[00:00:00] Speaker A: I now can sing Since I've been
[00:00:03] Speaker B: redeemed I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock
[00:00:08] Speaker A: I faith in Christ my Redeemer King
[00:00:12] Speaker B: I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock Then row, row, pillows, row Praise the Lord he helps adore him Praising angels in the heart sun and moon Praise him all the stars of light Praise the Lord for he has spoken Put his mighty voice Obey laws which never shall be broken for their guidance in us.
Praise the Lord for his glorious never shall his promise.
All the saints in heaven adore thee we would bow before thy throne as thine angels are before the.
[00:02:26] Speaker C: 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.
As we near the end of this unique book, we see the finality of God's judgment.
Yes, he's patient and long suffering, but there is an end.
And yes, it's final.
Stay with us as we study several insights from Babylon's last days.
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 encourage you to check out the Events page on our
[email protected] events. We have several events coming up at the end of October and and we'd love to see you there now. Join us as J. Mark Horst teaches From Revelation, chapter 18, verses 20 to 24 I spent the
[00:03:34] Speaker A: first 12 years of my life on a small dairy farm in southeastern Pennsylvania.
That experience formed my work ethic and gave me a sense of the importance of family.
You know, in many ways it was a good life, but it was financially difficult.
My parents subscribed to the concept of next year country.
In other words, next year will be better.
And you know, that idea has inspired at least one book, a documentary movie, and even a folk song.
The phrase is a common folk and historical term for the American and Canadian plains, especially places like western Kansas and the prairie provinces of Canada, because there, farmers perpetually hope that next year will bring more rain and better crops.
But you know, it can also apply to anyone who relies on the Lord and nature to sustain their livelihood.
So I want us to contrast the hopeful concept of the next year country with the fatalism of the no more city.
One historical example is the ancient city of Pompeii in southern Italy.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it buried that city under several meters of volcanic ash.
And for more than 1600 years the city was, for all intents and purposes, no more.
Because that thick layer of volcanic ash sealed the city from air and moisture. It froze the town in time. It preserved its buildings, its art and and everyday objects for centuries.
Today, about two thirds of the city has been excavated.
So Pompeii vanished in 79 AD, but it still exists today. You can actually go and visit it, tour the ruins, but that will not be the case in the future city of Babylon, because According to Revelation 18:20 24, Babylon will be violently thrown down and shall not be found anymore at all.
And that's the basis for our study, this time titled the no More City.
So listen as I read our text. Revelation chapter 18, verses 20 through 24.
Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her.
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 any more.
The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists and trumpeters shall not be heard in you any more.
No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you any more. And the sound of the millstone shall not be heard in you any more.
The light of the lamp shall not shine in you any more. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall not be heard in you any more. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived, and in her was found the blood of the prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.
This text provides several insights into Babylon's final overthrow.
Now, before we begin discussing today's text, I want you to remember the context. The previous verses of chapter 18 record Babylon's destruction and the worldwide mourning that goes along with that.
Her arrogance and pride, her luxurious sensual living, all those things are brought to an end in one hour. The fire of God's vengeance utterly destroys her. And that sets the stage for our text today.
So the first insight that I see as we consider the no More City is the storm of vengeance.
Now, in scripture, God's wrath is often likened to a storm.
Jeremiah announced God's judgment on the false shepherds of Israel. He he wrote, behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury. A violent whirlwind. It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and performed the thoughts of his heart. In the latter days, you will understand it perfectly.
That's Jeremiah 23:19 20.
And then the prophet Nahum pronounced God's judgment on Assyria. Using similar language, he wrote, God is jealous, and the Lord avenges. The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and he will not at all acquit the wicked Nahum. 1, 2, 3.
All through the millennia of time, ever since the Tower of Babel, the storm of God's judgment has been gathering in a dark cloud.
And here in John's vision, we see it finally unleashed on that ancient seat of idolatry and on everyone who followed her dark ways down through the ages of time.
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the great controversy has been between divine revelation and and mankind's sensual earthly wisdom. And between these two there is an inherent irreconcilable and eternal antagonism. If you want a New Testament example of that, you can look at James chapter three and verses 13 to 18.
And so as a result of those differences, those who follow God's way are in continuing conflict with all the things that energize the ways of the world.
Consequently, the apostles, the saints and the prophets have always been the minority and they have suffered for it. But here in our text, that is all about to change.
John hears a voice, likely the angel of verse four. And that voice commands, rejoice over her, O heaven and saints and the apostles and the prophets.
And why are these groups of people commanded to rejoice?
Because God has avenged her mistreatment of his saints.
The expression has avenged is literally God has judged your judgment on them.
God has approved the case of heaven.
This is just another example of the righteous ultimately triumphing as victory follows suffering. And it's interesting, this is the same verb that's used in Revelation 11:10 to describe the worldwide rejoicing that happens at the death of the two witnesses.
So now the roles are reversed.
This is the long awaited moment of vindication and retribution and vengeance that the martyred tribulation believers prayed for in chapter 6, verses 9 and 10.
It is that for which all the redeemed of all ages have hoped.
Heaven rejoices not over the damnation of sinners, but but because of the triumph of righteousness, the exaltation of Jesus Christ, the elimination of his enemies and the arrival of his kingdom on Earth. Let me repeat.
Heaven rejoices not over the damnation of sinners, but because of the triumph of righteousness, the exaltation of Jesus Christ, the elimination of his enemies, and the arrival of his kingdom on earth.
You know, the truth contained in that sentence is so important because the righteous, including us today, should never rejoice in the death of the wicked.
[00:11:28] Speaker C: Why?
[00:11:29] Speaker A: Because that assures their destiny of eternal punishment.
You know, it's sad, but I recall professing Christians rejoicing in 2011 when Osama bin Laden was executed in Pakistan by a US Navy SEAL team.
Instead, we should look at the death of the wicked from God's perspective. If we claim to be his followers, we need to look at it from his viewpoint. And what does he say? As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
And so as long as a person, no matter how wicked they are, is alive, there's a possibility of repentance.
Eventually, in God's perfect timing, the storm of his vengeance will come, and the city of Babylon and everything that it stands for will be no more.
That brings us to the next insight, which I've called the Enduring Silence.
As John watches, a mighty angel picks up a huge stone, like a great millstone, and he hurls it into the sea.
Some of the large millstones of John's day were five feet in diameter, about a foot thick, and weighed over a ton.
I saw one of these on our trip to Israel back in 2023.
The picture John saw reminds me of a scene from Greek mythology, from Homer's Odyssey. After Ulysses and his men had escaped the Cyclops, in response to their taunting of the giant, he broke off a huge mass of rock from the mountain and threw it into the sea.
It landed beyond the ship and the resulting waves began to wash the ship back toward the shore and certain death for the sailors.
It was only with the utmost effort that they were able to steady the ship's course and sail away.
However, that's just mythology.
What we're reading about here in our text is reality.
The message that accompanied the angel's violent action was, thus with violence the great city of Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore.
It's not apparent in our English translations, but the original text uses a double negative.
Babylon will be thrown down and will not be found anymore at all.
This message of judgment on Babylon is an echo of Jeremiah 51 and verses 60 to 64.
He 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 shall bring upon her.
So as a result of this judgment, a deathly silence will descend on the ruined city.
Six times in just a couple of verses, the angel utters the word, no more.
This great cosmopolitan city, filled with all the sights and sounds of entertainment and feasting and parties, manufacturing domestic life, bustling markets filled with all kinds of luxury goods.
It all comes to a screeching halt.
And additionally, the light of the candle is now out.
The city is cold and dead.
Its streets no longer ring with the voices of the bridegroom and the bride.
Contrast that with chapter 19, where we get the details of the joyous celebration in heaven at the marriage supper of the lamb.
You know, this very silence is testimony to God's devastating judgment on this wicked city.
And the judgment is similar to what Jeremiah pronounced on Judah in Jeremiah 25:10. You can read that at your leisure.
And what is the stated reason for this complete destruction, for these repetitions of no more?
Well, that leads us to the final insight, which I've called the damning evidence. And the text gives us three final reasons for Babylon's because your merchants were the great men of the earth. For by your sorcery all the nations were deceived, and in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.
So let's examine each of these individually. First of all, the merchants were the great ones of the earth. They were the people who were held in highest esteem.
Not the religious leaders, not the philosophers, not the politicians or the aged wise men.
No, it was the rich merchants who used their wealth to rise to positions of power and prominence and influence.
Today, such men use their wealth to gain the ear of the politicians, to silence the voices of the godly, and to lull the populace into an intellectual and moral stupor. By the multitude of their digital gadgets and their distractions, the abuses of the proud and arrogant rich are well documented throughout the pages of Scripture. James asked, is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court. James 2:6. And then later in his epistle, he further indicted the rich for their abuse of the poor. He wrote, behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you. And the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of sensual, unrestrained pleasure. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man, and he does not resist you. That's James 5:4:6.
Then next, their sorceries deceived the peoples of the world.
In the original languages. The word for sorceries is pharmakeia. We get our English word pharmacy from it.
The New Testament uses the word to refer to magic and occult practices.
Galatians 5:20.
Babylon's hold on the world will be due not only to her military and economic power, but also to the influence of the occult.
As you're probably aware, today satanic worship is moving into the open, into the mainstream. More and more events like the recent annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada and others show this kind of deception.
And furthermore, much of the world's wealth and luxury today results from evil in all its forms.
Think of the billions of dollars sloshing through the world's economy from the international drug trade, from the sex trafficking of women and children.
The activities that motivate and surround these evils are clearly demonic.
Money blinds eyes, it closes ears, and it removes the milk of human kindness from men's souls. It robs the innocent and it protects the guilty.
The final reason for Babylon's judgment was the way she treated the righteous.
In her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.
And so, not only was Babylon, both political and ecclesiastical, the mother of harlots, but she was also the mother of persecutions.
Revelation 17, 6 says she was intoxicated with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
At the height of her power, she will tolerate no dissent.
Now, Scripture shows an obvious parallel in the rise and fall of Babylon throughout history.
We're introduced to Babylon in Genesis, chapter 11, verses 1 through 9, where she is symbolized by the tower reaching to heaven.
God had told the inhabitants of the world to fill the earth, but they decided that they wanted a common worship and a common tongue, and they would disregard God's command. But God defeated their plans by confusing their language and scattering them across the face of the earth.
Babylon, religiously symbolized by the Woman in Revelation 17, proposes common worship and a common religion by uniting a worldwide church.
The beast in Revelation 17:16 destroys this false religion, and in doing that, he fulfills God's will.
Babylon, politically symbolized by the great City of Revelation 18, attempts to dominate the world through a global marketplace and a world government, and both of those trends are present and evident in our world today.
However, God's triumph is witnessed historically when he scattered the people Babel and they left their tower unfinished there in Genesis chapter 11.
In the future, God will triumph in the destruction of the world religion by the killing of the harlot in Revelation chapter 17, and he will destroy the political and commercial might of the city in Revelation 18.
These will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ.
Revelation 19, verses 11 to 21
[00:21:12] Speaker C: now
[00:21:12] Speaker A: we do not know the timing of these final events, but we should be able to observe trends in our world today.
Globalist organizations like the World Economic Forum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the World Council of Churches, and others tout their ability to bring together leaders from business and religion and government, civil society, academia, and other international organizations to shape progress on what they say are the defining issues of our time.
However, if you read their documents, most of them show that their programs and their plans leave no room for biblical Christianity.
The conditions that are described here in our text of the end time Babylon bear a close resemblance to to those in the developed world today.
And so we must resist the constant messaging of our culture, both open and subliminal, that wealth and status are the marks of true success.
Pressure to compromise is strong, but we must heed the heavenly message of Revelation 18:4 come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues.
The words of Jesus in Luke 12:16 21 form a fitting conclusion to this message of judgment on commercial Babylon.
And Jesus told them a parable saying, the land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, what shall I do since I have no place to store my crops?
Then he said, this is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said to him, you fool, this very night your soul is required of you. And now who will own what you have prepared so is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
I urge you, make sure your choices lead to the Eternal City rather than to the no More City.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: God of praise and God of glory for Thy people, for Thy power Christ from thy nation Church's story Bring up.
Lo the homes of evil.
Grant us wisdom grant us courageless we miss thy kingdom's goal Kingdom's goal lest we miss thy kingdom's go
[00:25:29] Speaker C: as we conclude today's teaching from Revelation 18, I encourage you to consider your investment strategy. No, I'm not talking about the stock market or about donating to Heralds of Hope. Instead, which city are you investing in? Is it Babylon, which will one day be no more? Or is it the New Jerusalem, God's city which will flourish forever?
It can be so easy to lose our focus on the Kingdom of God and get distracted by the shiny things around us. But let's keep our eyes on Jesus before we close, consider this sobering reality one in three People around the World Lack Access to Bible Resources Here at Heralds of Hope, we believe that everyone deserves access to Bible teaching and discipleship resources in their own language.
One way we're responding to this need is through Hope for Today, a Bible teaching program that's available in nearly 50 languages.
Here's what one of our listeners to our Juba Arabic broadcast this is the first Bible teaching in my language that I've ever heard. I have been encouraged by the word I have received.
Continue the work, for I know that there are many like myself who will be helped if they hear this program.
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 by email at hope heraldsofhope.org or by phone at 866960, 0292.
To explore more Bible teaching and encouragement, please visit heraldsofhope.org 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.
[00:28:09] Speaker A: Is enough.
[00:28:32] Speaker B: Save us from we presentation to the.
Let us search for thy salvation beyond glory ever more gris.
