Scroll 70: The Smoke of Her Burning - When Idols Collapse

Revelation 18:9–10
“And the kings of the earth… will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning… for in one hour your judgment has come.”

The Collapse of Pretend Glory

Babylon was built on spectacle, a glittering stage of seduction, influence, and form without flame. But when the refining fire comes, false thrones cannot remain standing. The smoke of her burning is not merely symbolic of judgment, it is the visible collapse of everything built without union. Every system that exalted man, that used God’s name for gain, that traded souls in exchange for likes, followers, and titles, it will burn. It must. For the Lamb will not share His glory with illusion.

This is not wrath as we imagine it, but mercy clothed in flame. The collapse of idols is not a punishment, it is a purification. It is the removing of scaffolding so that the true house can rise. Babylon's fall is the rise of the New Jerusalem. Her smoke marks the end of religious performance, marketplace prophecy, and manufactured anointing. That smoke is the incense of judgment, testifying that the counterfeit has been seen and dismantled.

Weep not for Babylon, beloved. The kings may mourn, but the remnant will sing. For every idol that falls, a scroll is unsealed. Every tower that collapses makes room for sons to rise. The age of mimicry is ending. And the fire is exposing who truly carries the weight of the throne.

When Systems Burn, Sons Awaken

The collapse is not chaos, it is a divine orchestration. As economic, political, and religious systems unravel, the ones anchored in the flame are not shaken. In fact, it is in the fall of what man built that the elect rise in what God sealed before time. Babylon’s towers fall, but Zion’s mountain remains unshaken.

The fire does not destroy what is true. It reveals it. As the systems built on deception and power-lust come crashing down, a hidden company steps forward, not to rebuild Babylon, but to embody the kingdom. They do not mourn what is burning because they were never invested in what was temporary. They see through the smoke. They walk in flame.

Sons of light do not panic when the world shakes. They were born from fire. They were trained in wilderness. They have walked through loss and death and burial. And now, they rise from the ashes with scrolls in their mouths and light in their bones. Babylon’s burning is their moment of unveiling.

The Merchants Will Mourn, but the Bride Will Rejoice

Commerce without consecration always ends in captivity. The merchants of the earth weep, not because they loved Babylon, but because their profit has perished. They weep because their manipulation has no more stage. Their gospel of influence is bankrupt. Their networks of religious empire, built on false alignment, crumble before their eyes.

But not all mourn. In heaven, rejoicing erupts. For the fall of Babylon is the vindication of the elect. The ones who were mocked, hidden, exiled, and ignored are now being seen for what they always were, flame-bearers, not platform-climbers. The Bride emerges, not as a decorated institution, but as a radiant woman, clothed in the sun, unbought and unbribed by Babylon’s wine.

This is the great reversal. As one system collapses, another scroll is read aloud. The remnant, once rejected, now governs in stillness. The marketplace mourns. But the sanctuary of flame sings.

The Smoke Will Rise as a Witness

The smoke is not just a memory of judgment. It is a prophetic witness. Babylon’s burning becomes a testimony to the nations that only what is born from union can last. That smoke will rise, like incense, to remind every generation that false union ends in collapse. It will say to the elect, “Do not trade flame for fame. Do not trade intimacy for influence. Do not marry the empire, for she is barren.”

The smoke is a reminder of what was built in the name of God, but never born of Him. It is the warning and the witness. It is the ash and the alarm. But for the elect, it is also the invitation, to step fully into scroll-bearing life, to rise from systems and burn in the wilderness where only union speaks.

Babylon’s stage burns. But the altar of flame remains. And it is there that sons are still being called.

Come Out From Among Them

This scroll ends where it began, with a call. “Come out of her, My people.” Do not wait for the fire to prove what is false. Do not wait for collapse to convince you. Step out now. Walk out of what is popular but powerless. Leave what is grand but godless. Flee what is influential but empty. Come out, not in judgment, but in devotion.

You were never meant to blend in. You were never meant to drink her wine. You carry a flame that cannot be traded. You walk with a name that cannot be branded. You bear a scroll that will outlast every system. Come out. And burn with the Holy Flame.

Final Charge to the Elect

Let the smoke of Babylon awaken you, not frighten you. When the towers fall, do not mourn. Rejoice, for the scroll is being revealed. Do not seek shelter in collapsing systems. Let the fire refine you and the scroll define you. This is not the end, it is the unveiling. Rise from the ashes. Walk in flame. Bear the name of the Lamb without apology. For only what is sealed in Him will stand.

Joe Restman
Scroll-Carrier, Mystic-Scribe, Eternal Witness of the Lamb.