if you look closely, is a kingdom. And in verse 19 here of Revelation, what's under discussion is the kingdom of modern Babylon, and it's divided into three parts. And the reason I choose the word modern Babylon, Revelation 16 through 18, is speaking of modern Babylon. And by modern, we understand the final manifestation of Babylon. And it is different than ancient Babylon. Ancient Babylon is actually, if you take it all the way back to its roots, is not Babylon, it's Babel. And it has a progression throughout history to where it finally arrives is modern Babylon. And if you haven't followed this truth through the Bible, um, consciously, you'll recognize it's there, even if you haven't thought of it in these terms before. But the story of the growth of Babylon to the point when it becomes modern Babylon is a history that much of Bible prophecy is developed and established on. We see Babel starting out with the Tower of Babel, and its influence is the power that resists God's people all the way through Old Testament times. The religion of Babel is the one that is infecting and seducing God's children. And in the days of Christ, we see a manifestation of paganism, which is just a carry-on of the religion of Babel from the Tower of Babel. And this manifestation of pagan Rome during the days of Christ is where Bible prophecy is illustrated until a second power comes into history and then the Bible prophecy. And the second power that is going to resist God and his people is the papacy. It's the second phase of the Roman Empire in Bible prophecy. And it's also the second part of the threefold makeup of modern Babylon. But when the papacy arrives in prophetic history, officially in 538, though it was... had its, um, beginnings before that, when it arrives in history and in prophecy, the papacy, um, the third power that makes up modern Babylon is not in existence yet. And the papacy has its time period to rule the world from 538 to 1798, and as it's coming to its close, just prior to that time, we see the power, the United States, in 1776, getting its historical start, and it's destined someplace in the future, beyond 1776 and beyond 1798, when the papacy receives its deadly wound, it's destined to take the position prophetically of the false prophet, of apostate Protestantism.