Revelation 18: 1-24
We have seen that these two chapters are expanding on Babylon's judgment, which has already happened in Revelation 14: 8 before the seventh Trumpet sounded.
Yesterday we saw the extreme spiritual degradation of this Babylon, and today we will see it's financial ruin.
(1) After these things I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, having great authority, and the Earth was illumined with his glory.
(2) And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
This angel is a high-ranking official in God's hierarchy of authority, and he has been sent to tell John the details of this Babylon that has been destroyed.
(3) "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the Earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the Earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."
This is a political entity that has had so much influence on the rest of the world for evil, that it has contaminated every other national leader among the nations with the sensual perversions and wantonness, using its great wealth.
(4) I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, "Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
God is telling His saints today, to recognize this nation, and if you are there, then don't get trapped in all the errors of the culture, and even leave to go somewhere else so that you won't be caught up in all the upheavals that are coming to destroy the land.
(5) "for her sins have piled up as high as Heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
There's so much in this land that has deceived the people with wealth and pleasure and luxury that God has finally decided that it is enough, it is as full as it can be, and overflowing everywhere.
(6) "Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
(7) "To the degree that she has glorified herself and lived sensually, to the same degree give her torment and mourning;
He is saying, essentially, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander!"
for she says in her heart, 'I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.'
This is a nation that is proud, with the attitude of superiority in not considering anything it does to bring any kind of negative consequences, but to only continue to get richer and more luxurious and wanton. They believe that their "exceptionalism" exempts them from any accountability.
The only nation that has adopted this attitude since ancient Babylon, I think, is America. Okay, now I've named it. Look and see for yourself if there is any other nation or people group that fits this description.
(8) "For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.
And with the economy having been shut down to destroy the best economy the world has ever seen, and with all the major cities burning in the riots over justice that are currently in the news, I ask you, what more do you need to see?
(9) "And the kings of the Earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
(10) "standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'
And all the political entities are lamenting that, "the party's over, it's time to call it a day!"
(11) "And the merchants of the Earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more--
(12) "cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble,
(13) "and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.
(14) "The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.
The monetary ruin of this financial powerhouse has cut off every kind of product and item from luxury items to foodstuffs to warfare implements and even human persons treated as property, from availability for purchase. So the businessmen are not able to make money any more.
(15) "The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
(16) "saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls;
(17) "'for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,
(18) "and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?'
(19) "And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!'
The businessmen and rich tycoons who made their millions and billions off of the capitalism and economy of this nation, are now lamenting that it's such a shame for all this luxury and profitability and prosperity to be dried up so completely so fast. They are standing at a distance, so they won't be identified with this place that is being destroyed, after sucking it dry.
(20) "Rejoice over her, O Heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgement for you against her."
The angel says to rejoice in God's judgment of this wicked city, because it got what was coming to it for all the evil and violence it perpetrated against God and His people and His ways.
(21) Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
This city will not go gracefully into the annals of history, but will be violently thrown down with vehemence and suddenness. And it will be complete.
(22) "And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsmen of any craft will will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer;
There will be no more gaiety, no more manufacturing or other businesses, no more foodstuff or product making any more of any kind.
(23) "and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer;
There will be no more celebrations or parties at all any more.
for your merchants were the great men of the Earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.
The big businessmen who made their millions and billions did so because of the advertising that drew people in by appealing to their comfort and relief of any kind of pain, and stimulating the pleasure-centers in their brain, and the sensuality and pornography that they promoted. And multitudes were sucked into their financial webs in every nation.
(24) "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the Earth."
And this nation is accountable for disregarding human lives in favor of the "almighty dollar." They are guilty of many murders, like letting people die in order to sell more of their drugs, and promoting the "suicide" of people who know too much or violence against those who don't agree with their political philosophies, and merchandising dangerous products including toys for children, and even killing hundreds of thousands of innocent children even before they are born, and selling their body parts for profit! They are sacrificing these innocent little ones with much suffering to the demons.
There is one nation that I see in the world that is guilty of all of these transgressions and rebellions, and is the biggest promoter of all of these evils.
I would suggest that if things keep going as they are, and God does not grant us any more reprieve, then what we're seeing on the news right now would be the fulfillment of these two chapters. That's a big "if." Dear reader, you can make your own determination to decide what you want to see.
O my Father, thank You for telling us so many details, so that we should be able to identify when you are fulfilling Your word. Your children are aware that You will be sending Your Son back to the Earth very soon, to judge and reward and set up His Kingdom to give our world its true "golden age."
Father, we can see all that is happening in the world around us, and You are preparing us for the rigors of what is coming. And I also see that You are taking home some of Your children who are physically weaker, to spare them the suffering coming. And we know that there will be even more martyrs who die at the hands of the Antichrist and his minions who will betray and take lives to be politically correct.
O Father, continue to teach us, and to strengthen us, and to prepare us for all the glory that You will bestow upon each of us, for the faithfulness You have provided us to remain strong in our trust in You, regardless of what is happening all around us until then.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation; to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
