But Revelation chapter number 18 here tonight. I'm going to do a little bit of review, not on chapters 1 through 16, but I'm going to do a little bit of review on chapter 17, which is what we looked at last week, because it ties. chapter 18 and 17 together. And so I'll do a little bit of that. But first, before we do, like we do every single week, and hopefully you've kept this in your Bible.
We've done a lot of printouts through the series, but our timeline should be up on the screen here. And so you can see where we sit in chapter number 18 is that final chapter of the seven-year tribulation. And so the book of Revelation can be divided very easily. Chapters one through three talk about the church age. And remember the letters to the seven churches.
That's the age that we're living in today. And so we believe that we are living in the church age. And so the next event. After the church age, after the age that we're in, the next event on God's calendar, on his timeline, is what we call the rapture of the church. That is when he will call up those that are alive here on this earth.
He'll call them up to forever meet with him up in the clouds. He doesn't come all the way to the earth at that point. He'll meet us in the clouds, and the dead in Christ will rise first. And that happens at the rapture of the church. In chapters four through five, we see that.
And the way that that is perceived is what is happening on earth. John is taken up into heaven in chapters four and five, and he gets a glimpse of what is happening in heaven. And then in chapter six, he is taken back down to earth to get a glimpse of what the tribulation period will look like. The tribulation is divided seven full years. It's divided the first three and a half is called, you know, just.
the tribulation, but the last three and a half is called the Great Tribulation. tribulation. And many terrible things are going to be happening during those seven years. And we saw that God's judgment is going to be poured out upon the earth and upon those that are rebellious. to him and to his to his plan.
And we saw his judgment is depicted through the seals that will be broken, the trumpets that will be blown, and then ultimately the bowls that will be poured out upon the earth with all these terrible things that will be. That will be happening. Just to remind you, in case you're kind of tuning in and haven't been a part of the whole thing, you know, depending on how you were raised, some people were raised thinking that, you know, if you're not saved, But before the rapture of the church, you have absolutely no chance and that kind of thing. And here's what I will tell you. You are way better off to be on the first flight out of here called the Rapture of the Church, okay?
But what we have seen during this seven-year tribulation period is that there are going to still be people that are accepting Christ as Savior. And Christ's mercy is still going to be on full display, even though his judgment is being poured out. And the trumpets are being blown, and the bowls are being poured out all over the earth. What we see time and time again during the seven-year tribulation period is that God is still sending. His mercy.
And there are some many, especially early on in the tribulation, some many. Revivals taking place, multitudes getting saved, and different things like that. But as the tribulation goes on and the Antichrist continues to rise to prominence and power. Things are going to get terrible, and pretty much all of the Christians are going to be killed and martyred. Those that were not raptured and that accepted Christ during the tribulation, pretty much all of them will lose their.
Their life, and so what you're going to see is the tribulation chapter 18 is where we are here tonight. And like I said, I'm going to do a little bit of chapter 17 review. Quickly, we're going to run through it. It is on your notes to keep you going and keep you engaged. We are going to do that.
The reason the two are chapters are connected is because chapters 17 and 18 are all about Babylon. All about Babylon. And so we're going to connect them. And chapter seventeen is all about the religious system. that Babylon represents And then chapter 18 is all about the political system.
that Babylon represents.
Now, if you remember, during the tribulation period. The Antichrist is going to rise to power.
Okay. And the Antichrist is going to lead a one-world religion. And that religion is going to be an anti-god. Man-made religion.
Now, some people wonder what that religion is. And I don't really know. I don't really know what it is. It's going to be anti-God. We do know that.
But we're not really sure what that is. If there's bits and pieces of it that are around today, quite possibly that is true. We don't know what that's going to look like, but all of them will worship. The world will worship the Antichrist, if you would, and he will go into the temple in Jerusalem and demand for people to worship. Him.
It is a man-made religion. But not only that, he also will be orchestrating. a worldwide political system as well. And what I mean by that is not only is he instituting one-world religion, he's going to have this one-world political system in which. You have to take the mark of the beast.
And if you don't, you're not going to be able to buy, you're not going to be able to sell, and things like that. And so, therefore, that's why many Christians who refuse to take, they're just going to lose their life perhaps through persecution, but also through if they can't buy or sell and do business. They might just die of natural cause from that. And so many Christians are going to be losing their life during this. And so you see a one-world religious system and a one-world political system.
And the reason that chapters 17 and 18 are tied together is because in chapter 17, it shows the destruction of the one-world religious system. And in chapter 18, it is going to show the destruction of the one world, political, economical. system. And so, in other words, what you can do, if you take notes, you can throw this down if you want. Chapter 17 kind of deals with.
The spiritual side of Babylon, and chapter 18 deals with the commercial side of Babylon. It's probably a good way to break it down for you.
So let's do some review real quick before we jump into our text here tonight. First of all, there is much debate. About whether Babylon in chapter 17 and 18 is literal or symbolic. And I briefly touched on this. I don't think it matters to what we're trying to learn, so don't get too caught up in this.
Babylon was captured by Persia. Uh in 500, I don't know, 530 something. I can't remember what the exact time frame is, but uh BC, it was captured by Persia, if you remember that. And it it existed along like the Euphrates River right there in Iraq. And so Babylon's been destroyed.
And so the question is, could Babylon be rebuilt and be the center of this one world religious and political system? I kind of think it could be. And I can't prove that. I can't definitively say that it will be rebuilt, but you could see that happening. Saddam Hussein tried that.
Now he failed, but he did try to rebuild the city of Babylon, the empire of Babylon, and he ended up failing. And so, what I'm suggesting to you is that when the world continues to go anti-God, and Christianity and Christians are raptured out of the world. And there are Christians getting saved, but the majority of them are losing their life because they become a martyr, or they're just losing their life because they can't buy and sell, and the world continuously becomes more and more anti-God in everything it does. I totally could see Babylon being rebuilt. I don't know.
And so, so does it represent a literal city of Babylon or figure? I think it's a little bit of both. And I think that can be true. And so we don't know exactly, but I think it can be a little bit of both in this. And so there's a couple of things that Babylon does represent that I want to show you.
So, first, it's on your notes. Babylon, when it's talking about this, it represents, or what it stood for, was an anti-God. political and religious system. An anti-God political and religious system.
So, I want you to think for a moment, and this is a terrible thought, but I want you to think about this. If Like When we talk about a one world. Religion. That seems a little far-fetched, doesn't it? But I want you to understand what the tribulation period is going to be like.
All Christians that were saved when Christ comes back at the rapture, right? are off the earth. And then God He's going to, you know, send a couple of witnesses around during those early parts of the tribulation, and people are going to get saved. But I want you to understand that like There's not going to be like churches everywhere. God's not going to be A part of the of like As much as what you and I see today.
Does that make sense? And so I want you to really understand what a one world religious system looked like that is anti God. Christianity today is still like the leading religion in the world. And Islam I know is right there with it and that kind of thing, but but my point is, is that like most of Christianity, the way that we understand it, I mean, especially us who live in what we call the Bible Belt. There's a church on every street.
Like within 10 miles here, there are tons of like-minded churches. Like, you got to understand that during the tribulation period, a lot of that is going to be silenced because if most of them are going to be raptured out, right? And then hopefully, all the pastors at least will be right, you know? And so hopefully their churches will not be full on the first Sunday after the rapture of the church. And so, like, they're going to be raptured out of here.
And then, also, anyone who accepts Christ during that time frame is going to be martyred for their faith, pretty much, or, you know, like because the system is going to build themselves off the blood of the saints. And so, there's going to be Christians dying all over and that kind of thing. And so, it's going to be so quiet, Christianity is going to be. That's why a one-world religious system that is anti-God is very prevalent. It can happen when you wipe Christians off the face of the earth.
And so everyone in the world is going to worship. The Antichrist, and they are going to follow this political system that He appoints. The next thing, what you saw in chapter 17, the Babylonian system, it's represented. as a harlot in chapter number 17. And you say, why in the world?
Well, I think you need to understand that the Bible talks a lot about sin being spiritual adultery. And the reason is, is because you and I were created to love God. And to only love God. And out of that love for God comes a total obedience and total devotion to him. And when you become devoted to anything else other than God.
You. have committed spiritual adultery. And that's why this Babylonian system, both politically and religiously, is called a harlot in chapter 17 because. It is showing that this system is built upon spiritual. Adultery.
Now, there's a couple more things I want to show you from chapter 17 just that we'll review, okay? And it'll be up on the screen. You can kind of follow along. It's on your notes, too. In chapter 17, 1 and 15, it said that the harlot was sitting upon many waters.
In other words, what that means or what that depicts is that the Babylonian system, so that's representative of the word she, that's the harlot, that the harlot represented. She will have global influence. Around the globe.
Okay. In verse 2 of chapter 17, we saw this verse: The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk. With the wine of her fornication. What that means is that she represents the Babylonian system that's represented in chapters 17 and 18. It represents a false religion.
In other words, the system has committed spiritual adultery. Against the once your god. Verse three of chapter seventeen said this phrase She sits upon a scarlet-colored beast. It's the Antichrist. And so, what we learn from this Babylonian system is that it rose to prominence.
with the Antichrist. In verse 4 of chapter 17, it described her as arrayed in purple and scarlet color. and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. The Babylonian system was associated with wealth. And royalty.
In verse 6, it described it as this: that she was drunk with the blood of the saints. The Babylonian system, meaning she built her kingdom through the violence of believers. You guys still with me? In verses 9 and 10 of chapter 17, it said this phrase: She sits on seven mountains. And that shows us, because they represented different empires that we looked at last week, that she is associated with a political system, this political system of these different empires that are going to rule the world.
And then in verses 16 and 17 of chapter 17, we learn that the kingdoms around. will give their power over to the Antichrist. To rule and to reign.
So, what's going to happen? It said at the end of chapter 17, is that remember, during the tribulation period, and I don't understand how all this is going to work.
So, don't come up to me afterwards and say, How is this going to happen? I can't tell you that, but I can tell you how you won't be here to see it happen, okay? And so, but here's what I'm going to tell you: that the world's going to be divided, and the Old Testament prophets talk a lot about this. That the world's going to be divided into ten empires. And you can read a lot of Daniel and different prophets in the Old Testament that talk about stuff like this.
And I don't understand it, but it's described as a beast with these ten horns. And out of the ten horns comes the one horn, which is signified by the Antichrist. He's going to come out, and all these other empires around the world are going to have authority and power. For a very short window of time. And then they're going to give all their power that they had in the world over to the Antichrist to completely rule by himself the world.
at that point. And so that's what verses 16 and 17 are going to be. And what we learn in chapter 17 is that this religious system that the Antichrist institutes that is represented by Babylon and that kind of thing. It it falls. And that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, will overcome it.
If you're thankful for that, can you say amen tonight? Hey, listen, I know you're tired here tonight, but there's a few things about God's word that sometimes we need to get a little excited about, and we need to say amen every now and then and agree to it, all right? And so there's some good things. When we say that Christ is going to overcome this system, that is something we should be excited about, okay? And then that leads us straight into chapter number.
18, which is talking about the political side of the Babylonian fall. And so I want to show you first the nature. Of the Babylonian fall, the nature of the Babylonian fall here.
So let's read verses one through eight. And here's what I'm going to tell you. We didn't put it up on the screen here tonight, so you can follow along with us in your Bible here this evening.
So, Revelation 18, verses 1 through 8, here's what it says. And after these things, I saw another... Angel.
So remember, John, from the beginning, he's been getting these clusters of visions.
Okay. One vision after another. And he sees another angel, which is the Greek phrase allos. Which means of the same kind.
So, what's it likening to the other angel we saw in chapter 17?
So now he's going to get this other vision from this other angel who comes down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. With whose glory? The angel. You say, why did the angel, why was the angel bright? Here's what I'll tell you.
When you've been in the presence of God and you leave the presence of God, that will illuminate from you. And so the angel comes down from heaven, being in the presence of God, and now is dispatched down to the earth to give John this vision. And when this angel comes down, it is lightened with his glory. In verse 2, he cried mightily with a strong voice. Loud and clear, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.
And it has become the habitation of devils. and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean. And hateful. Birds. Verse 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, basically her luxuries, if you would. Verse 4, and I heard another voice from heaven. saying, come out of her, my people. That ye be not partakers of her sins.
and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 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. Verse 7.
How much she hath glorified herself and live 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. 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.
So, in these eight verses, you see the nature of the Babylonian fall or the political side, this economical system that is going to fall, that the Antichrist had been leading. You see this in a couple ways. What's it going to look like?
Well, he describes it. John, from this vision from the angel, describes it very clearly to us. In verse 2, you see this, it's on your notes. Babylon will become Desolate. Come empty.
You see that with its destruction It is now nothing more than a home for demons. Unclean spirits. and unclean animals. Completely Desolate. And empty.
Scott Duvall in his commentary said this: Babylon will become a desolate, demonic wasteland. Completely, listen to this, devoid. of image of God life. is what is coming to to Babylon. He's going to write about the future destruction, but this is kind of how he starts with what this angel is showing him.
The second thing you see about the nature of the Babylonian fall is this: Babylon will be judged. For its materialism. In verse 3 You see, 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. The merchants of the earth are waxed rich. Through the abundance of her delicacies, her luxuries, if you would.
And, you know, Babylon was known for its wealth. And for its riches, they were what we were calling would call, they were pretty stuck on themselves. And they were rich. And they were proud of it. And what you get here by this You know, talking about their fornication.
Um with this system. What John is seeing. Is that anti-God, this anti-God system. Has had almost this love affair, if you would, with the world. And with the things of the world.
And it is idolatry. We know idolatry is anything that takes the place of God. You see, God is supposed to be at the center of our hearts. That's the reason why any of us were created: to worship Him and Him alone, and Him to be the center of our heart. But what happens is, mankind put pride.
And prestige and these things on the center of their heart. And when sin entered into the world, sin passed upon all men. And so men that are born and women that are born into this world are born with a sin nature and a desire To love creation. More than the Creator. And so, what you're seeing here with his description of the destruction and fall and complete desolation of this Babylonian system.
is it's showing That a life That loves the world. will one day come to an end. It will have an end. And it will be completely... destroyed.
You see, what you see here is that these people... That were living in this day, that were following the system, they loved the system. Like Like they loved the system. They worshipped the system. They cherished.
The system. I mean, they wanted more stuff. They were all about accumulating more and trying to get as more as they could. That was the system. And everything that they were supposed to find in God, they looked to.
In the Babylonian system. And so it's going to one day be destroyed and judged for his materialism. The third thing you see in verses 4 and 5. is that the Babylonian system is sinful. And God's people are called to separate themselves from among the system.
Look at verse 4 and 5. He heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins. That's talking about the Babylonian system, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. You you see like Most Christians are gonna be, you know, d dead by this point.
And And so there's not going to be like Near as many Christians as what we see today. at least in my interpretation of what I've seen in this study. And the ones that are left, and clearly there's going to be some left when this is happening. Because in the midst of all of this. In the midst of this terrible thing that is happening in the fall and the destruction of this anti-God system comes a voice from heaven.
And by the way, the voice from heaven has been speaking since the beginning of time, telling us, come out from among Downs. And what you see in this is that as the destruction is happening, God is still shepherding and guiding. His flock Even though it appears that they're going to be few and far between, there's still going to be some there. And in the midst of this system, that the world is going to demand that you worship the Antichrist, and the world is going to demand that you have to have the mark of the beast in this political system to do business and all this kind of stuff, God is still saying, don't bow down. Don't bow down.
Come out from among them and be ye separate. And he's saying that. And by the way, that's going to happen then, but that's the voice from heaven coming out to the church today. Telling us to come out from among them and be ye separate, to love not the things of the world, but to love and be fully devoted to the things of God and live in total obedience to Him. That's the system that we were created to live by and to be governed by.
But yet, the problem is, even a lot of Christians fall in love. With creation. and materialism. and the things of the world and the system that this world has to offer. And they love those things more than they do God.
And the voice is screaming out of his mercy and grace and love, saying, Come out. from among them. That's what he's saying. And so you see that happening here. The next thing you see in verses 6 through 8 is that Babylon will be judged by God.
For her pride In verses six through eight. You see this. I'll just read it again for you. Reward her, even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works. And um And the cup which she hath filled filled to her double.
How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her. For listening to what she said.
Now, this is the system. Babylon is what this harlot has represented. She saith in her heart, I sit a queen. And am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Neither 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.
Listen, Babylon will be judged by God for her pride. She's sitting there arrogantly, she considered herself a queen. And she glorified herself. and sat in her pride. And one day.
Strong. is the Lord. that will completely destroy. that system. That prideful system.
that has been in the heart of man ever since the garden. When Eve said, You know, if I take of this tree. I I'm going to be like God. You see, pride is the strongest enemy. Or the strongest tool of the enemy.
And that's what he's done from the beginning of time. He's been saying, hey, listen. You're you're something, right? You're something. We sit a queen.
And what you see in this system is that this system is stuck on themselves. This system thinks that they are it. This system is arrogant. This system is prideful. In one day.
Strong is the Lord. That will forever judge her. That's the nature. of the Babylonian system. that will one day fall.
But in verses 9 through 19, You see something that should absolutely break your heart. We're going to see the morning. of the Babylonian fall. The morning of the Babylonian Fall. In verse 9, It says this.
So think, this system's d being destroyed. It's completely desolate. It is now a home for evil spirits and demons and unclean beasts. And it has fallen. And look at the response.
And the kings of the earth, as they watched this just crumble. who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her. shall bewail her. And lament for her. when they shall see the smoke of her burning.
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep. and mourn over her. For no man buyeth their merchandise any more. The merchandise of gold, verse 12, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, souls of men, and the fruits that, verse 14, that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee.
And thou shalt find them no more at all. Verse 15. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and really crying. Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. Three more verses in this part.
For in one hour.
So great riches has come to naught. And every shipmaster. And all the company and ships and sailors and as many as trade by the sea stood afar off, and they're watching the destruction of their system that they had been a part of, that they loved, that they worship, and they had given their lives to. And they cried, verse 18, and they cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads.
and cried. weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas That great city. wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness, for in one hour. Is she made? Desolate.
In the first eight verses, you see the destruction and literally just this. You know, the city. And the system will be forever desolate. A home for demons and and just it had been completely destroyed. And the response from the Kings.
the merchants, the captains, the sailors, As they watch afar off, watching the destruction of the system that they had literally given their lives for. and that they had worshipped. and loved their response. is complete mourning. and wailing over the system's fall.
What what do we learn? From that. Here's what it is. We weep. For what we love.
And here, unfortunately. What you're seeing is in their hearts. What they love most. We weep the most for what we love the most. And what we see here is that they loved.
this system. They loved Their materialism. And just think. Even though their system, they were rich and they were wealthy and it was thriving on royalty and stuff like that, they had lived through this terrible time. Where just terrible things of God's judgment is coming to the earth, and people are dying, and all of these terrible things are happening, and they're a part of it, and they're cheering things on, all this anti-God system that they had built and that they had lived for and devoted their lives for.
And they're cheering it on. And even after everything that they had seen, and watching how it just falls and crumbles right in front of them. Their response. not repentance. But mourning over the devastation and loss.
You see, it's an ungodly system. And what You know, when I was studying this, What when we think of an ungodly system, Right. What's at the core of that? Here's what it is. When we love Something more than God.
It becomes ungodly. When we love something and we love a system and we love stuff and all these, I mean, look, you know, the gold, the silver, the stones, the pearls, the linen, the purple, the silk, the scarlet, the wood, the vessels of ivory, the, you know, the wood, the brass, the iron, the marble. Do you get the picture? It's when we love stuff and we love creation and we love created things and we love all of this stuff and all this materialism and we fall in love with it. And by the way, the Babylonian system, you think, how in the world could that world ever get there?
We're already headed there. You can see it. You can feel it. And many of us have probably experienced it. And what we see is a love for this.
And so they're mourning over all of these things. And what's sad is this, and if you want to write this down, you can. They're mourning. Their material loss. and not even thinking about their spiritual loss.
They're mourning their material loss. And they're not even thinking about the spiritual loss that they're experiencing in the midst. And here's what I'll tell you. Verse 17, it's amazing because here's the thing. is here's what what you see, for in one hour so great riches has come to naught.
You know what these people, the merchants and sailors and kings and all these people that are watching the system that they had lived for and loved and cherished, it's just falling right in front of them. And you know what they're blown away with? is the fact that everything that they built can be destroyed like that. And here's what I'll tell you. Isn't that true of us?
Isn't that true? Like, you can work all this time for one thing, and then in the moment, it's gone. And the moment it is gone, it says an hour. Which just means that, you know, it just means it can be gone like that. And that's why Jesus will tell us: don't lay up for your treasures, like earthly treasures.
Because they're going to rot and decay. And go away one day. Spend your life laying up treasure in heaven. That'll live forever. Because the things that we spend our short lives on, it's going to one day be gone, just like that.
It's going to be gone. Forever. And what they're seeing here is that the whole system, it took a long time for it to get built, and then it's going to just fall like that. And by the way, when you're up against the strong God of the universe. It doesn't take a whole lot for him to defeat.
The system. And it doesn't take long for him to defeat the system. And so, what you see here is the mourning and wailing of this, but then number three. And finally. We're going to see in verses 21 through 24, we're going to see the completion.
of the Babylonian fall. The completion of the Babylonian fall. Look at what he says in verse 21. He says. And a mighty angel.
Um Hold on, I I stopped in verse 19 verse 20 Verse 20 says, Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone. And he cast it into the sea. saying, Thus with violence shall that great city, Babylon, be thrown down. and shall be found no more at all.
That's an amen moment. I'm going to read it again. I'll give you another opportunity for that. Babylon to be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. There you go.
That's better.
Now I know that you're a Baptist. And verse 22: And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee, and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. Talk about the system. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.
For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth. Will he destroy the city or will he destroy the system? Here's what I'm going to tell you. He's going to, if the city is literally going to be rebuilt, He's going to destroy that, and he's going to destroy the system.
So it's it's both, depending on on how you view uh Babylon. What I want you to see, just a few things. They're not on your notes in terms of blanks. You can kind of jot a few things down from verses 21 to 24. But verse 22 tells us.
There will be no worship of her anymore.
So, in other words, this system that the world loved, that the world cherished, that the world worshipped and was fully devoted to. It will cease. And you see that in verse 24, and here's why. The voice of the musicians The voice of the pipers. All song and dance and excitement over the Babylonian system.
It will be forever gone. It will be forever gone. So in other words, this love for materialism. This love for creation over the Creator, this love for the worldly system that the enemy has been offering people and all of mankind since the beginning. The worship of that will be gone forever.
And that's what you see in verse 22. Also, in verse 22, you see that the economy. will collapse. and forever be destroyed. And what you see here is that, like all craftsmen, You know all that wood and different things that they had rejoiced and boasted in?
Right. All of that's going to be done. There ain't going to be no craftsmen anymore. They're not going to be doing anything that's making or creating any of these materialism or materialistic things. That is all going to cease.
All sound of labor is going to cease at the destruction of the Babylonian system. Verse 23, you see the light. Around Babylon will never be turned on again. It says, The light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And Like, so it will forever be in darkness.
Like, there will not be light in Babylon.
So, in other words, the beauty. And the seduction of the light of Babylon will be no more. It will be completely destroyed forever. Also in verse 23. It talks about the bridegroom.
I think what that's talking about is this, is because it has likened the Babylonian system to a harlot, and it is showing us that rebellious mankind has had a love affair, if you would, with the Babylonian system. I think talking about the bridegroom tells me there will be, and this is good news, there will be no more marriage of mankind with that system again. In other words, we're not going to link up with it. We're not going to marry it. We're not going to be devoted to it.
We're not going to love it. Anymore. And then in verse 24. You see that there will be no redemption. for the Babylonian system.
And one thing that I thought was interesting. In her. was found the blood of prophets and of saints. And of all that were slain upon the earth. Remember that the Babylonian system was built upon the blood of the saints.
Literally the the martyrs The killing of those that follow Jesus and that were saved during the tribulation period. That they would kill them, and that was how this system was built. And in her, as she's fallen, was found the blood of those prophets and saints. That we had seen. Unfortunately, she knows blood.
because she was built upon the murder of saints. But unfortunately, the Babylonian system did not know. the only blood that could ever save them. out of the system that they were in. And so you see the destruction here as we close in chapter number eighteen.
And I wanted to read a verse for you. That I thought would be a fitting closing from Second Thessalonians, Paul's writing. And he's writing about the Antichrist. And early on, when we learned about the Antichrist in our study, we looked at his letter to the church at Thessalonica a little bit because he talks about the Antichrist. And so we looked at the descriptions that he mentioned and things like that.
And he calls the Antichrist. And in 2 Thessalonians, he calls him the wicked one. And he talks about it. And he actually references The destruction that one day the Antichrist will experience. What is represented here in chapter 17 and 18 specifically?
And I wanted to share this. I thought this would be a fitting way for us to end our time together tonight about the tribulation period. It says in verse 8 of 2 Thessalonians 2. He says, and then... Shall that wicked, that's the Antichrist, Be revealed.
Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. and shall destroy With the brightness of his coming. Here's what I'm going to tell you. At the end of the tribulation period, these seven years, and by the way, like I'm kind of I've been emotional about this verse all day. And the reason is, is because I've been so deep into the tribulation period.
And I've enjoyed the study aspect of it, but that's about the heaviest passages of scripture that I've ever preached, right? And we've been in it for months, the tribulation, all the way from chapter 6, all the way to tonight. And we've looked at just this terrible, terrible stuff. That's going to happen on Earth. And the wicked that he's talking about here in Second Thessalonians is talking about the Antichrist.
Which the entire Babylonian system was built upon. And what he will be destroyed with. Not necessarily swords. Not spears. Not guns.
He's going to be destroyed. By the breath. The spirit of his mouth. And when God speaks. The system crumbles.
When God talks, the system crumbles forever. and evermore, and it will not be. And what Paul is saying here, I think, is a reference to how. How like at the end of the system Right. Darkness, I mean, it says that the light, the candle, you know, let me read it again.
The light of the candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And if the story ended there. It would be just a bad, right? Like, there's gotta be something else. There's got to be light and darkness because if you remember at the beginning of time, The world was dark, and so God spoke, and all of a sudden, light came into the world.
And when the world gets dark, there's always light. And what you see here is as the world is dark, and darkness is going to cover the Babylonian system. And then Paul just happens to close. That's why I think it's a direct reference to chapter 18. Because Paul says It shall be destroyed.
That system with the brightness. of his coming. Because next week... It's chapters 19. In chapter 19, is the second coming of Christ.
And so, what I'm telling you is at the end of the tribulation period, as the Babylonian system, both religiously and politically, crumbles and falls to the ground forever. And it is dark. And no light in that system is going to shine. But here's what I'm going to tell you: the world will not be in darkness for long because. The light is coming.
And Christ is coming back forever to set up. His millennial reign. on the earth. Where he Not the Antichrist, but he, Christ. The light of the world will forever And ever.
Rule and reign. over all things. The returning king. is coming. Mm-hmm.
