Click here for the Revelation 18:4-8 PODCAST
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying: “Come out of that city, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive the disasters that will come to her. 5 Her sins have piled up as high as the sky, and God has not forgotten the wrongs she has done. 6 Give that city the same as she gave to others. Pay her back twice as much as she did. Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong as the wine she prepared for others. 7 She gave herself much glory and rich living. Give her that much suffering and sadness. She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting on my throne. I am not a widow; I will never be sad.’ 8 So these disasters will come to her in one day: death, and crying, and great hunger, and she will be destroyed by fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.” ~ Revelation 18:4-8
Today, we return to Revelation 18. In this chapter the Apostle John describes the final world’s system, a commercial system overseen, managed and operated by the antichrist. But, the focus of this chapter is on its destruction. This the last chapter in the book of the Revelation before the second coming of Jesus Christ chronicling God's righteous judgment upon the wicked empire of Satan himself.
In v.4 we read, "Then I heard another voice from heaven saying: “Come out of that city, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive the disasters that will come to her."
"Come out" has always been God's instruction to His people when they live in the midst of a broken culture. Believers in the God of the Bible are to always avoid participation in the evil deeds of darkness. The real message here in today's text is: The ship is sinking and you don't want to be on it when it goes down, you must leave it.
One of the fascinating themes throughout Scripture is that there has always been a representative of God not just living in Babylon, but with great authority. Joseph was the second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. Daniel was the chief of staff for Nebuchadnezzar in actual Babylon. Esther was the Queen of Persia.
God put each of these people in their roles for His purposes. And, He has placed us just where we are today to be used of Him in this dark and desolate world. Like them, we serve God while it looks like we are serving Babylon. They didn’t undermine or sabotage the kingdoms they served. Each of those empires thrived when God’s people had influence. Our ultimate goal must always be to serve God first.
And, all through this time of judgment in the book of the Revelation, God has been saving people. God has been saving an innumerable host of people from every tongue and tribe and people and nation as described in Revelation 7. God will save Israel. Jews will certainly turn to Christ, a hundred and forty-four thousand of them will already be preaching the gospel. The angel flying across the sky will be preaching the gospel.
By the preaching of that precious good news, there will be the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever known during the Tribulation. Many of them will be martyred for their faith in Christ. They will refuse the mark of the beast and pay with their lives. Some of them will, obviously, survive; and the temptation for the survivors may be to get caught up in the system. Thus, the message given in v.4 of "Come out."
In v.5-7 we read, "5 Her sins have piled up as high as the sky, and God has not forgotten the wrongs she has done. 6 Give that city the same as she gave to others. Pay her back twice as much as she did. Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong as the wine she prepared for others. 7 She gave herself much glory and rich living. Give her that much suffering and sadness. She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting on my throne. I am not a widow; I will never be sad."
When the rebellious were building the Tower of Babel, they said, "Let’s build a tower that reaches heaven!" Their desire was to be like God, but, their tower didn’t reach heaven. Most interestingly, when we come to v.5-7 their sins will, in the end. Their sin will be so monumental that they reach heaven. The word "piled" means "glued together." The sins of Babylon will so collect themselves, they will pile themselves up like a new tower of Babel.
In v.6 the angel turns to God and makes a request of Him. In Revelation 6 those who were beheaded for their faith in the Lord Jesus prayed this same prayer: that God would judge the system of the antichrist. This request will echo the Old Testament law, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
According v.7, Babylon's sin will be seen to have its basis in Babylon's pride. God hates pride, He never tolerates it. He sends people away from Him because they will not glorify Him as God. Rather they will worship themselves.
Babylon's boast here illustrates the fact that unwilling sinners do not and can not change their ways. In addition, illustrated here is the fact that God does not forget the ill-treatment of the proud upon the humble.
So, in v.8 of today's text we read, "So these disasters will come to her in one day: death, and crying, and great hunger, and she will be destroyed by fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful."
God's judgment will be pronounced and it will be just. His judgment will be poured out on what He hates because it damages and destroys what He loves. Sadly, His judgment could have been avoided. But, due to their unrepentant hearts, God will have to act in accordance with His faithful threats.
You see, He is a God who can be trusted to be true to His word. The real horror of being outside of Christ is that there is no shelter from His wrath. God manifested His hatred of sin in the death and suffering of His only begotten Son. It was at the cross of Christ that He showed Himself unappeasable to sin. It was at the cross of God that God displayed His love for you and me the most.
