REVELATION 16-18 REVELATION REFRESHER SERIES PART 72021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 16-18 Revelation Refresher Series Part 7

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021.

Well, as we jump into Revelation chapter 16 today, obviously we're jumping right into the middle of the book and we're kind of looking at right in the midst of the tribulation period as well. And so just to kind of catch us up a little bit, I want to walk it through the timeline to just give us the context for what the Lord has for us in the chapters today. And so here's a quick look at the things to come.

Now, back in Revelation 1, verse 19, the Lord told John to write down all of these things, and there was going to be three categories. The things past, the things present, and the things that were future. And the past things we saw in Revelation 1 with John's vision of Jesus there on the island of Patmos.

And then we saw the present, that is present for John, present for you and I today. It's the church age, and the Lord addressed that in chapters 2 and 3, and I throw in chapter 4 in the slide here as well, looking at the time of the church, where the Lord is working and moving in the midst of the church, and the church is the primary agent of representing God to the world. And so we refer to that, generally speaking, as the church age.

age. And so that's where we're living right now. And I would remind you that Revelation chapters 2 and 3, as a result, hold really the most important information for us. Those are the most important chapters of Revelation for you and I today, because those are the things that the Lord deals with directly for us right now, and we can hear from Him on those things.

But he also brings forth the future and lays out the things that are to come. And it's really grouped into three categories, the tribulation, the millennium, and then eternity. And so we're walking through these different segments of the things to come and spending a lot of time so far in the tribulation period.

The majority of Revelation is about the tribulation, and so we're going to be back in the tribulation tonight and bringing it almost to a close. We'll finish that up next week as we pick it up in chapter 19 and transition into the millennium and prepare for eternity. And so I want to take a quick look at the timeline that we've been kind of building over the past few weeks, looking at all of these different chapters and the different aspects of the tribulation period.

The tribulation is a seven-year period that is easily divided into two parts. Three and a half years for the first half, three and a half years for the second half.

The tribulation begins with the signing of a covenant the Antichrist will make with the nation of Israel, and this covenant will mark the beginning of the tribulation period. It might be right in line with or right next to the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church could happen a little bit before. We don't know that exactly, but we know the tribulation period, that final week of Daniel, starts with the signing of that covenant.

We know it ends with the Battle of Armageddon, and we'll get to that a little bit this evening as we look at chapters 16, 17, and 18. We also know that the middle of the tribulation will be marked by what's known as the abomination of desolation. And it's at this point where the Antichrist will set up an image of himself in the temple that will be built for the Jewish people and will demand that all of the world worship him.

And so these are three major milestones for this tribulation period. And around those milestones, there's all these other events taking place that we've been looking at. And so we saw the two witnesses who are ministering back in chapter 11 for 1260 days. And that could be during any portion of the tribulation period. I place it in the first half as a spot, a placeholder really, just it makes sense to fit it there, but it doesn't have to be in that exact spot.

We'll see the temple and the sacrifices happen during the first half of the tribulation. At the same time, there will be these judgments that are being poured out. The seven seals that will be opened on that scroll that was in the Lord's hand, and then that will bring forth the trumpet judgments. And so we see the six trumpet judgments, and then finally the seventh trumpet, which brings forth seven more judgments with the seven bowls that are brought by the seven angels. And so

That transitions us from the beginning all the way through the end of the tribulation period. There's these three sets of judgments that will be poured out upon the earth. There will be a time, though, that Israel will be awakened and they'll realize that

that the Antichrist is not their Messiah as they thought. And if they listen to the Lord, they'll flee into the wilderness and they'll be protected there and fed there for 1260 days. Meanwhile, the Antichrist will be speaking blasphemies during that time and fighting against the people of God and those who have turned to believe in Jesus Christ in those times and

And at the same time, during that last half of the tribulation, the false prophet will be enforcing the warnings, sorry, the warnings,

the worship of the Antichrist. And so there will be this required taking of the mark, which will be an act of worship and an allegiance with the beast and worshiping him. Now, I've shared with you the past couple of weeks, the timing of this, as far as the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. And I'm placing that seventh trumpet right at the middle of the tribulation period.

I'd like to point out once again, it doesn't have to be exactly that way. That's just one perspective. It could be that the seventh trumpet's not sounded until a little bit further down in the tribulation period, and many people would look at that as like the final third of the tribulation or the last half of the second half, right? The final quarter of the tribulation period is when many people see those things happening from the seventh trumpet and the seven bold judgments. So

The time frame can be adjusted a little bit, but this gives you a little bit of a sense on the timing and how things relate to one another in the midst of this tribulation period. Well, we're going to jump into chapter 16 now, and that is this final set of judgments, the seven bold judgments. And so here we are in Revelation chapter 16.

The key verse is verse 1. It says this, And so here we have these judgments listed out for us. We'll see the first bowl that is poured out. It's a foul and loathsome sore in verses 1 and 2.

Then the next angel pours out his bowl and the sea, the oceans are turned to blood. Then we see a third angel come forth. He brings forth his bowl, he pours it out and now the fresh water becomes blood. The fourth bowl is poured out and the sun begins to scorch all of mankind. Then the fifth bowl is poured out and there is a darkness, a deep and powerful darkness on the kingdom of the beast.

And then the sixth bowl is poured out and we see the kings of the world gathered to Armageddon for that final battle. And then the seventh bowl is poured out. There's a great, great earthquake and hail and it's finished. Now that is the last thing to happen until the return of Jesus Christ.

And so looking at these judgments, again, it's like the seven sealed judgments. It's like the seven trumpet judgments. As each event is happening, there's things happening upon the earth and the judgment of God, the wrath of God is being poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth. The tribulation period is a time of wrath. Again, verse one, it says, "'I heard a loud voice from the temple.'"

This appears to be the father giving the instruction. Okay, now let's start the final sequence, the final set of seven judgments. He tells the angels, go and pour out, notice what they are, the bowls of wrath, the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.

And so there is this final set of judgments, the wrath of God, in response to the sin and rebellion of Satan, of the demons, of the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all of humanity that follows along with them. Now the wrath of God, of course, is not a favorite subject for most of us, right? It's not something that, you know, you just can't wait to study and think about and consider, right?

But it is something that we must consider because it is a reality. And we need to understand and oftentimes be reminded that God is just and God is holy. He doesn't fly off the handle and like lose his temper and that's not, you know, the picture of his wrath. His wrath is the precise and perfect execution of judgment for sin.

And although we look at these things in Revelation and it's like they're so hard for us to imagine how severe they are and how big these events are, and yet at the same time it's the exact right amount. In fact, it's a little bit less. God is merciful in even the midst of his judgment to give people the opportunity to repent and turn and be right with him and escape the wrath that is to come.

As we look at these things, we need to be reminded that the wrath of God is right. It's right. It's perfect. Whether or not you agree with it as you look at it or consider it or try to figure it out, there are many cases where you can look at a situation, you can look at a scripture, and you can see the wrath of God employed, and it doesn't make sense to you. But whether or not you agree with it or can understand it, everyone will agree one day.

And so his wrath is right, his wrath is fair.

Each one will receive the judgment they deserve. No more, no less. The exact right amount, what is perfect, that is what the Lord will bring to each one. And that's why it's so important for us to reflect on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he called out to the Father and said, Lord, if there's any other way, Father, if there's any other way for humanity to escape the wrath of God, then let it be that way.

But there was no other way. And so Jesus continued the course to the cross to receive the wrath of God upon himself on our behalf. The wrath that you and I deserve, the wrath that we have earned, he received on our behalf, giving us the opportunity to believe in him, to receive his forgiveness, and to not experience the wrath of God in our lives. And so as we look at these things, they're not necessarily pleasant, but they are really important for us.

And it should drive us, it should remind us to run to the Lord, to trust in him, to believe in him, and to stay close to him. Well, verse 2 gives us this first bowl.

It says, And so we talked about the mark of the beast last week. We talked about the worshiping of the beast as well over the past two weeks. And now this first judgment, the first bull, is targeted at those who have taken the mark.

As the angel was, you know, circling the heavens and announcing to the earth, don't take the mark, don't worship the beast. Those who ignored that, those who went ahead and joined up with the beast to worship him, to be in allegiance with him. Now, all of them will experience this foul and loathsome sore. Now,

There's some interesting speculation about this because if the mark of the beast is a microchip, it is possible, it's conceivable that there could be a malfunction that happens or perhaps, you know, some type of electromagnetic pulse or something, uh,

electromagnetic is what I was trying to say, but that causes a malfunction. And so, you know, there is some speculation the sword could be an effect of nuclear warfare and radiation poison, but it also could be a specific effect of having this microchip implanted that fails. If you think about it, right, not too long ago, there was, you know, the big kerfuffle over the exploding phones because the batteries exploded.

were not being, they weren't very stable. And so, you know, there were certain phones you couldn't take on airplanes because they might catch fire and that kind of thing, right? So if there is, you know, a lithium battery attached to this mark, if it is a microchip, you know, and that goes bad and it explodes, you know, well, now you have this foul and loathsome thing

Just a speculation. It's a maybe. We don't know that the Mark of the Beast is a microchip, but it's one of those things that people like to play with in their minds. So regardless, it doesn't have to be something that we can think of. It doesn't have to be some kind of where we can explain what it is that's going to happen.

A lot of these bold judgments, as you look at them, are related to and similar to the plagues that the Lord brought upon Egypt during the Exodus. And as we're going through the Bible in three years right now, we're just in the beginnings of the book of Exodus, and we'll be looking at those plagues over the next week or so. In Exodus 9, verse 10, it describes for us

Moses taking these ashes from a furnace and standing before Moses, and he scatters the ashes, and it caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. And so God doesn't have to use a microchip. He doesn't have to use, you know, a nuclear event.

he could use anything he wants and cause this to happen. The foul and loathsome soar upon those who, notice it's specific, those who have the mark and those who worship him. And so those who turn to the Lord in the midst of that time, there will be that opportunity. They will not experience this first bowl judgment.

But then as it goes on into the second bowl being poured out, now in verse 3, we see that the sea becomes blood. In verse 3, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died. And so the world is going to be experiencing some very traumatic things during this tribulation period. Now we saw earlier in the second trumpet judgment, back in Revelation chapter 8, that

that a third of the sea became blood.

But now in the second bowl, it's the kind of completion of that work, that all of the sea now is affected. And every living creature in the sea died. And so we're talking about the oceans of the world. This time, the judgment will be total. All of the oceans will be affected, will become like blood in this way. And all of the living creatures in the ocean will die.

All of that, you know, very expensive and lust-worthy beachfront property is not going to be that great in the tribulation period. Because every fish, every shrimp, every seahorse, all the plankton, every dolphin, every whale, every shark, they're all going to die in this tribulation.

in this bowl that is poured out. The stench will be horrendous. The effect on the earth's ecosystem is really impossible to imagine. And so this second bowl judgment is going to have a severe impact upon the whole earth.

But then it goes on, the third bowl in verses four through seven, now the fresh water is impacted as well. In verse four, it says, the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood. And so now we have not just the salt water, the seas, but now the fresh water. And so the rivers, the springs have now been affected as well and they'll become salt

blood or like blood. Again, it relates to the third trumpet back in Revelation chapter 8, where a third of the fresh water became bitter. Now, again, the work of this is complete. This time the judgment will be total and all the fresh water will become

Now it's interesting because as we go through these, occasionally we get some commentary by the angels who are watching. And so it says in verse 5, I heard the angel of the waters saying, You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be, because you have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink, for it is their just due.

Again, as severe as these judgments will be and as severe as they are in our minds and trying to understand them,

The angel here steps up and speaks up to help us reconcile these things in our hearts. And remember, these things are just and true and right. It is the exact right thing to do because the world at this time has persecuted Christians. The world has drunk the blood of the saints, you could say. And so now God has given them blood to drink. And so the angel testifies to the righteousness of God in this judgment.

And then another angel jumps in and agrees in verse 7. I heard another angel from the altar saying, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. And so we have the testimony now of two witnesses here. These angelic beings in the midst of the tribulation period, they're watching what's unfolding and they're letting us know God's judgments are true and righteous and

we will one day understand and agree that God did exactly what was right and what was necessary. You know, a lot of times it's hard for us to understand and consider God's judgment. But when we do not understand God's judgment, one of the main reasons why that is is because we don't understand the gravity of sin.

We water down the severity of sin in our minds. We water down the issue of sin and consider it not so sinful. And so then when it comes time for judgment, we don't understand God's judgment because we've watered down sin to the degree that it just doesn't seem fair, the kind of judgment that is brought. And

And these passages serve as really a reminder for us that sin is worthy of judgment. Again, that's why Jesus had to die upon the cross. He had to receive the judgment that was due so that people could be saved. If there was another way, he would have executed it another way. But that's the only way to escape the judgment that is due.

For the sin that you and I have that is so terrible, it's deserving of the full wrath of God. And so we need to be reminded so that we don't compromise, so that we don't get comfortable in a pattern of a sinful life.

And I would encourage you to let these kinds of passages call you back and call you to remembrance of the severity of sin, the righteousness of God in judging sin, and how we need to stay close to him. Well, the fourth bowl is poured out in verse 8 and 9. Verse 8 says, And so here we have something happening with the son.

where the son is now empowered and enabled by the Lord to scorch humanity.

it's often been observed that, you know, planet Earth sits at like just the exact spot for the sun to warm, but not to burn, for us to be close enough to be warm, but not so far to be, you know, not affected and cold as far as the orbit around the sun. And so we're in this like perfect spot as a planet, and we've been here for a couple thousand years now, right? But

but at this time, something's going to happen and it's not going to be the perfect spot anymore. Now, why is that? What could happen? Well, of course, there's lots of speculation, lots of ideas about what might happen here. One speculation is that there could be some kind of nuclear activity, a nuclear war that takes place upon the earth and

that really impacts the ozone layer, has a, you know, massive thinning or reduction effect, or maybe it's some of that asteroid activity that we perhaps saw during the trumpet judgments. But in whatever case, that protective layer is reduced to the degree that now the sun is piercing through at a much greater intensity. So that's one option, one possibility. Another

is that the sun itself could go into a supernova state. That is, many times stars, you know, as they're collapsing, that they get brighter. I don't know all the technical things, you know, so if I'm saying it wrong, you can correct me later. But, but,

there is that idea of a supernova where a star will get brighter and hotter in its final days. And so that is a possibility as well. Another speculation is that there could be a change in orbit, again, with all the potential asteroid activity and things that are happening, you know, way bigger than what we can understand or imagine. But

that it could be that the earth is actually on a course now that's running closer to the sun, and so the sun is able to scorch men across the earth. In verse 9, it goes on to say, What's amazing is that as all of these things are unfolding,

And we're looking at these things, trying to picture them, and the judgments are, you know, more than we can imagine. But here's people that will be living it and seeing these things that are unfathomable and unthinkable just playing out ahead of them. They're watching these things unfold. They know it is God who is doing these things.

But instead of repenting, here it tells us in verse 9, they blaspheme the name of God. The result of this judgment will not be repentance. Now that's speaking generally. I would suggest that there will be repentance, isolated incidents. There will be people who, as a result of this judgment and these things that are happening, who do turn and get right with the Lord.

Now the Bible is very clear. Those who take the mark of the beast, they've sealed their fate. So we're not talking about those, but we're talking about those who didn't have the opportunity. Maybe they intended to, but judgment started happening before they could, or whatever the case may be. They haven't taken the mark, but they haven't committed themselves to the Lord either. And so in this process of judgment, the Lord is calling them and giving them opportunity to

to repent. Generally speaking, the men of the world, the women of the world, people of the world will not repent. But instead, they will blaspheme the name of God. I think it's really important to notice this. They know who is bringing this judgment.

They're not under the impression like, you know, wow, it's crazy, this world that we live in, and there's all these crazy events happening, and you know, what a crazy set of circumstances and happenstance and chance for all of these things to take place. They know who it is that is bringing this judgment, but they refuse to turn to him and to submit their lives to him. This is describing a people who, they're not tripped up by intellect, right?

They're not like, well, I just don't know if I can believe that there is a God. You know, first of all, you know, prove to me that there is a God, that a God does exist. And if you can prove that, then maybe we can talk about a specific God. And, you know, it's not like they're in this mental trip and they just can't believe that there is a God. No, they know there is a God. They know it's God doing these things. They know God has the power to overturn these things, but they still refuse to submit their lives to him.

This is not a people who are skeptical if God exists. They're not just like, I don't know. I don't know if there is a God or not. They know he exists, but they refuse to surrender to him. And this is really the truth behind unbelief. Generally speaking, it is not so much a matter of intellect.

It is a matter of the heart. Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 1. The wrath of God has been revealed. It's been clear. God has manifested himself and revealed himself through creation to all humanity so that everyone is without excuse. And many times, people, we try to hide our unbelief and our refusal to submit with intellectual arguments, with philosophy and science and jokes and, you know, all of those things. But

But the reality is it comes down to the issue of our heart. And so again, as I look at these things, this is one thing that always comes back to mind for me. It is that we need to keep our hearts soft before the Lord because we are capable of knowing that there is a God. We are capable of knowing who he is and knowing what he wants and knowing what he says and

and having hard hearts that just completely rebels against the Lord. And that's why we need to have soft hearts. That's why we need to stay close to him and keep our hearts right with him because we are all capable of what these people will be demonstrating in this time.

Well, the fifth bowl is poured out in verse 10 and 11, and there's a darkness. Verse 10 says, Here we have this period of darkness, and it's specifically localized to the kingdom of the beast or the kingdom of the Antichrist.

So there's going to be this special darkness that comes upon the kingdom of the Antichrist. And again, there's the parallel with the plague of Egypt in Exodus chapter 10. It describes there a darkness that could be felt. So it's not an ordinary, you know, just an absence of light, but there is this heavy, this supernatural, and even it describes this painful darkness, right?

It tells us there in verse 10 that they nod their tongues because of the pain. They're in agony over this darkness. That it is, you know, an intense darkness that brings intense pain to them. But again, notice verse 11. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their deeds.

And so they had an opportunity in the previous bowl to repent, but they didn't. And here comes the next bowl. And now there's darkness. And again, they know everything. They know who it is. They know God, but they refuse to repent of their deeds. And it illustrates over and over again, the problem is the heart. Humanity's problem is the heart. It's not the head. It's not that they need more information.

It's not that they need further proof. It's that their hearts are set on their ways and they refuse to submit to God. And that's something important to note because this is the reality of humanity, not just the tribulation people, but this is the reality of us as human beings, that our problem is the heart. It's not really the head. And that's a problem because no argument can change the heart.

No miracle can change the heart and no judgment can change the heart. Only God can change the heart and he changes the hearts of those who turn to him. This is important to remember for ourselves, of course, but also as we interact with people around us.

as people are in a position of rebellion against God, a lifestyle of sin, a pattern of sin, as we deal with a society that is, you know, rebelling against God and his commandments to a greater and greater degree, we need to understand that it's not an issue of we just haven't found the right argument yet, that we just haven't been able to present our case well enough that everybody would listen and repent and turn to God. Now, the problem is the heart.

Doesn't mean we don't interact. Doesn't mean we, you know, don't communicate. But we communicate, we interact with the understanding that the real issue is spiritual issue. The real issue is the heart. Jesus talks about this a little bit in Luke chapter 16. He tells the account of...

a man named Lazarus and a rich man, and they lived their lives. You know, the rich man lived in luxury and abundance and had no care for God. And then there was this poor man, Lazarus, who trusted in God and walked with God, but he was poor and in need and desperate his whole life. And then after this life, in eternity, there's this exchange that goes on between the rich man and Abraham, who is with Lazarus,

And the rich man tries to persuade Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his family about God so that they don't go into the place of judgment like the rich man did. And here's what Jesus said in Luke chapter 16, verse 30 and 31. It's him recounting or giving us the account of this rich man. The rich man says, "'No, Father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, "'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,'

neither will they be persuaded the one rise from the dead. And so Jesus, in giving this account, makes it clear, reminds us, here's the real issue, is the heart, it's not the head. It's not that they need some miracle. It's not that they need some supernatural thing or some big event or some fantastic argument or some incredible debate. The issue is the heart. For us, we need to keep our hearts soft.

We need to keep our hearts clean. We need to keep our hearts in tune with and in line with the Lord. And as we interact with people around us, we need to understand. It's not a matter of argument. It's not a matter of intellect. It's not a matter of just doing our best to convince them. It's a spiritual matter. And so prayer is the primary tool in that issue then.

We talk, we love, and we express our care and concern, but at the same time, we need to be careful that we don't get caught up in trying to solve a heart problem by attacking the head. Because that, you know, can oftentimes further complicate the heart issue and disrupt

set barriers for us to be able to minister to the people that we want to minister to so desperately. And so important things to remember as we look at these judgments. Well, continuing on now in verses 12 through 16, we get the sixth bowl.

And here we see the gathering to Armageddon. In verse 12 it says,

And so it's describing here an organization of armies and the Lord orchestrating events so that these armies can gather together to the battle of Armageddon. And so one of the obstacles, one of the issues was the Euphrates River.

And so this is going to present a problem, a challenge for getting, you know, this army into the area. And so the Lord says, you know what? I'm just going to remove that obstacle.

Now, thinking about the Euphrates River, I'm going to put it on the map here, and you can kind of see there, it's a really long river, 1,700 miles long. It goes from the Persian Gulf all the way up north to almost the Black Sea, right through Babylon. And so Abraham, you know, is from Ur, right next to Babylon. The Euphrates River is referenced all throughout Scripture and has a prominent place throughout the Scriptures. But

And Megiddo, you can see that a little bit there on the left-hand side right next to the Mediterranean Sea, that is the place where that final battle will take place. And so people will be coming from the east and coming

their way to Megiddo. And so it says that the Lord will dry up the Euphrates River. And so it will just kind of dry up either completely, like I've demonstrated there, or, you know, just the part that they need to cross. We don't know exactly how the Lord wants to do it. But at that time, then the armies will be able to, you know,

Make it through, make it past the Euphrates River and into Megiddo or the Valley of Megiddo or also known as Armageddon. And so in the nation of Israel, there is this Valley of Jezreel or Valley of Megiddo. And it's this area where this battle will take place.

This place has been the site of many battles throughout the years. Historians have recounted over 200 battles that have taken place in this specific region right here in the Valley of Megiddo. And there will be one more that will take place here at the end of the Tribulation period. And so we'll see that later.

finally explained a little bit more in detail in Revelation chapter 19. And so we'll talk about that a little bit more next week. Well, finally, the seventh bowl is poured out in verses 17 through 21. Verse 17, it says,

Similar to, kind of recalls to mind, the it is finished, what Jesus said upon the cross, and now it is done. All of these various judgments have been unleashed. This is the final one. It is done.

And now the stage has been set. Everything is ready and in place for Jesus himself to return. It's the final judgment before the return of Jesus. The armies are gathered there now at Armageddon. They're gathered there. They're getting ready to fight. And then Jesus returns and we'll see that they turn to fight against him.

Verse 18, there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake has not occurred since men were on the earth. So more than anything we've ever experienced in history. The great city, Jerusalem, was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

And so Jerusalem is addressed here, but also Babylon. And we'll be looking at Babylon in the next two chapters, chapter 17 and 18, and get a little bit more understanding in that.

It tells us in verse 20, every island fled away and the mountains were not found. So again, the world is just going to experience things that it's never experienced before. Hail coming from heaven, that each one weighs a talent, it says. Now a talent is about 100 pounds or 80 pounds, depending on which measurement you use. But you can imagine, you know, 80 pounds of ice falling from the heavens, it's going to destroy everything in its path.

And yet, all of this stuff is happening, right? But notice, up to the very, very, very end, man is insisting on their rebellion against God. At the end of verse 21, it says, Instead of turning and submitting to God, instead of recognizing and honoring God, mankind blasphemes God again,

Because of the hail that is coming. It just demonstrates the depravity of our hearts, the depravity of humanity, and our great need for the mercy and grace of God. Well, moving on now to Revelation chapter 17, we're going to switch gears a little bit for chapter 17 and 18. I've been explaining, you know, over the past few weeks, this idea of like pausing the sequence in order for the Lord to give us some more background information. And

And chapter 17 and 18, again, God's hit the pause button. Again, we started the sequence back in chapter 16. You know, moving forward in the chronology, we'll pick it up again in chapter 19, and the sequence will continue. But these next two chapters give us a little bit more background on

on Babylon. And in the midst of this tribulation, the judgment that they receive, the judgment that is due, and why all of that is. And so here's a little bit more background to this tribulation period. Here in chapter 17, verse 1 is the key verse. It says,

I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. And so here, as John is watching all of these things unfold, again, it's like the pause button is pushed. The angel comes and says, hey, I need to show you this other scene to help you understand these judgments in a greater detail. And so verses one through six, it says, I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast and

And that typo just stood out. I saw AA woman. That's wrong. I apologize. That's going to bug me for a little bit, but I'll get over it. So John sees this woman sitting on a scarlet beast, and then the angel tells him,

the mystery of this scarlet beast and this woman and what is happening here. And so we're looking at another poetic scene, another, you know, very visual scene that is happening with all of these symbolic elements that the angel will describe a little bit and try to give us some insight into. And

And so let's take a moment and kind of take in the scene that John is experiencing here, looking at verses 1 through 6 here of Revelation chapter 17. So Revelation chapter 17, verses 1 through 6, it says, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and taught them.

Verse 1.

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement."

Here, as we take in this scene, it's one of those scenes that is quite mysterious. And even it's referred to as the mystery Babylon the Great, right? There is this incredible visual scene here. There's a lot of details here. And of course...

As a result of the symbolism that's employed, there's all kinds of ideas about what these things might mean. Now, I'm not going to try to chase down all the different possibilities, but just kind of make some general observations and share some things from my perspective as we look at this. Now, there's five parts, five components to this vision or this image that John sees.

There's a woman, there's a scarlet beast, there's seven heads, there's ten horns, and then there are the waters. Now this woman that John sees is not the same woman that we saw back in Revelation chapter 12, which was a picture of the nation of Israel. But this woman seems to be a description of a future religious system.

Now, in some ways, it reflects and kind of pictures all religious systems that are not the worship of the true and living God. All false religious systems really can be pictured by this woman here, but it is specifically targeted at this future religious system. And so in verses 1 and 2, we see this reference to harlotry.

He says, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. Now, biblically speaking, worshiping another God besides the true and living God is spiritual adultery or spiritual harlotry.

And so that is the terminology that is used throughout this chapter to reference this worship of false gods. And so it's a common way in the scriptures to refer to a false religion or idolatry, the worship of these other gods. We are God's creation.

And he purchased us to be his bride. And so to worship something else is to be unfaithful to God, our creator, the one who died on our behalf. It is unfaithfulness to him.

Well, this harlotry, this spiritual adultery will be taking place during this tribulation period. It seems to be referring to and talking about and picturing the future Babylonian religious system. It's a worldwide system as it makes reference to many waters. And he'll explain what that means later in verse 15, you know, talking about all of the people of the earth.

Now, as you look at this passage, again, I'm not getting into all of the verses or all of the details.

But there's a lot of occasions where chapter 17 is looked at and understood to be connected to the Catholic Church. And I just want to mention that for a moment to just point out, listen, the description throughout this chapter does have similarities and things that you can kind of parallel within the Catholic Church. But I think it's misleading to look at this and say that's the Catholic Church.

Because for one thing, it's not the Catholic Church in the present condition. We're looking at a situation in the world where it's after all those who are true believers in Jesus have been raptured. So whatever church we think about today could be radically different in those days simply because of the fact all the Christians, you know, all the genuine believers will be absent.

But also, I would just point out that what we're dealing with here is a future religious system that has its roots in the ancient Babylonian religion, which is...

looked at and often understood to be the beginning of all false religions that began there or started there in Babel. Remember the Tower of Babel? That, you know, the worship of other gods began with that whole scene and that whole scenario. And there's a lot of things that you could consider in that. Now, there's some parallels to the ancient Babylonian religion and to Catholicism, as well as many other religions that

And so it's not a surprise that, you know, there are some connections or things that you can kind of see, kind of shadows, you know, of in different religions. But again, I think it's misleading to think of this as any one particular religion today because it is going to be in this time where...

There is going to be a radically different experience of humanity upon the earth. Now, we may see shadows because in some ways you can think of it as representing all false religions, all religions that do not worship the true and living God or have a works-based attempt to relate to God. There can be, of course, many parallels and shadows of that in this. But this religious system will be in place once humanity

all the believers are raptured. And there will be those who come to Christ after that, but generally speaking worldwide, there will be this religion that is in place during that time. And so we see this picture of the woman, and she is riding the beast. She's sitting on top of the beast.

And this beast is the same beast that we saw back in Revelation chapter 13. We're talking about the Antichrist and perhaps a combination of the Antichrist and the false prophet. In verse 7, the angel said to me, "'Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition.'"

And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see that the beast that was and is not, and yet is.

And we talked a little bit about the possibility of the Antichrist having a mortal wound or seemingly mortal wound and then kind of resurrecting and having that resuscitation. And it causes all of the world to worship the beast at that time. And so the angel here is connecting that.

this beast in this image to that beast that we referred to before and understood as the Antichrist. And so we're talking about the Antichrist, we're talking about his political system, his one world government, and there is the combination of these two things with this religion and this government and this world leader that will be on the stage there in the tribulation period. Well then we have the seven heads, which the angel tells us are seven mountains. Verse 9.

Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Verse 10, there are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue for a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition.

I'm sure you understand all of that, so I'm just going to keep moving on, right? No, I'm actually not going to try to explain all of that. This is one of the most complex and difficult passages in all of the book of Revelation, and there's lots of ideas about all of these different elements. So there's seven mountains. Now, many times that is connected to Rome, because Rome has been described as the city on seven hills. One of the difficulties with that perspective is hillbillyism.

Hills are not mountains and mountains are not hills. And so, you know, that may not fit very well, but maybe there's some parallels there because there does definitely have some Roman influence in the Antichrist kingdom. And so that's interesting to consider. But again, it's not exactly clear if that is the limit of the meaning. Another perspective on this is that seven mountains refer to seven world governments.

You might remember in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the statue that we saw back in Daniel chapter two, then there was this great mountain that came and struck the statue and then grew to encompass the whole world and it pictured there the kingdom of God. And so mountains perhaps are referring to similar type things, world governments. And then it would relate to verse 10, the seven kings,

which five of them have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come. And all of that wording can get a little bit twisted and confusing. So here's a look at what this passage

is typically seen as. And so seven world governments, five have fallen. At the time that the angel is revealing this to John, Egypt was a world power that is, you know, not the world power at the time of John's life. Assyria was a world power that,

fell to Babylon, and then Babylon was a world power that fell to Medo-Persia, and they were the world power for a little bit until the Greek Empire came, and then they fell to the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire was the world government of the day. And so five have fallen, those five world kingdoms, you know,

had their time, they rose, they fell, and then one is in power, and then one has not yet come. And so they would see that, or we would see that as a potential reference to a revival of the Roman Empire, this new world kingdom, world government that the Antichrist will lead. And

And so that is kind of a quick look at, you know, what these verses are talking about. And so there's some problems with these when you get into all the details of it. It doesn't exactly, you know, work out as you might think. But it kind of gives us an idea of we're talking about this final world government, the world system,

That is going on. Well, then he goes on in verse 12 to talk about the 10 horns. And these are 10 kings or 10 kingdoms. Verse 12. The 10 horns which you saw are 10 kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

And so these 10 horns are 10 kings. And we saw that coalition of those 10 kings with the Antichrist that will form that one world government at the time. Verse 14 tells us the goal and objective of that final one world government will be to defeat the plans of God. It says these will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them.

Well, then in verse 15, we have the explanation of the waters. The waters talk about all people worldwide. It says, then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And so looking at this whole scene, now we kind of have this picture. We're looking at a worldwide religious system. The Antichrist is involved. There's this 10 kingdom coalition that's all involved. All people worldwide are involved. And then he says,

And then something changes in verse 16. It says that 10 horns, which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. And so there will be the worship of this false religious system. And then something will change. And those who were part of that system will now turn against that system and

and destroy it. And what is that going to be? I would suggest to you, going back to our Revelation timeline again, we're talking about the event that happens at the abomination of desolation. That there will be a change then, the

Antichrist will say, nope, no longer worship in this false system, that future worldwide religious system. We all enjoyed it for a little bit, but now that's over. And now here's my image. Take my mark and worship me only. And the false prophet will from there on out enforce the worship of the Antichrist. And so I would suggest to you as I look at these things and consider the

Listen, with the rapture of the church taking place, the church is out of the way, I would maybe think about this in this way, that it's not necessarily, you know, everybody converts to one religion, but that it is a one world joining of all religions and, you know, kind of all worshiping in their own way,

The world's celebrating religions of all kinds. Remember, there's going to be Jewish sacrifices that are happening during this first half of the tribulation period. And then it's the midpoint when the beast shuts them all down. Islam, it's done. Judaism, it's done, right? Mormonism, it's done. Catholicism, it's done. All of these things are done. You worship me. That's what he'll say at that time. And so we see here this religious system pictured in chapter 17.

with the world worshiping, but then it changes. The beast, the Antichrist, says, nope, never mind, you worship me now. And so the woman is the religious system, the beast is the Antichrist. The seven heads picture seven mountains or seven world governments. The ten horns are ten kings or kingdoms. And then, fifthly, the waters are all people.

All right, chapter 18, and we'll go through this quickly. Verse 21, then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea saying, thus with violence, the great city of Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore.

And so here we see Babylon dealt with again. Now we saw mystery Babylon. That looks like it's the religious system of the day. Now we're looking at the commercial center of the day. And so in verses 1 through 8, you have the angel announcing that Babylon the Great has fallen. Then in verses 19 through 20, you have the kings, merchants, and traders weeping and lamenting. And then verses 21 through 24, Babylon shall be thrown down and not be found anymore.

And so here you have the description now of what is potentially the capital of the Antichrist empire or the commercial center of the world at that time. All of chapter 18 really centers around commerce. And so you see that throughout. And so...

It is a, you know, mega city of the day, and it is probably not the literal city of Babylon geographically located in Iraq. Many people have, you know, considered that and thought that, and potentially it could be, but most likely it's going to be, you know, the center hub of the kingdom of the Antichrist. And so this is going to be the destruction of that.

And so an angel cries with a loud voice. Another angel cries out and now declares that Babylon is destroyed.

fallen. There is judgment upon Babylon. In chapter 16, we saw that God said he remembered Babylon for all of the false religious stuff and persecution of the saints, but also for their idolatry. So you could think about their spiritual adultery and also their idolatry in the worship of material goods.

In verse 3 it tells us,

The Babylonian religion turns people away from God to this false religion. Commercial Babylon turns people from God to anything else, to greed, to covetousness, to idolatry, entertainment, luxury, all of these things, status. It is the commercial system that we see, of course, elements of today, but will also be in place there during the tribulation period. Now, as we study the future judgment of this commercial system,

I would encourage you, it's a good opportunity for us to check our hearts and check out our relationship with the current commercial system and to make sure that our hearts are aligned with the Lord and not the world.

Well, in the midst of all this commercialism, in verse 5 it tells us, her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. And we'll come back to this in just a few moments. But the thing is that the city of Babylon and all of this trade and things that are going on are not honoring the Lord and it's stored up the wrath of God. Her sins have reached heaven.

to heaven. And so there's the call for justice. Babylon's judgment is going to be terrible because of her pride, because of her arrogance, because of her self-indulgence. Verse 8, Well, as we go on here in verses 9 through 20, you see that weeping and mourning that happens.

The kings will mourn. In verse 9 and 10, all of those kings who lived luxuriously with her, they will mourn and weep. Why? Well, because they enjoyed and they lived the luxuries. They're not mourning and weeping in repentance or, you know, that kind of thing, but they're mourning and weeping over their loss of their luxuries, their loss of their goods.

We see the merchants will mourn in verses 11 through 13. And why do they mourn? Because no one buys their merchandise. Again, it's not godly sorrow that produces repentance that we're seeing here. It describes all the different kinds of merchandise that they were exchanging and trading. And included in that are the bodies and souls of men in verse 13. And so again, it's this corrupt system that puts entertainment, pleasure above everything else.

And so physically, emotionally, financially, people will be tied up in this system. They weep and they mourn because their soul longs and craves and covets, and now they can't have what they long for. And so God calls his people to come out from them and be separate.

In verse 17 and 18, we see the commercial supply system joins the weeping. The shipmaster, you know, those who bring all the goods, not just those who sell it, not just those who receive it and buy it at the end, right? But it's this whole setup, right?

from the manufacturing to the delivery to the sale to the enjoyment at the end. This whole system is going to be destroyed and the whole system is going to mourn and weep as a result. Again, why are they weeping? Why are they mourning? It's because their God is dead.

What they lived for, what they focused on, what they consumed their life with is no more. It's been destroyed because they built their life upon this life instead of the life that is to come. And so God says the judgment is going to be swift and powerful.

Verse 21 tells us, a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea and says, with violence, the great city of Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore. And so this seems to picture the latter part of the tribulation period, where now the city of Babylon is destroyed in that great earthquake. And there's this great mourning that happens because it is destroyed beyond recovery. And so we've

We've covered a lot tonight as we've looked at chapters 16, 17, and 18. The bold judgments, the future religious system, the future commercial system. There's a lot of things to consider and chew on. Next week, we'll pick it up in chapter 19. We'll unpause, continue the sequence with the return of Jesus and the battle of Armageddon and the millennium and all of those things that go along with that. So some exciting things ahead. But I wanted to end with just a little bit of an encouragement.

In chapter 18, verse 4, a voice from heaven says, "'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues.'"

And of course, that is a warning for the people who need to turn to God during that time. In those last days, there still will be opportunity to repent. And so God is calling his people out of that commercial system, out of Babylon, out of that idolatry and adultery system.

But as we look at that and understand it's for them later on, we also need to reflect and consider that it's for us today. And the Lord would look at us today and say, come out of her, my people. Listen, we've been looking at all the judgment that happens in the tribulation period and to all of these systems. You know how it all ends. And so if there is any part of your life that is involved in spiritual adultery, you

the worship of something else, where you have more passion and devotion to something that is not of God, then you know where that's going to go. You know the judgment that you will experience personally. You know how that whole system will be destroyed. And so the Lord would say to you, come out of hurt. Like, leave that. Recognize that adultery that's happening in your heart. You're tied to something that is not of God.

And don't experience the judgment along with those who deserve that judgment, but turn, repent, let go of that. Don't be like the people of the tribulation period who know it's wrong, know about God, but continue in it anyways. Recognize the sin. Recognize the spiritual adultery that is going on. Turn from that false religion and tie yourself to God completely and fully. And then also, idolatry. When we get caught up in this life,

This commercial system that is described, you know, pretty well, you don't have to stretch it too far to fit with, you know, the lifestyle that we have here in Southern California, in America. I mean, it is, you know, kind of a strong parallel. Now, again, it's dealing with that future city, but there's some warnings there and there's some foreshadowings of things for us to consider. And so there's a very practical way

response that we can have. Listen, set your focus on the things of God. And just very practically, let me just say, stop living beyond your means. This commercial system, there's all kinds of sin tied up in it. And it is easy for us to get sucked into it. Listen, it's time for you to get out of debt. It's a long journey. It's a hard journey. But you can do it. And you need to do it. Because you need to separate yourself from

from the attachments that are so deep into this world and into this world's system. Come out from them and be separate. Set your focus on the things of God.

of God. As you look through chapter 18, you can see that it describes, you know, this relationship with this commercial system as spiritual fornication. Verse 4 and 5 talk about the great sins. Verse 7 and 8 talks about the great pride. Verse 13 talks about the enslavement of people. Verse 23 talks about the deception. Verse 24 talks about the killing of God's people. All of these things are tied up in this system.

Now, we live in this world, and so there's a balance, right? We are to be in the world, but not of the world. And so we just have to be careful. I'm not saying go crazy, sell everything, and live under a rock. But I am saying...

Check your heart and make sure that you're not caught up into this system and living in a manner and living a lifestyle that is not consistent with what God has for you. Come out of her. Be separate. Be different. And walk in the way that God wants you to walk. Again, it's very practical dealing with our life, our finances, the way that we live, the decisions that we make, but also our heart.

The Lord wants us to be separate, to be different. And the Apostle Paul reminds us of that in 2 Corinthians 6-7. He says it's time for us to come out and to be separate, to not touch the things that are unclean. And God says if you do that, I'll be a father to you. You'll be my son and daughter forever.

And so Paul says, having these promises, let's cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And so let the Lord minister to you about that. Perhaps there's some things he wants you to come out of those things and stop living in that way and to change the pattern because you know how all of those things end. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word.

Lord, the great instruction, the great reminders, the warnings that we need, I pray that you would help us to take heed. Lord, help us to understand the realities of the things that we're dealing with in this life and how so easily we can get tied up into the things that are not of you. Lord, may our hearts be devoted to you. May you be the greatest passion of our hearts and minds. Lord, that we would love you, that we would seek you, and Lord, that we would put you first in all things. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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