19/08/18 Revelation 18:20-24 “How the mighty Babylon has
fallen!”
Revelation 18:20 – Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven,
and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
apostles – apostolos (one who is sent forth with orders; a delegate)
hath avenged – krima (decree; judgment; condemnation of wrong; the sentence of a judge; lawsuit; case in court) We get “crime” from this via the Latin crimen.
Rejoice (be joyful; be glad; be merry; be delighted) regarding the destruction of Babylon, all those of heaven, and holy apostles and prophets. Let all God’s people rejoice, because they are the ones who have suffered as result of their service to God, and those who caused that suffering, specifically Babylon, have now been avenged (paid back with interest) for all her wicked works with which she has filled herself.
Revelation 18:6 – Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Effectively there are only 2 groups of people by this stage: those who serve God, and those who oppose God. By now everyone has chosen his side and will either stand or fall accordingly. Everyone hopes he has chosen the winning side, but logic says that there can be only one winner. Satan hopes it will be him and his people, yet God says otherwise; thus satan might be hopeful, but “hopeful” will never win this war, for in the end the one who created all will determine all the outcomes.
Can the creature argue with his Creator?
Isaiah 45:8-12 – 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! [Let] the potsherd [strive] with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto [his] father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? 11 Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, [even] my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
Revelation 18:21 – And a mighty angel took up a stone
like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown
down, and shall be found no more at all.
violence – hormema (a rush; impulse; that which is impelled or hurried away by impulse)
be thrown down – to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls
And a mighty angel takes up the judgment of God, using a stone like a mega-millstone (a huge round stone heavy enough to crush grain into flour by rolling over it). This mega-millstone is thrown into the sea which would then create huge waves that would destroy anything nearby, in much the same way as an earthquake can cause tsunamis that can wipe out towns, cities, and even small countries. In this picture, Babylon is in the way of these huge waves created by this mega-millstone, and is destroyed by the rush or impulse of these huge waves. Babylon is thrown down (beaten down by these mega-waves) such that she just breaks up like violent waves breaking up even rocky cliffs (often with houses on them). Just like some sea-side luxury mansions that have disappeared into the sea during wild storms, Babylon will literally disappear, “shall be found no more”.
This is, of course, spiritual as much as it is physical; Babylon will lose her spiritual control and power over the earth with this massive judgment upon her wickedness. Her destruction will be total, complete.
This is really a picture of all that Babylon represents, not only the physical merchandise, but the spiritual merchandise as well, for in Babylon the one cannot exist without the other. Not only will all the worldly merchandise be destroyed, but also the spiritual heresies, the spiritual bondages that satan has placed upon the earth’s inhabitants for a long time. Nothing of Babylon will remain to show that once such a great city existed.
Jeremiah 51 records Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon.
Especially note Jeremiah 51:60-64 – 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; 62 Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: 64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah.
Revelation 18:22 – And the voice of harpers, and
musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in
thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any
more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
musicians – mousikos from Mousa (a Muse) (devoted to and skilled in the arts; sacred to the muses; specifically, skilled in music)
pipers – flute players
craftsman – technites (craftsman; builder; artificer) cf technician, technical.
craft – techne (art; occupation; of a trade) cf “tradie”?
All the “normal” behaviour of any population group will be absent from Babylon now, as Babylon will no longer exist for the population to inhabit. No more Babylon; no more inhabitants; no more activities that inhabitants do! No more music! No more craftsmen and tradies! No more food production workers (re the millstone)! All of this will be gone forever.
It is interesting that a similar prophecy was made by Jeremiah concerning Judah.
Jeremiah 25:10-11 – 10
Moreover I will take from them the
voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11
And this whole land shall be a desolation, [and] an astonishment;
and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Revelation 18:23 – And the light of a candle shall
shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride
shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of
the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
light – phos (light; anything emitting light; star; fire; lamp; torch; metaphorically: reason; mind; the power of understanding, especially moral and spiritual truth) We get “phosphorous” and “phosphoric” from this word.
sorceries – pharmakeia [sorcery; witchcraft; use or administering of drugs; poisoning; magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry (and its deceptions and seductions]
nations – ethnos (or ethnic groups)
were …. deceived – or led into error
No more lights on in houses that do not exist anymore anyway. No more need of houses and lighting for there will be no more families to benefit from them. The physical Babylon has not existed for more than a thousand years, and the original inhabitants of Babylon were removed from their city over 2,000 years ago. No families have lived and produced children at Babylon for a long time already, so this isn’t talking about the physical Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar. But mystery Babylon has continued on until now, with its physical and spiritual attributes combined in such as the religion of the pharisees after the return of the Jews from Babylon, or in the catholic church of Rome which has taken control of this false religion for more than 1700 years now. Mystery Babylon has enmeshed itself with the everyday lives of the people, and continues to do so even today.
For the merchants of Babylon were (and are) the great men of earth, the rich and famous by reason of their trade with Babylon, the mega-rich, the rulers of the multi-national companies that control our trade worldwide, those who have used the witchcraft of mystery Babylon to deceive the peoples of the world into thinking that the produce of Babylon was not only desirable but also good for them. It is by Babylon’s sorcery that the money-makers of the world have been able to make so much money selling that which has little or no actual value, yet so many pay over more than their lives are worth to obtain such worthless merchandise.
It is interesting to note that this verse actually says that by their pharmaceuticals were all ethnic groups deceived!
Revelation 18:24 – And in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
slain – sphazo (slay; slaughter; butcher; put to death by violence; mortally wounded)
Note that according to this, the suffering and unnecessary death of all God’s people can be laid at the doors of Babylon; Babylon is to be held responsible for the violent deaths of all God’s people. And, those who are responsible for the dealing out of Babylon’s violence against God’s people (becoming rich at their expense) will be dealt with as part of this vengeance against Babylon. They will be repaid double what they paid out to God’s people!
Revelation 17:6 – And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Jeremiah 51:49 – As Babylon [hath caused] the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
Again Judah is found guilty of the same crimes as Babylon; mystery Babylon religion has sought to control all the world, even God’s people.
Jeremiah 2:34 – Also in thy (Judah’s) skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
So far we have looked at much of the final 7 years of tribulation as recorded in Revelation and elsewhere. We began by establishing God’s authority (by right of His creation of all) to judge (Ch.4), and Christ’s authority to redeem all (by right of His sacrifice for all on the cross) (Ch.5).
Then the great judgment of God on the earth through the tribulation commences with the rider on the white horse. 2 Thessalonians says that when that which withholds is removed, then the man of perdition (the antichrist) will be revealed. That which withholds is probably the Church on earth, which, after the Rapture, will no longer be a spiritual force on earth.
At this point the antichrist will be recognised as such. Satan will take over control of this man, and they will rule the earth for the next 7 years, until satan’s followers are destroyed before the ushering in of the millennial rule of Christ the Messiah. During the tribulation, the religions of the world will be united under the leadership of the antichrist; he will use this one-world religion to take control of the many and diverse peoples (ethnic groups) which until now have been largely opposed to each other because of differing beliefs including their religions. In fact, when we talk about the 10 kings or world leaders, it cannot be discounted that these might represent world religious groups.
In any case, it will be the mega-whore of mystery Babylon [the one-world religion apparently led by the catholic church (cf the Club of Rome, revived Roman empire, etc)] that will set the stage for satan’s takeover of world government. Babylon has always been satan’s tool for conquest, but now it will play its biggest part yet (ever!). Satan (via his antichrist) will persecute all who do not toe the religious party line, including those of God’s people (now Israel) who have been saved through the preaching of the 144,000 sealed of Israel. (This might be an explanation as to why 3 “kings” have to be subdued by the antichrist before he can rule all 10 successfully.)
The first half of that 7 years passes; God sends plague after plague, and the people of the world largely refuse to repent of their sins. Those who do repent (and change sides) become the especial target of the antichrist who sees them as traitors to his cause. The one world Babylon religion continues to support satan and his government, yet is seemingly becoming far too powerful for satan’s liking. She is demanding too much power and glory and becoming harder to control. (Sounds a bit like satan’s efforts a long time ago to take over some of God’s authority!) So, during that 1st half of the tribulation period (probably around the mid-point of the 7 years), satan (through his 10 servant kings) casts off the domineering power of Babylon-religion, and puts himself in her place; now he will be worshipped, not Babylon! Mystery Babylon religion is destroyed, burned up by the 10 kings through the orders of their king, satan. No longer is it mystery Babylon religion, but satan-worship instead.
The antichrist by this stage will be completely under the control of satan and will have little or no personal say in what he says and does. The 2nd beast (also known as the false prophet) makes an image of the 1st beast (satan in his antichrist) and sets it up to be worshipped. This probably happens around the mid-point of the tribulation. This is satan’s replacement for mystery Babylon religion; himself! Not only will he be worshipped now (by order of the false prophet to worship his image) but he will be worshipped in the very place that was set aside for his arch-enemy (God) to be worshipped: the holy place of the temple at Jerusalem. And he will make sure that all those obstinate Jews are part of this worship of his image. (Note the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar commanded to be worshipped – Daniel Ch.3) This is something satan has dreamed of for so long: to take authority over God’s people, Israel. Many of the Jews are already satan’s people, worshipping according to the Babylonian Talmud rather than the Torah of the genuine Jew. It’s those Torah-worshipping genuine Jews that satan still has to deal with, and now in Jerusalem, he is determined to wipe out all who oppose him. This is ethnic cleansing on a grand scale.
But, nothing ever seems to go right for satan these days! Just when he sets up his image (the abomination of Daniel 9:27) in the holy place to be worshipped, the genuine people of Israel somehow just disappear, vanish, disappear into the wilderness! It’s a hollow victory; like throwing a special victory party yet only some turn up to celebrate with him. When Rome defeated its enemies in war, captives were brought home to Rome, put on public display, and more often than not publicly executed. Victory had to be seen, not just talked about! Just when satan (through his antichrist) has set himself up to be worshipped in God’s holy place, where all Israel can observe and take note of satan’s power and authority, there’s now no enemy to push satan’s message down their throats! What a come-down for satan! The whole point of taking Jerusalem was to control God’s city and His people, and now the people have disappeared!
Of course, Jesus told Israel that when they saw that abomination, as spoken of by Daniel, set up in the holy place, they were to run for the hills, escape, and not go back for anything at all. The real Israel will be hidden (by God) from satan’s antichrist for 3½ years, and there’s nothing that satan can do to change this. He has his image set up to be worshipped in the holy place and all the time it’s there, the real Israel won’t be there to see it, nor can they be “removed” (by execution) from the equation. All satan has is 2 untouchable witnesses of God who constantly oppose and trouble him, and they continue to trouble him for the 3½ years that his image is in the holy place. He has Jerusalem but still cannot control the God of Jerusalem!
After 3½ years satan finally kills the 2 witnesses, who lie dead in the streets of Jerusalem for 3½ days until they are raised to life again and rise to heaven in front of everyone. An earthquake hits Jerusalem which suffers massive damage, many are killed, and the real Israel (which is now back from the wilderness) now gives glory to God. Also at this time the antichrist is removed from Jerusalem (the Bible doesn’t give any details except that in the next chapter he then has to return with a huge army to regain control). The real Israel has also returned and now re-occupies Jerusalem. Now satan (and his antichrist) are out of Jerusalem – they’ve lost their control of the city – and Israel is now back in control again!
So satan (through his antichrist) gathers the world’s armies together for one massive all-or-nothing strike against Jerusalem, leading up to Armageddon. And loses!
Babylon (this time probably the world-wide trading empire of satan) suffers the final judgment of destruction (the 7th bowl of wrath) poured out by God upon a sinful world, at which time He says, “It is done!” But, before Christ returns, Jerusalem suffers massive damage, half the population is taken captive (and tortured, abused etc) and the rest hang on until Christ returns to take them to safety (Zechariah 14:1-3). Satan and his antichrist have been soundly defeated, and there’s total destruction for their followers. And the seven-year period comes to a close with the millennial reign of Christ the Messiah being set up for His people.
So how can this be explained by other than a literal Israel? After all, if it’s already happened, and there’s no literal millennium, then what’s the point of prophesying things that have no relevance to anyone anyway?! Prophecy is meant to prepare God’s people for the future, or sometimes even for the present, but why bother preparing ourselves for the past? Calvinists have already divided the Bible into two major sections: that which applies to only the elect, and that which applies to only the non-elect. There’s no crossover information that both groups may share. According to them, either you’re going to heaven or you’re going to hell, and there’s no point in worrying about what to do if it’s all been preordained from the beginning. The elect should not bother themselves with the issues of the non-elect; there’s nothing they can do about it anyway. And the non-elect, according to the calvinist, are just not interested in seeking after God because he has made it impossible for them to seek the truth anyway. In fact, why write the Bible in the first place if everything is pre-planned and if knowing about it cannot change one single thing?
They even redefine God’s foreknowledge as a special love relationship he bestows only upon his elect, which means that the calvinist God cannot know what the non-elect are doing in the future; therefore he has to pre-program them totally, just so he can know what they’re doing! The calvinist God is incapable of knowing what the non-elect are doing unless he writes the script first and forces them to comply 100%.
And that brings to mind the calvinist claim that their God is more sovereign, or that they hold a higher view of the sovereignty of God than mere fundamentalist Christians. Yet, the calvinist God cannot know the future unless he pre-programs it entirely. His sovereignty only extends to the elect; the calvinist God refuses to have any sovereignty over the majority of the world! He washes his hands of them and claims that it is their fault that they were ordained by him to go to hell.
So why should calvinists bother with a proper interpretation of Revelation? If they did so, then it would stand out like a sore thumb. Just imagine having wishy-washy interpretation for most of the Bible and then suddenly getting Revelation right! Therefore, in making Revelation largely symbolic and allegorical, and set in the past, they are simply finishing off as they have done so up until now: non-Biblical heresy, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 15:7-9; 12-14 – 7 [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8
This people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but
their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me,
teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.
12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the calvinists were
offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered
and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath
not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be
blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall
into the ditch.
And the
calvinists will fall when their great city Babylon falls!
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