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Revelation Segment 14

All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. Before beginning this study, I suggest you pray and ask God to guide you through this study. I also suggest that you do you own study of this material in order to ensure its accuracy.
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John tells us about three signs or wonders. In those three signs, the word for sign and wonder is the same in the Greek. It is semeion, which is defined as a supernatural indication. Three times in the apocalypse John sees one of these signs--in 12:1, 12:3, and 15:1. In Rev 12:1,

Revelation 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

John saw the woman with a crown of twelve stars, in Rev 12:3,

Revelation 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

the great red dragon, and here in Rev 15:1, the seven vials of the wrath of God. Each of these events is called a sign. These three events are superior because of what they represent. The woman represents Israel, God's chosen people. She likewise represents the church, also God's chosen. The dragon is none other that the Devil, that old serpent. Finally the wrath of God is seen. God calls His people; Satan and his people (those who are not saved) persecute them, and God pours out wrath upon the earth because of this persecution. These three signs are a synopsis of the entire Apocalypse.

Where have we seen this sea of glass? In Revelation 4:6. It is the pavement before the Throne of God in Heaven. The ones seen on that pavement seem to specifically be those who went through the tribulation of the dragon against the saints. They overcame by not believing in Satan's lies about who he was. He appeared as Jesus Himself deceiving many. But these were not deceived. Additionally, all who have ever received salvation for their belief in Christ have overcome the wiles of the Devil. So this is a picture of all who have ever been saved. They (we) are standing before the throne of God with harps getting ready to sing.

Moses sang more than one song. The most well known song is recorded in Deuteronomy 32:1-43 . It is a prophetic song about the future apostasy of God's people Israel. The prophecy tells of their turning away from God, their punishment, and their ultimate salvation. Moses used the past tense to seemingly show that the future had happened already in the past. The meaning is that the future was set. It would be as Moses sang. This was a psalm of judgment, repentance, and salvation. Thus it has significance here.

Exodus 15:1-19 is another song that Moses sang. This is a song of deliverance and a song of the Lord's triumph over the enemies of His people. Note the similarity between Exodus 15:11 and Revelation 15:4' , in the Song of the Lamb.

It seems to me that it is more probable that we will sing the psalm in Exodus 15 than the one in Deuteronomy 32. The saints, delivered from the bondage of sin and the Devil's persecution, would more likely wish to sing a song of deliverance and triumph over Satan and the world he rules. Perhaps we will sing a song similar to the song of Moses or, perhaps we will sing the song in Exodus fifteen word for word. It is likely that it will be a song of deliverance molded after Moses' song of Exodus 15. I do not feel that the song in Deuteronomy 32 is fit for this triumphal celebration in Heaven.

The Song of the Lamb is contained in these verses. Here it is extracted and in poetic form:

Great and marvellous are thy works,
Lord God Almighty,
Just and true are thy ways,
Thou King of saints.
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
And glorify thy name?
For thou only art holy:
For all nations shall come and worship before thee;
For thy judgments are made manifest.

The Greek word rendered temple here is the naos, that is the most holy place. The entire temple including its courts is called the hieron. Only the cube in which the ark of the testimony sat is the most holy place, and that is what we see here. If we restructure the translation a bit, we could quite correctly get: "And after that I looked, and, behold, the most holy place of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." In other words, the throne was opened before John.

These angels came right out of the very Presence of God. They had the seven plagues but their appearance is one of holiness and purity.

Beast here is actually a living creature, a cherub or seraph. Remember these four living creatures? they stand before the throne of God. Read about them in Revelation 4, Isaiah 6, 37:16, and Ezekiel 1. These beasts have nothing to do with the beasts of chapter 13. These living creatures gave the seven angels seven bowls containing the wrath of God.

These bowls, φιαλας (phialas, from φιαλη, phiale, 5357) in the Greek, are either broad shallow bowls or deep saucers. Think of a gold trapping pan used by those who pan for gold. It is a broad, shallow pan from which the water is easily poured. These vials would be very similar in appearance to those pans. It would be easy for the angel to tip the pan and allow the wrath to pour out. Of course, the bowls are symbolic and not literal. God's wrath is poured out upon His enemies as easily as liquid from such a shallow bowl.

Revelation 15:8 "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled."

This is the shekina, which is the visible presence of the glory of God. The shekina filled the tabernacle immediately after Moses completed it. It filled the temple of Solomon immediately after it was completed. The glory of the LORD filled the room in which Isaiah resided when God appeared to him.

These appearances of the shekina proceeded momentous events and preceded great happenings in the Kingdom of God. After the dedication of the tabernacle, the LORD built up Israel for a reign of several hundred years. After the dedication of the temple, the Name of the LORD grew in stature among the heathen; they saw the Temple at Jerusalem as the symbol of the one true Almighty God of the universe. After the appearance of the LORD to Isaiah, he went out and made the great prophecies that pointed to the Messiah.

When the Glory of the LORD has filled the Temple in Heaven, the momentous occasion is the passing of this age of the world and the dawning of the age of Heaven. The proceeding event is the harvest of the earth, which is the gathering of the saints to their Messiah and the preceding event will be the destruction of Christ's enemies and the coming of eternity.

Revelation 16:1 "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."

This is the voice of God. The wrath of God begins. Note that the harvest of the earth has occurred as well as the vintage. The grapes of wrath are about to be trodden.

Julia Ward Howe said it far greater than I: "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes or wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His Truth is marching on! Glory! glory, hallelujah! Glory! glory, hallelujah! Glory! glory, hallelujah! Our God is marching on." This verse sums up the entire wrath of God including the grapes of wrath, the sword out of the mouth of the Lamb, and the glory of God's great victory over the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.

The first vial caused an injurious and evil ulcer to form on all those who worshipped the dragon. The sea and the waters of the earth became poisonous and many died. Symbolically, the waters and seas "are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." (Rev 17:15) Thus the symbolic meaning could be that every soul in the world died, that is they will have no chance of repentance from this point; they are spiritually dead.

The angel of the waters is the third angel that poured his vial out upon the waters. These are righteous and just judgments. They are fair. Did not an angel circumnavigate the globe presenting the Gospel to all nations, kindreds, and tongues? Everyone alive during the time of the beast will have an opportunity to repent and get right with God. It appears that most won't.

Some have compared this to ozone depletion. The earth was not created fragile as many would have us to believe. It was created to maintain itself under mighty odds. Yes, ozone is depleted cyclically, but it is also replaced. It appears to be a cyclical or perhaps an epochal event. But when the fourth vial is poured out, the sun is allowed to scorch. It will probably be from UV radiation brought on by God removing the protection of the outer atmosphere. Men still will refuse to repent.

The capital of the dragon's kingdom will receive a direct hit of the wrath of God. Where is this seat? The Bible calls it Babylon, but that is symbolic. It is Jerusalem, of course. That is were the temple is and that is where the dragon will set up his capital.

When Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians, they simply dammed the Euphrates upstream from Babylon, causing the river to dry up. Then they marched over the riverbed and conquered Babylon in one night.

Remember this subject was begun in Rev 9:15. Let me quote from Segment 9:

This allows for Satan to go and gather the nations to battle at Armageddon. The boundary that traditionally had kept the armies of the east from attacking Israel. Of course, in modern warfare, the Euphrates is no boundary to SCUD missiles, fighter and stealth fighter aircraft or modern ground warfare equipment. But in the time of the kings of Israel is was quite a good boundary to attacking armies. It was breached at times by people like Tiglathpileser, Shalmaneser, Alexander, etc., but it was an effective defensive barrier most of the time. So the symbolic meaning here is that the armies of the Dragon will be able to pass over this barrier and gather in the Jezreel valley at Armageddon (the mountains of the gathering place).

John says that these spirits like frogs are demonic. The word rendered "devils" is from daimon, which means demon. These demons go out and cause the kings to come together to do battle with God. Symbolically speaking, the Dragon, the beast, and the False Prophet issue proclamations to the kings of earth to come together prepared for battle. The unclean spirits issue forth from he mouths of the Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, because they are edicts from them. An edict is a statement with the power of enforcement behind it. Statements come from a mouth. These statements come from the mouths of the Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.

In mythology, especially Egyptian and Zoroastrian mythology, there are several deities who appear as frogs or as men with frogs' heads. Frogs increase dramatically in Egypt each year when the Nile floods, which is why they play an important part in Egyptian mythology. An overabundance of frogs was one of the ten plagues sent by God upon Egypt. In ancient Finnish mythology, frogs are household spirits. They are not good spirits but they bode good for the house they live in. The Hebrew word for frog, tsephardea', comes from a root word meaning "to skip about". These spirits did skip about, bringing the kings to the Jezreel Valley. Keeping these thoughts in mind, it is easy to see why John chose frogs as his metaphor for the unclean spirits.

Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

This is an aside or a parenthetical statement. It is a reminder by John that Jesus will return and will come like a thief to those who are not expecting Him. As a thief comes unexpectedly, so Jesus will come to His enemies. Those who are expecting His coming will be happy about it. Keeping our garments is a reminder to Christians to keep on doing the work of the Lord even during trials and tribulation. Garments represent the righteous acts of the saints. If one has no righteous acts, his is shame. Nakedness is symbolic of being shamed.

Even after the vials have been poured out, the Dragon is still able to gather the people into an army to fight against the Lord. Armageddon is a combination of two Hebrew words, har and megiddo, meaning "mountains" (or hills) and "gathering place" (or rendezvous), respectively. Armageddon means "the mountains of the gathering place." Megiddo is a city at the foot of the Carmel Mountain Range in northern Israel. The Carmel mountains border the Jezreel Valley. The valley begins thirty miles south of Tyre and runs from the coastal Plain of Acco near Galilee southeastward past the city of Megiddo, past the city of Jezreel, and on to the Jordan valley where it ends some fifty miles north of Jerusalem.

The Jezreel Valley or the plain of Esdraelon (the Greek transliteration of Jezreel) is a place where many Biblical battles took place. It is a perfect place for armies to gather and prepare for war. This the place of gathering where the enemies of God will assemble for the final battle. This is the place of the wedding supper of the Lamb, where the birds of heaven will feast on the flesh of kings, captains, mighty men, horses, and of the flesh of all men, both free and bond, small and great.

The seventh vial is the victory of God over Satan. When this vial is poured out, this age is finished. The old earth will end and a new one will take its place. As Jesus last words were on the cross, "It is finished" when His enemies killed Him, so the last words of the messenger of God are "It is done" just before the death of the enemies of God.

This is the voice of God. He speaks and causes a great earthquake. This earthquake is the worst ever in the history of mankind. The city of Jerusalem is torn into three parts.

Revelation 16:19-20 "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. {20} And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

Now Jerusalem is in the sight of God's wrath, hence the earthquake. We have already determined that the great city is Jerusalem (see Revelation Segment 10 verses 11:2 & 8). All cities are leveled as well as all islands mountains. Islands and mountains can refer to kingdoms and they do here. Babylon splits into 3. Where is this Babylon? Jerusalem. When Jesus returns, He lands on the Mount of Olives. That mount is split in two, dividing the city into 3 parts. Imagine these lines are splits: | | . There are two lines and three areas: the area on the left, the area in the center, and the area on the right of the two lines. Splitting the city into three parts squares with the mount of olives, which "shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west" (Zechariah 14:4). The mountain will split into two mounts, one to the north and one to the south. This will divide the modern and very large city of Jerusalem into three parts.

Hail is always associated with the wrath of God. Men still will shake their fists at God after witnessing His terrible power.

John now gives more details about Babylon, the great whore that sits on many waters. If you remember, John has mentioned Babylon before in 14:8 and 16:19. The first reference tells us that Babylon has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The second tells us that she has fallen. Here John gives quite a bit more detail about this event. In 14:19, the nations were made to drink of the wine of her fornication. Here is this verse, the nations are now drunk with the wine of her fornication. Fornication, of course, symbolizes idolatry. The nations and kings have committed idolatry with Babylon.

This is a composite picture of the dragon and his beast. The beast had seven heads and ten horns. The dragon had seven heads and ten horns. The beast was a leopard with the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. The dragon was red. The beast of Chapter 13 was full of names of blasphemy. This beast here is one and the same. It now has the color of the dragon indicating that the dragon no longer hides his identity. He hid his identity as a lamb, that is as Christ in the person of antichrist, who is the false prophet. He looked like a lamb but spoke like a dragon. Now he no longer keeps up this pretense because the harvest of the earth has occurred and he no longer has anyone to mislead. So now it is painfully obvious that the beast is of Satan and has always been so even though Satan tried to have the appearance of Christ.

This beast is none other than Satan's end time kingdom with Satan now visibly in control. The woman on the beast is the capital city of the beast, which is called Babylon. It is really Jerusalem and the temple is Satan's headquarters. I will defend this statement shortly.

She is a prostitute and dresses as one. She has wealth, luxury, and vice. The gold and precious stones attest to her wealth. The purple and scarlet clothes symbolize her vice; the golden cup her luxury. Her luxury comes from abominations and fornication, which like wine fill her golden cup.

The name was visible to John who had the discernment given by God. This could not have been evident to those under her control. The mystery is that those who are associated with her are unaware that she is under Satan's control. They believed that she was under Christ's control because Satan appeared as a lamb, that is, he looked like Christ and claimed that the beast was the kingdom of God on earth. She is Babylon the great because of the similarity between ancient Babylon and the beast. They were world dominating kingdoms and both boasted of luxury, wealth and vice. She is the mother of the harlots of the earth because she caused all to commit adultery and fornication with her by worshipping the beast, the image, and the false prophet. Idolatry is often called prostitution in the Bible. She is the mother of abominations because of her blasphemy.

In other words much blood shed by saints and martyrs was on her hands. John's great admiration was not of a positive type. It is more that he marveled at here because of the way she deceived the nations. It was unbelievable to him and so a marvel. He did not completely understand as we know by the next verse.

The angel wants to know why John did not understand, so he reveals the truth of the mystery to John.

Let us try to make sense of these many words. Remember that Babylon is fallen. The beast was a vital system but is now fallen. But this is also applicable to Satan. He was deceiving the world. Later an angel will lock him in the abyss, and later he will be released from the abyss for a short while. After that he will be cast into the lake of fire. This is into perdition because that word means ruin, or loss. He will be lost for eternity in the lake of fire. He will be followed there by the people who are judged at the Great White Throne. They will be cast into the lake of fire after he is already there.

This calls for wisdom from above. The beast out of the sea is the last kingdom of the age (Dan 7:7-9) and it is Satan's kingdom. The beast out of the earth is the false prophet. He makes an image of the beast out of the sea. This image is like the kingdom in scope but this is a religious system in the image of the kingdom of the Dragon. Both the kingdom and the religious system are headquartered in Jerusalem where the temple is. Antichrist sits in the Temple of God showing himself to be God. The false prophet is the antichrist who looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon (Rev 13:11 & Rev 19:20). Antichrist will cause the oblations and sacrifices to cease (Dan 9:27). These events can only take place in Jerusalem, where the Temple is. So the capital of the beast, that is, the final kingdom of the age, the Dragon's (Devil's) kingdom, must be in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Zion, is the dwelling place of Yehovah, the place He loves. It would behoove Satan to try to nuzzle in to the place God loves and the place God dwelt on Earth to become as God. Satan's prime motivation is to be worshipped instead of God and His Christ. So Satan's capital is Jerusalem. The capital of his kingdom and his religious system is Jerusalem. The wisdom is that Babylon is Jerusalem, and not Rome.

The Harlot, Mystery Babylon, is a personification of the city of the headquarters of the kingdom of Satan, that is the beast. She is called Babylon because of the resemblance to the luxury, wealth, vice and decadence of the ancient city of Babylon, the place of the Hanging Gardens, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Babylon stood first and foremost among the great empires of the world. And like Babylon, the final kingdom of the Dragon wishes to be foremost among the world empires. So when you see Babylon mentioned from now on in Revelation, it is the capital of the beast system of the Dragon. When one deals with a foreign power, where does one go? To its capital of course. Are the embassies of foreign nations in Jacksonville or Atlanta? No, they are located in Washington DC, the capital of the most powerful nation on earth. So when the kings of earth commit fornication with Babylon the Harlot, they are having diplomatic intercourse at its capital and they are joining that city in the worship of Satan. The worship of anyone, or anything in the place of Yehovah is idolatry. Figuratively speaking, harlotry in the Bible means idolatry. So the great Harlot called Babylon and Mystery is Jerusalem under the throne of Satan on earth. He will reign only a little while.

The city of seven hills is not what you think. Most people would identify Rome as the city of seven hills. But there are other cities on seven hills. It was a status symbol for a city to be built on seven hills. Jerusalem was built on seven hills. Other cities built on seven hills are Babylon, Byzantium (Istanbul), and San Francisco. Jerusalem is the city in view here. The seven hills of Jerusalem are Scopus Hill, Nob Hill, the Mount of Corruption (or Offense), Mount Zion, Mount Ophel, Fort Antonia (formerly the Rock), and Southwest Hill (or the New Zion). John meant for the people to think he spoke of Rome, but he actually spoke of Jerusalem. That is why the mind must use wisdom. The woman is the capital of the global government of the Dragon and his religion. Recognize this and you will have a deeper understanding of Revelation. Lack of this knowledge has led many astray in their understanding of the seven hills. Believing this to be Rome causes too many problems with the facts presented by John.

For example, one well known commentary that I have in my library states that the Euphrates dries up to allow the kings from the east to march on Rome. It says that this is so because the Euphrates was at the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. What utter nonsense. The Roman Empire did not sit upon seven hills, just the city of Rome did that. So these kings would need to march from modern Iraq to the city of Rome in Italy! No, no, no, no! The Tigris and Euphrates were boundaries that protected Israel. By allowing them to dry up, Israel and Jerusalem were at risk. Jerusalem is a mere 400 miles south of the River in a direct route across the Jezreel valley, the gathering place of kings assembled to war. On the other hand, the River is some 1500 miles from Rome across Turkey (then Asia), the Aegean Sea, Macedonia and its mountains, the Adriatic sea, and across the Apennine mountains of Italy. What silliness! Why would the drying up of the Euphrates be of concern to the city of Rome when there are so many other obstacles like mountains and seas to act as natural defensive boundaries, not to mention the distance? This is just a single example of what confusion is caused by misapplying the scripture in Revelation to Rome. This misapplication of the scripture has caused many to look in the wrong place for signs of the end of the age. Where should we to look for those sings? Israel, more specifically, Jerusalem.

What city is the most hotly contested piece of real estate in the world today? Jerusalem. It has been so throughout history and remains so today. It will get even hotter as history marches on. Every state has its view of what should happen in Jerusalem, and there many opposing national views about Jerusalem. Almost every nation around today is concerned with what happens in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is figuratively the center of the world. The 1973 oil crisis was about Jerusalem. The most talked about "peace" negotiations are about Jerusalem. All the worlds eyes are on Jerusalem. For a predictor of future events keep your eye on Jerusalem.

Five of the kings symbolized by the seven heads have already reigned. They are the kings of the four great empires of Daniel plus Nimrod of the tower of Babel where it all started. These kings were Nimrod, the founder Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Cyrus, king of Media, Alexander, king of Greece, and either Nero, Domitian, or Vespasian (they were emperors during the time of John), king of Rome. Perhaps even Julius Caesar is in view as he was the first Roman Emperor. These are five leaders of the four great empires of Daniel. They have reigned in history and are now fallen. Satan is the one who is. The one who has not yet come is also Satan when he is released from the abyss. He will be locked in the abyss and then will be released for a short while.

The false prophet, or antichrist, is the eighth king and not one of the seven. He is the king in charge of the religious image of the beast. He will also go into the lake of fire, which is perdition. The seven are actually only six because Satan is two of them. That is understandable. Seven is divine perfection. Six is one short of it. Satan is short of divine perfection. Six is his number, the number of the beast.

These are the kings that are gathered together at Armageddon. They follow Satan to the very end. All of these, the seven and the ten, are connected with the beast and its capital, Babylon (or Jerusalem). That is why the harlot sits on them. They support her with one mind.

This verse tells us that the ten kings are those gathered together at Armageddon. They will be defeated by the Lamb. The saints will be with Him when He defeats the kings. They are the church, Christians. Committed Christians are called, chosen and faithful.

In other words, Babylon is the ruling city of all the peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues of the entire world.

The NIV mistranslates this verse. It says that the beast and the ten kings will hate the woman. They evidently misunderstood that the woman is the capital of the beast. The beast does not hate her, just the ten kings that reign with the beast. They are jealous of her power and authority. The ten kings give power to the beast by allying themselves to it. As time progresses the kings and the kings cause Babylon to be destroyed from within. God has put this in their hearts. The vials of the Wrath of God take their toll on the beast and the combination of calamity from without and foment from within finish off the beast. They will destroy Babylon when this happens. The kings hated the system even though they follow Satan. Satan hates Jerusalem so together they destroy their capital city. They will still follow him after Babylon is fallen. They will join him at the battle of Armageddon.

This corroborates that the woman, the harlot, the great whore, Babylon, is that great city that is the capital of the beast system. This also corroborates that this city is Jerusalem and not Rome. Jerusalem is referred to as the Great City in these verses: Jer 22:8,

Jeremiah 22:8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

Rev 11:8,

Revelation 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

14:8,

Revelation 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

and 16:19.

Revelation 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

After the vials of the wrath of God, the beast is destroyed both from outside and inside forces. A mighty angel now proclaims this to all who may hear. Every one of these events mentioned here is this verse have been prophesied by the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah.

See Isa 13:20-22,

Isaiah 13:20-22 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

14:23,

Isaiah 14:23 I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

21:8-9,

Isaiah 21:8-9 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

34:11-15,

Isaiah 34:11-15 But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. 12 They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. 13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. 14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15 There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate.

Jer 50:39-40,

Jeremiah 50:39-40 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

51:37.

Jeremiah 51:37 And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

They all worshipped the beast, the image, and the false prophet, thus committing adultery with her. This kingdom will be a very one. It will make many rich and will be full of wealth, luxury, and vice. These are the abundant delicacies. Once again, I would like to quote John Bunyan when he writes about Vanity Fair in Pilgrim's Progress:

This aptly describes Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots. Her delicacies are those such as John Bunyan portrayed in Vanity Fair. This also rather aptly describes the world as well. Presently there are those who disdain such things and keep them from coming out full-blown. As long as Christians are in the world, they will keep the perversion to a medium level. But all that will change under Satan's rule. The doors will be open to all sorts of perversion. Everything will be acceptable. There will be no holds barred.

God's people will be called out of this because even the very elect might be deceived. With no opposition to perversion, it will reign supreme, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, if you want a model of the coming beast system, look at Germany under Hitler. The verse implies that if one partakes of her sins, then one will also participate in her plagues.

Let us take a look at a verse of scripture from Genesis: "For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:13) The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah had reached to heaven and come before the face of God, just like the will from the future Babylon.

God has promised a double double (X 4) reward for sin and idolatry in the Prophets.

She exalts herself as God's kingdom. Her false prophet claims to be Christ. She boasts that she will never end. She sets herself up as God Himself so she will receive all that is warranted. Remember the "glorious" Third Reich? It was supposed to last into perpetuity. The same thing that happened to the Third Reich will happen to the beast, here called Babylon, the Great Whore. The armies of the Allies brought Hitler down. The vials of the wrath of God will bring down the beast. Jeremiah, speaking of Jerusalem, prophesied this: "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! {2} She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies." (Lam. 1:1-2)

These are the kings of the earth that had a good relationship with the beast. These are not the ten kings of verse 16. They will be grieved that she is fallen because they received their livelihood from her. With there gone, they are without a leader and their Gross Domestic Product will be nonexistent. They will have depended on her for their wealth, luxury and vice. Therefore they will lament her passing. But they will not want to get into the mix. They will not come to her rescue and they will mourn from afar.

Note the resemblance of these lists to Vanity Fair

Almost five thousand years ago there were pilgrims walking to the Celestial City, as these two honest persons [Christian and Faithful] are: and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, perceiving by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the city lay through this town of Vanity, they contrived here to set up a fair; a fair wherein should be sold all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long. Therefore, at this fair are all such merchandise sold as houses, lands, trades, places, honors, preferments, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures; and delights of all sorts, as harlots, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not. And moreover, at this fair there is at all times to be seen jugglings, cheats, games, plays, fools, apes, knaves, and rogues, and that of every kind. Here are to be seen, too, and that for nothing, thefts, murders, adulteries, false-swearers, and that of a blood-red color.

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Notice that the merchants mourn for her but they, too will not wish to get involved in her plight. They are all too ready to participate in the increase they might receive from her, but they are not interested in helping her in her time of need. Reminds one of the hen that planted the wheat. She tilled the soil, planted the seed, watered the plants, harvested the grain, ground the flour, kneaded the bread, baked the bread, and cut the bread. The other animals would not help with the work, but they were surely ready to eat the bread when it was baked. The same principle is in view here.

This is reminiscent of other cities like Trye, Sidon, Sodom, Port Royal, etc. Babylon is destroyed in a very short time. We have the same story with the shippers that we had with the kings and merchants. They participated in her glory, but mourned her passing from a far off location. The world will mourn her passing. And because of their grief they will gather together one last time for the battle to end all battles. Just like they gathered at Babel, so they will gather at Armageddon. They will gather to defeat the One who took away their wealth, luxuries, and vice.

Babylon, that great evil empire of Satan at the end of the age is destroyed in a single hour. This is figurative language. It is not a literal hour, but a very brief span of time. She is brought down by the wrath of God and the ten kings (Rev. 17:16) who hated her. God used the hatred of the ten kings against Babylon. It is time to rejoice for the final kingdom of Satan is destroyed.

This is indeed good news. There will never again be another kingdom or system that rebels against God. This has happened thrice. The first time was at Satan's Rebellion in heaven. You can read about it in Isaiah 14:12, etc., and Ezekiel 28:12, etc. The second was at the Tower of Babel, and the third will be the beast out of the sea. These verses tell us that it will never happen again, especially not in the eternity.

This is a repeat of Rev 16:6. This is the reason, according to 16:6, that Babylon will fall. 

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