The End times as God Reveals Them Pt. 56 Political & Commercial Babylon's Doom pronounced.

Please look in the archives from December 16 through 21, 2019 and you will find lessons titled "The True Story of Christmas" which can be a good family devotion as you gather for this holiday. May we all rejoice at the birth of Christ because it meant that He came to do for us what we could never do, live a sinless life and satisfy God's law. Therefore, a Savior was born!

We are now moving into Revelation 18 which describes another aspect of the judgment of Babylon. We studied the judgment of a global religion called Mystery Babylon. The religious Babylon assisted the beast in coming to power. However, around the midpoint of the great tribulation, the beast, which symbolizes 10 kings that will give ruling power to the Antichrist, will turn on the religious Babylon and destroy it. 

Revelation 18 is where we will see political Babylon will also be destroyed. 

An angel with great power comes to announce judgment. 

Revelation 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. 

John saw "another angel" which is not one of the seven angels who poured out the seven bowls of judgment. The fact that this is a different angel reminds us that we have seen angels of differing responsibilities come forth to complete some specific tasks that were given to them. There is an orderliness in their operations and a hierarchy of angelic organization according to the will of God. 

This angel is not named but it is distinct because it has great power and the world will be illuminated by it's glory.  The word translated "power" is not the Greek word "dunamis" which we find in our word for dynamite. It is a word that denotes the right, authority and the ability to do something without hindrance. The light from this angel is a broad powerful light that will penetrate the darkness of the world at that time. 

Babylon will fall and be unclean.

Revelation 18:2-3  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. 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. 

This angel will bring an announcement to political and commercial Babylon's final doom. He will cry out with a very loud voice, the implication that all on earth will hear it. "Babylon the great is fallen" is the message that will be delivered. 

The Babylon in this chapter is not the woman from Revelation 17 because although the religious system had power, it was not the source of power. Political Babylon is the source of power. No one on earth will mourn or make lamentation when religious Babylon is destroyed but all the world is going to mourn when political Babylon is judged. The destruction here is likely connected with Revelation 16:19-21, where we are given an expanded explanation of what happens. 

The picture John gives us is very vivid. Commercial and political Babylon is portrayed as a large, prosperous city that made the nations and merchants very wealthy. It is also a city that stays rich by preying on the souls of men and offering that which incites their lusts. This powerful rich, successful center for the arts, commerce and power will be turned into a habitation for hateful birds, unclean spirits and devils. Political  and commercial Babylon will be judged and left as a foul and unclean place in every sense, literally and spiritually.  

The "merchants" are not mere retailers or sellers. They dominate all aspects of buying and selling with tight regulation of all commerce. They exercise control and enrich themselves at other's expense. Remember, the Antichrist is going to be a world dictator and only those who take the mark of the beast will be able to purchase goods and services or to sell them. An implication of this is that no one will be able to find any work without having the mark of the beast.

The word translated "delicacies" or "deliciously" is found three times in this passage and the word is not used anywhere else in the Bible. This word refers to living a life of unrestrained luxury, by having no moral restraints. Rather, it is a wholehearted, wicked indulgence in sensuality. Words like licentious or lasciviousness tell us what their actions will be like. It will be moral depravity lived out in the trappings of luxury.

Moral bankruptcy will be aided by religious Babylon because it will promote idolatry and all the evil things connected with it. The future false religion will enslave people to their unrestrained passions and the merchant class will become exceedingly wealthy during this short time.  

Judgment of the Beast is coming.

Revelation 18:4-5  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. 5) For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 

A voice will call out from heaven to the people of God still alive on earth at that time. The message will get out of Babylon because God's judgment is coming. Her sins are going to be judged. Political and commercial Babylon will be destroyed. 

Judgment for sin will be doubled. 

Revelation 18:6-8  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. 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. 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. 

Babylon will be rewarded for her works which is the idea of the ruling people and merchants that enriched themselves at other's expense and who enslaved many people to a drug driven culture of sensuality. The attitude of the ruling class and the merchants is on display. They will seek self glory, luxurious living without moral restraint and they are going to reap double sorrow, torment. The elite will say that they will live like royalty and not experience sorrow or deprivation. 

Divine judgment will come upon commercial and political Babylon in one day. Notice that this will be no normal economic downturn. The whole system will go down in one day because God is judging political and commercial Babylon.

Thoughts to Ponder...

The unrelenting judgment from God that we see pouring out from heaven to earth must be viewed in the context of mankind's insidious refusal to hear and heed what God says right now, during the age of the church. Mankind remains unrepentant and unashamed of wallowing in the mire of sin and degradation. 

God is still allowing gospel preaching to go on and He still wants all people to come to repentant faith in Jesus Christ. If you are not saved and have not been born again by the regenerating work of God's Holy Spirit, then this is good news for you. You are still reading and hearing truth from God, but this will not go on indefinitely.

You have read the texts that tells us today is the day of salvation and now is the accepted time to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation. It is up to you to respond with repentant faith in Jesus Christ. 

Let this time of year when we focus upon the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, be a time when we think about why Jesus came to earth. He came to take on a body of flesh, live a sinless life and die as the sinner's substitute on the cross. He did this so that we might live. 

Bob