Mary Fairchild
The following is based on the phonetic writing of the expository teaching tapes of Pastor Jim Mooberry.
Chapter 16 closed with all the cities of the world being destroyed and the nations were engaged in this great battle called Armageddon that was to trigger the personal return of Jesus Christ in glory. Chapter 19 will describe this coming of Christ in glory. In chapter 17 and 18 there is a parenthetical description of the destruction of Babylon the great, the city of Satan, the last great empire of rebellion.
The Babylon of the last days prior to the coming of Christ, we are led to believe, is again Rome. It is a world kingdom but it is manifested in its capitol of Rome. Daniel spoke about that in two of the visions he interpreted. So as in the apostle John’s days, so in the last days, there will be this revival of Rome (vs. 18). The Holy Spirit applies, spiritually, this name to an actual locality. In chapter 11:8, where the two
witnesses where killed, their bodies were left unburied in Jerusalem. God says because of their unfaithfulness he sees them as Sodom and Egypt and He calls them that in a mystical terminology. In chapters 17 and 18 we see the mystery of Babylon the Great and it is applied to this final manifestation of Rome. Chapter 17:10 also told us that this beast of a kingdom has been dominated by this harlot but so have six others. Each one of those six were world kingdoms that oppressed Israel and that’s why they are important to God.
Just as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, Jesus said, so Rome will come in the spirit and power of Babylon. It will be the great manifestation again, worldwide of the kingdom of darkness. The Babylonian mystical system was ruling as a spiritual force until about the 5th century when Rome began to disintegrate (was never actually completely destroyed). That particular world empire and system has not been around. The harlot has been in the world and it is still seen in the great religions of the world, but this manifestation of a kingdom that rules the world, especially Israel, has not been there. God tells us that in the last days it will begin to reform. Israel is reforming in the world today. It is preparing for the final judgment and so is this great kingdom who is preparing to disappear from the earth when Christ comes.
Rev. 18:2 tells us that Babylon the great is infested with demons and unclean birds. Unclean birds are symbolic of unclean spirits in the Scripture. As Jesus looks at the church it will progress into something called Christendom where there is the demonic as well as the divine. Christianity is those who are true believers in Christ who are God’s children. Christendom are all of those who profess to know Christ but not necessarily are His children. In Matthew 13:4 the sower sowed some seeds that fell beside the road and birds came and devoured them.
Later Jesus says it is the demons who come and take the Word from the heart so they cannot be productive. In verse 32 He says that this plant that is going to be planted is smaller than all of the other seeds but when it is fully grown it is larger than the other garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and nest in its branches. This is Christendom. Even today in those denominations that profess to be Christian, yet we see the demonic just as the Lord predicted would occur. That whole body called Christendom will go all the way into the Babylonian system once the true church is removed because all that will be left is the demonic.
A voice from heaven directs. The church is gone at this time. It has been taken up to heaven in the rapture. These are the people of God that are on the earth at that time, especially Israel. In Deuteronomy, 3,500 years ago, Moses made a prophecy concerning Israel that stretched all the way to the latter days to the end before Christ could return. In Deuteronomy 4 Says God is going to scatter them about the nations. That has occurred for the last 2,000 years because of their rejection of the Messiah. The Holy Spirit through Moses said that in the last days you will hear the voice of God and you will seek for Him and I will not destroy you with the rest in the judgment that I will bring upon the earth.
The children of God are always to be separated from this world. What are you living for today? Who are you living for? Jesus warns us in Matthew 10. He said that because of His coming that men and women who come to Him to be His disciples will experience rejection, even in their own household. There will be fathers and mothers who are still part of the kingdom of Satan who will not accept those who are a part of the kingdom of God and will persecute them. He says a principle to us in vs. 37, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life shall lose it. He who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.” Nothing can be more important than God in your life.
In vs. 6-8 this is the law of retribution. God is going to repay Babylon for every evil thing they did, double. This will begin with the purge that the beast and the ten kings are going to undergo in the destruction of the world religious system. It throws the world into chaos and escalates through war and the final battle of Armageddon will be the final destruction of this whole kingdom. In one hour the city is laid waste. The judgment of God will always come suddenly and with finality.
WORKS CITED
- Revelation and Church History
- Church Age
- “THE JUDGEMENT OF BABYLON THE GREAT,” Revelation 18:1-24, #JMREV33; The Faithful Word. Pastor Jim Mooberry