1. What is the religious population estimated to be, and what impact will the fall of that religious empire have upon nations?

THE religious population of the world is enormous. The 1980 World Almanac puts it as high as 2,511,417,750. It numbers among these those who claim to be Christians, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and others. When that internally divided religious empire goes down, it will astonish the most of surviving mankind. The disconcerting impact of this is foretold in these words: “At the sound when Babylon has been seized, the earth will certainly be set rocking, and among the nations an outcry itself be heard.”

2. (a) With what kind of “voice” did ancient Babylon speak toward the nations, but how was her “voice” drowned out? (b) What does Revelation picture her modern counterpart as riding, and what will it do to her?

² The fulfillment of this will be a world-changing event, the like of which was never heard of before. (Jer. 51:2, 60, 64)