Soon!

Here is a link to our series, Soon!

Please keep in mind, I am a fellow student of God’s Word. My heart’s desire is to encourage your own deeper study of God’s Word and to awaken in you a desire to share the Gospel.

I believe our Savior intends for every believer to study and share His Word each day.

Always verify any resource by the Word of God.

We are nearing the triumphant end of Revelation. The study of this book should make every believer not only long for the return of our Savior, but it should make you grieve for the lost and have a burning desire to live out loud for God.

You should intentionally walk in a way that brings glory to His name and makes His attributes shine so that lost people are drawn irresistibly to Him and are redeemed by the work of the Spirit.

By this time there will be two groups of people remaining on Earth. Those who have firmly rejected Christ accepting the authority of the Antichrist and those who have mercifully given their hearts to Jesus.

This will be a time of great suffering for both groups of people. Economic collapse and plagues will decimate those who follow Satan. Christ followers will not be harmed by the plagues inflicted by demons, but they will very likely suffer hunger and great need. They will be martyred unless they miraculously survive to witness Christs’ return to Earth when the Millenium will begin.

In chapter eighteen God has a warning for the believers who remain alive. He tells them to get away from the places where the wicked are. Primarily that is likely big cities-places of commerce and industry. But, keep in mind, Babylon is the financial system and government, not a geographical place.

At the beginning of the tribulation, it was also the established religion, but the antichrist has already turned on it and destroyed it.

Let’s look at verses 1-8.

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 

Some theologians speculate that this angel is Jesus, but this is not made clear. We are not to try to unravel mysteries. The Holy Spirit makes plain what we are meant to know. God reveals, easily, everything that we need to understand.

And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!  For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”

The people who chose the mark of the beast have become consumed by gross materialism, murder, sexual deviance and every perversion you can imagine. Greed, slavery, and human trafficking are listed among the atrocities during the tribulation.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.  Render to her just as she rendered to you and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore, her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

Revelation 18:1-8 (NKJV)

There is a danger that if Christ followers are near the wicked they will participate in their sin. This is the warning for us today, too.

 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

2 Corinthians 6:15 (NKJV)

Now, let’s deconstruct verses 9-19

God, who is the only fair judge of all mankind, will render His just verdict over these wicked people one day. He has been patient and kind. But now God will condemn them swiftly

• All of the dictators, kings and rulers during the tribulation will mourn over the collapse of the world government and economic system. They will be terrified.
• They will believe they are standing at a safe distance as they watch the major cities burn where the one world government is administered, but again, remember, Babylon is not a city. It is the system of commerce, politics, and power.
•  “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her, because no one buys their merchandise anymore:
• Here is a brief sample from verses twelve and thirteen from the list that you can read later- gold, silver, silk, bronze, ivory, marble, fragrant oil, frankincense, wine, oil, and sheep, horses and the bodies and souls of men. (Notice the last two items. How evil. Slavery and human trafficking).

Revelation 18:9-19 (NKJV)

Click the link above to read the passage about the actual period of mourning that will take place when the world economy crashes during the tribulation. Everything mankind has idolized and all the power they have abused will fail like never before.

For comparison, click the link below. John describes the wickedness and then intense fear in the hearts of these wicked people of the tribulation that remind me of another evil King and his people.

King Belshazzar faced a similar frightening and speedy demise at the hand of God. This evil king arrogantly served wine at a pagan party. He served the wine from goblets taken from the temple of God. And before the night ended he shook with terror at the name of the Most High God.

Do you recall the story of the hand that wrote on the wall? Do you know what the hand wrote? It wrote this…

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN

Daniel 5

In the story found in Daniel this wicked king knew God. Belshazar’s father was Nebuchadnezzar, and the nation he ruled was Babylon.

But, back to our Revelation study, can you imagine the terror that must have gripped these wicked leaders as everything they counted on began to fail?

Suddenly, in one fearful act of judgment, merchants around the globe see it too and are adversely affected. Worldwide panic will grip the nations.

What sorrowful days await these people, yet their grief is still over all the wrong things.

And with that dear readers look at this…

“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 anymore. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. 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 prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

Get ready to praise the Lord next week. Revelation Nineteen begins the joyful celebration! The victory of our Lord and of His Christ!

Share this glorious Gospel in your world this week!

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.