Tag: Revelation 18
Rejoice you Saints!
Scripture reading for December 23rd: Revelation 18
Key Scriptures for over-comers: Revelation 18:19-21 “. . .and with weeping and mourning they will cry out: “‘Woe! Woe, O great city,where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.’ Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone, and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will the thrown down, never to be found again.”
The final judgment of God on the wicked of earth falls on the great city of Babylon, the center of all wickedness and false religion. The Lamb, King of kings, destroys the city and wicked in one hour causing great mourning on the earth but a call to rejoice for those in heaven who were waiting for God’s justice! A visual of this event was given John by a mighty angel throwing a boulder into the sea of humanity and pronouncing the end of rebellion! It confirmed an earlier prophesy in Jeremiah 51:60-64.
Observations for over-comers: Over-comers can rest assured that the Lamb will justly judge the earth and Satan, once and for all time! “Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. . . .When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more. . .” (Jeremiah 51:60, 63-64)
Mystery Babylon–gone in one hour!
Scripture reading for December 24th: Revelation 18
“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 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)
John again saw a mighty angel announcing with a loud shout the fall of Babylon the Great. Babylon the Great is pictured here as full of demons and evil spirits. This city or corrupted system powered by the beast has been the source of pollution and drunkenness of all the nations and their kings. Babylon is a business system that trades in valuable commodities: Gold, silver, precious stones, fine cloth and the bodies and souls of men! Getting money and riches has become idolatry for those involved. God has decreed that He would judge Babylon and bring her down and it would take place in just one hour! (Revelation 18:10, 17, 19)
“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”” (Revelation 18:4-6) God again warns His people to come out of that wicked world system that is ripe for His wrath. That system is seductive and participation in it’s sins will bring God’s wrath. As the people of Babel built a tower up to heaven, so in the end times, the sins of the people in corrupt Babylon the Great have piled up to heaven! God must judge because in her is found the blood of prophets and saints and the slain of the earth! (Revelation 18:24)
Flee from Babylon!
Scripture reading for August 17th: Jeremiah 46-52
“Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves. Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad. Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her.” Jeremiah 51:6-8a
Jeremiah’s prophecies in the last chapters of his book are absolutely amazing and encouraging to every student of Scripture. God has promised to watch over His word to perform it and we get in on some amazing performances; others are yet to be confirmed. Jeremiah ends his book with the story of God’s dealing with Babylon because of her treatment of the people of God. Babylon is to be destroyed suddenly and the people who will do it are named by Jeremiah 70 years before it happens. The Medes and Persians would carry out God’s purposes and be his war club! (Jeremiah 51:11, 20) Jeremiah had earlier told the people that the captivity would last 70 years and that word came to pass! (Jeremiah 25:11-12)
Through Jeremiah God calls to His people to flee from Babylon. Although they will live there for 7o years, they must be ready to return to the promised land and to escape the punishment of God upon that land. The end of Babylon would come quickly or suddenly. Jeremiah tells how Babylon will fall. In Jeremiah 51:36-40, he tells that God will dry up the sea or springs of Babylon. The officials of Babylon will be aroused and drunk at a feast. They will be shouting with drunken laughter and suddenly they will sleep forever! This word was probably known by Daniel and helped him interpret the handwriting on the wall the night that Babylon fell! The Babylonian officials were drinking from the golden goblets from God’s House in Jerusalem when the handwriting appeared on the wall. (Daniel 5) Daniel was called to interpret and God’s judgment fell before morning! (Daniel 5:30) It is said that the Medes damned up the river and came in under the wall, taking the city from within! What a fulfillment of God’s prophetic word!
This prophecy about the destruction of Babylon was to be read aloud to the captives in Babylon by Seraiah, an aid to King Zedekiah. When he was finished, he was to tie a rock on it and throw it into the Euphrates River. It was to sink to the bottom as a symbol of how Babylon would sink at the appointed time! (Jeremiah 51:59-64) For a real rush of adrenaline, turn to Revelation 18 and read the whole chapter in light of Jeremiah’s prophecy. God’s word has multiple fulfillment and speaks to the time of the end as well as to the fall of Babylon in Daniel’s time.
“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. . . .Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her; death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” ” Revelation 18:4-5,8