The Lamb and the 144,000 (Chap. 14: 1-20)

14:1,2- Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  He stands on Mt. Zion with the 144,00- they are never alone.  How reassuring and comforting for them and for us to whom His words are directed.  We know that Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where He continues to intercede for us.  This view is a picture of Christ’s ultimate triumph at the end of the tribulation period.  It is significant to note that they are intact; the same group of 144,000 witnesses that we first saw in chapter 7.  God has spared them and many more like them that have come through the trials as believers.  It is probable that this is the literal Mt. Zion, the earthly city of Jerusalem, where Jesus returns in glory to earth and the believers join Him there.

14:3 - They sing a new song of redemption - all joined in a new song different from the one that the twenty-four elders sang in chapter 5, a song of redemption for the church age believers.  This new song is for the believers who are ‘redeemed from the earth”, out of the great tribulation period.  What praise!

14:4,5 - Jesus says that they are “virgins (spiritually undefiled)” and ones who  “follow the Lamb wherever He goes.”  Jesus mentions virgins in the parable of Matthew 25: 1-13.  The five wise virgins represent the believers of the tribulation period who are ready when the bridegroom comes.  These are a different group.  It is better to understand the word virgins here as a reference to moral and spiritual purity.  They have kept themselves free from the terrible idolatry and immorality of this period and followed the Lamb in unquestioning obedience and devotion.  They are the first of the “harvest” of the Trib., the “firstfruits” that will come into the Millennium to populate the millennial earth.  Jesus Himself was referred as the “firstfruits” (1Cor.15: 23), a reference to the coming resurrection.  Just as He was the first to rise from the dead, many will follow Him at the Second Coming.  Therefore, the 144,000 are the first of those to be saved during the tribulation and more will come.  Zechariah 13: 8-9 suggests that the remnant will consist of one-third of all the Jewish people.  Ezekiel 39:29 prophesies a time when God will pour out His Spirit on the House of Israel.  This fulfills the prophecy of Joel 2:32, “For in Mt. Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lords has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

 Their commitment to Him is the same type of commitment that He wants from us.  Walk with the Lord with all of you heart and soul; walk in moral and spiritual purity, be blameless.

14:6,7 - The Vision of Judgment - John sees another vision -an angel proclaiming the gospel and warning of the coming judgment of God.  “Then I saw another angel,” warning about three more of God’s judgments to come.  The gospel of God’s grace and salvation is being preached to “every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.”  The gospel is everlasting, eternal and will reach all nations.  In Matthew 24: 14, Jesus predicted: “ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  The angel’s message- “Fear God… give glory to Him…worship Him.”  This is the gospel and always will be.  God never changes!!!

14:8 - Another angel predicts the fall of “that great city” Babylon.  This is the place where the harlot (false religion) is centered in the end time.  Several points of view: a) Jerusalem, b) the rebuilt city of Babylon, and c) the city of Rome.  The early church favored Rome as this city and the Roman Catholic Church as the harlot.  We do know that it will be destroyed (see Isaiah 21:9).  She is destroyed because of her drunkenness (passionate immorality) and fornication (spiritual prostitution) with the kings of the world.  Throughout history, this has been true of much of the church.  God has had enough!

(14:9-11) - God’s Punishment - A third angel warns those who worship the beast.  The question one-day will be, “Will you receive the mark of the beast?”  It is a matter of economic survival!  The state will be “god” in that day, demanding support and having total control over all people.  Those who worship the beast will drink “the wine of His wrath.” – the “indignation of God himself.”  These verses clearly describe what happens to those who worship the evil one.  They will be tormented with fire and brimstone and the smoke of their torment will last forever and ever, with no rest day or night.  How frightening and awesome!  People accuse God of injustice, yet His justice, mercy and grace have been available from the beginning of time.  However, it becomes meaningless if there is no retribution for sin and turning one’s back on God.  There is eternal life for the believer and eternal punishment for the unbeliever.

14:14-20 - Vision of the Final Harvest) - John sees the appearance of the Son of Man seated on a white cloud, a gold victor’s crown on His head, and with a sharp sickle in His hand.  The “Son of Man” is what Jesus called Himself, a reminder that the coming Judge knows us as we truly are.  John 5:27 says the Father “ has given him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.”  McArthur calls Him the “ Magnificent Majesty” a “triumphant conqueror coming out of heaven to prevail over His enemies.”  It is significant that the “reaping of the harvest” is in the hands of the Son of man.  He is the Judge of all the earth, given that responsibility by God the Father.  He is the same One who died on the cross to judge our sins, now He is to judge those who refuse His payment for sin on their behalf.  He shed His blood for all on that cross and at the final judgment, blood will flow from those who have refused Him.

14:15 - Verse 15 says, “ The crop on the earth is ripe.”  The Greek for ‘ripe” speaks of over- ripeness to the point of being rotten.  When God’s judgment comes, it will be a judgment long overdue.  His judgment is always righteous.  The picture of God’s judgment with a sharp sickle comes from Joel 3: 12-16.  The sickle “being thrust into the harvest” symbolizes God’s judgment on the nations who come against Jerusalem and the people of Israel.  This occurs in the Valley of Jehoshapat, adjacent to the city of Jerusalem.  There, all nations will come in war against Jerusalem, and this is where their blood will flow.

14:17,18 – another angel comes from the Temple in heaven, and he has a sharp sickle.  Yet “another angel, with power to destroy the world with fire, shouts to the angel with the sickle, “Use your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.”

14: 19-20  - His Judgment –  “The angel swung his sickle on the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath.”  Jesus Himself will tread “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” Jesus is personally involved in the judgment of the nations  - He has blood all over His garments (Isaiah 63: 1-6; Rev. 19:13).  The consequences are awesome!  Is this a symbolic or literal description of that judgment?  Probably both.  The Messiah will judge and blood will flow.  The winepress signifies a horrendous slaughter or bloodbath (Is. 63:2,3; Joel 3:13).  Here it refers to the slaughter of all of God’s enemies that are still alive, facing the destruction of the Battle of Armageddon, the final battle against God’s enemies.  14:20 - God determines that this bloodbath will occur outside the city of Jerusalem.  Zechariah 14:1-5 makes clear that Jerusalem will be attacked, but will not be destroyed in the end, but spared for the glory of the kingdom, and the believing remnant will be saved as the Lord defends them and the city against the nations.  They will escape through a newly created valley as the Lord finishes His judgment and sets up His kingdom.  The severity of the slaughter is seen in the imagery of the blood of those killed in the Battle of Armageddon splattering as high (about 4 feet) as the bridle of the horses involved.  If the Battle occurs near the central valley of Israel, the tremendous volume and flow of blood could easily form troughs 4 ft. deep in some places.  This is clearly described in 19:11-21.  Ezekiel 39:8-16 may be describing the cleanup.

What a horrible vision of the final harvest of God’s judgment on the unbelieving nations of the earth.  It is a reminder that all that refuse to put their faith and trust in Jesus and in his salvation will one-day face Him as their Judge.  As the world spirals rapidly down toward self-destruction and judgment, Jesus continues to offer His grace to those who would come.  It is not too late to turn to Him as your Lord and Savior.  Anything less will be disastrous.

VISION OF THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

REVELATION (15: 1-16:21)

The scroll containing God’s prediction of judgment for the future has seven seals.  The seventh seal was broken (8:1), and we were introduced to seven angels with seven trumpets.  The seventh trumpet message is the longest and began with the announcement of Revelation 11:15 (His kingdom proclaimed, His reign forevermore declared, and the judgment of wrath to come).  Within that seventh trumpet message are several signs and visions.

The Signs of the Seventh Trumpet Message:

            Sign of the woman (12:1) - Israel

            Sign of the dragon (12:3) - Satan

            Sign of the seven last plagues (15:1) – in them is the wrath of God complete.

The Visions of the Seventh Trumpet Message:

            Vision of the beast with seven heads (13:1) - Antichrist

            Vision of the beast with two horns (13:11) – The False Prophet

            Vision of the 144,000 (14:1-5) – At Mt. Zion with Christ

            Vision of the gospel and the judgments (14:6-13)

Vision of the final harvest (14:14-20) – God’s judgment on the nations who come against Jerusalem

            Vision of the heavenly temple and the seven last plagues (15: 1- 16:21)

Chapter 15  - The Song of Moses and the Lamb

Preparation for the Seven Last Plagues (15:1-8)

15:1 - “Another sign” like those that proceed it, signs “great and marvelous” from the Lord God Almighty.  Here we have the final judgments of God on planet Earth.  God is angry and His wrath will soon be complete.  This means that His perfect plan is being carried out, and His goal is being accomplished.

15:2 -We first saw the “sea of glass” in chapter 4 but this time we see it “mixed with fire.”  It may mean that those standing on it have gone through the fire of tribulation, or it may symbolize the wrath of the judgment of God.  Those standing on it are the martyrs of the tribulation period; the ones who refuse to worship the beast or take his mark.  They have lost their life for their loyalty and faith to God, and are now “standing before the Throne of God in victory” through their resurrection.  One of their privileges will be to take part in the orchestra of harps, praising God in His victory.  They sing a Song of Moses and of the Lamb, a song of martyrs who have given their lives for the Lord (see Deuteronomy 32 and Rev. 5) and the ultimate victory of the Lord over all the nations of the world. 

The Song

1.      They praise the works of God, the power of God and what He can do.

2.      They praise the ways of God, emphasizing His plan.  He is just in all He does.  We may not understand it, but we can rest in His plan because of Who God is and how He has always worked throughout history.  The Lord God put His plan into action from before the beginning of time, and over and over again, we see His promises made and His promises kept.  For example; In Exodus 6, the Lord promises Israel “I will keep my covenant”; seven times, He repeats, “I will.”  He does not say, “Maybe, if you are good,” or “if I remember, I’ll rescue you,” or “if I feel like it…” No, what He declares are absolutes!  That is what He is, the God of absolutes!  In that we rest!

3.      They praise the worthiness of God-His perfection.  He is holy - only He deserves their glory and their praise!

4.      They praise the worship of God- His purpose.  His ultimate purpose for all the nations and all creation is to worship and praise Him.

15:5-8 - The Scene in Heaven.  Is there a literal temple in heaven?  Hebrews 8 and 9 tell us that the tabernacle and temple were a “copy” of the heavenly.  We see the same seven angels we have seen for several chapters, and one of the four living creatures gives to them the seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God.  His anger is at the boiling point as the last seven plagues are poured out on the earth.  God’s temple is filled with smoke from His glory, and no one is able to enter it until His plan is completed.  God’s day of vengeance is coming.

Chapter 16 – The Seven Last Plagues –The Bowl Judgments

These seven last plagues or judgments complete the wrath of God against a world that rejected Him and His message of salvation.  The timing is now close to the Second Coming of Christ, and these judgments come fast and heavy.  Daniel indicated that these closing days of the Tribulation are to be time of world war (Dan. 11:36-45).

16:1 -God’s voice calls out from the temple instructing the seven angels to pour out the bowls of wrath on the earth.  These will be greater, more severe, and more intense than anything that has happened in preceding events.  They are similar to the trumpet judgments and appear in the same order but are more intense in every way.  However, it seems best to believe that the bowl judgments are extensions of the seventh trumpet, which is in itself an expansion of the seventh seal.  Some of the bowl judgments are selective and apply only to the wicked and several affect parts of nature.

16:2 - The First Bowl: Malignant Sores

The target of this plague is the people on earth who have received the mark of the beast and worshiped His image.  God sends “horrible and malignant sores” to come on all unbelievers.  Think of the lepers of the Bible and how they suffered.  This plague is like the boils that God brought upon Egypt (Ex. 9:9-11); incurable, open and oozing sores.

16:3 -The Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood

The second angel pours out his bowl on the sea, and it “became blood as of a corpse; and every living creature in the sea died.”  Every living creature in the sea is killed, destroying a major food source of the world.  Imagine the water as thick, dark, and coagulated like the blood of a corpse.  Imagine the death, decay, and stench of billions of sea creatures and the misery of this judgment.

16:4-7 The Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood

This is similar to the third judgment of chapter 8, in which one-third of the fresh-water springs and rivers were affected.  In this judgment, all of the world’s springs and rivers are affected.  The results are catastrophic.  The world’s drinking water is now polluted and the accompanying health problems will cause panic.  The angel says, “ You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, for Your holy people and Your prophets have been killed.”  People are quick to point their finger at God, calling Him unjust and cruel; the angels do not!  They proclaim the righteousness of God over this judgment because it is a just response to those who have killed His saints and prophets.  The world sheds the blood of God’s people, and God judges them by turning their water to blood.

16:8-9 -The Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched

The fourth trumpet judgment affected the sun, moon and with a reduction of their light by one-third.  God now brings a “great heat” and the earth will be scorched with a severe burning.  The waters have become blood, and now heat is burning up the planet.  One commentator suggests that the polar ice caps will melt causing the level of the oceans to rise by 200 feet.  Men will know that this is from God, yet they still blaspheme His name and do not repent.  The utter foolishness of man!

16:10-11 - The Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain

“Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom became full of darkness,” a darkness so intense that people expressed their anguish and pain by gnawing their tongues.  This is a preview of hell where Jesus said “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Still they would not repent.  As we see in Henry Blackabee’s book, “Experiencing God,” repentance demands an adjustment in lifestyle and they choose to live in sin.  Amazing!

16:12-16 - The Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up

The great river Euphrates is now dried up “so that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”  This makes it possible for great land armies from the east to come into the Middle East.  All nations are gathered against Jerusalem during the battle of Armageddon and the armies of the orient will join in this final battle (Zech. 12; 1-9; 14:1-15).  God somehow draws these kings and their armies, who are against Him, together in order to destroy them in the Battle of Armageddon.

 16:13 - “Three unclean spirits like frogs (demons)” come out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), the beast (Antichrist), and the false prophet.  We once again see Satan’s attempt at mimicking God as he forms this “unholy trinity.”  These evil spirits perform miraculous signs designed to deceive the kings of the world to come against Jerusalem to annihilate her.  However, this battle will be of “that great judgment day of the Lord God Almighty,” not of Satan and his demons.  Jesus warns, “Behold, I am coming as a thief.  Blessed is He who watches…”- He will be a surprise to many, but not to those who are watching and are ready.  This is His day and His triumph will be ultimate as the war suddenly ends when Christ arrives!

16:17-21 - The Seventh Bowl: A Great Earthquake

A great shout comes from the Temple in Heaven, “It is finished!”  The last bowl completes God’s wrath on the earth.  It will be the most catastrophic and terrible judgment ever to hit this planet.  It will be the greatest earthquake of all time and the whole world will be affected.  The major capitals of the world are destroyed and the city of Babylon (the center of world government and religions) receives “the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”  Jerusalem is the only city spared and is divided into three parts (Zech. 14:4) to prepare it for her central place in the millennial kingdom.  The mountains and the islands disappear – all of them!  Giant hailstones weighing about a hundred pounds fall from the sky and destroy man and beast alike.  Still men blaspheme the Holy God with their hatred.  The depravity of man’s heart is apparent and our righteous God judges truthfully

Awesome?  Yes.  Frightening?  Yes.  Yet, God’s perfect plan is in place and has been from the beginning of time.  He has given us all of His love, the sacrifice of His Son, and every opportunity to repent and be saved.  His judgment will right.

Chapter 17 - The Great Prostitute

In chapter 16, we saw God’s wrath poured out on the earth in an incredible display of power and righteous anger.  We see in chapters 17 and 18 one aspect of the Bowl judgments, the fall of Babylon the Great.  In chapter 17, Babylon is seen in its religious character as the system of a worldwide religion.  This probably takes place during the first half of the tribulation period.  We see Babylon destroyed by the 10 kings (vs16).

Chapter 18 refers to Babylon as a political power and as a great city, the seat of power of that world empire which dominates the second half of the tribulation period.  We see in contrast to chapter 17, Babylon destroyed not by man, but by God.

Religious Babylon Destroyed

17:1 - One of the seven angels offers to show John “the judgment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the earth have had immoral relations, and the people of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.”  This harlot is called “great” indicating the influence and power she has had throughout history and the seriousness of that influence in the eyes of God.  As a harlot, or prostitute, she symbolizes idolatry or religious apostasy.  We are told that she “sits on many waters” as the ruler over many peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.  Her influence has been felt from the earliest time of man throughout history.  All of the world’s kingdoms will be absorbed into the Antichrist's one-world government.  All of the earth drinks of “the wine of immorality,” not actual wine or sexual sin, but it pictures all the people of the world being caught up in the intoxication and sin of the false religious system.

17:3 -  “A woman (the harlot, Babylon), sitting on a scarlet beast ” (the Antichrist) she sits on is “full of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” whose heads represent the empires of past, present and future worlds.  False religion has dominated all of the history of mankind and has pretended to worship God while her real ambition is self-glorification and power.  For a time, the Antichrist will support and use the new one-world religious system for his purposes to affect world unity.  Then he will assume political control and blasphemes by declaring himself god.

17:4 - Notice the way she is dressed, in purple and scarlet, the dress of royalty, wealth and power.  Contrast that with our Lord coming to us as a humble carpenter, born in poverty and obscurity.  She is “adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.”  Religion is big!  She carries a “gold cup full of obscenities and the impurities of her immorality.”  False religion and its methods and practices are abominations to God.  What strong language.

17:5 - Her Description - The name that was written on her forehead is “Babylon The Great, The Mother Of All Prostitutes And Obscenities In the World.”  It was customary during this period for Roman prostitutes to wear headbands around their foreheads with their name written on it for all to see.  Mystery is a truth once hidden but now revealed in the New Testament.  People see spiritual Babylon as a great world religion, but her real identity is yet to be seen.  She is the “mother of all Prostitutes and Obscenities”- the source, Babel, from which much evil and spiritual adultery has come. 

We are looking at the whole system of false religion from the time of ancient Babylon, or Babel, until the present day.  Satan has run amok for thousands of years deceiving, destroying, and causing the destruction of countless souls for eternity.  Her “drunkenness” suggests a continual state of being because she is responsible for the blood of the saints and martyrs, not only of this period of great tribulation, but for the martyrdom of the saints over the centuries. 

False religion had its start in ancient Babel; Semiramis, the wife of the Babylon’s founding king, Nimrod founded the secret religious rites of the Babylonian system, many of which are still in practice today.  The Roman Catholic Church adopted many of the satanic rituals; in fact, the title “Pope” comes from the “Pontifex Maximus” title of the Babylonian priest, meaning “Keeper of the Bridge,” the bridge between man and Satan.  We think of church history and her role in government during many centuries of this age and the atrocities committed in the name of God.  It will continue to become even more corrupt as a one-world religion is adopted by the world. 

17:8 - “The beast you saw was alive but isn’t now.  And yet, he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction.  And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written on the Book Of Life from before the foundation of the world began, will be amazed at the reappearance of the beast who died.  The beast (the antichrist) ascends out of the bottomless pit - a possible reference to the fatal wounding of the beast, his “miraculous” resurrection and its destiny in destruction.  After his “resurrection,” the Antichrist will become possessed by a great demon from the abyss (see chapter 13).  He is worshipped by all of those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life before the creation of the world.  These are the names of God’s elect whose names have been written in eternity past by God.

17:9-14 -The reference to the “seven heads” seen as seven mountains upon which the woman sits has been a problem of interpretation for centuries.  Many believe it refers to Rome, the city of seven hills, and because of the Church of Rome’s power and great wealth, it is believed the she becomes the figure head of the false religious system.  Another point of view is that the “beast with seven heads” represents world government at seven points throughout history - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.  The seventh will be the ten-nation confederacy, the revived Roman Empire.  Out of this last head will come the beast, the antichrist, the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8.  The ten-nation confederacy is allowed to rule for “one hour”, a short time, until the antichrist seizes control.  They make war (the Battle of Armageddon [16:14-16]) with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them (19: 17-21) for

“He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and His people are the called, chosen, and faithful ones (17:14).”

17:15-18 – The angel tells John that the waters the prostitute sits on represent masses of the people of every nation and language that she dominates.  The scarlet beast and his ten horns represent the ten kings who will reign with him for a time, these all hate the prostitute.  “They will strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire.”  The end comes for the religious system as the confederacy destroys it because of her great power and wealth.  Verse 17 says that all of this takes place to fulfill God’s purpose until the Words of God are fulfilled.  This happens in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period when the religious system of the world reaches the height of her power.  Satan wants to be worshipped and he gets his wish.

Chapter 18 –The Fall of Babylon the Great

18:1-2 - The destruction of Babylon continues.  The religious system is destroyed but the destruction is not complete.  God is announcing His judgment on Babylon through this mighty angel who illuminates the sky with his glory.  The world has been plunged into darkness with the pouring out of the fifth Bowl judgment and suddenly an angel appears from heaven, illuminating the earth with his glory!  He announces the annihilation of Babylon the great, a fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah 13-14 and Jeremiah 50-51.  Babylon, the ancient World Empire is destroyed, bur her political and religious system will be intact and continue to grow in strength until this time of its fall, judged by God himself.  The verse reads as if this had already taken place, but as we noted earlier, much of Revelation is not in chronological order.  Babylon’s fall comes with the Seventh Bowl judgment, and when it comes, it leaves the earth in devastation and annihilation, a place for demons and scavenger birds.

18:3 -The reason for her fall - “all the nations have drunk of the wine of her passionate immorality.”  Religious Babylon has influenced every nation on the face of the earth and has seduced them into spiritual drunkenness and worship (immorality) with false gods.  Her wrath is directed toward the prophets, apostles, and saints and seduces the leaders of the world to murder true believers.  Her “seduction” increases greatly during the tribulation.  Commercial Babylon has seduced the world into a materialistic orgy as the Beast influences the “kings… and merchants” of the world with the new worldwide system of commerce (14:8); 17:2).  Verse 3 tells us that the merchants of the earth have become rich through their association with her.

18:4,8 - God’s Call to His People -  “Come away from Her, my people.  Do not take part in her sins…”  God desires to protect His own, and He calls them to abandon this new world system and return to Him as their Savior.  We aren’t sure what their association with the beast is, but it is probably much as it is today - compromise!  God does not remember the sins of His people, but for Babylon, there will be no such forgiveness, only judgment.  His judgment will fall and vindicate His people (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19).  Her judgment will be death, mourning and famine and she will ultimately be burned with fire (see Isaiah 47:8-11).  God will repay Babylon by giving her in kind what she has done to the world and to His saints.  It will happen in one day’s time (Daniel 5:30).

18:9,10 - The kings of the earth who “took part in her immoral acts and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains.”  Governments worldwide have been in bed with this religious system, have bowed to the world leader, and now react with fearful expectation as they see the smoke of her burning and the swiftness of her destruction and they see the loss of the source of their power.  They too will experience God’s wrath.

18:11-19 - The merchants of the earth weep for her also and for the loss of their customers and their standard of living.  All of their riches come to nothing.  Vs. 18:13 mentions the “yes, she even traded in human lives” – human life will be cheap and people will be bought and sold once again.  Perhaps this also has to do with prostitution and pornography.  The world religious system has prostituted itself and deceived people into believing that material prosperity is a sign of God’s approval.  This has become their god!  And God Almighty is angry!  

18:20 -The angel tells the tribulation martyrs to rejoice because God has avenged them with the destruction of the terrible system that has caused them misery, pain, and death.  All of it ends in one hour and Heaven rejoices, not because of those souls doomed to an eternity in hell, but because God’s righteousness and justice prevails!

18:21,22- Another mighty angel appears, takes up a boulder “as large as a giant millstone” and throws it into the sea, a metaphor for her sudden and violent destruction.  The mighty city is destroyed, never to be found again.  Sudden and violent, the city is wiped off the face of the earth with one fatal blow from the hand of God.  Which city is referred to here?  Many believe that it is the literal city of Rome, the capital of the ancient Roman Empire and the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.  The kings and merchants are able to see the smoke of the burning city from the sea.

Others believe that it is the rebuilt city of Babylon, located on the Euphrates River, which in the end time is converted to a ship-bearing river.  This last view is possible because the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah have not been entirely fulfilled.  Sadam Hussein, during his reign of power and terror, was in the process of reconstructing the city for several years.

18:23,24 - The reason for her destruction is “her merchants have deceived the nations with her sorceries and her murders of God’s people.  Her “sorcery “ deceived the nations to carry out her plans to eliminate the people of God.  She has used the governments of the world to accomplish her purposes.  The religious and commercial/political systems that comprise all that Babylon has been and will be, will commit unspeakable atrocities against God’s people.  God will avenge that slaughter of His people.  This is the end of the times of the Gentiles, which began when the Babylonian army attacked Jerusalem in 605 B.C. (Luke: 21:24).  The stage is now set for the climax of the Book of Revelation - the Second Coming of Christ!