Revelation 19:17-21

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17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. ~ Revelation 19:17-21

Today, we close out our study of Revelation 19, the crescendo chapter of the book of the Revelation. This will be the moment of the second return of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be the precise day that was spoken of in Psalm 2 which reads, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a useless thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed.” 

In v.17-18 of today's text reads, "17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, 'Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small."'

The last battle of this world is known to all as the Battle of Armageddon. Present in this scene are the armies of the ten nations of Europe, the Confederation. Joining them will be the armies of the kings of the east. The leftover armies from Russia and from Egypt that all gather together in that 200 mile area of Israel beginning in the valley of Armageddon and moving forward toward Jerusalem. The antichrist and the false prophet will also be there. With one weapon, the Word of His mouth, the Lord Jesus will conquer them all. 

This is not the final judgment of the ungodly, this is simply their execution. Their final judgment will come in Revelation 20:11, after the thousand-year Kingdom, at an event called the Great White Throne. They are simply executed here. They will be judged a thousand years later. This is the execution of the ungodly sinners of the world who have sided with Satan during the time of the tribulation. These had taken the mark of the beast for they worshiped him. These continuously rejected the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Six times in Revelation 19, the word "flesh" is used. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption. And, there are two suppers mentioned in this chapter. The first is mentioned at the beginning of this chapter and the second, the great supper of God, is mentioned at the end of the chapter.

In v.19-20 we read, "19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."

The Lord Jesus referred to this moment in Matthew 25:31-33 which reads, "31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." 

When He comes to earth a second time, He will come as judge. He will judge individuals from every people group who have continually rejected the gospel. This will be a judgment of separation. The believers will be separated on the right side of the Lord Jesus and the goats on His left. 

The sad thing is the ultimate reality for those who refuse to take the offer of God's grace will spend eternity in Hell. God does not want anyone to go to Hell. He didn't create it for people. He created it for the devil and his angels. God's plan has always been that people would come and drink freely of the water, the river of life. When I came to the Lord, I was so thirsty, and I didn't even know what I was thirsty for. I just had this inner thirst in my life and I cried out to God to quench it. I discovered, it is only the Lord Jesus Christ who can quench this thirst.

In Daniel 7:11 we read, “I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning fire.” 

The antichrist and the false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire. Their bodies will literally be killed but their spirits will live on into eternity in Hell. The antichrist and the false prophet will have the privilege of being the first to populate the final place of destruction, eternal hell.

In v.21 of today's text we read, "The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh."

In Revelation 19:15, we learned that out of His mouth will come a sharp sword, and with it, the Lord Jesus will strike down the nations. And, suddenly it will all be over. Its finality will come after one word spoken from Him who sits on the great white horse. Once He spoke a word to a fig tree and it withered away. Once He spoke a word to howling winds and heaving waves, and the storm cloud vanished and the waves fell still. Once He spoke to a legion of demons bursting at the seams of a poor man’s soul, and instantly they fled. And now, He speaks a word, and the war will be over.

Revelation 19:11-16

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11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.  ~ Revelation 19:11-16

Today, we return to Revelation 19. In v.11 we are introduced to a Rider on a White Horse who is called "Faithful and True." And, "With justice he judges and wages war."

As we seek to understand this passage, we must keep in mind it contains a mixture of symbolism and reality. God, in this vision is giving the Apostle John several signs and symbols. The horse, the sword and the rod of iron, for example, are all symbolic. The  reality is He is coming again with conquering power as King of kings and Lord of Lords. 

The horse was the ancient animal of warfare and victorious kings sat on white horses. When the Lord Jesus came the first time, He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey which was the animal of peace. Kings rode donkeys in times of peace. They rode in on white horses in times of war, especially after a victory. This passage is borrowed from the Roman armies and gives us a description of their victorious armies after they had conquered a nation. The general rode into town with the vanquished armies behind him. Behind them would be the spoils of the victory, and then, the general would march into town full of his glory. 

This will happen at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ who will come to execute perfect justice on behalf of all who will have been persecuted by the enemies of this world. At last, as Scripture has long promised, all the evil on the earth will be exposed and judged.

In v.12 the Apostle John tells us, "His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself."

"Blazing eyes" speak of the Lord Jesus' full discernment, and penetrating knowledge. "Many crowns" speak of His full authority. The two together picture omniscience and omnipotence. The Lord Jesus Christ will clearly be seen by all as the man who manifests all the fullness of God, because He is fully God and fully man. Suggested here is the fact that no one will know and understand the full extent of His mysterious union as the God and man. In fact, in heaven, we will discover, perhaps daily, new aspects of His mystery throughout eternity. This is why heaven will be constantly breaking out with new praises.

You will remember in Revelation 12, Satan will have seven crowns on his head. In Revelation 13, the antichrist will be wearing ten crowns. But at the end of time, only the Lord Jesus Christ will be wearing THE crown. 

In ancient days, whenever a general would take over another nation, he would often symbolically wear the crown of the very kingdom that he had conquered, showing that he is now in control of that kingdom. The Lord Jesus wore a crown of thorns at His first coming, sarcastically placed upon Him by narrow-minded men. In the end, He will wear the crowns of the kings of the earth. He will clearly be known by all as the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

In v.13 we read, "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God."

The Lord Jesus Christ will have on a robe which will be dipped in blood. He will come with the armies of heaven following Him, and He will have a sharp sword coming out of his mouth. 

His "robe dipped in blood" is referenced in Isaiah 63:1-4 which reads, "1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, proclaiming victory, mighty to save.” 2 Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. 4 It was for me the day of vengeance; the year for me to redeem had come."

At His second coming, when the Lord Jesus comes back to earth, He will put a stop to the battle at Armageddon that will have been raging in the Middle East. And, His robe will be splattered with the blood of His enemies. This explains the appearance of His robe in this text.

In v.14 of today's text we read, "The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean."

We who believe in the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Savior right now will be a part of this army that will accompany the Lord Jesus at His second return to earth. In fact, in Revelation 17:14 we read "his called, chosen, and faithful followers," will accompany Him when He comes. 

At the Rapture, the Lord Jesus will come in the air and His followers will meet Him in the air. At His Second Coming, the Lord Jesus will come through the air and His feet will touch the earth. At the Rapture, He claims His bride. At His second return to earth, He will come with His bride. At the Rapture, only His own will see Him. At His Second Coming, every eye will see Him. At the Rapture, it's a time of blessing followed by a time of great tribulation and wrath. At His second return, it will be a time of judgment, followed by a kingdom that will be set up forever and ever. At the Rapture, the focus will be on the Lord Jesus and His church. At His second return, the focus will be on Israel and the kingdom. The Rapture is sudden and unannounced. His second return will be very predictable because at the middle of the tribulation one will be able to know the number of days to the Second Coming. 

In v.15 we read, "Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty."

This "rod of iron" is a symbol of tough justice, of unbending, unwavering righteousness. It is the standard of God's morality which he cannot lessen or diminish in any way. This is descriptive of the millennial years when righteousness will reign in all the earth. There will be sin and sinners present in His one thousand year reign on the earth, but they will not upset things.

In v.16 we read, "On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords."

In ancient days, a king would often have his title woven into his garment and engraved upon his blade. Given that the garment would hang from a band at the waist, the words written on it would fall at roughly thigh level. For all to see most prominently will be the message: "King of kings and lord of lords." It was the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke all things into existence. He came as predicted in His word to substantiate that word as He made His way to the cross of Calvary. 

Interestingly, the Lord Jesus didn't need to acquire His King of kings and Lord of lords status by going through the cross. He could have just vanquished His enemies as soon as they rebelled. But, He chose to go to the cross so that He could include you and me in on His victory over sin and death. We will, with Him, be the victors. The design of the cross includes one horizontal beam and one vertical beam. One points us to God's love, and the other points us to His holiness. One represents the width of His love and the other reflects the height of His glory and holiness.

Revelation 19:8-10

Revelation 19:8-10 PODCAST

8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) 9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” ~ Revelation 19:8-10

Today, we continue our study of the book of the Revelation. Even though there are an awful lot of scenes of God's judgment in this book, the main event is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. This is why I call this chapter the crescendo chapter of the book.

In v.8 we read, "Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)"

As the bride of Christ, God uses the symbol of a wedding gown to represent the righteous acts of those who believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior. The lavishness of our gown will largely be determined upon our obedience and service to the Lord Jesus right now on the earth. We're not saved by good works, we're saved by faith in the finished work of Christ, alone. But, our position in His kingdom and our rewards will be determined by what we do with our time, talents, and treasures, now on the earth. The Lord Jesus said, "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." 

The image of a marriage is often used in Scripture because it was the single greatest celebration known in that part of the ancient world. In ancient times, weddings had three parts: the betrothal, the presentation, and the ceremony. 

Just prior to the actual wedding itself, there was a time of festivities which led up to the actual wedding ceremony. The festivities would last several days, even a week. And, back then, the bridegroom was the center of the wedding, not the bride. And, he would present his bride to His friends and guests, and they would feast together. 

The bridegroom would go to the house of the bride and he would then get his bride, along with her maidens, and take them to his house, and there the festivities would begin as he presented his bride. That led to the third component in a marriage, which was the ceremony, the actual exchanging of vows.

The ceremony and that final hour after that final meal when the vows were shared and the marriage was then consummated was the main event. That’s what really brought everyone together. And by the way, understanding all of this helps us to understand why Joseph was so upset when Mary was found to be with child because they were only betrothed or engaged, they had not been married. 

One day, when the Rapture happens, the church will be taken to heaven to be presented as the Bride of Christ. In John 14 the Lord Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I’ll come again and take you to be with me." This verse carries the picture of a bridegroom who goes away to get the place ready and he comes back to get his bride, and he takes her to the place he had prepared in his father’s house.

In v.9-10 we read, "9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus."

It is a great honor to be invited to this wedding feast. And, the invitation is nothing less than the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ which goes out to all men and women everywhere. Right now, we are in phase one of this arrangement. Right now, we have no physical contact with the Lord Jesus, but we love Him, and we are getting to know Him, and one day soon He will come for us.

At the end of v.10 we read, "For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus." In the Bible, there are roughly 330 predictions of the Lord Jesus. The odds of one man in history fulfilling 8 of those 330 prophecies would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. The odds of that happening would be like if we filled the state of Georgia two-feet thick filled with silver dollars, mark one in advance, hide it, have somebody blindfold walk through the entire state, the odds that he would find the one that we marked would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Unbelievable but true! The Lord Jesus Christ is the long awaited Groom of the bride.

Revelation 19:1-7

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1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” 3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!” 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small! 6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” ~ Revelation 19:1-7

Today, we transition into the crescendo chapter of all of the book of the Revelation. The events, in today's text, will take place in heaven where we will hear rejoicing for the revealing of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle John, for the seventh time in this book is given another vision of heaven. He hears the heavenly hallelujahs in the immediate anticipation of the revealing of the Christ. His final action on earth will be to destroy the remaining ungodly, and then, He will set up His Millennial kingdom on earth.

In v.1-3 we hear the great roar of the angels. In v.4, the twenty-four elders and four living creatures respond by bowing down before God and worshiping Him. In v.5, there is a voice coming from the throne of God, commanding people and every creature to worship and praise God. And, in v.6, again the voice of a great multitude. This time a little bit louder, a little more intense. It's like the voice of thunder, the voice of many waters. And, in v.7, we have the introduction of the Bridegroom come to receive to Himself His bride.

In v.1-2 we read, "1 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

Used four times in these verses is the word "Hallelujah." This is the first and only time the word is even mentioned in the New Testament. It is as if heaven has waited all these years to use this word until now and when they do, they will use it over and over again. By the way, "Hallelujah" is first used in the Old Testament in Psalm 104:35 which reads, "Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more. Hallelujah."

Hallelujah is a word reserved in the Bible for praising the Lord because of His complete salvation for all who are dependent enough on Him to believe, and His complete judgment on those who oppress God's people. It is a special word reserved for the joy of those who are delivered from their enemies.

This great multitude in heaven will include millions and millions of holy angels. They must number in the millions, because there are two hundred million demons in Revelation 9:16 who were bound at the River Euphrates. And, in Revelation 12:4 we are told all demons total one-third of the total amount of the angels. This means there are millions and millions and millions of angels. This celebration will be due to a few different reasons. 

The first reason for this great celebration will be for God's salvation. We will all honor God because of His, and His only, salvation. He has saved us from sin's penalty and power. And, when we all get to heaven, He will have saved us from the presence of sin. This will be the reason that this massive multitude will be singing God's praises. 

The second reason we will celebrate will be due to God's true righteousness. In v.2 we will say, "for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants." The kingdom of Satan, will, as a result, be rendered null and void. 

In v.3-4 we read, "3 And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”"

The first two hallelujah's were in response to the judgment of God on Babylon. But, the second one will not only be spoken for the judgment, but because the judgment will be permanent as indicated by the fact that the smoke goes up forever and ever.

The twenty-four elders represent all of those who have ever trusted the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior throughout the Church Age. And, the four living creatures are special, exalted angelic beings called Cherubim throughout the Scriptures. They are given close proximity to the throne of God in heaven. In Revelation 5:6–14 we read their duties include falling down and worshiping the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. They offer the same reverence to Him that they did to the Father in Revelation 4:6–9. This is yet another example of the deity of Jesus Christ. We will all fall down down before the Lord Jesus who gave His life for His bride. This is how one treats royalty.

In v.5 we read, "Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both great and small!"

Throughout the Bible, there is a connection between praise and fear. A better translation for the word fear here is respect. In Proverbs 1:7 we read, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous.

Notice the phrase "small and great." It is just like God to mention the least first. We live in a fallen world where class distinction is highlighted and exploited. There will come a day, soon, when class warfare will be a thing of the past and all of God's people will be one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.6-7 we read, "6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."

We come now to the "Marriage supper of the Lamb" which is best understood in light of the wedding customs during the first century. These wedding customs had three major parts. First, a marriage contract was signed by the parents of the bride and the bridegroom. Then, the parents of the bridegroom or the bridegroom himself would pay a dowry to the bride or her parents. This began what was called the engagement period. 

The second step in the process usually occurred a year later, when the bridegroom, accompanied by his male friends, went to the house of the bride at midnight, creating a torchlight parade through the streets of the city. The bride would know in advance this was going to take place, and so she would be ready with her maidens, and they would all join the parade and end up at the bridegroom’s home. 

The third phase was the marriage supper itself, which went on and on for days. The Apostle John pictures for us here the wedding feast of the Lamb and His bride in its third phase. The implication is that the first two phases have already taken place. 

In fact, the first phase was completed on earth when each individual believer placed his or her faith in Christ as Savior. The dowry paid to the bridegroom’s parent (God the Father) would be the blood of Christ shed on the Bride’s behalf. The Church on earth today, then, is “engaged” to Christ, and, like the wise virgins in the parable, all believers should be watching and waiting for the appearance of the Bridegroom. The second phase symbolizes the rapture of the Church, when Christ comes to claim His bride and take her to the Father’s house. The marriage supper then follows as the third and final step. And, tomorrow, we will consider that in more detail.

Revelation 18:21-24

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21 Then a powerful angel picked up a large stone, like one used for grinding grain, and threw it into the sea. He said: “In the same way, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, and it will never be found again. 22 The music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes, and trumpets, will never be heard in you again. No workman doing any job will ever be found in you again. The sound of grinding grain will never be heard in you again. 23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great people, and all the nations were tricked by your magic. 24 You are guilty of the death of the prophets and God’s holy people and all who have been killed on earth.” ~ Revelation 18:21-24

Today, we come to the completion of God's judgment on Babylon. As these events happen, the people of the earth will agonize and those in heaven will rejoice. And, after these events are completed, the Lord Jesus will descend to the earth to set up His Millennial kingdom. 

In v. 21 we read, "Then a powerful angel picked up a large stone, like one used for grinding grain, and threw it into the sea. He said: “In the same way, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, and it will never be found again."

In this verse the Lord provides for all a metaphor. One day, soon, this world system will pass away, like a large stone that falls to the bottom of the sea. In graphic and poetic language, the Apostle describes how the industry and commerce of Babylon will come to an end. The destruction of Babylon will be so complete that no one will find any inkling of it anymore. Six times the phrase “it will never be found again” is used in this text indicating the finality of the defeat of the system known as Babylon.

In the Gospels, the Lord Jesus said, "If anyone offends one of these little children, these followers of Mine, it’s better that you take a millstone and hang it around his neck and throw him into the sea." God's indictment on Babylon will be in response to how they treated the people of God. Their torturous ways will be matched by the unrelenting wrath of God. It is as if God will present Himself as the believer's righteous defense attorney.

In v.22 we read, "The music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes, and trumpets, will never be heard in you again. No workman doing any job will ever be found in you again. The sound of grinding grain will never be heard in you again."

What once was synonymous with a huge party, Babylon will be a place that no one will want to even come close to. This long-adorned system will never have anymore entertainment, industry, music, mill, grain, or food. It will be desolate, and there will no longer be anything to distract the unbeliever from true reality.

In v.23 we read, "The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s great people, and all the nations were tricked by your magic."

You will remember that with the pouring out of the fifth bowl judgment in Revelation 16:10, darkness covered the world. In the darkness everything is pronounced, especially the sounds. The sound of this great stone hurling through the atmosphere will be eerie. Terror will be heightened to the greatest degree in this darkness. The bride and the bridegroom will not be in this city to take their wedding pictures because terror will be heightened.

In v.24 we read, "You are guilty of the death of the prophets and God’s holy people and all who have been killed on earth."

Babylon will be guilty of the murder of God's messengers and followers in her lust for power. This will reveal the true nature of this international government and religion. And, God will finally expose the counterfeit for what it is and He will destroy it. God's judgment will be justified because the whole world will led into deception by the corrupt leadership of Babylon. 

Deception will be the moniker of Satan's kingdom. Satan masks his deceptions in beautiful packaging that appeals to our natural senses and desires. He promises there will be no repercussions for indulging in that which God has clearly said will end in destruction.

Deception is everything opposite the truth. People will stand in roaring ovations for the illusionists, escape artists, and magicians. Much of it, in the form of entertainment, tricks the mind, causing us to think we are seeing something real when truthfully it is fraudulent. Prisons and jails are filled with con artists -- and sad to say, so are many churches. 

We must have discerning spirits. This is why we must make it our habit to be in the word of God, daily, for it enables us to recognize the clever schemes of the enemy. We can not fight spiritual battles with the weapons of our flesh. We can not access God's blessings through enslavement to the flesh. It is only through our enslavement to the Spirit of God do we realize God's victory.

With the graphic description of the judgment of Babylon recorded for us in Revelation 17-18, the way is cleared for the presentation of the major theme of this book, the amazing second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate end of all things, the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who believe, it will be precious. For those who will not believe, it will be devastating. This will be the subject of our next study in Revelation 19.

Revelation 18:15-20

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15 The merchants who became rich from selling to her will be afraid of her suffering and will stand far away. They will cry and be sad 16 and say: “Terrible! How terrible for the great city! She was dressed in fine linen, purple and red cloth, and she was shining with gold, precious jewels, and pearls! 17 All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!” Every sea captain, every passenger, the sailors, and all those who earn their living from the sea stood far away from Babylon. 18 As they saw the smoke from her burning, they cried out loudly, “There was never a city like this great city!” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and being sad. They said: “Terrible! How terrible for the great city! All the people who had ships on the sea became rich because of her wealth! But she has been destroyed in one hour! 20 Be happy because of this, heaven! Be happy, God’s holy people and apostles and prophets! God has punished her because of what she did to you.” ~ Revelation 18:15-20

Today, we return to our study of the fall of Babylon, the system of government that will be run by the antichrist in the final days. We have been learning of Babylon's destruction, and, in today's text, the businessmen of the world who will benefit greatly from the economics of the antichrist, they will be defined by their fear and they will watch from a distance the destruction of Babylon. 

In v.15 we read, " The merchants who became rich from selling to her will be afraid of her suffering and will stand far away. They will cry and be sad."

Sadly, the businessmen of the world will weep, and, they will never stop weeping, because they will end up in a place where there is endless weeping and gnashing of teeth. Their passions will never be satisfied because they are of a fallen world that will not last. The supposed attraction of sin is that it will make us happy, but we have all lived long enough to discover, this postulate never comes to fruition. 

The fight of biblical faith is the fight to stay satisfied with God. And, the only way to do this is by walking in His Spirit. In order to walk in His Spirit, it is imperative that we are in His Word daily and we are in the habit of praying without ceasing. I once thought this was impossible. I no longer believe that. It is not that we become perfect at it, it is that we are consistent with it. These two disciplines, the consistent study of God's Word and persistent prayer, are the lifelines for an effective walk with the Lord and an effective witness to this lost and dying world.

In v.16-17 we read, "They will cry and be sad 16 and say: “Terrible! How terrible for the great city! She was dressed in fine linen, purple and red cloth, and she was shining with gold, precious jewels, and pearls! 17 All these riches have been destroyed in one hour!” Every sea captain, every passenger, the sailors, and all those who earn their living from the sea stood far away from Babylon."

The only thing these businessmen of the world will be able to think about is the loss of all of their stuff. In Matthew 16:26, the Lord Jesus said, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?” And, even though they heard the gospel preached by Jews and Gentiles who came to faith during the Tribulation, and they witnessed the judgment of God, they will cling to that which can not last into eternity. They will do this because they were long ago deceived by the devil.

In v.18-19 we read, "18 As they saw the smoke from her burning, they cried out loudly, “There was never a city like this great city!” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and being sad. They said: “Terrible! How terrible for the great city! All the people who had ships on the sea became rich because of her wealth! But she has been destroyed in one hour!"

When we only have the stunted abilities of this world to evaluate substance, we will always be kept from what is really real. Back in Revelation 13:4, when they were all in awe of the antichrist, they said, “Who is like the beast? And who is able to wage war with him?” That deception will sadly lead to their needless demise.

According to v.18, they will totally give way to their grief. In their culture the biggest sign of grief, pain and agony was to throw dirt all over themselves. And, they will not be able to get beyond their bank account. Today, we live in a world that is fostering this type of a mentality. And, sadly, mankind's dependence on the government will make them arrive at the wrong kind of love, a love for the darkness.

In v.20 we read, "Be happy because of this, heaven! Be happy, God’s holy people and apostles and prophets! God has punished her because of what she did to you."

This verse is included in this account for the benefit to all who have come to believe in the God of the Bible. God promised vindication, retribution and vengeance for all who would risk believing Him. And, when He fulfills His promises to destroy the kingdom of Satan, the motivation of the redeemed to rejoice over the defeat of evil will not be for the pain of the deceived, it will be for God's victory over sin and death. We will rejoice because righteousness will triumph. And, in the end, we will embrace the most valuable truth: We will not merely do what God says because he is God, we will desire and do what God says because He is good. It has always been the goodness of God that has led us to repentance.

Revelation 18:9-14

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9 The kings of the earth who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then they will cry and be sad because of her death. 10 They will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away and say: “Terrible! How terrible for you, great city, powerful city of Babylon, because your punishment has come in one hour!” 11 And the merchants of the earth will cry and be sad about her, because now there is no one to buy their cargoes— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, red cloth; all kinds of citron wood and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives. 14 The merchants will say, “Babylon, the good things you wanted are gone from you. All your rich and fancy things have disappeared. You will never have them again.” Revelation 18:9-14

In Revelation 17 & 18 the Lord tells us about the double fall of Babylon. There will be the fall of spiritual Babylon in Revelation 17, then, there will also be the collapse of the economic system of Babylon in Revelation 18. 

In v.9 of today's text we read, "The kings of the earth who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth will see the smoke from her burning. Then they will cry and be sad because of her death."

The final world government of the antichrist will be judged, and the kings of the earth will respond with great sadness. They would not cry over their sin, but they will cry over their loss of wealth, power and prestige. Though God gave them multiple opportunities to turn to Him and from His judgment, they continued to believe the lie.

These ten kings of the earth were chosen by the antichrist to rule the various regions of the earth. And under them there will be other rulers. And when they see the capital city of the antichrist burning, they will for the first time believe that they will be losing the battle.

These kings are described as those who sinned sexually with her and shared her wealth. They were described in this manner back in Revelation 17:2 and Revelation 18:3. They had literally tied all their passions into this system. So, when Babylon burns, they will see it as losing their lover. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

In v.10 we read, "They will be afraid of her suffering and stand far away and say: “Terrible! How terrible for you, great city, powerful city of Babylon, because your punishment has come in one hour!"

This was also spoken of back in Revelation 16:19 where the seventh bowl was poured out and Babylon was given the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. The kings will stand at a distance with their armies on their way to Armageddon. And they will watch on TV as the empire burns.

This will provide for them the motivation to go to Armageddon. They will be led there by demons. They will think it’s going to be a last effort to rescue the world, and they wind up, as you well know, warring with each other, and destroyed by the coming of Christ. 

Babylon will have survived the six seals and the seven trumpets. So, the people thought it would survive anything else that God had to throw at them. And the kings of the world whose economies and whose lives were dependent upon that, who had put all their hopes and all their ambitions and all their dreams for survival into that brain trust, now are disillusioned and disappointed.

In v.11-13 we read, "11 And the merchants of the earth will cry and be sad about her, because now there is no one to buy their cargoes— 12 cargoes of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, red cloth; all kinds of citron wood and all kinds of things made from ivory, expensive wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives."

The second weeping group is the merchants or the businessmen of the earth. They will also weep and mourn over Babylon's loss, because no one will buy their goods anymore. The salesmen will all weep and mourn over her. Their pain will be purely linked to their desire for money. But money is not their issue. It is their love of money that will be the issue. They will not be able to meet their quota. They will not be able to sell their stuff anymore. 

They will not weep over their souls, they will weep over their wallets. And John lists twenty-eight items of commerce here, including slaves. This is a similar list to the one found in Ezekiel 27:12-22. These were typical items of business in the ancient world. And, of course, John is seeing into the future, but he’s seeing into the future from a perspective that is comprehensible to him, goods that were familiar to him. These goods are representative of the kind of things that will be bought and sold in the future, if not in some cases, the same things, such as gold and silver.

It is quite interesting that business and government will come together. We see this in our world today. And, that will be the way it will be in the end. The governments of this world will become one with the business leaders of this world. They will be totally dependent on each other. And, in today's text, they will weep and mourn together, not for something that is necessary and precious, but they will mourn for the luxuries of this world.

In v.14 we read, "The merchants will say, “Babylon, the good things you wanted are gone from you. All your rich and fancy things have disappeared. You will never have them again."

In the end, God will bankrupt the system of Babylon. He will do this to show everyone that the way of the antichrist will never satisfy. Once Babylon, the banking center of the world, is destroyed, everything will fall with it. And, those who live for this world will be greatly disappointed in the end.

There are only two eternal things on earth today: people and God's Word. Everything else will ultimately be burned up. Instead of investing in the things of this world, we must choose to invest in how we get the word of God into the souls of people.  People are going to go to one of two places, heaven or hell, and that decision will be made during this lifetime. For this reason, it is important that we make sure we have received the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Then, we must ask Him for the  passion that we need to invest in His word and people. Eternity is a long time not to get this right.

Revelation 18:4-8

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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.

Revelation 18:1-3

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1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a home for every impure spirit, a home for every unclean bird, a home for every unclean and detestable animal. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”  ~ Revelation 18:1-3

Today, we make our transition into Revelation 18, where, we are given three reasons for the overthrow of Babylon. She is demonic. She is spiritually unfaithful. And, she is materially seductive. For these reasons she will be overthrown.

The world is very dependent on money. In fact, we are very dependent on the economics of our societies. It seems that our survival depends upon a good economy. We are perhaps nowadays more dependent than ever on things holding together, since most of us have our money in a bank, most of us have it in a savings account or have it in stocks or some other non-liquid place. This is why there’s elevated fear of the potential, at any moment, for the world market to crash.

For sure, there is coming, a final, economic crash, and it is described for us here in Revelation 18. And, we are all curious about the current state of the world economically. And that which elevates our curiosity is a one-world economy. Up until recent years, there were economies in the world. We are living in a day of global commerce by the design of the god of this world. We really only have a one-world economy. We are told that great effect on the stock market occurs because of something that goes on in a nation across the ocean from us. We are all tied together. The dollar, of course, becomes a standard against which foreign currency is measured, and it has tremendous implications on our dollar, and our dollar has implications worldwide. And, this all fits into the final picture prophetically here in the book of the the Revelation. 

The world, in the end, before the second coming of the Lord Jesus, will be in the midst of a one-world, capitalistic, economic boom. As the book of the Revelation unfolds, the judgments of God will be poured out prior to the day of the Lord, there is going to be an awful lot of chaos in the world. But, as is indicated in today's text, amazingly, the world will survive with some measure of economic prosperity.

In v.1-2 of our text today we read, "1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a home for every impure spirit, a home for every unclean bird, a home for every unclean and detestable animal."

Whereas Revelation 17 described religious Babylon and her destruction, Revelation 18 describes the demise of the economic system. In v.1 another angel will come from heaven with great authority or power from God and his glory will be evident to all. And, he will pronounce God's judgment upon Satan's world-wide economic system.  

In v.2 we read, "With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a home for every impure spirit, a home for every unclean bird, a home for every unclean and detestable animal."

This is a direct quote from Isaiah 21:9. Most often there is not a direct confrontation between God and Satan. God almost always uses angels to deliver His judgment or message. And, so, the angel pronounces the message and then he gives the reason for the punishment. The reason here for God's punishment upon Babylon will be that she became the home for evil. This entire satanic world empire will simply be infested with demons and impure spirits. All the emissaries of Satan will be demonic from one end to the other. And, Satan's abode will be a home for every unclean bird and every unclean and detestable animal. God is simply here highlighting the fact that Satan is pure evil and he propagates pure evil.

So, this final form of the one-world government will be controlled by hell itself. Hell’s powerful presence will dominate, influencing and controlling people in the system of the antichrist under the direction of Satan.

In v.3 we read, "For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."

The Apostle John uses an analogy of drunkenness. The whole world will be in a materialistic drunken stupor. They will all be swept away, indulging in the sins that go along with it. This will like a drunk who’s given himself to every passion, to every prostitute, to commit every act of immorality, to do anything that is sensual. It pictures the world seduced by the antichrist, engaging itself in a form of fornication, prostitution, drunkenness with passionate materialism.

The Apostle identifies particularly the kings of the earth who will have made alliances with one another and the antichrist. They literally will commit fornication with the antichrist who represents Babylon. And so, they will drag their nations into this one-world government. And the antichrist will control everybody with the mark of the beast. This kind of thing could happen today because everything is fed into computers, and if someone controls all of those, they can, in effect, control everything.

Not only will the kings of the earth bring all their nations into this alliance, but the merchants of the earth will all join. We might say that it’s a unionized world, and the head of the union is the antichrist. The whole world will be engulfed in this. 

Today, we are heading faster and faster toward this one world system. All of the alliances of all the leaders of all the nations will continue to come together. Even the merchants of the world will think they must globally market their products. Everybody is being set up, even now, to prostitute themselves to this satanic antichrist world system.

The beauty of all of this is: If you like stories that end well, you'll love Christianity. One of the great themes of our faith is triumphant hope, an unshakeable assurance that things will end right. In the midst of struggles and storms, battles and trials, we focus beyond the present moment and we see the victory. We see relief, because in the end, God wins! 

We must not be shocked that for a time, evil will appear to win. God has clearly shown us this. We must understand that there is a redemptive story that has been unfolding since the beginning of creation and is spreading across all time. It all will lead to God conquering evil, which will usher in the great eternal Kingdom of Christ. 

Until then, we will have the rise and fall of human kings and kingdoms. But this never strips away the power and omniscience of God, who is bringing human history to pass, surprisingly, by using both His enemies and His people to serve His purposes. All of this is proof that the difficult times that we go through have their purpose. God does not want us to be so attached to this earth that we lose sight of heaven. He does not want us to be so attached to time that we lose sight of eternity.

Revelation 17:9-18

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9 “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. 12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” 15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” ~ Revelation 17:9-18

Revelation 17 makes it very clear there will be a final formation of a one world religion during the Tribulation. This one world religion will be Satan’s final attempt to capture the minds and the souls of people. All the diverse ideologies of this world will blend together into one.

The term "mystery" means "hidden as for now." The name “Babylon the Great” has always been the source of all false religions. It all began at the Tower of Babel, when man deliberately refused to follow the command of God. They carried their false religious systems all over the world. It all started in one place, and all those prostituted children will come home in the end, and it’ll be the same form of religion that mothered all the prostitutes and all the abominations of religion throughout the world.

In v.9 of our text we read, "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits."

Literally, God is saying to us here: "I invite you to more closely inspect this. Look more deeply into what I am saying." And, only those with spiritual minds and wisdom are going to understand the revelation that is about to follow. The seven heads are seven small mountains on which the prostitute sits, according to v.3. This will be Rome, the city built on seven hills. Throughout history, Rome has been described as the city of seven hills. But, there is something much deeper here. It will be much more than just the city Rome; this false religious system will be worldwide.

In v.10-11 we read, "10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction."

This kingdom will be vastly more than one city. The beast's or the antichrist's kingdom will be the false world religious system which will cover the world. And, the heads are on the beast, not on the religious system. The religious system is one world unified religion. But the heads are on the beast, and the beast is the political figure, not the religious one. So, Rome is referenced here, but not for its religious component, because the seven heads are on the beast.

In Daniel 2:36-43 we read, "39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay."

This passage corresponds with our text today. Daniel, here, tells us who these five empires were: They were Egypt, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The descending weakness in Daniel's description depicted by the changing metals. These five empires have come and gone. And, one is, which was a reference to the Roman Empire of the Apostle John's day. And as John writes, there is one yet to come. This one will be the revived Roman Empire. The seventh empire is the kingdom which is to come, the kingdom of antichrist during the Tribulation. And, although he will be set back, he will bounce back as the eighth kingdom in the later part of the Tribulation.

In v.12-13 we read, "12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast."

The ten horns represent ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. During the Tribulation or the time of antichrist’s reign, there will be ten kings that help him rule the world. Their reign will be brief as indicated by the reference to one hour in v.12.

These ten kings will be devoted to the Antichrist who will take control of the world. These kings will rule in one of the beast's divided ten sections of the world. To these kings, the beast will be God. His purpose will be to destroy Christ, Christians, Israel, so that his kingdom will prevail.

In v.14 we read, "They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."

The Lamb or the Lord Jesus will overcome the beast and his supporters. That is the repeated theme of the book of the Revelation: the Lamb will be unveiled, He will be revealed, and He will triumph over Satan. This will be the final battle of Armageddon. The church will look on as the Lord Jesus will single-handedly defeat the greatest human force ever amassed against God.

In v.15-18 we read, "15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

This massive army of the antichrist which will come from all over the world, will be defeated. The irony will be, according to v.16, the antichrist will hate the prostitute or his world religion. And, he will "bring her to ruin and leave her naked." It will be just like Satan to oppose even his own. And, the antichrist will rob the prostitute's wealth, leaving her absolutely bankrupt. The antichrist will eat up all of the resources of his one world religion. 

In the end, according to v.17, the purposes of God will come to pass. Oddly, according to v.17, sometimes Satan accomplishes God’s will. God will use the evil desires of Satan to totally destroy all wickedness on the earth.

And so, Revelation 17 gives us a picture of the final destruction of all false religion. All that will be left will be the beast and his world empire which Christ will eventually destroy. To better understand the beast and his empire, we will have to go through Revelation 18. And we will begin to do that tomorrow.

In the end, God will have His way. And, as we have seen, there will always be times when we will be left scratching our heads. But, at the end of it all, we will look back and we will see the great tapestry that God always weaves in and through our lives. This is always amazing to me. In the end, we will have enough information to marvel at God for all of eternity. We can truly trust an unknown future to this known God!

Revelation 17:3-8

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3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7 Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come. ~ Revelation 17:3-8

Today, we continue our study of Revelation 17, and the Apostle John is led into a wilderness. In this chapter we learn of a coming world revival, a revival of religion that exalts man and minimizes God. Today, this religion is already in so-called Christian universities and some churches. One day it will overtake the world. 

The Lord delivers this vision to John in the context of a wilderness. And, we know that Satan is the master counterfeiter. We have seen this clearly during our study of the book of the Revelation. He will be the originator of this coming counterfeit world religious system. Satan's counterfeit system will always lead us to a place where there is no water. And, in the scriptures, water is symbolic of finding the Lord.

We have seen, in this study, the figure of a woman used as a symbol of a religious system. In Revelation 2:20, Jezebel represents a false religious system at Thyatira. In Revelation 12 a woman represents the nation of Israel. And, in Revelation 19, we will see the church represented as the virgin bride of Christ. 

Here in Revelation 17 is an unfaithful woman. Her unfaithfulness is expressed through prostitution. The will be a system that claims to be joined to God, but, like a prostitute, will be unfaithful to Him. Adultery is often a symbol in the Bible of spiritual unfaithfulness. 

In v.3 of today's text we read, "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns."

One of the things that will make the great tribulation so awful is the fact that Satan will be allowed to have more control over the earth. The restraints will be removed. In Revelation 12, the demons will be cast to the earth. In Revelation 6, thousands of demons that have long been chained at the Euphrates river will be released to cover the earth. There will be heightened demonic activity everywhere. This will result in increased deception that will come upon planet earth.

The beast in v.3 will have seven heads and ten horns. According to v.9 the seven heads will be seven mountains. And, according to v.18 the woman will be the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. This will be the city on seven hills, namely Rome. The ten crowns will represent a ten nation confederacy. This will be the last kingdom of the antichrist. 

In v.4 we read, "The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries."

Here, this religious system will wear all the colors of worldly honor and riches. She will display her pride through the wearing of her precious gold, stones and pearls. She will be given to the sensual and she will appeal to the sensuality of worldly minds.

In v.5 we read, "The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth." 

Notice this verse is written from God's perspective. This is God's view of this counterfeit system. The name, Babylon, is mentioned 287 times in the Bible. In one place, Jerusalem is called Babylon. Whenever Babylon is noted and characterized, she is identified as a false religion. And whenever you have any group or city or system characterized by false religion, it is called Babylon in the Bible. 

In Genesis 10, we are introduced to a guy by the name of Nimrod. He was the fourth generation from Noah. His grandfather was Ham, the wicked son of Noah. After the Flood, God told the people to fill the earth, to scatter, and to multiply. But some of his descendants clung together and came to the plain of Shinar.

In Genesis 11, they decided, "Let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 

There's nothing wrong with building a city but notice their philosophy. Let's build a city for ourselves. This city was conceived in rebellion. They exalted themselves and degraded God. Though they were human-centered, at the same time they were religious. They built a tower that reached to the heavens. They recognized their spiritual need but they sought to fill that need for God with religion. History tells us that at the top of these Babylonian towers, was a platform with the zodiac and it was officiated by a priest who would officiate over the signs of the zodiac and predicted the future for people. 

Ancient documents tell us that Nimrod had a wife. Her name was Simuramis and she had a son named Tomuz whom she said was not conceived by a man but a sun beam from heaven shone on her belly and she conceived. Being a virgin, she conceiving Tomuz whom she said was the savior of the world. 

Tomuz grew up and as he grew up, playing out in the field, he was gored by a wild boar, and was killed. Simuramis wept over the death of her son and after forty days, supposedly, he rose from the dead. The counterfeit Satan has long been known to copy God. A false religion, a virgin-born savior of the world who died and rose again. 

As the world was scattered, Simuramis and Tomuz were worshiped as the mother and child. In fact, she was called in Babylon the queen of heaven and many cultures worshiped this combination together. In fact, in Nineveh, she was called Ishtar, In Phoenicia, she was called Ashtoreth and he was called Baal, the child. In Egypt, she was called Isis and he was called Osiris. In Greece, she was known as Aphrodite and he was called Aras. In Rome, she was Venus and he was Cupid. In Rome, the emperor was officiated over this cult for he was the Pontific Maximus or the greatest high priest.

In v.6 we read, "I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished."

There will be an alliance between the beast and its followers, and they will be allied against God's people. Every false religious system has always persecuted God's people. In fact, there is a conditioning right now going on in the world and we see it in our country, a conditioning toward the elimination of people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In v.7-8 we read, "Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns." The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come."

The beast will be the same beast of Revelation 13 that received a fatal wound to his head but will be resurrected. The Bible says the false prophet, by this sign, will cause the world, at this point, to worship the Antichrist.

Revelation 17:1-2

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1 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” ~ Revelation 17:1-2

By nature, fallen human beings are religious. You might think this is good, but it is not. You see, religion is man's attempts to earn God's favor. But we can not earn His favor. In fact, we were made by God to worship Him. He made us to reach out to something beyond us. He made us with a longing and a restlessness and a desire and a capacity to relate to something that gives us meaning and purpose. Man is restless until he finds his rest in God. We were made with a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill. 

Since the fall of man in Genesis 3, when man rebelled against God, man started down this awful road of being defined by the accursed one. And since, we have lived according to our default worship mode. We still reach out for the supernatural but we no longer naturally long for God. In fact, the Bible says "no man seeks after God." 

Immediately after the Fall, man began to live life with himself at the center of his world. And now, we live out of a religion that seeks to primarily accommodate ourselves. Our need for a relationship with God has been corrupted because of our love of self. And since, Satan has been accommodating religion in the heart of man. Religion begins with man while Christianity begins with Christ. In Revelation 17 we are, once again, given more details about this religion. 

The final world empire of Satan will be ruled on this earth by the antichrist who will be assisted by the false prophet. This empire will be a military, materialistic, economic, and political kingdom. It will also be a religious one. As we will see, Revelation 18 will reveal the nature of the material side of Satan’s kingdom, whereas Revelation 17 will reveal the nature of its spiritual side. Revelation 18 will describe God’s judgment on Satan's material  kingdom, and Revelation 17 will describe God’s judgment on his spiritual kingdom. In both cases Satan's kingdom is referred to as Babylon. 

Now, you will notice that the chronology in these chapters isn't fluid. From the pouring out of the seventh bowl in Revelation 16 will be followed immediately by praise in heaven, recorded in Revelation 19, and then the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 17 & 18 take us backward and describes for us not the judgment but what is being destroyed by that judgment, namely Satan's empire. In Revelation 17 we are looking at Babylon as the religious empire and its destruction.

In v.1 of today's text we read, "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters."

Now, one of those angels will come and show John this great prostitute religion that sits by many waters. All major cities in the world are positioned in close proximity to water. This is partly why they have a certain measure of power. And, this Babylon or prostitute by nature will sit by many waters. This means the influence of Satan's kingdom will be global.

In Revelation 17:5, this kingdom is called, "Mystery Babylon the Great." It is called this so that we do not confuse it with some geographical location. Babylon will not be confined to any one city or place. It will be a movement and it will capture the minds and hearts of most. Mystery Babylon will be something deeper and broader and wider and more profound and more mystical than any physical location. In fact, here is an undisclosed Babylon, a secret reality to be revealed in its final form. This is Babylon beyond geography. 

Revelation 16 ends just before Christ returns, but He will not return until Revelation 19. So, what we have here in Revelation 17-18 is a description of the religious system of the antichrist  that will be on the earth before the return of Christ. 

In Revelation 21:9 we read, "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'"

This is God's reference to the true Church, the bride of the Lamb cleansed from every stain, from all defilement by the shed blood of the Lamb. 

But, in today's text, we read of "the great prostitute, who sits by many waters." This great prostitute is a metaphor for false religion, being led by Satan himself. In the Old Testament there are several cities which are called prostitute cities because they were involved in idol worship. 

In v.2 of today's text we read, "With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."

This religion is referred to as a "prostitute" because these people will not know the God of the Bible, and they, therefore, will be not be His. They will not follow the God who created them, they will follow the god who is out to deceive them.

The word translated "adultery" is always used in the Bible as a symbol for idolatry. Whenever people in the Bible turn to other gods, rather than the true God, God calls it adultery. He describes these as those who have joined themselves to a prostitute.

Babylon the Great will be the mother of all idolatry. This final world religion will embrace all of the religions of the world, not including Christianity which is not even a religion. Whereas religion is man reaching to attain status with God, Christianity is God coming down to man to give him eternal life. This Babylon, of which John writes, is the very same Babylon that once gave birth to all of the prostituted religions of the world. Frequently, we discover, that throughout the book of the Revelation, women appear as symbols of religion. 

So, Babylon the Great will give birth to all forms of false religions across the world, and she will be the mother of all religions. She gave birth to them all the way back in Genesis, and in the end they all will come home to her, because they will all have come from her.

In v.2 of today's text, John is not talking about real wine, and he’s not talking about real sexual immorality. He is talking about becoming a part of the false form of religion. They will all get drunk with it; they will all be intoxicated with passion for this religion that appeals to their flesh. Totally, passionately, and intensely, they will give their hearts to this counterfeit of what their hearts truly long for, which is a personal relationship with God Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.