Revelation
Chapter 18 & 19
Revelation 18:1
There is the great angelic announcement from heaven.
A great angel comes down from heaven.
He is coming from God Himself, and he is coming with great authority and power.
See his glory: he is so glorious that the light of his glory blazes across the whole earth.
This symbolizes that his message and mission are meant for the whole earth.
The glory of what he is about to announce is for the ears of the whole world.
18:2-7 there are the reasons why Babylon, the capital of the antichrist, will be destroyed.
Remember Babylon can also represent godless society.
Five reasons are given why God will destroy the city.
1. Babylon will be destroyed because of spiritual corruption (Rev.18: 23-24.)
Babylon, the great city of the end time, will not look to God. Therefore, it will become...
· The place for devils and their worship.
· The place for every foul spirit.
Look how graphically the picture is painted: it will become the cage for every unclean and hateful bird.
The morals and sins of Babylon will run so loose that the city will become a center for every foul and unclean spirit and filth of the under world.
· Immorality, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, abnormal sex-all forms of immoral behavior will run wild.
· Lying, stealing, and cheating will run rampant.
· Lusting after more and more of the possessions and pleasures of the world will increase greatly.
· Sorcery, devil worship, witchcraft, palm readers, fortunetellers, and astrology will be revived and run loose
There will be few who will believe and follow Christ and the Word of God.
Babylon and society will be spiritually corrupt.
Scripture says that there are several spirits that corrupt man.
~ The spirit of bondage. Ro.8: 15
~ The spirit of the world. 1 Cor.2: 12
~ The spirit of man. 1 Cor.2: 11
~ The spirit that works in the children of disobedience. Eph.2: 2
~ The spirit of false teaching and preaching.1 John 4:1
~ The spirit of error. 1 John 4:6
2. Babylon, the great capital city, will be destroyed because the city corrupted nations, kings, and merchants (v.3).
The word "fornication" tells us what this means: fornication means spiritual fornication, the rejection of God and the turning to other gods. The world of the end time will be days of secularism, humanism, and materialism.
Man will worship himself and his secular society. He will focus his life around...
Technology pleasures education
Science recreation comforts
Babylon, the capital of the world, will take the lead in the secular society.
It will have economic wealth that will literally intoxicate the world.
The businessmen and merchants of the world will grow rich because of its wealth. Its wealth will be so vast that it will be able to control nations and leaders and businessmen allover the world.
The point is this: the capital city will use its influence for evil, for secularism and power. The city will manipulate the nations and leaders of the world to follow its own evil purposes.
Rom 2:24
Even today, if all the nations of the Middle East could be united under one rule, the confederation of power could make enormous demands and manipulate the money of the nations of the world. How? Through its oil. Add to this confederation some of the nations of Europe, of the Old Roman Empire that will be revived, and imagine the wealth and power. It would be mind-boggling-just stagger the imagination.
3. Babylon will be destroyed because the city will corrupt people through secularism (v.4-5).
One of the easiest things in the world is to become influenced by secularism. A secular society offers comfort, health, education, possessions, pleasures, time, recreation, culture, and art.
It offers all that a person could ever want physically and mentally. But it denies and rejects God.
Therefore, the citizens of a secular society are led to focus life upon this world and nothing more. The result is utterly tragic: the citizens go out into eternity lost and doomed. They enter into whatever lies beyond this world unprepared. And Scripture declares that God and eternity lie beyond this world, either an eternity of hell and punishment apart from God or an eternity of life and reward with God. Therefore Babylon, the great city of secular society, will stand guilty of misleading people into sin, into the false belief of secularism and humanism.
These sins are said to have reached up to heaven and that God remembers its iniquities (v.5).
2 Tim.3: 1-2 / 2 Tim.4: 3 / Gen.6: 12 / ps.12: 1 / Mic.7: 2
4. Babylon will be destroyed because the city will take the lead in persecuting God’s people (v.6). Note the words "she rewarded you." The antichrist and his government of Babylon will launch the worst holocaust the world has ever seen against believers, the Jews, and the religious faithful of the earth.
5. Babylon will be destroyed because of self-glory, pride, selfish extravagance, and indulgence (v.7).
Every good and every perfect gift comes from God.
Therefore, the leaders and citizens of Babylon should praise and thank: God for the wealth and comforts of their land and nation.
And they should use their wealth to help meet the needs of a world that reels under the weight of so many desperate needs.
This is exactly what God expects of every leader and people upon earth. Wealth of land and resources are not given for indulgent and extravagant living, or for self-glorying and boasting.
Matthew 23:12 / Rev 3: 17 / Proverbs 16: 18 / Isaiah 14: 13-14 /
18:8
There is the quickness of Babylon’s destruction. It will happen in one day. Actually verse ten says that the city will be destroyed in one hour, which is referring to immediate and instantaneous destruction. In one hour’s time the plagues of death, mourning, and famine will sweep through the streets of the city, and then it will happen: the city will be utterly destroyed by fire. How? This verse tells us: by the strength of the Lord God who judges us. I
Two possibilities.
~ The words plague and death and mourning may be referring to an immediate plague of some sort hitting the city all at once, some plague that would have the same effects as poisonous gas.
~ The one hour destruction by fire may be referring to an immediate destruction like what fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah or to something that is as forceful and explosive as an atomic bomb.
Mt 11:22/Mt 24:30/John 3:19/ 2 The 1:7-8/Hebrews 9:27/2 Peter 3:7/ Rev 1:7/ Ps 96:3
18:9-20 there is the impact of Babylon’s fall. The great influence upon the world can be seen
By the reaction of the world to the city’s destruction.
1. There will be great mourning by the political leaders and governments of the world who are allied with the antichrist (v.9).
There will be some nations, whose power depends entirely upon the antichrist and his capital, and there will be other nations whose trade with the city will be less, but their economies will still be greatly affected.
Remember: the whole world will be undergoing disaster after disaster at this time, and many of the great cities of the world will be destroyed and. reduced to ashes (cp. Rev.16: 17-21).
~ This means that the mourning for Babylon is symbolic of the mourning that will be going on worldwide.
~ This also means that the mourning is self-centered. The leaders of the nations know that Babylon could have been an enormous help in rebuilding. They, of course, will not be aware that Christ is returning to rule upon earth.
Proverbs 15; 27/ Eccl 5;10/ Jer 17:11/ I Tim 6:10
2. There will be mourning by the businessmen and commercial people of the world (v.l1-17a). There will be businesses allover the world that is devastated by. The collapse of Babylon and its wealth, and many more businesses and economies will be drastically affected.
18:21-23 there is the actual destruction of Babylon.
Two points.
1. The destruction will be violent. This is the picture of the mighty angel taking a huge boulder and casting it, into the sea. Picture the might and strength of the angel.
. The thrust and velocity of his throw.
. The violent impact of the boulder as it hits the water.
. The violent and immediate disappearance of the boulder.
. The violent waves that begin to rush out from the boulder in every direction.
The violence of the whole scene is clearly pictured.
2. The destruction will be total. The boulder disappeared immediately. Babylon, the godless government and city, will be found no more. The destruction will be swift and violent, and the city will be utterly devastated and reduced to ashes.
"And the sound of harpists and mistrels and flute players and trumpeters shall never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft shall ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone shall never again be heard in you. And never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall never be heard in you again" (v.22-23a, The Amplified New Testament).
18:23-24 there are the reasons for Babylon’s destruction repeated. These will be just listed here to give an overview. Note: these are the same sins for which God will judge any nation, government, society, or people.
I. There is pride and arrogance.
Rev 18:23 / Rev 18:7/ Is 13:19 / Is 14:4
2.There is sorcery and spiritual corruption.
Rev.18: 23 / Rev.18: 2
3.There is deception.
Rev.18: 23 / Rev.18: 3
4. There is the persecution of believers.
Rev.18: 24 / Rev.18: 6
5.There is the misuse of wealth: selfishly living in luxury, indulgence, and extravagance.
Rev.18: 23 / Rev. 18:3
6.There is the corruption of people.
Rev.18: 23 /Rev.18: 4
19:1-6 The Marriage Supper is a supper of glorious praise.
Everyone in heaven will be praising God and Christ at the great supper.
Note that the praise center around four hallelujahs in these verses (v. 1, 3, 4, 6).
Hallelujah simply means praise God.
It is taken from two Hebrew words: halal which means praise andjah which is the name of God.
1. The supper will be the hallelujah of salvation.
2. The supper will be filled with the hallelujah of victory (v.2-3). The Lord Jesus Christ will triumph over all to ungodly and evil of the earth.
3. The supper will be filled with the hallelujah of worship. Note that the twenty-four elders and four living creatures will offer this worship. They will burst forth in praise to God Himself, saying nothing but "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah " God is so wonderful that He Himself just deserves praise, not for any particular thing, but just because
He is so wonderful. At the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, those who are closest to the throne of God will burst forth in praising God just for Himself.
3. The supper will be filled with the hallelujah of God’s omnipotent reign (v.5-6). A voice will cry out from the throne of God to all the servants of God and to all who fear and reverence Him-cry out for the entire heavenly host to praise the Lord our God for His omnipotent reign.
19:7 the Marriage Supper will focus upon the Lamb Himself, the Lord Jesus
Note that all attention at the supper is to be focused upon the Lamb.
In most weddings and wedding supper upon earth, the attention is centered upon the bride.
But this will not be true at the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb
The Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, will be the great focus. The reasons are clearly stated:
~ It will be the Lamb who will be the cause of our gladness and rejoicing.
~ It will be the Lamb who deserves to be honored. We would not even be there if it were not for Him. ~ It is the Lamb for whom the supper is named; it is His supper, the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb. ~ It is the Lamb who stirred the bride to make herself ready.
Jesus Christ is to be the focus of attention in that day, how much more should He be today?
Christ is deserving of our attention, all of our attention, all of our lives, all of our service, worship, and praise.
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
Take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Lk.9: 23).
"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children. and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Lk.14: 26-27).
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Ro.12: 1-2).
19:7-8 the Marriage Supper will have a pure and prepared bride.
Note two significant points . . ..
1. The bride, the church, the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, prepares herself. How? This includes everything that a believer does to become acceptable to God.
a. A believer prepares himself by receiving the Lamb of God as his Savior. A person will not be acceptable at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb unless he accepts the sacrifice of the Lamb as the sacrifice for his own sins. He has to come to the Lamb in order to enter the supper of the Lamb. If he does not come to the Lamb then he will never enter the supper. If he does not live with the Lamb while on earth, then when the Lamb appears at the supper, the person will not be there. He will be excluded and shut out.
b. A believer prepares himself by following the Lamb. The Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificed Himself to the ultimate degree. He gave up His life totally and died for man. Therefore, man is to sacrifice himself to the ultimate degree. Man is to die to self and live entirely for the Lamb of God.
The believer is...
. To work and labor to the point of exhaustion as the Lamb worked and labored.
. To live righteously and godly just as the Lamb lived.
19:9-10 the Marriage Supper will be a blessed and glorious event, the most glorious event ever held in history.
It stirs the heart to think there will be periodic suppers throughout eternity when Christ will gather us all together for celebration.
Imagine all of us being called together from our various duties and kingdoms from all parts of the universe, called together for a great supper celebration.
What a glorious thought! May God stir our hearts to serve our Lord ever so diligently, day and night? Being with our Lord and God in heaven and in eternity, in the new heavens and earth-it will all be worth it when we see Jesus.
2. The Marriage Supper will be blessed because it is for the purpose of worshipping God and Him alone. This is clearly illustrated for us by what happened to John. Remember: John was still a human man; The Lord was giving him a vision of the end time and its events. John is so caught up in the majestic splendor and celebration af the supper that he falls down at the feet of the great angel to worship him. But the angel tells John not to worship him or anyone else, but to worship God alone. There are two reasons given for this.
ð First, all creatures, even the majestic angels of heaven, are only servants of God. They may be majestic beings, but they are not God.
ð Second, Jesus Christ Himself is the One who bears testimony of the truth. Christ and Christ alone possess and share the truth. The only truth that the angels and servants have is the truth borne by Christ. Therefore, He and He alone are worthy of worship. No angel or any other creature possesses the truth. Therefore, worship God and God alone.
19:12 Jesus Christ will be the consuming Prince (v.12).
1. His eyes will be like fire. This symbolizes a piercing, penetrating power. He sees everywhere, even in the dark places and behind closed doors. His eyes search the innermost recesses of the heart. He knows all; He is omniscient and He is able to conquer all those who reject Him and do evil.
Dan 10:6 / Heb 4:13 / Jer 17; 10
2. He will be wearing many crowns (diadema), that is, the royal crowns of rule and authority over many kingdoms
He is coming to conquer all the kingdoms of the earth. -.
3. He will have a name written somewhere on His clothing, but He alone knows what the name will be. It is futile to guess what it will be. We will see it in that day.
Ph.2: 9-11 / Rev.19: 12
19:13 Jesus Christ will be the slaughtering Word of God (v. 13). Note that His robe will
Sprinkled in blood.
This symbolizes the blood of His enemies, not His own redemptive blood. Jesus Christ is going
Conquer and defeat all the ungodly and evil of this earth.
19:14 Jesus Christ will be the heavenly, warring Leader (v.14). Note that the armies of heaven follow Him. Who are they? Note: they will be clothed in "fine linen, white and clean." This is the very same clothing worn by the believers at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev.19:8).
19:15: Jesus Christ will be the fierce Conqueror
19:16 Jesus Christ will be the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the sovereign King and Sovereign Lord of the universe.
19: 18 there will be the terrifying call to the supper of the great God. This supper differs entirely from the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which will be for believers. This supper, the supper of the Great God will be for unbelievers and it will be the most terrifying moment in human history.
19:19 Armageddon: there will be the mobilizing of the world’s armies. Note exactly what is said:
(V.19).
ð The antichrist is there.
ð The kings or leaders of the earth are there (probably negotiating and trying to prevent the battle against each other).
ð The armies of the nations are there.
How is it humanly possible for so many great armies to gather in one place?
And if a war is going to be fought in Palestine, why bother with foot soldiers when the world has so many sophisticated weapons such as missiles and atomic warheads?
The reason is simple: armies use foot soldiers when they want to preserve the land and its resources.
In the end time this is exactly what will happen. The antichrist will lead his eastern alliance against Palestine to totally exterminate the Jews and to take the whole Middle East with its rich resources for himself.
He will march against those who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember, the Jews will have been saved at this time. They will have accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah (Rev.7: 4-8; 11:3-13).
This is what the statement means that the antichrist and his armies gather together to fight against Christ. Jesus Christ and His people are one; therefore, to fight against the followers of Jesus Christ is to fight against Christ. The antichrist cannot use atomic weapons, for the weapons would not only destroy the land and its resources but also probably cause a retaliatory strike from some of the other nations of the world.
Now, how did all the armies of the world get to Palestine? Palestine.
19:20 Armageddon: there will be the simple and quick capture of the antichrist and the false prophet. Second Thessalonians tells us exactly what will happen to the antichrist.
READ (2 Th.2:8).
1. The Lord Jesus shall slay the antichrist with the spirit of His mouth (Greek "breath"). What is the spirit of Jesus? Mouth?
It is the spirit of truth, holiness, and unlimited power. When Jesus speaks, what He says is of God and unstoppable.
When He uses the sky to slay the antichrist, there will be no battle, for all the forces of heaven and earth combat would be as non-existent against the Lord God of the universe.
Christ will just speak the Word for the antichrist to be slain and the antichrist will be slain. It will be like the blowing of a little breath and the dust particle is removed never to return
Isaiah 11; 4
19:20 Lake of Fire: there is the horrifying judgment of the antichrist and the false prophet. They will both be immediately cast into the lake of fire.
The lake of fire is called either Gehenna or the Lake of Fire. This is the place where all those who have rebelled against God are to be cast at the end of the world-all unbelieving men, fallen angels, demons, and the devil.
At the final judgment of unbelievers, the lake of fire is the final hell to which all the wicked shall be judged and condemned, and the judgment of Gehenna is said to be eternal.
There was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
19:21 Armageddon: there is the weapon of the Lord that He uses to slay the armies. What will the weapon be? A sword, the sword of His mouth. Jesus Christ has no physical, material, carnal, or fleshy weapons made of this earth. He does not need them.
The only weapon He ever needs is the sword of His Word. All He ever has to do is speak the Word and whatever He says is done-immediately, instantaneously, completely, thoroughly, and finally.
One blast of the power of His Word is so forceful that it consumes all that stands before Him. Therefore, in the horrifying battle of Armageddon there will not even be a battle fought to our standards
