Revelation 18

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel.

And it's my great joy and privilege to be taking us through chapter 18 of the last book in the Bible, the book we call Revelation.

Same word means apocalypse.

And it indeed is a sort of a combination of apocalyptic literature, prophetic literature, and it's also a letter.

And it was originally circulated at these seven churches over in Asia Minor, the area we call Turkey today.

And written by John the Apostle while he was imprisoned for his faith, not for being a bad guy, but for just believing that Jesus is Lord.

And he was in prison on the Isle of Patmos.

And then this letter revealed to him, and the terms of conveyance are right there in Revelation chapter one.

You can go back and read it yourself.

But God giving it to Jesus, Jesus entrusting it to an angel, an angel speaking to John, so that John would give it to the saints, the followers, by extension, us.

And so here we are recipients of this uh amazing book.

And I know some have read Revelation and found it just mind-blowing and maybe uh in some ways uh scary, but it's not meant to make us worry about the future at all.

It's meant to uh drive us to our knees in wonder and worship of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ Himself.

Uh what a delight this has been and continues to be for the next few months.

Here we find not a reason to worry, like I said, but overwhelming evidence that Jesus is worthy of our worship and uh great hope.

And that's one of the reasons we call this study the hope of glory, is because that's where all of this is leading.

God intends to wrap up human history one day and to set all things right.

And we all certainly um understand, even in our little slice of space-time history, we all understand this world needs to be set right.

There's a lot about it that's broken and gone wrong.

Some of that's in my heart, some of that is in your heart.

And so we need a redeemer, we need outside help, and the the great news is that Jesus has come, and Jesus intends to come again.

He's come the first time to establish his kingdom, to inaugurate it, if you will.

And when he comes back the second time, he intends to set everything right.

And so we're really looking forward to it.

Chapter 18 is a part of that, and it's a part of sweeping out the house a little bit.

Uh, some would call this the chapter, in summary, it's the destruction of Babylon.

Now, the verb tenses in this chapter, I want to tell you, uh, include both, you know, all of them past, present, and future.

And it really kind of reveals the persistent habit of humanity's prideful wickedness in the past and in the present, and until he comes again to finish things up and to set things right.

Uh, so it it sort of reveals with those tenses, anyway, what's been going on, what is going on, what will go on until he returns.

But also it points us forward to the ultimate triumph of God over evil.

And so, yes, past, present, and future tenses.

The final destruction of the ancient pagan city or the kingdom uh of Babylon echoes all the way back to 539 BC, uh, quite a while ago.

But there are um certain reflections of Babylon.

And it's Babylon is is mentioned uh second, it's the most often mentioned city in the Bible, second only to Jerusalem.

And uh it's used as sort of a uh a metaphor, if you will, of uh of the world as it sets itself against God, against God and God's ways, against allowing God to be God.

It's the world um runoff on its own, attempting to be self-sufficient and autonomous.

And so here what we have is the story, the big story told in very apocalyptic prophetic and in this letter form that will be circulated.

And we're meant to see because of all of its amazing images, uh, we're meant to see not just a jigsaw puzzle that we're supposed to put together, not just a numerical code we're supposed to crack where the burden's on us in both cases.

No, we're meant to see in a bunch of different angles and from a bunch of different perspectives, you know, the seven seals, seven trumpets, and the, you know, and the and the seven bowls or cups of wrath, if you will, all of these are telling the same story over and over again from a bunch of different perspectives so that we might get it.

Now, what are we going to learn here in chapter 18 before I read it?

And I'm gonna try to read it without stopping very often, but it's good for you to know as we enter the chapter that Babylon represents all those who seek flourishing and fulfillment apart from God, okay?

Um, it's sort of the the worshiping at the altar of autonomy, as I've said.

Uh, it is all about self, self-sufficiency, self-dification.

And whether you're talking about the beast or or or the great prostitute that we studied last week, or you're talking about the city of Babylon itself, they all seem to reflect the same disposition of heart against God and against God's salvation and against God's savior.

Um, so it cuts uh it cuts right through all the images that we might have of ourselves, all the delusion we might have of ourselves as basically all good people.

No, it kind of tells us the truth about the way things really are in this world and how we need a redeemer and how we need outside help and how God has generously provided that.

Um, our creator, the very source of life and truth, and all goodness uh has come to rescue us, to rescue you, to rescue me.

And so we turn instead of to the sort of stagnant, poisonous feast of self-absorption, we turn away from ourselves, we repent basically and turn toward God in faith and hope, believing.

But I'm gonna get ahead of myself.

Let's take a look at chapter 18 together.

Get your Bible out or swipe there on your device.

This thing is chalked full with uh lot lots of literary devices, like there are several triplets that you'll see.

I'll try to point them out along the way.

Um, but there is uh, you know, uh great allusions to the Old Testament.

You'll see echoes, if you will, of Isaiah 13 and 14, of Jeremiah 50 and 51, of Ezekiel uh 26 and 27.

And as we've said before about Revelation, it's almost as if John knew this book was going to be last in the canon because he he literally makes some kind of uh comment that reflects back into all the other 65 books of the Bible.

So it's God's final word to us, and it's a word of great hope.

It's the hope of glory.

So here's where John is in the heavenly realm, and he's got all he's he's seeing all of these visions that the Lord is granting to him of the of what's what's going to happen and uh and and what we can count on and trust in when it comes to our God.

For the first century reader, man, they would have seen Babylon as Rome all the way.

And as we read through this, I think you'll get you'll get an understanding for that.

All right, here we go.

Uh Revelation chapter 18, verse 1.

Revelation 18:1

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

And so this angel coming from the presence of God, much like Moses coming down from the mountain in the book of Exodus, you know, when he was in the presence of God and his face just was shining so brightly it scared the people.

Well, here comes an angel from the presence of God, and he illumined the entire earth with his glory.

And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

There's your first set of three things.

Babylon is fallen, and she's crumbled literally, because she's become a dwelling place or a home, if you will, to demons, a prison of unclean spirits, a prison, if you will, of every unclean and hateful bird.

And so here's this angel with volume that's magnificent, with brilliance, the light that's illumining the entire earth, and with content that's significant.

Pronouncing, declaring, if you will, that Babylon, the system of trying to live apart from God as if God doesn't matter, rejecting, resisting God.

That system of attempting to live our lives only leads to destruction.

Verse three, another set of three.

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, meaning Babylon, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.

And so you have the kings.

Um, and you have the merchants, you know, and you have the nations, and so you have all three of those.

And then you have these egregious dispositions of heart where they've been attracted to, seduced by, if you will, the immorality of Babylon, of life without and apart from God.

Um, I heard another voice, verse four, from heaven saying, and here's another, this is just such a beautiful uh verse because it too has a set of three.

Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins, and that you may not receive her plague.

So come out, number one, my people, come out of Babylon, come out from that way of thinking, from that way of being, from that way of doing, from that way of conducting your lives, from that way of disposition of your heart.

Come out from that, my people.

See, God's people are meant to be separate and apart, not necessarily just to withdraw physically, but to not participate, as it says right here, in the sins of Babylon.

Described here as rejecting God, resisting God, um, running toward idolatry and immorality.

And it's interesting how throughout the book of Revelation, those two uh idolatry and immorality seem to go together.

When you're worshiping the wrong God, you'll end up doing the wrong things because you'll value the wrong things, you'll desire the wrong things, your affections will be redirected to the wrong things.

Wow.

This is really interesting, isn't it?

Verse 4 Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins, that you may not receive her plagues.

For her sins have piled up, verse five says, as high as heaven.

And that's a well, that certainly makes us remember the tower of Babel.

They were trying to, you know, back in Genesis, they were trying to build for themselves a city and a name and a tower, and the tower would reach up to the heavens.

And so here, you know, uh this angel speaking to John, uh uh reminding John that God has called his people to come out and be separate.

Hmm.

Because Babylon, the the way of thinking apart from God is simply piling up your sins high.

And God has remembered her iniquities.

God has remembered Babylon's iniquities.

Okay.

Pay her back even as she has paid, and give her back her double according to her deeds in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.

Another triplet, this time about the amount or level or comprehensive nature of God's judgment against Babylon for Babylon's sinfulness, to the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously to the same degree, give her torment and mourning.

Verse 7.

For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, I'm not a widow, and will never see mourning.

M-O-U-R-N-I-N-G.

In other words, I'll never be sorry about this.

And she can claim that, she can claim all of those things about herself, but she's exhibiting the arrogance of autonomy, uh, the the delusion of demonic thinking.

And uh she thinks of herself as a queen, she thinks of herself um as as not a widow, she's no victim.

She's and and it's just every bit of sort of all about self-sufficiency and denial of any kind of need whatsoever.

I'll never see any kind of mourning or weeping.

I'll never be sorry for that.

Verse 8, for this reason, in one day, and you got to notice these, the bre the sort of references to a short amount of time.

For this reason, in one day, her plagues will come.

Pestilence, mourning, and famine.

There's another triplet: pestilence, mourning, and famine.

And she will be burned up with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

And the kings of the earth who committed acts of immorality and live sensuously with her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

And we read a little bit about that in the last chapter, how the forces of evil literally turn in on each other.

And um, and they literally take the great prostitute.

And she's adorned herself beautifully and worn all kinds of luxurious clothing because on the outside she wants to look like a queen.

And yet, uh, the way the forces of evil work, there are no friendships among them.

There will be no friends in hell.

Yeah.

And so here, the kings of the earth who committed acts of immorality and live sensuously with her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

And that's again a reference to the last chapter when they literally burned the carcass of the great prostitute, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment.

And then the the all of these kings of the earth will say this.

Verse 10 says, Whoa, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong city, for in one hour your judgment has come.

In other words, they're gonna be shocked that this happened.

They're gonna see it happening, but they're gonna be shocked by it, and how sudden it was and how comprehensive it is.

In one hour, has been said now.

In one day and in one hour in verse 10 here, verse 11.

The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her.

And typically in this section of Revelation, when it says of the earth, it means of the earth, uh, the unbelievers in the earth, those who have not turned toward God, toward Christ, to worship the Lamb of God that was slain, who lives again and reigns forever.

But they've been beguiled, they've been seduced by Babylon, they've been seduced by this city of self-sufficiency and at odds with God.

Will the merchants, the ones who dealt in that sort of stuff, the merchants of the earth, weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore.

And in verses 12 to 13, there will be a list like I've never seen before in the Bible, 29 commodities.

Yeah, 29 different commodities that Babylon bragged about and and and dealt in.

Catch this, watch.

Cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, every kind of citron wood, and every article of ivory, and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.

As it describes this world so caught up in itself at climaxes, in the way that it has begun to look at human persons, human souls, as nothing more than commodities.

As if anyone has a right to do that.

There were said to be 60 million slaves in the Roman Empire.

You know, in our own day and time, it's been estimated they're about half that number, 30 million caught up in human trafficking.

It's a scourge.

Um the fruit you long for has gone from you, Babylon, and all your merchants and all your kings, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you, and men will no longer find them.

The merchants of these things who became rich from her will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping, and mourning.

And again, another triplet: torment, weeping, and mourning.

And remember, Babylon's the one that said, I'm a queen, I'll I'll never mourn.

I'll never, and yet here she is weeping.

And the merchants, verse 16, will say, Whoa, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls.

For in one hour, there it is again, how sudden, how swift the judgment of God will come.

For in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste, and every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and people literally in shock and horror will be standing back, they can't believe their eyes, just like they would have in the first century thought of how could Rome possibly fall?

And just like we in our own day and time might think to ourselves, how could this city or that city possibly fall?

How could this industry or that industry possibly fail and fall?

And yet we see a hint of it even in our own time, don't we?

How fragile we really are.

They were crying out as they stood at a distance, verse 18 says, as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?

And they threw dust on their heads and they were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, Whoa, whoa, the great city in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste.

Remember, whenever he repeats something like this, it's a significant thing.

He's trying to convey something to us.

Sudden, swift will be the judgment of God.

Verse 20 is such a relief.

Verse 20 is uh is an interesting shift, right?

Look at verse 20.

Rejoice over her, O heaven.

And you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.

I'll get back to that in just a second.

Seems odd that that would stick out there right in the middle of all this, right?

Yeah.

Verse 21 and a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer.

Oh.

So you've thrown a rock into the water before.

We've stood on the edge of a lake.

I stood by the edge of the Sea of Galilee myself, picked up stones and threw them, trying to skim them along the top of the water.

Now, this is nothing like that.

This is a great and a mighty strong angel from heaven taking a millstone, one that was used to grind grain, would have weighed huge amounts.

I mean, just a giant bowl of throws it.

And when it hits the water, he's not trying to skip it across the top of the ocean.

He's trying to sink it and it goes and Babylon disappears as fast as a stone, a millstone sinking into the sea like that.

Wow.

And that's interesting in verses 21 through 23.

Different times.

There'll be some phrase never or again.

And it'll be about the permanence of the removal, the judgment, if you will, of God against Babylon and the removal of all that Babylon attempted to be on its own in its self-sufficiency.

Watch this.

Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer, the whole city.

The sound of its harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer.

That's the second time any longer has been said.

And no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer.

And the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer.

Wow.

And the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer.

And the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer.

For your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.

Again, the judgment is being declared or proclaimed against Babylon.

In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.

And so the truth is revealed.

As successful on a material level as Babylon was, as great as it was esteemed by all of the people of the earth, all the non-believers.

And within it, as it was as it was being destroyed, it was revealed that the blood of the prophets and saints and all who have been slain on the earth were within it.

So wow, what a chapter.

Wow.

Well, let me just put up there a little bit on the screen, a little bit of an outline for us here.

First, the pronouncement of Babylon's doom in verses one through three for its idolatry and its immorality, which are highlighted and featured there in verses one through three.

Four uh for verse four.

Secondly, this call to holiness for God's people.

Um, this is really, again, it's it's kind of like a bright spot in the middle of what could otherwise be dark.

But here's what God is doing.

One more time, calling his people out, those who would be his people, come out from that way of living, come out of that and be separate, be mine.

Um, you may still physically be living there, but don't you can be in, but don't be of the world.

Thirdly, there's a city obsessed with the self, and we see that through verses 19 there, 5 through 19.

Fourthly, a reason for God's people to rejoice, verse 20, that brilliant and amazing verse there.

And uh sudden and certain judgment, verses 21 through 24.

So here what we're seeing, folks, is that God has proven to be patient, offering multiple calls to repentance.

Eight times in the seven letters that we find to the seven churches, and those were in chapters two and three, eight different times God's people were called to repentance.

Come out, turn around, come back to me, right?

And so judgment indeed begins with the house of God.

Revelation stays true to that principle.

Yeah.

But later in chapter 9, verses 20 and 21, and here in chapter, or rather in chapter 16, verse 9 and verse 11, those two chapters, chapter 6 and chapter 16, four more times we're told that the non-believing people of the earth were given a chance to repent.

And we're told explicitly there in chapters 9 and 16, they did not repent.

You can look that up yourself.

We're just told it's very clear there.

What was their response?

No, God.

So, God, the God of heaven, the God of the scriptures, repeatedly offering an opportunity that was repeatedly resisted, rejected, and refused.

And I hope that does not describe the disposition of your heart or my heart in any given moment, that we would despise God, that we would despise his kindness and his offer of salvation and redemption.

But that we would be seized by his great affection and be lavished by his grace in such a way that we turn to him once again for mercy, for forgiveness of our sins, for the hope and the healing that he has to offer to us.

Revelation reminds us that if evil were allowed to flourish and it was never brought to justice, then there could not be a good or moral lawgiver at the center of the universe.

Revelation 18 teaches us that God's triumph over evil will be swift and scrupulous.

It is a fed accompli.

All of Babylon's corrupted culture, commerce, craft, and celebrations will be shut down suddenly.

The symbol of its finality is at the end there, where the lights of Babylon are literally turned off.

Never again to come back on.

It is sudden and final.

In one day, in one hour, we're told.

God's righteous judgment against all of those who are at odds with God, Babylon, will be sudden and final, never again to be seen.

And we've been saying this over and over again.

Scotty said it, Tommy said it, I've said it multiple times.

The Bible tells us, and this is good news, folks, Revelation, it puts it in all capital letters.

Evil has an expiration date.

And for that, we should rejoice, as verse 20 says.

We should rejoice.

Just like Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19.

Um, Babylon's wickedness was undeniable.

So too, God's judgment will be sudden and thorough, just like fire and brimstone falling out of the sky.

But here it's described a little bit differently to us.

But nonetheless, it's God who is the one doing it, and he's putting an end to evil.

This is indeed sober, especially if you're a citizen of the city of the system of Babylon.

But why would you want to stay there when you're hearing this?

Why wouldn't you want to become a citizen of the city of God, the unshakable city of God?

The invitation is for you, the invitation is for me.

Revelation 18 calls for two responses from God's people.

One, come out of Babylon, come out from among them.

Don't think like them, don't live like them, don't have your heart turned away from God like them.

Oh, yeah.

As I say, holiness means to be set apart.

Um, and the time has come for us to not just adopt the ways of the world around us as it lives and thinks and acts apart from God.

It's not a call to withdraw from country, commerce, creativity, or productivity.

The Bible teaches us that we are in the world, but not of it.

Jesus, like him, he came into the world with a mission and a message.

And just like Jesus, we're being called to lay down our lives in service to God, which the people of Babylon would not do.

The people of Babylon, they want to demand their own way.

They want to be their own gods.

It's all about self-dification.

They want to create themselves and satisfy themselves in every way they can.

And folks, you just weren't designed to bear that burden, neither was I.

None of us were.

See, we're creatures created by an all-loving God.

And we've turned and gone the other way.

That's what sin is, rebelled against God.

And he's calling us home to himself.

And he's made it possible for us to return to him by the finished work of Christ on the cross.

And he bids you come and believe and trust in him.

And there are good reasons for that.

As Matthew Henry said, it's dangerous to be found in the company of God's enemies.

It's our duty and interest to come out from among them, lest we share in their sins and in their plagues.

Today might be the day you make your move and surrender to Christ, to hear his call, to come to him, to belong to him, to give yourself back to the one who gave you life in the first place.

Oh, I pray that's so.

I pray that you would come to know him if you don't.

And if you've strayed or wandered, please understand.

This is the God who, just like in the story of the prodigal son, he's the father watching from the windows.

He can't wait for you to make that one step to turn around.

And he'll come running out to you to greet you and welcome you home.

I pray that you would do that.

As sad and ruinous as the evil of this world has become described here in this chapter, verse 20 reminds us to rejoice, though, doesn't it?

Yeah.

And Proverbs 21:15 reminds us that's exactly what happens.

Proverbs 21:15

The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous.

Why?

Well, because it means God's putting an end to evil.

And there's a terror to the workers of iniquity.

Wow.

Joy reminds us, C.S.

Lewis said.

It's never a possession.

It's always a desire for something longer, longer ago, or farther away, or still about to be.

And that's what I love about this chapter, you see.

We must be bold in leaving Babylon and rejoice as we repent, as we as we turn toward God, as we turn to Him in faith-believing, rejoicing in the fact that He's bringing justice to this world.

And all that is evil, He's doing away with.

See, there's cause, we're not delighting in the destruction of others.

We're not delighting in the destruction of anything.

We're delighting in the fact that God has put an end to evil and that he in his righteous judgment can be trusted with judgment.

We can't be trusted with judgment.

See, for us, it just becomes revenge.

Um with God, he has righteous judgment.

And it he's he's never capricious in his anger.

His wrath is a settled and consistent opposition to all that is evil.

And so with the saints, we answer the call to rejoice at God setting things right, vindicating his good name and vindicating our trust and hope in Jesus.

Tim Keller says, rejoicing and repentance must go together.

Rejoicing without rep or repentance without rejoicing will lead to despair.

Rejoicing without repentance is shallow and will only provide passing inspiration instead of deep change.

So we must not, friends, we must not trivialize the gospel by failing to hold these two together, as Keller has said.

Rejoicing and repentance.

See, when we repent, we can rejoice.

Why?

Because we know what the response of God is to our true repentance and sincere repentance.

We know his response was he came, he died for us.

He's eager to forgive you your sins.

He's eager to forgive me my sins.

So we can come to the table of thanksgiving.

We can come, we can, we can, every single morning, his mercies are new for you, and his mercies are new for me every day.

And so we welcome those and we rejoice in his mercies being that way.

But we don't rejoice without repentance.

We don't just trivialize this.

Repentance is a way of life for us, you see.

We're constantly wanting to turn ourselves over to him.

Um, oh, every every category of our lives, whether, whether you read through these 29 uh, you know, different commodities that are listed in this chapter, or whether you think about the kings and the merchants and the people that are, you know, the the uh sailors and the and the and those who are carrying stuff around, no matter what part of the world system of Babylon you're involved in politics or commerce or or or whatever, serving others, whatever service trades, that sort of thing.

It doesn't matter.

We all need to repent, every single one of us.

Makes it real difficult for us to become boastful or, you know, full of pride.

Why?

Because the gospel humbles us, but the gospel floods us with joy too, doesn't it?

To exalt in God, John Stott says, is to rejoice, not in our privileges, but in his mercies.

Not in our possession of him, but in his of us.

I love this, yeah.

So come out of the ruin and the wreckage is the invitation.

Come out of the ruin and the wreckage of Babylon.

Come out of the destruction and the frustration of trying to live in Babylon.

Come and rejoice in the freedom of having Christ Jesus as your king.

Bowing before this one who loved you while you were yet a sinner, bowing before him.

Yeah.

Christ, um, the one who is before us, above us, Christ underneath us, Christ beside us in every single way, just lavishing us with his love, with his grace.

He who would be, you know, he who who he who would be your savior, your king, your lord.

See, that's awesome.

Here we see in Revelation 18 that the one who is going to be our judge is eager to be our savior.

And that's cause for rejoicing, folks.

Yeah.

When every earthly pleasure has failed you and frustrated you, turn to Christ.

He's the bread of life, he's the way, he's the truth, he's the life itself, the one who has the living water that you've been longing for, all of those things that you've chased after that end up not really satisfying you once you achieve them, once you acquire them, once you experience them.

They just leave you flat and wanting more.

Why?

Because they're not the living water.

Jesus is the one that has the living water.

Turn to him.

He's the only one that can satisfy you and give you unquenchable hope and inexhaustible joy.

Turn to him now.

He is waiting with open arms for you.