Revealing the Revelation
Chapter 18
Revelation 18
1After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2With 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. 3For 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."
4Then 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; 5for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. 7Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.'
8Therefore 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.
9"When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'
11"The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
14"They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.' 15The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn 16and cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
17In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'
"Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' 19They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning 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! 20Rejoice over her, O heaven!
Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' "
21Then 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 be thrown down, never to be found again. 22The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. 23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. 24In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth."
In our last chapter, Chapter 17, we studied “The Great Harlot”. This week we study “The Great City”. Notice the angel that comes to reveal the information in this chapter. He is awesome. The light of his being lights up the whole earth. This messenger illuminates the entire world. Remember when Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration and how He shone like the sun; or Moses when he came back from meeting with God? Moses had to put a veil over his face because it was too bright to look at. The shine of his face was so bright.
It makes me wonder what we may become in heaven. Jesus is the Light of the World. We are the ‘Children of Light’. That makes me think about our future. It makes me realize that we were created for something more – something great. Right now we are in the caterpillar stage of our growth. We are ugly, hairy, green caterpillars. But we were created to be beautiful, soaring, shimmering, butterflies. Remember that this is just basic training for what you were meant to be. You were not meant to be a sinner. You were meant to be a saint. You were not meant to be a slave. You were created to rule and reign and to be free. You were not meant to be defeated and overcome by the world. We are ‘Overcomers’. We are victors. We are more than conquerors, the Bible says.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Right now, we have come out of the darkness. We all were a part of the kingdom of darkness. The bible says,
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4
We all have been in that dark place – but now God has called us to become His children of light. John says,
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2
Paul says,
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”
Philippians 2:14-15
Right now we are pretty dim and dark lights. But we are growing brighter. We shine like stars in this dark universe right now – but one day, one glorious day – we will shine with a brilliance we can only imagine.
This angel was not only bright, but he had great authority as well. He spoke in a mighty voice a great, wonderful message. “Babylon has fallen! Babylon the great has finally fallen!” And all heaven and most of the earth probably breathed a sigh of relief. We are going to talk about that this morning.
The focus of the previous chapter was about the judgment of the harlot religious system that rode the beast. Remember we said, “This rival woman (the Harlot or prostitute) can not be anything other than the Antichurch, the Bride of Satan, the false believers and false worshipper of all time. The Harlot, who is the child of Satan, is anything that seduces and entices God’s people to rebel against Him. Doctrines, theologies, religions, anything that woos you from faithfulness to God - is a spiritual prostitute.” It is represented by the harlot of chapter seventeen.
The main focus of this chapter will be about the judgment of the Babylonian counterfeit kingdom of God called “Babylon the Great”. Babylon represents all world government and religious systems under Satan. They have been in organized rebellion against God since their conception at the tower of Babel under Nimrod. This rebellion will climax with the end time world government and religion that will have its headquarters located at Babylon, Iraq. The supernatural being behind this rebellion against God is the counterfeit god of this world system we spoke of in 2 Corinthians 4:4. This chapter tells us about the world kingdom Satan fully establishes when he is allowed total control over the earth for 3 ½ years. This chapter also tells us about the judgment upon this satanic kingdom and religion from the real God in heaven.
I think this is the moment of Christ’s return or shortly before it. Remember – we are talking about a representation of an evil kingdom here. And the angel says,
“She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3For 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."
Let me remind you again, spiritual adultery is “anything that seduces and entices God’s people to rebel against Him”. In this kingdom the rulers of the earth are in rebellion with God. This kingdom is full of demonic things and evil spirits. It is full of greed and selfishness. The buyers and sellers, the movers and shakers, grew rich in this kingdom. There are excessive luxuries here and it entices and seduces many people. There is power – absolute power – in this kingdom. Power, not only over the bodies of men –but over the souls of men as well. Those in this world system are the great world leaders of the earth but the power behind these leaders is Satan. The great men of the earth deceive the entire world and teach them to follow the god of materialism and selfishness. The god they follow is a fallen angel known as Satan and the Devil.
(24) And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
No city or country on earth could possibly qualify to fulfill this verse. This verse is not saying all saints ever killed were killed in a city or a place on earth called “Babylon the Great”. What it is saying is that the religious and political systems that corrupted the earth under the entire administrative rule of Satan is named “Babylon the Great”. In God’s eyes, the whole administration of Satan is called Babylon and not just the culmination of his kingdom in the end times. Satan has been responsible for all those slain on the earth. The satanic administration began at the fall of Adam. However, it first appeared as an organized political and religious entity on the earth after the flood, at Babylon under Nimrod. “Babylon the Great” is the satanic political and religious substitute for the true kingdom of God that God promised through His prophets. This true kingdom, the Kingdom of Light, is to be ruled from Jerusalem by His Son Jesus.
The prophecy about “Babylon the Great” goes beyond just the location of its birth and death as an actual city. It also reveals the spiritual war on earth that has been waged for six thousand years against the children of light and God’s promises to them. “Babylon the Great” is a worldwide lawless counterfeit kingdom of God filled with everything satanic. She will be judged and cast down suddenly and will be found no more. God will then bring in the promised kingdom under His Son to the people of promise that trusted in Him “by faith” – those ‘children of Light’ in the Kingdom of Light.
And what happens then? Verse 20 tells us.
“Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' "
Heaven and all the saints and apostles and prophets and you and me will rejoice! Do you ever get tired of the struggle? Do you ever tire of the temptations you get bombarded with every day? Do you ever tire of resisting and struggling and overcoming? I do! I long for that day when the kingdom of darkness is cast down and peace and joy will rule and reign in our hearts. And that is going to happen one day. We are going to be free – truly free! Right now we are like that caterpillar locked in a cocoon. We are being transformed into the bright shimmering butterfly. We are being transformed in the image of Jesus. And we are struggling to throw off the ties that bind us to this world.
But the day is coming when the great harlot and the great city of Satan is destroyed. The people in that kingdom will mourn and weep and regret her demise. But God has a place prepared for them of that kingdom. God has a place of separation from Him and us. We call it hell. It is a place totally separated from God and all that is good. Imagine how horrible that place is if it is totally without God’s goodness. No love, no joy, no peace, no kindness, no gentleness, no self control, no anything of God.
But imagine with me that place of separation from Babylon and the Prostitute and Satan. No evil, no tears, no sorrow, nothing that is bad or destructive will be in that place. We call that place heaven.
Your future destiny lies in one place or the other. One place is for those who have been seduced into rebelling against our loving Creator. They have given into the lust and greed of that kingdom. But the other place is for those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus. They have asked Him to be their Savior. They have made Him the Lord of their lives. Jesus said on that great day the people will be separated into two groups – goats and sheep. The people He was speaking to understood, because they lived in an agricultural society, that goats represented rebellious, hard headed, angry, selfish people who would not be led. They understood sheep as being gentle and submissive and willing to follow the shepherd. The sheep of that day were almost like our pets who will come when we call them.
At the end of this age, you will be in one group or the other – a rebel or a follower of Jesus. You will be a part of the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light.
A while back I read a very interesting trilogy written by Wayne Thomas Batson. In one of the books some knights were being sworn into knighthood. It went like this.
“On this glorious day we welcome you into an entirely different world – a world of Light, where you are free to choose whom you will serve. You have come to join and serve.
Do you, ____ confess allegiance and absolute loyalty to the one True King, the provider of all that is just and good?
Even were hordes of darkness to assail you in hopeless demand of your life – even then- do you swear devotion forever to the King? Say “Yes” only if this is the sincerest wish of your heart.”
(Page 168: “The Final Storm” by Wayne Thomas Batson)
I think we have to make that kind of commitment to the one true King, Jesus Christ. We call it the pray of repentance or the prayer of total commitment. It is a pray of repentance if you have never invited Jesus into your heart and life as your Savior. As you repent of your sin and rebellion, He will forgive you and adopt you as His own son or daughter. He will recreate you – or regenerate you into something new and different. This is our entrance into the Kingdom of Light.
If you have done that, but realize you have not made Him the Lord of your life and you still are trying to control things and resisting His leading, you need to pray a prayer of total commitment and surrender total control of your will to our Lord and Savior. You can’t make Him your Lord until you make Him your Savior. If you would like to do that you simply need to pray a prayer like this,
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for providing a place for me in Your kingdom. Thank you for dying for me and paying the penalty for my sins. Thank you for your invitation into Your Kingdom. Please forgive me for my rebellion and sin. I ask you to come into my life and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Fill me with Your Spirit right now.
