Revelation Chapter 18‏‏

Hello Friends!

Welcome back! During this week’s fellowship time, we’ll continue our study of Revelation.

Revelation Chapter 18
 
This week we will investigate chapter 18 in our journey of the end times.
 
As we come to this chapter of Revelation, we can see that we are practically "living" in this portion of scripture. In fact, you may even agree that we are closer than ever before to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy… In this chapter we can find the word "Babylon" used three times, the word "city" used six times and the word "great" used eight times. The focus of our study this week will be the "great city of Babylon" which has a 4,500 year old history dating back to soon after the world-wide "flood" of Genesis chapters 6 & 8 and the times of "Nimrod" – the great grandson of Noah –  found in Genesis chapters 10 & 11. As we discussed in our previous study, Nimrod built Babylon in defiance to God who told all of Noah's family to be fruitful and "re-people" the earth. Instead, Nimrod went into the valley between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and on the shores of the Euphrates built a "great city of Babylon" – along with the tower of “Babel” – which remains today where it was first built.
   
Babylon has a long history that includes being the headquarters for the Babylonian Empire where Daniel and Ezekiel were taken as captives – along with the Jewish people – 2,500 years ago. It was also the headquarters for Alexander the Great and the Grecian Empire. Alexander, at 32 years of age, had conquered the known world. After his death at this young age, his empire was divided into four parts. Both of these accounts which include the city of Babylon are the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. In fact, the events in history associated with Babylon are "prototypes" of that which will happen in the future – seemingly the very near future.
 
The actual city of Babylon – which has never been destroyed as called for in Isaiah chapters 13 & 14 and Jeremiah 50 & 51 – will indeed eventually be destroyed as foretold in our study today. This destruction will come to this earthly headquarters for another "world leader" – the "Antichrist". In the last three and one half years of the Tribulation Period, Babylon will come back to power and be the "economic, political, governmental center" of the earth. Antichrist will rule the world from this location on the Euphrates River.

As the Seven Bowl Judgments of God's wraths described in chapter 16 are poured out in severe judgment upon the wicked and the Antichrist’s beastly system, the Apostle John saw the effects they had upon “Mystery Babylon”, the Great Whore of chapter 17. And finally in chapter 18, John sees the vision of her great “fall”:

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.  And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! – Revelation 18:1-2

Even at this present moment, the ecumenical union of this religious Great Whore and her religious Harlot Daughters have become the very abode of every foul, unclean and hateful spirit which gathers together to partake of the filthy carcasses – false doctrines, dogmas and creeds:

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury – Revelation 18:3

Most Churches today are not obeying or teaching the true Word of the Lord! It is quite evident that they have departed from the faith. They are attracted to the wooing of their “good mother” who will indeed gather all her “daughters” to her bosom as the end draws near. Like the city of ancient Babylon, “Mystery Babylon the Great“ will surely fall!

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities – Revelation 18:4-5

Overcome by the fear of the “torment” of the Babylonian Whore, the kings of the earth – who fornicate with her – will “stand at a distance” and bewail her. And the “Ten Horns” which destroys the whore, will now seize the power of the Great Harlot and gain control of the Beastly system of which “in one hour she is made desolate”:

And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate. “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her! – Revelation 18:11-20

Yes, “heaven” and the ”holy apostles and prophets” of heaven will truly rejoice over the destruction of that “great city” – the “Mother of Harlots” and Abominations of the earth:

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore” – Revelation 18:21

 The action of this “mighty angel” replays an intense picture of the act which Jeremiah prophesied to Seraiah of God’s judgment against ancient “Babylon”:

So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, then you shall say, ‘O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary – Jeremiah 51:60-64

Like ancient Babylon, this religious Babylon is a place of great joy, delight, music, songs and hum of many different activities. But all these will come to an utter end with the fall of “Babylon the Great” By their sorcery, trickery and hocus-pocus, they are deceiving the nations:

The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived – Revelation 18:22-23

They are all abominations in the eyes of the Almighty God. The Lord has decreed that not even the “light of a lamp shall not shine” in her anymore – total darkness shall overwhelm her completely!
   
God is truly against the “Mother of Harlots” because throughout the millennia, this Satanic world system has murdered countless Christians and others who opposed her false doctrines and traditions:

And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth – Revelation 18:24

The “Mother of Harlots” is very much on the rampage today! Today she is supporting the evil Roman Jesuit mercenaries who fight on behalf of those “kings” fornicating with her. She is ready to kill anyone who stands on the Word of God – alone!

Final thoughts:
 
The 17th century book by the Swiss Reformer author Francis Turretin (1623-1687) titled "Whether it Can Be Proven the Pope of Rome is the Antichrist" has been widely controversial over the centuries. While Martin Luther had famously denounced the Pope as Antichrist in the year 1520, it was a teaching that had long been believed for centuries prior, by the followers of John Wycliffe and the Waldenses before him. By the time of Turretin's writing, the principle arguments were well established. In particular, the Scriptures pertaining to Antichrist's title as the "Lawless one" as well as the subject of buying and selling where the Mark of the Beast is concerned. Because the Popes forbade anyone from conducting business or trade with those who were excommunicated, Turretin argued that the "mark" had already been fulfilled in the Middle Ages and was not a prophecy of some future event. Yet many theologians today see the working of the Papacy as a partial fulfillment that will have its ultimate climax when the final Antichrist is revealed yet future. I agree.

Many prophecies of the destruction of Babylon will be fulfilled some 4,500 years after they were written. In fact, this destruction appears to be the last event to take place before Jesus Christ physically steps back on earth – in Jerusalem – at the Mount of Olives:

And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south – Zechariah 14:4

God also called Jonah to go to Nineveh – the biblical name of the area we know today as Musul in northern Iraq. God had a plan for Nineveh then and He has a plan for Nineveh and her sister city Babylon today. In fact, it is very interesting to know that both Nineveh and Babylon were built by Nimrod! The Iraqi war and the current rebuilding of war-torn Iraq are "setting the stage" for these “Biblical Babylon” prophecies to be fulfilled.
It would most certainly seem that we are living in the days leading up to God's Word being completed – as it was written…
 
With this information as a foundation for your studies, please read through Chapter 18 of Revelation.

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate chapter 19 of Revelation…

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!
 

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