It is exciting to be constantly reminded that Jesus Christ is coming again when He comes for the church in the air at what we call the rapture. We will be caught up to meet Him and then taken into the presence of His Father in heaven itself. We saw in Revelation 4 and 5, we will be joined around the throne with the angels declaring His praises. And it's of utmost importance that you and I as believers in Jesus Christ not lose the focus of what the Scripture says is the blessed hope of the believer. That our lives be arranged around that focal point. Jesus Christ is coming again for the church. We're in Revelation chapter 18 in our study together. We are in Revelation chapter 18 approximately seven years after the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church occurring, being followed by what is called the seventieth week of Daniel, seven years of tribulation and turmoil on the earth, during which Satan makes one final attempt to impose his rule over the world. Satan's desire is to usurp the place of God. since God has promised and prophesied down through the Scriptures that someday He will rule and reign over a redeemed world, that His Son will be the Messiah and King over all, that the New Jerusalem will ultimately be the capital of this world. Satan is attempting to counterfeit that and impose his rule over the world to usurp the place of Christ. He will attempt to raise up His Messiah the Antichrist, the beast. He will establish his city, Babylon, as the capital of the world. We are moving toward Satan's final push during the seven years after the rapture of the church and before the return of Christ to earth to establish his kingdom, during which Satan is attempting one last time to usurp the place of God and impose his rule over all the world in a counterfeit kingdom. This formalized program began in Genesis 10 and 11, where in Genesis 11, for the first time, Satan attempted to organize his rule over the world in a city called Babylon, where religion, commerce, and politics would all center, would be the religious, political, and commercial center of the world. God frustrated that plan. But down through history, empire after empire has come and gone as Satan made another attempt to raise up an empire that would dominate the world and through which he could rule and reign in a counterfeit kingdom, counterfeit of the true messianic kingdom. In Revelation 17 and 18, we are at the conclusion, the climax, the close of the 70th week of Daniel. We are dealing with the city of Babylon. We'll say more about this, but it seems like the city of Babylon will be rebuilt at a future time and will become the capital of the world during the 70th week of Daniel, particularly during the last half of that period. Revelation 17 dealt with part of that. And it seems that the emphasis in Revelation 17 was on the religious dimension of the city, what we call the apostate church, the false religious system that will be working in the world during the first three and a half years after the rapture of the church. The true church is removed. The Protestant and Catholic church that is remaining will be amalgamated together in a mighty super church that will lend its influence to the rise of the beast, the Antichrist, the power. In the middle of that period, three and a half years along, the Antichrist and the ten kings federated together with him will turn against the apostate church, destroy her, and according to Revelation 13, the only worship in the world will be the worship of the beast himself. All the world will be required to worship him alone. When we come to chapter 18, it focuses on the commercial dimension in particular of Babylon. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon referring to riches. And basically divided mankind into two groups. Those who would serve the living God and those who would serve riches. And understanding that helps us to appreciate the importance of the commercial or material dimension and influence of Babylon and the Babylonian system. We live in a materialistic world. Sometimes we as Christians decry the fact that things are becoming so materialistic, but we ought to understand that's the only kind of unbelieving world there's ever been. And characteristic of man that has rejected God as his God, he submits himself to riches. And material things and the pleasures of this world become controlling factors. And the riches become important because they enable you to indulge in the pleasures more freely. We're going to see those two characteristics of Babylon in chapter 8. Her material or commercial prosperity and her sensual and luxurious pleasures. We need to be aware of that even in the day in which we live. The pressure is constantly to conform us to a world that is materialistic in its orientation. That everything is done on the basis of what you get. How much you have. That gives you power. influence. We're feeling that in a variety of ways in our homes, in our families, in our churches and so on. The emphasis is relentless. You must have more. You must acquire more. You must live better. It's all part of the Babylonian system that is going to be brought to a crushing defeat in chapter 18. And we need to be careful that we do not allow ourselves to be tainted and corrupted by that system. At the conclusion of our last study, we looked at several passages from the Old Testament, and I want to begin with those, turning to Zechariah chapter 5. Let me say something about how we're moving through chapter 18 of Revelation as you come to Zechariah 5. I don't want to be tedious, but I want to follow the procedure and plan that God has followed in Revelation 18. The way He has chosen to unfold this is to draw from numerous passages in the Old Testament prophets and pulled them together in chapter 18. And I have thought of summarizing the chapter in one study with you. But I think it's important that we get the emphasis that God has given us, that we must see that in Revelation chapter 18, we are seeing the fulfillment of numerous Old Testament prophecies on this subject. So there's no way to do that but for us to take the time to go back and see these Old Testament prophecies in their setting. If it seems like we're being tedious, remember that to understand and appreciate the completed picture, it's important that we see the details that went together to put it there. And we'll see the sovereign hand of God that would be prophesied 700 years before Christ in Isaiah, 500 years before Christ in Jeremiah, ultimately being realized in Revelation chapter 18 with the ultimate destruction of Babylon. In Zechariah chapter 5, the picture is Zechariah is given a vision of an ephah. We'll call it a large bushel basket. And it has a lead cover on the top. When the lead cover is lifted off, there is a woman in this basket. When he asks the identity of the woman, verse 8, the angel tells him, Zechariah 5.8, this is wickedness. So the woman personifies wickedness. in this vision. She is put into the ephah. The lead cover is placed back on the opening. Then two other women come forward with wings like that of a stork and pick up this lead-covered bushel basket and carry it away. At the end of verse 10, the question is asked, where are they taking the ephah? He said to me, to build a temple or house for her in the land of Shinar. The land of Shinar is the land of Babylon. When it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal. The importance of this is, it seems to clearly indicate that at a future time in the land of Babylon, Shinar, there will be a house built, a place built where wickedness will be centered in the world. The center of wickedness in the world will be Babylon. Will be a place built in the land of Shinar. That seems to be a clear indication that Babylon will be rebuilt. Zechariah is writing after the fall of what we call the Neo-Babylonian Empire. First Babylonian Empire identified with a man called Hammurabi. We talk about the laws of Hammurabi. which have been discovered, which provide interesting insight into the laws and practices in early history. Well, then there's what we call the Neo or New Babylonian Empire, which has attention in Scripture under Nebuchadnezzar. Well, Zechariah is writing after the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Babylon has been defeated by the Medes and the Persians under Cyrus. Now, under the Spirit of God, he is prophesying that a future time, wickedness will be centered in a place built in the land of Shinar. And I take it that's what we have in Revelation 17 and 18. Ultimately, the city built there and wickedness will be centered in Babylon. That won't be the rest of the world, won't be wicked, but the capital of the world and the capital of the wickedness of the world will be a rebuilt Babylon. Turn over to Isaiah 13. Isaiah 13 is a prophecy about Babylon. Verse 1, we read about the oracle concerning Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw. He goes on to talk about this. Note the context in which this takes place. Verse 6, wail for the day of the Lord is near. The day of the Lord ultimately has in view the 70th week of Daniel. and the events associated with that seven-year period climaxing with Armageddon and the return of Christ. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. All hands will fall limp. Every man's heart will melt. They will be terrified. Pains and anguish will take hold of them like a woman in labor. Verse 9, Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel with fury and burning anger. to make the land a desolation. He will exterminate its sinners from it. So, you know, what's going to happen with the destruction of Babylon in the day of the Lord will result in the destruction of sinners from the land. Thus, I will punish the world for its evil in verse 11. So the punishment won't be just limited to Babylon, but in the punishment of Babylon, the world is going to be brought into judgment for its sin. Now, the context here is broader than in historical Babylon. Looking at the coming day of the Lord, it's in that time, verse 10, the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light. The sun will be dark when it rises. The moon will not shed its light. Events we've seen in the context of the 70th week of Daniel in our study of the book of Revelation. In the middle of verse 11. I will put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir." You see what happens in the day of the destruction of sinners. Very few people will survive and be left. I will make the heavens tremble. The earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger. Again, if you've been with us through our study of Revelation 6-19, These descriptions fit that very well. And he goes on down in verses 17 and following, continuing this description. Verse 19, Babel on the beauty of kingdoms. The glory of the Chaldeans pride will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation, nor the Arab pitches tent there. Shepherds make their flocks lay down. We'll see the rest of this chapter as we move into chapter 18. The fall of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon wasn't like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. When Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, the earth thundered and it rained down fire and brimstone and nothing was left. The fall of Babylon was, the Babylonians were surprised in the middle of the night, overthrown without much of a battle and the city was not destroyed. And Cyrus set up his throne and made Babylon his capital. And it was down over subsequent centuries, literally, that Babylon deteriorated and lost its place as a significant city and ultimately became a ruin. So the description here in the day of the Lord is something sudden and completely overwhelming, as we'll see in chapter 18. Note in chapter 14 of Isaiah, The context in which this is put. Verse 1, when the Lord will have compassion on Jacob. So the time when God is going to have compassion on Jacob, which is referring to the Jews, Israel. And again, choose Israel and settle them in their own land. Then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. The peoples will take them along, bring them to their place. The house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male and female servants. This context, the Jews are going to be the dominant people and other nations will serve them. Verse three, it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service that you'll take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. That's the context we're talking about when Israel will have relief. And peace and rest from its enemies. That will occur in the context of the destruction of Babylon. And that's where we're going, because with the final crushing defeat, the end of chapter 18 and the end of Revelation 19, with Christ returning in Armageddon, we begin chapter 20 of Revelation with the Millennial Kingdom, when Israel will be at peace and rest. And all the nations of the world will gather themselves to Israel, because they will be the ruling people. Then what happens in chapter 14, he goes on to talk about the destruction of the leader or the king of Babylon. And what you have, as the Old Testament prophesies and speaks about Babylon and the king of Babylon, you have in Isaiah, who's writing 200 years before the fall of the Babylonian Empire, looking toward the coming destruction of Babylon. But in looking toward that, looking beyond that to a far more significant event, when the king of Babylon will be none other than the beast, the Antichrist, And the ultimate authority behind that king of Babylon will be Satan himself. And the destruction of that king of Babylon and his city will be the destruction of this earthly system under the authority of Satan. So in chapter 14, down through these verses, you'll note verse 7 talks about the whole earth is at rest and quiet. They break forth into shouts of joy. In the context here is when peace will be brought to the earth, that we talk about the destruction of the King of Babylon that carries us ultimately to the authority and power behind the King of Babylon, Satan. So you have verse 12, How have you fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, sun of the dawn? Verse 13, you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the assembly. I will make myself, the end of verse 14, like the Most High. And this prophecy that points toward the destruction of the beast in Revelation, we are carried to the power behind the beast who is Satan. We see with the Antichrist who will rule in the tribulation, You have Satan's most full and complete attempt to incarnate himself in imitation of what God did in Christ. When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born, God became incarnate. God became humanity. Satan does not have that power ability. But with the rise of the beast, or the antichrist, he will come as close as he is able to embody himself in a man. and display His power and might through that man. We saw something of that in Revelation 13 with the power and miracles that will be done in the context of the Antichrist ministry. So here in Revelation 14, in the context of the restoration of Israel to the land and their peace and enjoyment of the land, you have the destruction of the king of Babylon. And in that context, our attention is carried to the fall of Satan. Still in Isaiah 14, jump down to verse 22. I will rise up against them, declares the Lord, and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and prosperity. I will make it a possession for the hedgehogs, swamps of water, sweep it with the broom of destruction. God is looking toward the time when this world and represented in Babylon will be totally annihilated. Come back to Revelation 18. As you come there, let me tell you something about historic Babylon. So you gain an appreciation of what Babylon of the future may be like in splendor and power. The city of Babylon is mentioned more times in the Old Testament than any other city with the exception of Jerusalem itself. Some 260 times in the Old Testament, Babylon is mentioned. Only Jerusalem is mentioned more often. And often in those prophetic portions, as I've mentioned, the attention is carried from historic Babylon to the Babylon of Revelation 17 and 18, which will be the culmination of a Babylonian system, the satanic system that controls and influences and rules the world today. There's been a description written of Babylon as it existed under Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon was founded by Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah. That goes back to Genesis 10 and 11. Surviving a series of conflicts, it became one of the most magnificent and luxurious cities in the known world. Superbly constructed, it spread over an area of 15 square miles. The Euphrates River flowed diagonally across the city. The famous historian Herodotus said the city was surrounded by a wall 350 feet high, 87 feet thick. The wall of the city of Babylon, 350 feet high, was wide enough for six chariots to drive abreast on the top of the wall. It's not the kind of city wall where you ran up with a battering ram and broke a hole in it. Around the top of the wall were 250 watchtowers placed in strategic locations. Outside the huge wall was a large ditch or moat filled with water from the Euphrates so that any approaching armies would be hindered by having to cross the water first before they confronted this majestic wall of protection. The cost of constructing this military defense was estimated to be in excess of $1 billion. When we consider the value of a billion dollars in those days, plus the fact that it was built with slave labor. So the billion dollars doesn't include any labor costs because there were none, because you don't pay slaves. You can imagine something of the wonder and magnificence of this city. But in addition to being built for defense, it was built for beauty and splendor. The famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. were arranged in an area 400 feet square and raised in perfectly cut terraces, one above another, to the height of 350 feet. And you could climb to the top of these gardens by means of stairs that were 10 feet wide. Each terrace was covered with a large stone slab. Each stone slab was covered with a thick layer of asphalt. Top of the thick layer of asphalt were two courses of bricks cemented together. And then on top of this were lead plates to guarantee that the water did not seep down. On top of all this, rich fertile earth was planted with vines and flowers. And so as you stood back and looked at this from a little distance, it looked like a hillside that was just a beautiful majestic garden, but it was all artificially constructed. The estimated cost to build this runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Then you had the Tower of Babel with its temples of worship. The tower was on a base 300 feet breadth and 300 feet it went up in height. On the top was a worship center containing an image that it's estimated cost 17 and a half million dollars. And in addition, there were sacred vessels and objects of worship estimated at a value of 200 million dollars. Then you had in addition all the other things associated with the city. You get the idea that this was a place of splendor and magnificence. It was intended to be a place militarily powerful, physically beautiful, and to be the center of the world and the rule of the world. All of this in the Neo-Babylonian kingdom that only lasted 70 years. There will be one more time when Satan will give his greatest effort to reconstruct a Babylon that will be the capital of the world, the center of the world, religiously and politically, in a way that no other city ever has. And you can be sure it will be magnificent, splendid, and beyond anything we have ever seen. We're ready to come into chapter 18. Verse 1 begins, which indicates that this is later and a follow-up to chapter 17. We're in somewhat of chronological sequence as we move through Revelation. And here, chapter 18 occurs after the things that have been recorded in chapter 17. And I take it, as we talked about in our last study, the events of the destruction of the religious dimension of Babylon seem to occur in the middle of that seven-year period, whereas the destruction of chapter 18 in its final form occurs at the end of the seven years, because it occurs under the seventh bowl judgment in chapter 16, verse 19, in connection with the return of Christ to earth at the end of chapter 19 of Revelation. That's the period of time we're dealing with, the very end of this seven-year period. Another angel comes down from heaven. It's another angel, another one like the one of chapter 17, but he's different. So again, we have progression in the revelation here. This angel has great authority and tremendous glory. In fact, he has such glory that the whole earth can be illumined with his presence. We think, well, can this be a created being? You get some idea of the majesty of the presence of God. This angel, a created being, serving in the presence of the God of glory, has such overwhelming glory by virtue. of the fact that he is an angel in the presence of God, that his glory illumines the whole earth. And he comes with a message and he cries out with a mighty and powerful voice, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. And this is what is called a proleptic or prophetic past. These verbs here are in the past tense. but they anticipate something that will happen. So we call it the prophetic past. The prophets in the Old Testament often gave their prophecy in the past tense to emphasize the fact when Almighty God speaks about a future event, it is settled. It is as good as done. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. This announcement was given in chapter 14, verse 8. Another angel, a second one fallen, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. Same expression that we have in chapter 18, verse 2. It's taken from the book of Isaiah. So go back, if you would, to Isaiah 21. We'll be coming back here several times. Isaiah 21. This statement or proclamation, Fallen, fallen is Babylon, comes from Isaiah 21 and verse 9. Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs. And one answered and said, Fallen, fallen is Babylon. All the images of her God are shattered to the ground and so on." Now that statement there, anticipating the fall of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, but carrying far more, anticipating the event of Revelation chapter 18. when Babylon in its final form will be brought to a crushing defeat and destruction. Keep your finger in Isaiah and come back to Revelation 18 too, and you'll note it goes on to say in the announcement of this angel, she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Now that is a description of a city that has become totally desolate. That's the point of saying it's a dwelling place of demons, of every unclean spirit, of every unclean and hateful bird. The point is there are no human beings left. There is no human life left in this city. It is a city totally and completely destroyed. There's nothing left but demons and unclean birds. So it is a picture of complete destruction. Come back to Isaiah chapter 13. Now remember, in Isaiah 13, we looked at the context there was the destruction coming in the day of the Lord on the city Babylon. Jump down to the end of that chapter, verse 21. Verse 20 says, it will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation because it's going to be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. at the end of verse 19. Verse 21, But desert creatures will lie down there. Their houses will be full of owls. Ostriches will live there. Shaggy goats will frolic there. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers. Jackals in their luxurious palaces. There's no human life left. These which seemed so splendid, now wild animals use it for nesting places. It's become a total ruin. Look over in Isaiah chapter 34. Isaiah chapter 34 talks about the destruction of Babylon. And we're in the context here of Armageddon in Isaiah 34. So the day of the Lord, the climax of the day of the Lord at Armageddon, it's the same period of time again. Verse 11. Some of this we'll pick up in later in chapter 18 as well. The destruction of the city will be complete. We'll see in chapter 19 of Revelation, verse 3, a quote from chapter 34, verse 10 of Isaiah. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall go up forever and ever. That's what will be declared regarding Babylon in Revelation 19, 3. Then we go on. From generation to generation, it shall be desolate. None shall pass through it forever and ever. Pelican and a hedgehog shall possess it. Isle and raven shall dwell in it. Verse 12, it's nobles, there is no one there. They may proclaim king. All its princes shall be nothing. Thorns shall come up in its fortified towers. It shall be a hunt of jackals and a boat of ostriches at the end of verse 13. Verse 14, desert creatures shall meet with the wolves. The hairy goat shall cry to its kind. The night monster shall settle there. If you note in your margin, they say, or the demons. This Hebrew word for night monster was translated into the Greek as demons. We've picked that up in the book of Revelation. The point again, there is no human life. Maybe evil spirit beings and unclean animals, but no human life is there. And he goes on to talk about elaborating on that. Jump from Isaiah to Jeremiah 51. And Jeremiah chapter 50 and chapter 51, both these chapters in Jeremiah's prophecy are given over to prophecies concerning the destruction of Babylon. Much of which goes toward the event we're talking about in Revelation chapter 18. So you might take the time to read these chapters. Isaiah 13, Jeremiah 50 and 51. Sometimes you sit down and get something of a feel. for the prophecies concerning Babylon's destruction. But in chapter 51, verse 37, And Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and hissing without inhabitants. And you get some impact of this. If we take a major city, what would we be saying, like if we said Washington, D.C. or New York City? is going to be a dwelling place only for wild animals. No human life there. We say, well, what would that be saying about what has happened to this country? No human life there in our major city or our capital city? That would be a declaration of what is happening to what has happened to the country, the devastation of this system. It's gone. Our political, commercial power is over. That's the point here. Babylon will be the capital of the world. And with the collapse of that city and the absence of human life, naturally the financial or commercial aspect of that city will have been annihilated. The Babylonian system will have been brought to an end. The satanic system that's centered in the city of Babylon. The same fate, interestingly, was also prophesied for the city of Nineveh. We won't take time to turn there. Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 39 and Zephaniah chapter 2 verses 14 and 15 said that Nineveh, which was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, suffered the same fate. You see what happened in Satan's previous attempts, and Nineveh would be one of those, where the Assyrian Empire was an attempt of Satan to impose his rule and reign in an organized way over the world. Nineveh was the capital city. It became a haunt. of evil spirits and unclean animals. Human life was destroyed. That all anticipated the final climactic destruction of this world system that will take place in Revelation 18. Back to Revelation 18. We'll be back to the Old Testament, so you wanted to leave something there. So, the picture of the destruction of Babylon is one of complete desolation. Verse 3 of Revelation 18. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her. The merchants of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her sensuality. Three groups of people are mentioned in verse 3. The nations, the kings, the merchants. It encompasses the peoples of the world. The nations, all the peoples of the world. But the rulers singled out, in addition to the general population, all nations here have joined. in this harlotry, the kings particularly, and more particularly the merchants. And interestingly, it's this third group, the merchants, that will be the subject of the rest of chapter 18. The impact of the destruction of Babylon on the merchants, the finances, the material aspect, because remember, you can't serve God and mammon. So what we're bringing to ultimate end here is the God that these people have been worshiping. delighting in and all the pleasures that have come to them, sensual pleasures, as a result of the material benefit that they've been enjoying. Verse 4, you have another voice. We had the cry regarding the destruction of Babylon. Now there is a call to the people of God given in verse 4. I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, My people. that you may not participate in her sins, that you may not receive of her plagues, for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." The call is to the people of God to separate themselves from Babylon, the sins associated with Babylon, and thus the destruction that is about to come on the city of Babylon. What we probably have here is a call particularly to the Jews, to the nation Israel. We are on the brink of the return of Christ. Romans chapter 11, verse 26 says, in this context, all Israel will be saved. Deliverer will be sent. Referring to the coming of the Messiah in Romans 11, 26 and following. But there what we have here is God's final call, particularly to the nation Israel. to turn from its dependence on this world and this world system and turn to the Messiah and be saved. This call, come out of her my people, again comes back to the Old Testament. Go back to Jeremiah 51. Again, we're in the context of prophecy regarding Babylon and its destruction. Verse 5, For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of hosts." God hasn't forsaken Israel. Remember Paul's question? Has God cast away His people whom He foreknew? God forbid. Although their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel. Now note verse 6. "...Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each one of you save his life. Do not be destroyed in her punishment, for this is the Lord's time of vengeance." He is going to render recompense to her. So, in that context, Israel is reminded, God hasn't forsaken you. Flee from Babylon. Turn to your God. Repent. Believe in the Messiah and be saved. What we may well have here is the final national salvation of the nation Israel. In verse 45 of Isaiah 51, Come forth from her midst, My people, and save each of you yourselves from the fierce anger of the Lord." So again, one final call to avoid coming judgment. Call to Israel to turn to the Lord and be saved. In Zechariah chapter 2, next to the last book of the Old Testament again, verse 6, Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord, for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heaven, declares the Lord. Oh, Zion, escape you who are living with the daughter of Babylon. That's the background. We come to Revelation 18 and the call comes from heaven. What? Come out of her, my people. Flee from Babylon. You're on the brink of destruction. One final call to Israel. to turn to God and be saved. Picture here would have been seen in the situation, we won't go back there, but you remember in Genesis 19 when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? He sent two angels to the city of Sodom. And their message in Genesis 19 verses 12 and 13, 16 and 17, verses 16 and 17 of Genesis 19, was what? You have to escape from the city. Get out of this city. It is about to be overthrown and destroyed. Now, Babylon, according to the prophecies we saw in Isaiah, is about to be overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah. The call to Israel is what? Get out of her so you're not destroyed. And those events in Sodom and Gomorrah and Genesis 19 were a picture of the coming deliverance that God would provide for his people when he brought destruction upon Babylon and this world system as he anticipates the return of the Lord to earth. It's amazing, as we come to Revelation 18, we see so many of these pictures and prophecies of the Old Testament coming together as God is faithful to the end, to his promises to Israel. Back in Revelation 18, verse 4, the cry was to come out of her that you may not participate in her sins and not receive of her plagues. You have to repent. You have to turn to the Lord. You have to, in effect, become identified with your God rather than the system and the sins. which were about to be judged. For her sins, verse 5 of Revelation 18, have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Very clear picture that connects this destruction of the last Babylon with the first Babylon. The first Babylon in Genesis 11. What did they do? They made bricks and attempted to pile those bricks up in a structure that the top would reach to heaven. Now it says here, this Babylon, her sins have piled up as high as heaven. That verb translated piled up is the Greek word for the glue. The picture here is things glued or cemented together on top of one another. But in Genesis 11, it was the bricks that were cemented or glued one on top of another in attempt to reach heaven. Their false religious system. Here, God says, it's your sins that have been glued one on top of another, and they have reached heaven. The picture being, now is the time for final judgment. Your sin is complete. The time of judgment has come. So this picture of sins being built carries us back to the picture of the original Babylon in Genesis 11, where they built the bricks one on another to reach the heaven. God has remembered her iniquities, so judgment will come. In Jeremiah 51 9, we read, We applied healing to Babylon. She was not healed. Forsake her. Let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers to the very skies." Her judgment has reached to heaven. It towers to the very skies. It's lifted up to the skies. Her sins have been piled one on another. So you see, the picture hasn't changed from Genesis 11 to Revelation 18. They are tied together in the picture God gives. God is a God of justice, and He will pay accordingly. Very important section here that we will overview, and this is where we'll pick up with our next study. Verse 6 says, Pay her back even as she has paid. Give back to her double according to her deeds. In the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. That doesn't mean she's going to get twice as much punishment as she deserves. This picture is drawn for the Old Testament. The double was to be sure you were paid in full. And the picture here is they will be paid exactly as they should, paid in full for their sins. That's important because what drives the sinner along, personified in Babylon, is the false deception that they will escape judgment. It won't really happen to me. Try to talk to someone about coming judgment, about an eternal hell. I don't believe that. I don't think that's going to happen. Talk to the average person about how much thought they give to the time when they're going to stand before the living God. They don't think about that. Why? They don't think it's going to happen. We ought not to be surprised. We'll see. That was true in the Old Testament. It's true here. So in verse 6, she's paid back because God is a God of justice and judgment. And in Jeremiah 50, verse 15, verse 29, chapter 51 of Jeremiah, verse 24, verse 26, There is this emphasis that she will be recompensed according to what she has done. So, again, this thought is picked up out of Jeremiah in his prophecies in chapters 50 and 51 regarding the destruction of Babylon. She's going to be recompensed exactly according to what she deserves. In the cup, in the middle of verse six, which she has mixed, mixed twice as much for her in this cup, we saw back in chapter 14, verse eight, The middle of the verse Babylon made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. She had a cup out of which the nations were drinking was a cup of immorality, sensuous pleasures. But you come down to verse 10 of chapter 14, we're told they will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed full strength in the cup of his anger. Then you come over to chapter 17. Verse 4, we saw the cup again in the hands of Babylon. Then you come down to chapter 18, verse 3, the nations have drunk out of that cup. Now, verse 6, it's a cup of judgment again. So in chapter 14, verse 10, chapter 18, verse 6, this cup that was intoxicating the world with sensuous pleasures, immoral conduct in religion, in material things, in sexual things, in all ways. You understand, when you're drinking that cup, the bottom of that cup is the wrath and judgment of Almighty God. There's an awesome picture here of people drinking down the cup of all these immoral, godless pleasures being offered by Babylon without realizing that the conclusion of that cup, it's filled with the unbridled wrath of God that you cannot avoid without a drink of the pleasures and then put it down. You drink out of that cup, you'll drink out of that cup the wrath of God. That goes with what you're getting out of that cup. That's the picture here. In the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. That cup is not only filled with the immoral pleasures offered, it's filled with the judgment of God. And you'll get in full. You will get in full. Mix twice as much for her. Everybody thinks they'll get by. Nobody gets by. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? There will be justice. Verse 7, To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen. I am not a widow. I will never see mourning. She glorified herself and lived sensuously. I was watching an interview on television. I just saw part of it with one of the very wealthy and well-known wealthy men in our country. as he sat in an interview and glorified himself and exalted himself of what he had accomplished. And talking in the context of why he had a prenuptial agreement, because the woman he married didn't deserve his wealth. I built it. I did it. It's mine. Self-glorifying. It's part of the Babylonian system. It will come to full fruition in the Babylon of the tribulation. But it's part of the Babylonian system. Man delights in self-glorification, exalting himself. And with that, living sensuously and luxuriously. I deserve it. Don't you deserve it, baby? Sure you do. I mean, isn't that the way it's promoted today? You deserve it. You're worth it. Glorify yourself and then indulge yourself. The pleasures that are rightfully yours, that comes out of what Babylon is. That's the way Babylon lives. That's what Babylon offers to the people that drink of that cup. To the degree that she has glorified herself and lives sensuously, to the same degree, give her torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen. I am not a widow. I will never see mourning. There is no trouble ahead for me. There is no day of reckoning, mourning and suffering. ahead for me. The good life will go on forever and ever. Again, this comes from Isaiah chapter 47, verses 5 to 9. I'll never be a widow. I'll never suffer loss of my children. There's no suffering or mourning. I've got the good life now. I exalt myself. I sit and I listen. So like this interview, I said, did this man ever think in 30 or 40 years, perhaps less, but at most, he will be in eternity? It doesn't cross his mind. No thought. It will always be like this. I'm mighty. I'm powerful. I'm rich. I've left my wife and family and I've got another beautiful woman on my arm. And I've got an arrangement. If that doesn't work out, she goes and doesn't get much. Nothing but good ahead for me. That's a characteristic of a fallen man. That's a characteristic of the Babylonian system. We happen to think, oh my, the world's not interested in judgment. The world never has been interested in judgment. characteristic of the Babylonian system, it's going to go on like this. You say, how can they be so foolish? Well, remember in Romans 1, fallen man lives in the emptiness of his mind. He lives in darkness as regards reality. And he doesn't think he'll come into judgment. Judgment will come. The Lord is strong, verse 8, for this reason, and one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine. She will be burned up with fire, for the Lord God who judges her is strong." That is an understatement. The Lord God who judges her is strong. This, in one day, her plagues will come. That fits the destruction that's described in prophetic passages in the Old Testament. We'll see more of that as we go through the rest of chapter 18. Sudden and complete destruction will overwhelm Babylon and the inhabitants of Babylon and those who have partaken of the Babylonian way. Psalm 10, as we conclude. We get troubled sometimes as God's people. We say, why did the wicked have it so well and I have it so tough? And we sometimes sit back and wait for judgment to fall and it doesn't fall. And we think there is no justice. It all comes in God's time. David saw this and he was troubled by it. Verse 3, the wicked boasts of his heart's desire. The greedy man curses and spurns the Lord. The wicked in the haughtiness of his countenance does not seek him, seek God. All his thoughts are there is no God. His ways prosper at all times. Down verse 13, just to condense this. Why has the wicked spurned God? He has said to himself, you will not require it. There's no judgment for me. There's no God, no God that would require an accounting of me, no God that will judge me. The statement of Scripture in marriage, the bed is honorable, but adulterers and fornicators, God will judge. No, I don't believe that God will not require it. And oh, no, our God is a God of love and the Babylonian religious system proclaims this, it doesn't proclaim an eternal hell. It doesn't proclaim men as guilty, condemned sinners destined for judgment. It proclaims a God of love, a God of understanding, a God who will not require it. And so it says, I will never be a widow. I will never suffer. There is no mourning in my future. And it goes on not knowing that the cup out of which it drinks contains the judgment of God. Come out of there and be separate. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6, The Apostle Paul quotes this in writing to the church at Corinth and says, Come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord. And the call to us is to be careful that we don't become involved in the Babylonian system, that we don't become part and parcel of that which is opposed to God and destined to experience the wrath and judgment of God. God is the God of grace. His message today is today is the day of salvation. Repent and be saved. Men and women ignore that. They're drinking out of a cup of pleasure and enjoyment, self-satisfaction. God will not require it. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. The only hope is the hope that God has provided. His Son, Jesus Christ, died to pay the penalty for sin. And if you will turn from your sin and place your faith in Him, you'll be cleansed and forgiven. You will avoid judgment. Not because God will overlook justice. Because justice has been satisfied in the death of Jesus Christ. If you do not turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ, be assured, God will require it. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord. for your Word. We are in awe as we go back over the centuries and millenniums of time and see that there is a unity and a harmony in what you have said. That your promises all come together as you have promised. Your Word is tried and true. Heaven and earth will pass away, but your Word will not pass away. Lord, we lay hold on that Word. We claim its truth. that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Thank You, Lord, for salvation in Christ. We don't deserve it. But we claim mercy and grace. Lord, I pray for those who are without hope, who are lost in their darkness, who are self-deceived into thinking You will not require it. God, may the Spirit convict their hearts of their sin, that they might in despair turn from their sin and cast themselves upon Your mercy Flame your grace. Believe in the Savior that by His death on the cross provided salvation. We pray in His name, Amen.