Dear Subscribers:

This is a second response by Laurence Gerstner to Dene McGriff regarding Revelation 18:4, Jeremiah 50 and 51 and Isaiah 13 and 49; these verses pertain to God's command to His people to get out of Babylon. [Please see our article, "Come out of Her."]

Again, what Laurence Gerstner is saying here is extremely important! The attempt by both Dene McGriff and Doug Krieger at Tribulation Network to "water-down" the meaning of these verses is a very wicked one meant to make the Prophetic Scriptures more palatable to the American Church.

Again I say, in Revelation 18:4 we are dealing with a COMMAND. The verse reads:

"... COME OUT OF HER, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev. 18:4)

Now, brothers and sisters, you must understand something here: This is NOT a suggestion; it's NOT a "clever" proposal that someone can take or reject at his convenience; it's NOT simply "good" advice; it's NOT just a recommendation; it is a COMMANDMENT; it is a holy DICTATE; it is a divine DECREE, and it must be treated as such. It MUST be obeyed!

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Jeremiah 51:45 "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD."

Revelation 18:4 "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

The command to leave Babylon will come in one year and then in another.

Jeremiah 51: 46 "And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the SHEMUAH that shall be heard in the land; a SHEMUAH shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a SHEMUAH, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler."

Shemuah translated as rumour in the kjv => From Shema => Hear and obey command / Report x2 Come out MY people

The End of the age [when all this will come about] is clearly defined in Jeremiah 50 and 51:

50:4 and 20 in those days and at that time Joel 3:2 when Judah has returned to Jerusalem.

51:2 day of trouble <=> Jacob's trouble Jeremiah 30:7.

51:33 time of harvest <=> the harvest is the end of the world Matthew 13:39

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Seven/eight times in Jeremiah 50 and 51 alone HIS people are commanded to flee escape run for their lives from THE LAND of this Hindermost nation. [i.e., Babylon – please see our article, "In Search of Babylon: What Do the Scriptures Say?"]

Jeremiah 50 and 51 (seven times)

1. Jeremiah 50:8: "Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of The Land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks."

Note: Chaldean besides a resident/occupier of Chaldea as the USA is today in Iraq, Chaldean also means the experts, The wisest in the Land=>Nebuchadnezzar called for the Chaldeans Daniel 2:5 the wise of this world, Daniel 2:10....Since the U.S. military is in ancient Chaldea as the supreme ruler at this time, the USA fulfills both aspects of Chaldean, land of expert opinions and camp Babylon

2. 50:16: "Cut off the sower from Babylon , and him that handleth the sickle in the Time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land."

3. 50:28: "The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple."

4. 50:45: "Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and His purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them."

5. 51:6: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense."

6. 51:9: "We would have healed Babylon , but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies."

7. 51:45: "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD."

Revelation 18:4 (one time)

8. 51:50: "Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind."

Note: This is a reference to Rev. 18:4 and is directed at those who have escaped the sword and the civil war in Babylon USA, so do not stand still.

Isaiah 13 and 49 (two times)

9. Isaiah 13:1 burden against Babylon...... [14 "And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land."]

10. Isaiah 49: 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed His servant Jacob.

In all these places, fleeing escaping a Land called the daughter of the Chaldeans Isaiah 48, land of astrologers and mediums, the daughter of Babylon Jeremiah 50:42, 51:33 is repeated over and over and over, i think YAH is trying to get our attention, what do you think?

It is clear, leaving the Land of this Hindermost Nation is commanded / Jeremiah 50:12 during the Day of YHWH [Please see Part 1 of Chapter XII of the New Antipas Papers, "In Search of Babylon" for an explanation of the term "hindermost nation."]

Isaiah 28:19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the SHEMUAH.

Shalom

Laurence

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FINAL NOTE FROM S.R. SHEARER:

Now let me tell you something here! - it does you no good to get angry with me insofar as all this is concerned. If you find all this inconvenient and annoying, don't blame me - as so many of you are obviously doing - BLAME GOD. If you find that obeying God's holy commandment is simply inopportune for you at this time, your argument is NOT with me, it is with God. It does you NO good to get irritated at me; but that's exactly what many of you are doing, as if I am the author of these words and not God. For example, one person writes,

"My problem is the SHRILL, STRIDENT demands of Mr. Shearer that the U.S. is Babylon, the source of evil, so it is the will of God for all of God's people to 'come out of her', flee from it, save ourselves ... I suspect that your more spiritually mature subscribers have signed off your list who got lectured rather than respected for their Spiritual input."

By "spiritual input," I suppose he means their arguments as to why they are unable to obey God; and by "more spiritually mature," I suppose he means those who are able to see the "nuances" and "subtleties" (the differing shades of meaning) that "very plainly revolve around this verse" - or so he suggests. But what nuances is he talking about? What subtleties? There are none - except the excuses that can be found in the fevered imaginations of those who are desperately looking for a way out of "leaving Babylon," or at least delaying their departure.

Another writes,

"... while I love him (meaning me) as a brother, his ABRASIVE writing style isn't helping me on a personal level. Steve sees himself as Jeremiah (figuratively). It's just his nature to come across a bit rough around the edges. I've accepted that - what choice do I have? If I don't turn my other cheek to him, what sort of Christian would I be."

What sort of Christian, indeed? Yes! - that's what I love to do, make people hate me! That's just my nature!

Still another reader says simply to one of my co-workers,

"You are allowing Mr. Shearer to blind your eyes. You are no different than any other cult follower ... Fear of the things of the flesh is what has caused you and your ministry to flee to Canada." [Please see our article, "Our Failure in Canada."]

I guess that makes those who obey Christ regarding Rev 18:4 "cult followers;" they're in the flesh, and not in the spirit. This makes me a "cult leader" - i.e., a religious "wacko," a "kook," a "dingbat," a "weirdo."

Finally, this brother says,

"Your rantings have more the character of a Judas Iscariot ... than a purveyor of the Gospel."

Judas Iscariot? - oh well, all I can do is take heart from Christ when He said,

"It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?" (Matt. 10:25)

And, believe me, these are just a tiny few of the "slings and arrows" that have been hurled in my direction. There are many, many more - some much worse. I've been called a "Jim Jones" (I was given that "tag" by Dene McGriff), a "David Koresh," a "Rev. Moon" and countless other slurs and epithets. But, again, all I can say is that you are directing your anger at the wrong person! These are NOT my words, they are God's. It is NOT on account of any delinquency on my part that God did NOT offer you a way out nor provide you with an excuse for staying. I would gladly have done so for all of the trouble that it has caused me - the hatred of so many, the lost friendships, the stinging affronts and infamies. I have grown weary of it all. Seriously, I really have. What advantage is all this to me?

I AM ACCUSED OF BEING CARNALLY-MINDED

Then, of course, there are those who say that we are being simple-minded about the meaning of Rev. 18:4 (and other similar verses - see below). For example, another of my erstwhile colleagues (Doug Krieger) upbraids me for being CARNALLY-minded with regard to these verses, not SPIRITUALLY-minded - like him, I suppose. This brother writes:

"The only separation that counts from the world is spiritual - not physical ... We are 'in' the world, but not 'of' the world."

The irony here - as with so many who oppose us for being "of the flesh" in taking Rev. 18:4 too literally - is that their objections are nothing more than facades behind which they are attempting to hide their failure to act - to "come out of her;" in this case a facade behind which Dene can chase "filthy lucre" using other peoples' money to invest in ponzi schemes (investment pyramids) and multilevel marketing (MLM) stratagems (which are nothing more than Ponzi schemes with a worthless product attached to it in order to get around the Supreme Court injunction against them), linking people up to Imelda Marcos's ill-gotten (and now lost) fortune, "magic gold accounts," etc. Of course, most of these brothers say they are chasing money for the Lord's sake; but in the end, it's the money that catches them rather than the other way around.

A sister writes:

"It looks to me like you all have chosen this present world over Christ by going and hiding yourselves and trying to get as many people as possible to go with you. You have no trust in the Lord Jesus Christ at all, because if you did, you would stay right here and preach the gospel and not be worried about what's coming ... Fear of the things of the flesh is what has caused you and your ministry to flee to Canada."

There's that "flesh" stuff again.

Still another brother writes:

"All I can say is WOW! I have never read such factually incorrect material. Sadly you don't even back up your claims with facts. Just quotes from other liars. Pretty typical actually. Thankfully, most are able to think for themselves and people like you never make a difference. Scare tactics only work on the uneducated. Although those people are probably exactly what you are after. Too lazy to think for themselves ... You haven't a clue."

"Scare tactics of the uneducated?" Eee gads!

Another writes very sarcastically,

"You deal in fear ... Of course God is unable to protect His people in America. Poor, puny, weak God. Thwarted by the GOP and the NWO (New World Order). Defeated, even. Ordered a retreat, did He?"

Again, these are just a tiny example of all those who have written to condemn me (us) for being CARNALLY-minded, and not spiritually-minded; of not being able to discern the simple truth that "we are 'in' the world, but not 'of' the world;" that Babylon is a "spiritual matter," and not a physical matter - a matter of the heart, and not of the flesh. How "carnal" of us! How "worldly!" How "temporal!" How "UNSPIRITUAL" - at least that's certainly what most Christians would like to believe: That there is no PHYSICALITY attached to Babylon. After all, it's so much easier for people to think that the only thing they have to do to "come out of her" is to "come out" of the "apostate church." To suggest that to escape "Religious Babylon" necessitates escaping "Physical Babylon" (i.e., America) makes everything so much more difficult.

THERE IS PHYSICALITY ATTACHED TO BABYLON

But the truth of the matter is, there is a physical reality attached to Babylon as well as a religious reality - and the physical reality of Babylon is as profound and intense as its religious reality, and just as deadly. Babylon the Great is depicted in Scripture as a two part entity: a woman riding a beast. The great Bible expositor, F.C. Jennings, writes:

"Turning then to the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, we see the whole stage filled with two personalities only: a 'Beast' and a 'Woman' … There can be no argument or discussion as to this speaking of both the CIVIL [political, economic, and military] and ECCLESIASTICAL [religious] conditions [of the country] ... the 'Beast' (which answers to the Civil Power) and the 'Woman' (which answers to the Religious Power) are thus INDISSOLUBLY co-related …"

INDISSOLUBLY CO-RELATED

The "beast" and the "woman" INDISSOLUBLY co-related? - is that what Jennings is saying here? Yes! - that precisely what he is saying! And plainly, if these two dimensions of Babylon are so intertwined, doesn't there have to be a physical aspect to the command "COME OUT OF HER?" Plainly so! - and if that's true, doesn't that suggest that to escape the one (i.e., the "apostate church") NECESSITATES escaping the other (i.e., the United States). Hence, the words of Scripture "Come out of her" must also mean - in addition to leaving the "apostate church" - emigrating out of the United States.

Again, I realize that it is so much easier to believe that the only thing that we have to do to "come out of her" is to "come out" of the "apostate church" - the church of D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, C. Peter Wagner, et. al. But that won't accomplish much by itself! The very real fact of the matter is, a break-out from the one (i.e., Spiritual Babylon" or the "Apostate Church") necessitates a break-out from the other (i.e., the United States). What other conclusion is possible?

YOU DON'T SEE WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT?

You don't see what we're talking about here? You really don't see it? Well, all I can say then, is if you don't, it's because you have - like so many of my erstwhile colleagues - PURPOSEFULLY chosen NOT to see it. It's not that hard to see - OR do you think that it's really possible to stay connected to "physical Babylon" (i.e., the United States) without being affected spiritually by your union with it. If that's the case, you have UTTERLY failed to appreciate what "Babylon the Great" is all about, and the power it possesses to CORRUPT people - even the BEST of people, even YOU, and that's especially true in light of the results of the 2004 presidential election.

The truth is, the force of APOSTASY has now broken out of the "meeting halls" of the super-church, and has poured out into the streets. The power of D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, C. Peter Wagner, etc. has morphed into "street power;" it is no longer confined to the pulpit. Just because you do not "attend church" on Sundays does not mean you have escaped the power of Religious Babylon: it now holds the nation in its grip, and it is infusing itself into the nation's political and even its military institutions.

The fact of the matter is, just as the life (so to speak) of the Nazi state became so intertwined and twisted together with the lives of Germany's individual citizens that it became impossible to function any longer as a human being in Germany without at the same time being involved intimately with the crimes of that nation - SO NOW IT IS FAST BECOMING IMPOSSIBLE TO FUNCTION ANY LONGER AS AN INDIVIDUAL IN THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT BECOMING INVOLVED IN THE GREAT WICKEDNESS THIS COUNTRY IS VISITING ON THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND WITH THE APOSTASY THAT IS DRIVING IT.

A LITTLE LEAVEN LEAVENETH THE WHOLE LUMP

The Bible says,

"Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5:6)

AND ANYONE IN THE UNITED STATES WHO THINKS HE CAN ESCAPE THE POWER OF THIS LEAVEN BY SIMPLY NOT ATTENDING CHURCH IS BEING A FOOL! Yes! - dear brothers and sisters in Christ, "... a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (1 Cor. 5:6). And just how potent that leaven is, is made apparent by what's happened to some of those who have left the ministry because of the direction the ministry took regarding Rev. 18:4; one never stands still in the things of God. One is either going forward, or retreating backwards. With this brother, the retreat backwards has been astounding, and I'll let the record speak for itself. This is the same brother (Doug Krieger) who recently wrote:

"THE ONLY SEPARATION THAT COUNTS FROM THE WORLD IS SPIRITUAL - NOT PHYSICAL. All of Sean's (my co-worker in the Lord) latest Scriptures on Babylon, especially those that refer to ancient Babylon, are taken out of context and miss the real point. We are told to overcome in this world - 'even in the streets of that great city' (Revelation 11:8). We are 'in' the world, but not 'of' it."

Now, let me tell you all something here - and I speak as one who has known this brother for more years than most of you have been alive. This is NOT what he thought eight years ago - at the time of his break with the ministry, which was necessitated by the incessant criticism of his wife and children - i.e., that we should "tone things down," that we should not be so critical of God's servants (so-called) such as D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, Jerry Falwell, et. al. - all things which I refused to countenance, even for the sake of our friendship. But, very obviously, the "STRIDENT," "SHRILL" tone of the ministry [as one of our critics calls it (i.e., Dene McGriff)] was making things very difficult for him insofar as his wife and children were concerned. But what was I to do here? - let his wife's anxieties and fears limit the scope of the ministry? No! A thousand times, No!

Finally, I urge you to read the following articles:

• The Good News of the Coming Kingdom.

• The Kingdom of God Is at Hand.

• The Principles of the Kingdom.

• The American New World Order System Must Give Way to the Kingdom of Heaven.

God bless you all!

S.R. Shearer,
Antipas Ministries