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3/11/16

Babylon's doom is total, impacting the whole world

Revelation 18
AIM: Where you put your treasure is where your heart is

Rev 18:1-8 A) Angles pronounce verdict, damages sentence of Babylon
(1) John sees another angel from heaven, great authority, earth bright with his splendor

  • nuclear 
(2) Shouts "Babylon the great city is fallen, become a home for demons, impure spirits, unclean bird/detestable animals...
  • Demons/Impure spirits (Matthew 10:1;12:43; Mark 1:26-27;5:1-20; Luke 4:36; 6:18;Acts 5:16;8:7) (verses)
  • Demons submit to the name of Jesus, even from false converts (Matthew 7:21-23)
  • Jesus gave special authority to his twelve disciples to drive out impure spirits, healing every disease for the 'lost sheep of Israel - not the gentiles (Matthew 10:1-8), Mark 6:12, they preached that people should repent
  • Detestable animals to us; rodents, voles, bats, snakes, vultures, in the Bible Detestable to God often refers to pagan customs and idolatry (verses) Proverbs 6:16-19, person who stirs up conflict in the community
(3) ...All nations drank maddening wine of passionate/immoral/adulteries - world kings committed adultery with her, her desires for extravagant luxury made merchants of world grow rich"

(4) Another voice from heaven, says "come out of her my people" Jer 51:6-10,17-18,45-48
  • so you don't take part/share in her sins or you'll be punished with her
  • (5) her sins are piled high as heaven, God remembers her crimes
  • (6) Give back to her what she's done to others (Golden rule), her cup of terror
  • (7) She glorified herself, lived in luxury - match it with torment and sorrow
    • Boastful heart (God knows our heart, out of it the mouth speaks)
  • (8)Therefore one single day death, mourning, famine, consumed by fire, mighty Lord God who judges her
Application: How am I using my time, talent and treasure? What is God wanting me to change to warn God's people to "come out of her"?


Rev 18:9-20 B) Shareholders, marketers and employees mourn for doom of Babylon on behalf of God's people
(9) Shareholders: Kings who committed adultery/shared in her luxury mourn while seeing smoke rise from charred remains, (10) terrified by her torment stand far off crying "woe! woe! one hour/single moment doom has come!"
(11) Marketers: merchants of earth, no one left to buy good (12) like the Galleria Tiffany's (gold, silver, jewels) Kate Spade, Coach (fine linen, silk) Pottery Barn (expensive wood, bronze, iron, marble) (13) stop at Cosco for some mass quantities of olive oil, then Burnsville car dealerships for "horses and wagons" and servants to do every type of work.
  • (14-15) Eulogy: fruit you longed for is gone, luxury, splendor have vanished forever. Funeral guilty gang far off (merchants who sold these things) terrified at her torment, weep and mourn
  • (16-17a) Woe, Woe! like the kings (in verse 10) the merchants mourn for the city that's ruined in a moment
(17b) Employees: all the captains of merchant ships, passengers (I've worked with people like these), sailors and crews stand at a distance
  • (18) cry out as smoke ascends, where is another city great as this? (19) weep, throw dust on heads (new more important than in 10, 17a) Woe! Woe! all who had ships became rich through her wealth in a moment/hour brought to ruin
  • (20) Rejoice people of God, apostles, prophets, God has judged her for your sakes
Application: The world categorizes people as Shareholder, Consumer and employee - God's people are categorized as his children, ambassador, apostle, prophet and evangelist. How does my life-style reflect who I am? What would God ask me to change this week to reflect my identity as his son?

Rev 18:21-24 C) Babylon will never recover from this fast and total destruction
(21) a mighty angel picked up a boulder/huge millstone into ocean shouted, "just like this- Great city will Babylon will be thrown down with violence, never found again
  • (22) no more music, no craftsmen/worker/trade/factory sounds (23) no lights, happy couples, great merchants deceived nations (lead astray) with sorceries (24) Streets flowed with blood of the prophets and God's holy people and blood of people slaughtered all over the world"
Application: (2 Peter 3, 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming...