[00:00:00] Speaker A: I now can sing Since I've been redeemed I'm on the everlasting everlasting rock I faith in Christ my redeemer king I'm on the everlasting everlasting rock Then row, row, pillows row I'm on the everlasting rock of ages Roll, roll, billows roll I'm on the everlasting rock Praise my soul the king of heaven to his feet I tribute Bring ransom here.
Praise him, praise him, praise him, praise him praise the everlasting king for the lord keep tread.
Praise him, Praise Him, Praise Him Praise him widely as his mercy.
Praise him, praise him, praise him, praise him praise with the song.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to the Voice of Hope, a Bible teaching program produced by Heralds of Hope. I'm your host, Anthony High.
In this episode, we continue our study through the Book of Revelation.
Judgment has come, finally. But as we'll hear, it's terrible to experience the wrath of Almighty God.
Before today's teaching. We at Heralds of Hope take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support of this ministry. If you'd like to know more about us or to meet us in person, I'd encourage you to check out the Events page on our
[email protected] events and now join us as our Bible teacher, J. Mark Horst teaches from Revelation, chapter 18, verses 1 to 8.
Let's open God's Word Together.
[00:03:10] Speaker C: Do you ever look around you at all the evil in the world and wonder how much longer can God withhold judgment?
I know I do.
We're witnessing the downward spiral into depravity that Paul so clearly described for us in Romans 1. Here's what he and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them.
That's Romans 1:28:32 from the ESV.
And so today we see the immorality and the perversion and the destruction of human life through abortion and human trafficking. It's horrendous.
People who have committed cold blooded, premeditated murder are being hailed by many as cultural icons.
Think of Luigi Mangione, killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, or Lindsay Clancy, the one who killed her three children and then tried to take her own life.
It's appalling.
But you know, we shouldn't be surprised because this is the result of rejecting God's truth.
Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse. And I know you can accuse me of being a prophet of doom and gloomy, but that's what Jesus and the apostles said.
Now, does that mean the situation is hopeless?
Absolutely not.
But there's only one remedy. And that remedy is the transformation that takes place when a person places their faith in Christ as the only means of salvation.
No political party, no political system, no humanitarian programs, no amount of education can bring about lasting individual and cultural change. It will only happen one life at a time as people surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
And you know something? We're not the only people to struggle with what appears to be God's hands off approach to evil. The prophet Habakkuk 600 years before Christ asked this.
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
That's Habakkuk 1:13.
But God did not leave Habakkuk or us in the dark about his ultimate response to the wicked.
I challenge you and encourage you to read the entire book of Habakkuk. It's only three short chapters, but God's delay in judging the wicked emboldens them. They scoff like those in Habakkuk's day. Where is the God of justice?
But I want to remind you of something.
God sees, he knows. And eventually he will bring the seeming invincibility of the wicked to a catastrophic and final end. You can count on that. And that's what we're going to see in our study today, titled the Fall of Babylon, taken from Revelation chapter 18 and verses 1 to 8.
Listen now, as I read God's word 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.
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.
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and unless you receive of her plagues for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works in the cup which she has mixed, Mix double for her in the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously in the same measure give her torment and sorrow, for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.
Therefore her plagues will come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her in this text we witness the processes by which Almighty God will accomplish the destruction of that future Babylon.
The first process is the cry of judgment.
Before we begin our exposition of this text, there's something you should know. Much of the language of this text comes directly from the Old Testament prophets, and especially from Jeremiah chapters 50 through 52.
The scenes described in these passages, I.e. in the Jeremiah passages, have never been fulfilled in the way that is required by the statements that are made there in the Scripture. And so that means that this is yet in the future.
Our text opens with the words after these things, so this marks a revelation taking place after chapter 17.
John sees another angel coming down from heaven. He is different from the angel in the previous chapter, but he is another of a similar kind. And he has several unique characteristics.
First of all, he has great authority.
It's delegated to him by God to do a great work on his behalf.
And then second, he brightens the earth with his glory as he comes.
You know, it very well may be that he will make his dramatic appearance on a darkened stage, because the fifth bowl, judgment, will have plunged the world into darkness. You can read about that in chapter 16, verse 10.
Picture his glorious brilliance against the blackness, and how that will be an awe inspiring sight to the terrified people who are living on the earth.
And then third, the angel cries with a loud voice.
No one will be able to ignore him or his message.
His word of woe will only add to the terror and confusion of those who are living on earth. He cries, fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great.
The original grammar suggests a sudden event that's viewed as though it were complete, even though the context tells us this is a future event.
And then, in addition, the word Order in the original text emphasizes the fallenness.
Some commentators believe the repetition highlights the fall of religious Babylon in chapter 17.
Economic Babylon in this chapter.
But then there are others that think the announcement of Chapter 18 comes so closely after the destruction of the harlot in the previous chapter that it raises the question of whether the two are the same event.
Several reasons suggest that chapter 18 is a subsequent event in spite of the similar terms.
The woman who was destroyed in chapter 17 is made desolate, naked and burned with fire.
That is done by the beast with the ten horns.
From this it may be concluded that the destruction of the Harlot in Chapter 17 is the fall of Babylon in the religious sense, and that it probably occurs when the beast, that is the Antichrist, assumes the role of God at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, when he sets himself up as God in the temple of God. And so the world church is destroyed in favor of a world religion honoring the political dictator.
He is the beast out of the sea. From Revelation chapter 13, then, chapter 18 seems to view Babylon in its economic and political characteristics.
If you read the Old Testament prophets, it becomes clear that the term Babylon is far more than a false religious system that originated in ancient Babel.
Ancient Babylon also came to represent the political power of Nebuchadnezzar, and it was fulfilled in the first world empire of Daniel's vision. You might remember that the power of political and military empires often leads to economic prosperity and economic domination. That's still true today.
What was the accusation against Babylon?
She has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.
If you recall the sixth trumpet in Revelation, chapter 9, verses 13 to 16, there were 200 million formerly bound demons that were released from the Euphrates river in the vicinity of Babylon.
This abandonment of Babylon to demons is a divine judgment that stems from the utter wickedness of its inhabitants.
That's described in verse three.
And then further, Isaiah 34:11 describes how the birds will inhabit the desolate city.
Babylon's destruction will come for this reason because all 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.
And so Antichrist's evil religious and economic empire will spread its tentacles to all the nations of the world.
That evil association will make the merchants of the earth rich, just like the false church grew rich by abandoning God and compromising with the world and with the political system and the nations also likewise prosper.
Then the wealth that was originally collected by the apostate church is taken over by the political system. In the great tribulation, the Antichrist can then use his universal power to exploit that accumulated wealth to its fullest possible extent.
The alliance of politicians and merchants will result in a materialistic orgy like no other.
The effect is likened to drunkenness, a spiritual and material stupor. You're not in control of your faculties.
Today we live in a world of luxury like never before.
Hedonism seems to be the primary religion of many.
Debauchery increases, self discipline is sneered at.
But you know something? All this sin, all of this supposed pleasure is an illusion. It provides no lasting satisfaction, no joy, and ultimately it's going to be destroyed.
It's unfortunate, but many who profess Christ pursue the same things.
And that leads us to the next process.
That process is the command to separate.
In verse four, John hears another voice from heaven that comes not with a suggestion, but with an urgent command. Come out of her, my people, lest you share her sins and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
The angel's message echoes the words of Isaiah 52:11. Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her, purify yourselves.
And Jeremiah 58, flee from the midst of Babylon and go out of the land of the Chaldeans.
But who are these people the voice is addressing?
Well, throughout the terrifying judgments of the Tribulation, people will be saved.
The result of the gospel preaching by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and then the two witnesses and an angel flying in the midst of heaven will be the greatest harvest of souls the world has ever known.
You can read about that in Revelation 7:9.
Many of these believers will be martyred for their faith in Christ. When they refuse to take the mark of the beast.
The survivors will face powerful temptations to participate in the world system.
Pressure will come from family and friends to save themselves by accepting the mark of the beast.
And the need to obtain the necessities of life to buy or sell that will also pressure them to conform to the system.
This is a call for God's people to disentangle themselves from the world's system, lest they suffer the same judgments as the wicked.
Remember, there will be tremendous pressure on the righteous people on earth during the tribulation to conform to the Antichrist system.
So while this is a call specifically to those living on earth at that time. We must remember that throughout history, greed and the desire for acceptance by the world have caused both the church and her institutions to compromise with the spirit of Babylon as it was manifested in their day.
And then the New Testament writers echo this call to separation.
Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
And then Paul appeals to the Corinthians, therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing, and then I will welcome you.
2 Corinthians 6:17.
You know, Christ followers today face tremendous pressure to compromise with evil.
As I was preparing this teaching, I read a news article about a PC USA church in the south that has ordained a practicing transgender lesbian as pastor of their congregation.
That, I say, is spitting in God's face and piling up sins that reach to heaven.
And this is supposedly the church of Jesus Christ.
And then the materialist mindset assails us from every direction.
We're told over and over that there are certain things in life that we deserve, certain things that we're entitled to, and if we don't get them, somehow, we're being cheated.
I must remind you that the only thing we truly deserve is death because of our sin. But God has graciously offered us eternal life, and for those of us who know him, given us eternal life and many other good gifts.
The reason for the angel's warning was for her sins have been heaped up to heaven kind of like a new tower of Babel, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Just as God took note of man's arrogance and pride and rebellion back then, so this future Babylon will suffer his wrath in a similar way.
God the Almighty knows our tendencies, and so he inspired the apostle John to do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires.
But whoever does the will of God abides forever.
This brings us to the final process by which God brings destruction on Babylon. And that final process is the catalog of punishment.
The final verses of our text lay out the catalog of punishments that will be visited on Babylon.
Render to her just as she rendered, and repay her double according to her works in the cup which she has mixed. Mix double for Her.
Now you probably noted the repetition of the doubling of judgment.
The Old Testament law of retribution is sometimes referred to as the lex talionis. We know it better this an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
The normal law of retribution, however, is here in our text, doubled. Why?
In recognition of the enormity of the sins of Babylon.
And so accordingly, the voice demands double unto her, double according to her works.
In keeping with that same principle, the cup of iniquity which Babylon filled is now to be filled with twice the measure of her judgment.
There is no mercy for the utter apostasy found in Babylon in all her phases of operation.
The verb that's translated fill, is literally mix or mingle, as in the preparation of a drink. And the same verb is used in Revelation 14:10 in connection with the wine of the wrath of God.
Babylon had been brutal in the persecutions that she meted out, particularly the martyrdom of the saints. And now that brutality is going to return upon her.
Further, the same law of retribution is indicated in verse seven.
There the standard of her judgment is compared to her luxurious living, in which she was given to self glorification as much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxurious sensuality, so much so shall she be repaid in torment and mourning. Because she said in her heart, I said, as a queen, I am no widow, and and mourning I will never see because of her presumption in which she said that she is going to be rewarded by sudden destruction from the Lord, which according to verse 8, will come in one day or in a very short time in the form of plagues, death, mourning and famine, resulting in her utter destruction by fire.
Her vaunted strength, her wealth is as nothing compared to the power of God.
She shall be utterly burned with fire. Why? Because strong is the Lord who judges her. And notice, like the Harlot of chapter 17, Commercial Babylon will also be burned with fire.
At the beginning of this episode, I asked the question, do you ever look around at all the evil in our world and wonder how much longer God can withhold judgment?
We must remember God takes the long view.
He sees, he knows, and he will ultimately judge in righteousness.
Babylon's doom is certain and it cannot be avoided.
Today I marvel at God's patience and mercy. But as our text clearly tells us, there is a limit. A time will come when those who have rejected him will will be called to give an account.
Today God's patience and mercy are still being extended. He's still inviting men and women to come to him in faith, believing that the sacrifice of Christ is the only acceptable payment for their sin, and then to live a life separated from the sensuality and corruption of the world's systems.
While living for Jesus today may make you seem out of touch with the world and with your culture, that choice will preserve you from the destruction that will come upon Babylon and upon all who reject the rule of God in their lives.
The choice is yours.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Who is on the Lord side?
Who will serve the King?
Who will be his helpers? Other lives.
Soul but for love that greatness for whom he died.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: That concludes today's teaching in Revelation chapter 18, verses 1 to 8.
The focus today was on Babylon, but In Luke chapter 21, verses 34 to 36, Jesus commands us to watch out for ourselves and because judgment will fall on all the earth.
Even though we might think we don't live in Babylon, the Spirit of Babylon infects all of humanity.
Take some time this week to consider what it means to watch and pray for Jesus return.
If today's teaching has encouraged you, we'd love to hear from you. Your stories and responses mean so much to us.
Reach us at heraldsofhope.org contact or by email at hope heraldsofhope.org or by phone at 866-960-0292.
To explore more Bible teaching and encouragement, visit our
[email protected] programs. You can also listen to and share the Voice of Hope wherever you get your podcasts.
Join us the next time as we continue our journey through Scripture. And until then, may God's Word strengthen your faith and remind you that his work in the world is far from finished.
Thank you for listening to the Voice of Hope.
[00:27:28] Speaker A: Who comes to thee Thou hast made us living Thou hast made us free by thy.
We are gone.
This may be the conflict strong maybe the foe but the kings on arm in un.
Victory is secure for his truth unchanging makes the triumph.
Me.
