The Fall of Babylon
Book of Revelation Chapter 18 Verses 1-13
In Chapter 17 we saw the destruction of the false church. We should understand by the things that have happened to the nation of Israel that Jehovah hates false religion.
Obviously, Jehovah hates all sin and the Lord Jesus Christ died for all sin but one.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
The only sin that cannot be forgiven is rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ!
There is only one way to get to God's Heaven and it is by the Lord Jesus Christ!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
If this goes against your personal beliefs, then so be it. It is just the truth!
Any so-called religion that teaches something or anything different than this is truly a false religion!
Jehovah God hates all false religion.
In chapter 17 we see that Jehovah gave to the Antichrist, who is controlled by Satan the power to "judge" the "false church", and it no longer exists during this portion of the Great Tribulation.
For Satan himself will now pushed to be recognized as God and he will be the new religion that God will not allow.
He will be the god of power in his own mind, when any power he has comes directly from our Heavenly Father!
If God hates anything the most, it is the false church!
The false church is certainly any religious group that ignores the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ!
What God hates the most, is all those who claim to be Christian, yet they worship something or some other person in reality.
God has two rules that should occupy our minds above all else!
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
There is nothing written in all books that have more importance than these two commandments!
The Antichrist destroyed the false church and now, the Lord Jesus would destroy the false economical system to the Antichrist and chain Satan for 1000 years.
Once the people have left the church and have given their support of the government (the Antichrist), they will no longer need the false church.
We see the beginning of these things in our own nation today.
A great falling away from the Church, and a great clinging to the government, but never in all of history have these things work for the best interest of any people.
*****Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
When we read "after these things" those things are, the "judgments" of Chapter 17.
Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee "the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters":
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
This angel had great power that was delegated to him, so this could be just and angel with great power or in my case I believe this person described as an angel, could be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Mat_28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
He has the authority to deal with the destruction of the evil wicked system of the Antichrist!
I am not sure Christ Jesus would delegate this authority to someone besides Himself.
Notice the earth, (I believe this to mean all the earth) is lighted by His glory, which again to be the "Shekinah Glory of the Lord God".
Eze 43:2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
He also had a strong voice.
*****Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
This fall was mentioned in an earlier lesson but now has taken place.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
It has not only fallen but lies in desolation.
What do we know? We know the Lord Jesus will use fire to destroy this evil world!
Isa 13:19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, "shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah".
Before the wrath of the Lord is completed the entire world will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah! (Fire and Brimstone)
This phrase is duplicated because Ecclesiastical Babylon fell in Chapter 17.
Political Babylon has now fallen, and we will see the means in the remaining chapters.
The strong hold of devils and demons because they have nowhere else to go and no one alive to infiltrate.
Babylon had become a cesspool of corruption and an abomination in the sight of God!
In this sense America could be a sister to Babylon today. Our government, not our president, is a cesspool of corruption today and voters are so confused that they will not allow the swamp to be drained.
*****Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
What are the grounds for God's Judgment?
1) All nations had drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
As in the time of Noah:
Gen_6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Gen_6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
As in the time of Lot:
Luk_17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Luk_17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
2) All the governments of the earth had joined the Antichrist had become corrupt. (Most all of them are corrupt today). The door is wide open for the Antichrist to step in today!
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3) The merchants of the earth have waxed rich. Economic wealth had intoxicated the rich while the poor were ignored.
Over whelming pride.
Insolence, contempt of those who were not in their class of people.
Wantonness, lewdness, extreme immorality.
Our God just had enough of what was going on under the power of Satan.
And then, one more challenge issued to the Jews.
*****Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
What was God's command to the Church?
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
What is God's command to the Jews who have now rejected the Antichrist:
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
All of the wrath of the Lord was about to be unleashed upon the world of Satan, and it was time for those who had rejected the Antichrist to obey the commands of the Lord.
There would be no more opportunities.
There is no true church during these times but only the false Apostate Church, so we are never to keep attending any place of worship that does not preach and teach the truth.
The Church, those who have the Holy Spirit living within them, are to separate themselves from the world, never to compromise or to tolerate things that go against the Word of God. This is what we need to do today!
*****Rev 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.
All those who follow the teachings of the Apostate Church will be destroyed and those who have received the truth now have an opportunity to see the wrath of God.
Psa 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
Jer 50:15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
We should understand that Satan will one day spend eternity in the Burning Lake of Fire, also called perdition the place of the lost soul.
We should also understand that the Apostate Church will be repaid double for the problems it has caused the true Church. After the Rapture of the Church, all those who have been corrupted by the teachings that go against the truth of God will go into perdition.
The Political world that follows Satan will also be paid double for the things done to God's people!
Why will the Apostate church be destroyed? Because it has caused the human population to be against its Creator.
Why will political Babylon be destroyed because it has profited from the Apostate Church.
Because it has made laws that go against the Word of God.
This "judgment" has been determined from the very beginning!
Both will be destroyed because they persecuted God's people.
The world has never learned that to go against our Creator is to cause your own destruction!
It is hard to understand a world that totally ignores the signs of our Creator and who believe we are all accidents.
*****Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
You see the world has been deceived by corrupt politicians and the world just fell in line behind the Antichrist because he spoke their language!
Isa 47:7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
Isa 47:8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
Isa 47:9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
Isa 47:10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
Isa 47:11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
There is nothing that Satan can do to stop the destruction of his wicked world!
The political Babylon has persecuted God's people since the beginning by Nimrod in his defiance.
She, as the whore on many waters, has felt that they are out of reach of the "judgment" of God!
*****Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Though the wars that lead to Armageddon will be many, the destruction of this wicked and evil thing will take just "one" day as no evil can stand before our Righteous Lord Jesus!
We have seen how one plague can cripple most of this world, even our own nation. The things of the seventh seal will cripple this wicked political system in one day.
The seven last plagues, the earthquakes, famines, all the destruction of God's "judgment" will happen at one time.
Remember Job lost everything he had in one day. It will be the same but only doubled for this system of the Antichrist.
I tell you, that if you boast against our God you are jeopardizing your personal safety!
There will be many weeping, but it will be those who have profited from this system.
You see, we must always follow the money because money is the root of all evil!
*****Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Politicians will weep because this wicked system no longer exist.
Makes me want to tell the politicians of today "your day is coming".
They have invested all their lives to politics and have become rich by taking advantage of the people they were elected to serve.
They have invested all their lives to government and have corrupted that system to their own advantages.
They will certainly weep and cry because it is destroyed, and it took the Lord only one hour to end this thing!
Businessmen will also weep because they too had taken advantage of a corrupt system.
Business will no longer exist.
Stores will close.
"Business as usual" will be a saying that will no longer be heard!
Go back and read how God punished Israel, and double these things and you will get an idea what God will do to this system of corruptness.
We know this system has given us corruptness and wickedness and base immorality, and in one hour it will not exist.
Extravagance will not be seen anymore.
Wealth will not be heard of anymore.
There will be no more "lifestyle of the rich and famous"!
The system that we have seen that just keeps becoming more sinful will no longer exist.
The Apostate system will no longer exist and now the Political system will no longer exist.
The immoral lifestyle of these people will finally come to an end.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
When the Lord comes, He will come quickly!
*****Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Notice the mourning. Not because of some love one, but because of some merchandise.
Remember the silversmiths who came against Paul. Not because He was preaching the truth, but that no one would buy their false idols.
We see this same claim made by many a merchant who cannot sell their wares because the Lord has put an end to their market.
First look at the merchandise:
If we look closely, we will see that these are all things that are offered in sacrifice to the false religion that exists upon the world in that day.
These are the growing markets of today.
During certain times of the day, you cannot miss the ads for gold and silver.
Precious stones for things such as weddings and anniversaries but out of reach and debt makers for most of us.
We can actually see that most of these things are not purchased by the average person in any great quantity today.
Notice also that slaves are still there.
Slavery has continued to exist all these years and will continue right up until the return of Jesus Christ.
The world is not interested in stopping slavery, there is simply too much money involved. It is like drugs, too much money involved!
Notice also "the souls of men". There is a market for the souls of men today!
We could say that every place of false religion deals in the souls of men, and the Lord Jesus Christ would reclaim every soul, but it is up to each individual.
Again these are all things that merchandise sold to individuals to offer in sacrifice to the false Church Babylon and since the Lord has destroyed Babylon the religious system of Satan and Babylon the political system of Satan, none of these things are needed anymore.
Anything offered to false gods is an abomination to the Lord!
God has always hated slavery that we hear so much of today!
Exo 21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
Deu 24:7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
What will happen during the time of the Antichrist as he seizes control of the nations?
Neh 5:4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.
Neh 5:5 Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
It does not seem that much is done about slavery and the traffic of human beings today, and it will expand during the Great Tribulation.
Again as we are in these last days the merchandise of the souls of men is the battle we face, and the true Church is neglecting the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The false Church has taken the lead through tolerance and compromise and these are the things the true Church cannot do!
We still in fact still have the work the Lord has given us to do because it is His job to save.
It is not time to quit on God!
*****Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Those that have profited in the days of the Antichrist will see an end to their way of life.
As Oliver Green once wrote:
This is the age of big business, big politics, big religion, big, big, big ,big until soon there will be a world government and a world religion and we the church need to hang our head in shame because we have helped these things to take place because the Church has grown "lukewarm"!
Notice the merchants are still standing though from a distance as they see the world of the Antichrist come to an end.
It is this system that has existed since the failure of Adam and exploited during the Seven Years of tribulation that has cost the lives of so many of God's people.
*****Rev 18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
We will see all that blood come back to the surface as the world of the Great Tribulation who ignored the blood of Jesus will soon see nothing but blood.
The "judgment" of God is not yet complete!
Amen
