Antiochus IV Epiphanes (~215-164 BC), who occupied Jerusalem in 167 BC
and made observation of the sabbath, circumcision, festivals, possession of the
books of the Law and the daily sacrifice punishable by death, a precursor of the
Antichrist.
(See also Discourse 86: "The
first and the second Antichrist"
Hitler too, who in the onset of his military aggression,
starting in 1939, overran and occupied half of Europe and so like the first
Antichrist "went out conquering and to conquer", has some similarities with
the Antichrist, especially in view of his persecution of the Jews and the fact
that his military supremacy lasted for seven years ‒ but without having
been the fulfillment of the prophecy.
And so this interpretation of Babylon in the light of contemporary events could
turn out just the same ‒ as a time-bound understanding which comes very
close to the biblical prophecies but still falls short of being their
fulfillment.
The swarming phenomenonThe animal kingdom of our planet is subject to the
universal law of swarming. Anywhere that there is an excess of food
and few natural predators we find swarms automatically forming ‒
locusts, vultures, herds of buffalo etc. ‒ which fall upon the
area in question and consume everything in sight. |
Money’s like air. Without it we suffocate. But money’s
not like air in another way. God didn’t make it. Jews make it. Nobody
tells you this. So when they want to create a world catastrophe, like a
housing bubble or bail-outs and bail-ins to confiscate your wealth, they
pull some levers and suddenly you’re shocked. You never saw it coming. "Nobody
could have predicted it," lied Alan Greenspan after the 2008 crisis.
Stanley Fischer, the current real head of the Fed, is a dual citizen of
Israel and America…just like Chertoff, the real head of the Homeland
Police State. On August 12th, Fischer gave a speech in Sweden hinting that
bail-ins are coming to America. "Bail-ins" mean that Jewish bankers
seize your bank account. Steal it legally. Part or all. And you thought
bailouts were as low as bankers could go.
There’s worse to come. For as we speak, the Jewish money masters are inventing new ways to wreck your world.
Here’s Fischer:
[Clip: "Work on the use of the resolution mechanisms set
out in the Dodd-Frank Act, holds the promise of making it possible to
resolve banks in difficulty at no direct cost to the taxpayer. "As part of
this approach, the United States is preparing a proposal to require
systemically important banks to issue bail-inable long-term debt that will
enable insolvent banks to recapitalize themselves in resolution."]
No cost to taxpayers? Banks can recapitalize without government funding? Why of
course! No bail-outs are needed…this time, bail-ins! The banks will ‘recapitalize’
by grabbing your check book. They already did a practice run in Cyprus.
Bail-ins have been on the books for four years now. It’s a trap waiting to
spring on the unsuspecting.
Buried deep in the Dodd-Frank Act is a scheme to
seize depositors’ money…when the bankers pretend to be insolvent again.
You see, depositors are classified as "creditors" to the bank. You "loaned"
your money to the bank…did you know that? When they pretend to be
bankrupt, they’ll divvy up their net worth‒whatever they decide that is‒among
the creditors.
First creditors in line are the primary holders, other banks.
You’re last in line. Fischer’s "bail-inable long term debt" will
leave little left for you except for some worthless shares and bonds. You’ll
be lucky to get pennies on the dollar. Or they’ll give you a "haircut."
That’s what they did in Cyprus. The "haircut" takes part of your
money. Just another way of fleecing you.
When will the bail-ins happen? Whenever the Jews decide. Fischer doesn’t act alone. Jewish money-control
is not a person, it’s an organism that stretches from The Fed, to London,
to Germany, all the way to Tel Aviv. The Jews decided the very day of the
‘29 stock market crash. They engineered it.
They’ll engineer another crisis justifying bail-ins. They’ll blame the Russians. Putin will get the
rap. Whoever they blame, your checking account will be gone and the banks
will take a holiday. Better get your money out now.
Panic will be everywhere. ATMs will be shut down. Short-term credit to supermarkets will
be at high interest rates. Shelves will be empty and looting will be
rampant. It’s the fate the Talmud always had in store for the Goyim. They
won’t need FEMA camps, dear Alex. They control your money. They don’t
need guns to seize your cash.
Brother Nathanael Kapner is a recognized monastic with the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Of Russia (ROCOR) where he is officially
recognized as a "poslushnik"/"novice" monk.
Brother Nathanael speaks and writes as a former Jew--now an Orthodox
Christian--and not in any official capacity with the ROCOR jurisdiction. He
resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
After eight years of monastic communal life (1996-2005), Brother Nathanael
has been engaged in a public mission through his Street Evangelism efforts
and as an Internet publicist.
His most recent endeavor as President of The Brother Nathanael
Foundation, is to bring a Christian consciousness and influence to
every sphere of American life.
Brother
Nathanael Foundation An independent, non-profit corporation, dedicated
to the promotion of Christian principles in American society.
e-mail: brothernathanaelfoundation@yahoo.com