Who and What is Babylon?

Transcript

GR 2047
07/08/2018
Who and What Is Babylon?
Revelation 18:1-8; Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

God has chosen to make Himself known and that revelation is contained in what we call the Bible. There is the general revelation of God in creation. We as believers appreciate knowing who God is and we see the beauty of His handiwork and all He has done. But there is a uniqueness in the verbal revelation God has given, contained as our Bibles. One thing God does that demonstrates His absolute sovereign authority over all is He tells us the future. And He doesn't just give general guesses about what will happen, He gives specific details. And that is what we are experiencing in our study of the book of Revelation.

Turn to Revelation 18. We took a little sidetrack in our previous study and looked at Ezekiel 38-39, because what is taking place here in Revelation gives us an overview of that last seven-year period leading up to the return of Jesus Christ to earth recorded in Revelation 19. And in Ezekiel 38-39, he was prophesying about 500 years before Christ. He told of a coming time when there would be an invasion of Israel by nations surrounding Israel which are primarily Muslim as far as their religious makeup. And I shared with you why I think that that invasion will take place in the middle of that seven-year period.

If you have your Bible open to Revelation 18, then you will see in Revelation 17:12, “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom. They receive authority with the beast for one hour.” We noted that takes place during the first 3½ years. This ten-nation confederacy, a revival of the Roman Empire, takes place during the first 3½ years of that seven-year period. They have an intention and that is to give their authority and power to the one known as the beast. So verse 13 says, “They have one purpose, they give their power and authority to the beast.” We noted that happens in the middle of that seven-year period.

Back in Revelation 13 we were told there are 42 months to go when this event of the beast assuming absolute power, so we know we are in the middle. And in verse 16 we are told, “The ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot and make her desolate.” Verse 17, “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose, having a common purpose, giving their kingdom to the beast.” What we noted is that Revelation 17 recorded the destruction of what we call religious Babylon. Babylon and the Babylonian system is the system of the devil in the world, culminating in its final form of religion and religious commercialism and political rule, as we will see in Revelation 18.

If you'd put up the map that we use for Ezekiel, you can see here we put the names of these countries as they appear in Ezekiel. Cush, for example, is what we know of as modern Sudan; Put is Libya. The King of the South comes from Daniel 11 which records a parallel event, this same event in a parallel event, where the King of the South is a reference to Egypt. You see these other countries mentioned. Here is Rosh in the north, which we noted is Russia. It is also identified as the country. Here is Israel, remember, right down here, this little brown spot. If you go all the way due north, the far north as Ezekiel called it, you are right there in Russia, right about at Moscow. These countries will form an alliance, Magog being these countries over here—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and those kinds of countries. These all join together in attacking Israel.

And it seems from the indications in Ezekiel 38 that will happen in the middle of the seven years when Israel is at peace, they have disarmed. Remember that seven-year period started with the signing of an agreement with the leader of a ten-nation confederacy of the revived Roman Empire. And that covenant is evidently enough to cause Israel to have confidence in their security and to turn their attention to restoration of the temple and other matters.

The Roman Empire, as we noted, here is Italy. That was the center, the capital, Rome, and encompasses the region around here, and coming down around this region where the Mediterranean is. So we see that revived Roman Empire. Now what happens in Ezekiel 38, in the middle of that seven years this alliance of countries that we have basically noted here attacks Israel and are destroyed on the mountains of Israel, which results in a couple of things. One, that major religion has been removed, the Muslim religion, because most of these countries in alliance here are Muslim countries. And we know how much the animosity is there, they would like to annihilate Israel but it is going to go the other way around. They will be destroyed. So now you have that apostate church that has been part of this alliance here of the ten nations that has helped him solidify power and them to solidify their power with a religious dimension to it. Remember the devil always wants a religious issue. That's what the issue is for him, to be the center of worship as God. Well now with the Muslims removed he no longer needs the support of that apostate church and that's what we read in Revelation 17:16. “These will hate the harlot,” which was referring to the false religious system revealed earlier in Revelation 17. This ten-nation confederacy says we don't need this any longer. We need the worship of one man, and they have agreed to give all their power and authority to this one man. And we saw in Revelation 13 all the worship now is to be directed toward this one man. So I think that answers some of the questions we have about this part of the world.

What about the rest of the world? You get over to China and all of that. If I could put it in an incorrect theological way, God doesn't care. By that I mean they are not part of the focus. This is the focus, all over here. Why? Because of that little brown spot. That's not a mark on the map, that's Israel. You see it is nothing. But as we saw God calls it the center of the world for him. Everything focuses around there. So perhaps these other countries, over half the earth has been destroyed already, remember, billions of people have died. Perhaps those destructions that happened in focused parts of the world, that would seem a real possibility because here the Antichrist will be ruling, and we're going to look, his capital is going to be over here, in a moment, centered around here.
Life is going on. Jesus said they will be marrying and giving in marriage, for example, until He returns and catches them by surprise.

When we looked at all those judgments with billions of people dying and a third of the earth being consumed in different judgments and this one and another one. You say, how can anyone be living? Keep in mind, if China would be destroyed next week, we might have to pay more money for certain products, but that is already an issue. And our life would go on. Remember Francis Schaeffer? Some of you have read some of Francis Schaeffer, but he said, what is the concern? Personal peace and affluency. How does this affect me? My comfort? My happiness? My enjoyment of the good life? Just like, how many people are starving in the world today? That's too bad, now let's talk about where we are going to lunch. That's too bad that billions of people die, but I can't do anything about that.

So it could be that large parts of the world . . . Where is the United States? Good question, maybe it is destroyed. Maybe finally Yellowstone explodes and the West Coast falls into the sea and the East Coast does and we are annihilated in the judgments, or whatever. Who knows? God doesn't fill in all those details because all He is concerned about is Israel. There is only one nation that has ever existed or will ever exist that God has chosen for Himself. And it is that little spot right there. And the whole world thinks, if we could just get rid of Israel, we'd have peace. You can't get rid of them. In fact they are going to become the center of the world when Christ returns. So what the devil is doing is trying to frustrate this plan of God, not that that could ever happen.

Okay, that's just a reminder of what we did last week. Now we come into Revelation 18. There is not only a religious dimension with an apostate church, I'm going to call it, religion joined together in the Roman Empire that has been supporting the ten-nation confederacy. That now will be destroyed. And the last part of that religious dimension of the Babylonian system will be the one-man worship of the Antichrist, the worship of that one man.

But there is a political and a commercial dimension, and that is what Revelation 18 is about. Now this will happen after Revelation 17. I figured that out by reading the first three words in our English Bible here, of Revelation 18:1, “After these things.” the Greek expression metatalta. That moves things along to the next full vision here and truth unfolded.

So we do the last one of those expressions in Revelation 20, might go back and look at the use of that expression. I look at it like a chapter in a book. You read a chapter and then it unfolds perhaps sequential details that go in following that. Then you get to the next chapter, it picks up and is going to move you along further. And that is sort of what this does. “After these things,” after what we have just said about Revelation 17, the destruction of the apostate religious system and the elevation of the Antichrist. “I saw another angel.” And what this is going to be is about political and commercial Babylon that will have its focus in a city called Babylon here. We know it is commercial and that aspect of it, the political. Just pick up a couple of things we won't get to this week but so you know where we've picked this up.

Come down to Revelation 18:11, “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over the destruction of Babylon. No one buys their cargoes anymore, cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones,” all this merchandise in the following verses. Verse 14, “The fruit you long for is gone from you, all the things luxurious and splendid passed away.” Verse 15, “The merchants of these things who became rich will stand at a distant because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning.” So the destruction here, the ships have brought the wealth and everything on down. That's why we call this political and commercial Babylon in contrast to religious Babylon in Revelation 17.

Now there is a discussion among commentators about what are we talking about with Babylon. Why don't you put the map up with Babylon, this one because this is a more focused map than the previous one we had. So you can see Babylon and we can see it more clearly. We've identified where Babylon was. Here is Baghdad that we are more familiar with today, and you can see a little bit southwest of that was the city of Babylon on the Euphrates, this river here that we have talked about that has been so key in the Bible. All the way back to the Garden of Eden, before the fall, we have the Euphrates River mentioned. In the book of Revelation we have seen the demons bound at the Euphrates, set free, and the Euphrates drying up. This is the river we are talking about, so it is in red, coming down here to the Persian Gulf. But I want you to note where the city of Babylon is, and again here is Israel over here, the West Bank in there. Then all these countries surrounding which are basically Muslim countries. and Iraq, the name we now know as Babylon. So you have an idea where we are.

The discussion comes, is “Babylon,” Babylon? Or is Babylon a code name? The most popular idea is it's a code name for Rome. It's not what I hold, I don't want you to get ahead of me here. But many commentators do. And one of the reasons is, they say John is a captive of the Romans. Remember he is in prison on the Isle of Patmos when he receives this revelation from Jesus Christ. So they say he didn't want to identify Rome because then Rome would get upset and might take action against him for prophesying their destruction. Another reason is, come back to 1 Peter.

There is a tradition that says Peter went to Rome, Roman Catholics are strong on that, some Protestants hold that. As far as I remember, that is a tradition that comes later than our New Testament. When it comes up here at the end of 1 Peter 5 as Peter concludes this letter, and he is writing to Jewish believers scattered throughout the world. And he is writing this from Babylon. So verse 12, “through Silvanus our faithful brother I have written to you briefly exhorting, testifying this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. She who is in Babylon together with you sends you greetings. So does my son Mark.” She who is in Babylon, people say Peter didn't go to Babylon. Some people say Peter wouldn't be in Babylon. Babylon is quite a way across, if you remember. You can see where Israel is and where Babylon is and that's desert, as you get down here, unless he comes across. In those days you didn't jump a plane and go over or get in your car and drive. No, that's a trip to go to Babylon.

So they say we don't think Peter was in Babylon. Yet there is evidence that there was a significant Jewish community in Babylon in New Testament times. And Peter is the apostle to the Jews. How they would have gotten saved we don't know, perhaps some of those Jews from what we know as Iraq, from Babylon had traveled over on the Day of Pentecost because there were Jews from all over who came. We don't know. But they were evidently believers because 1 Peter 5:13 says “she who is in Babylon chosen together with you.” Indicates he is writing about fellow believers. And it seems they were Jews because Peter is writing to the elect sojourners of the diaspora, saved Jews scattered outside the land of Israel. And he is in Babylon when he writes this. I see no problem with his being in Babylon, ministering to Jews there, since we know there was a Jewish community. We don't have solid, concrete evidence, tradition for what it is worth.

I think we would have to have awfully good reason to say Babylon is not Babylon. Babylon, as I have mentioned to you in previous study, is the second most referenced city in the Bible. Jerusalem is first. There are at least 260 references to Babylon in the Bible, Old and New Testament. That's a lot of references. So, it is significant. I think in light of prophecy, and what I want to do, come back to Revelation 18, I want to read a few verses, then I want to go back and we are going to spend a significant amount of time reading some prophetic passages. And you get a feel for how much God has said about Babylon. Then we will come back to Revelation and fit it all in.

I want you to note Revelation 18:2, “the angel cried out, the one with great glory and authority, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit’” and so on. So, we are going to see that comes out of Old Testament prophecy. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. And it is put in the past tense, so we sometimes call this prophetic past, and for you Greek students, a proleptic aorist. It's the normal past tense but it is speaking about a future event because when God tells you the future, it is as good as if you were talking about something that happened yesterday. It is settled.

Down in verse 4, “I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘come out of her my people so that you will not participate in her sins, receive of her plagues.’” Judgment is coming, you better not be part of Babylon, the Babylonian system, or you will be caught up in her judgments. Why is this sure? Down at the end of verse 8, “For the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

Come back to Genesis 10, we'll pick up Babylon. And this is the son of Noah after the flood, his son Ham had a son Cush. Verse 6, “The sons of Ham were Cush,” that's the one we want to pick up on, now verse 8, “Cush became the father of Nimrod. He became a mighty one in the earth, a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said,” it became proverbial, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, Erech, Accad, Calneh in the land of Shinar. Shinar would be the larger territory where Babylon is. Sometimes you use it for the country, like you might refer to what is happening, you may refer to the United States as what Washington did. Genesis 10:8-10. This is the reference, and you see at the beginning it is prominent, dominant, and has a strong figure. It became proverbial among the inhabitants in that day, to say like Nimrod. He is so strong and effective.

Come over to Genesis 11, and this is where the languages are divided. “The whole earth was of the same language, the same words. And they came,” verse 2, “found a plain in the land of Shinar.” And they decide this will become the world center. We will all be gathered here, we will have a center of worship and tower in the center. And we'll all gather around it. So, you see early on the devil tries to begin his counterfeit. God's plan, “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” now the devil is trying to create a center. God confounds the languages, it doesn't happen.

Stop at Genesis 14 just for interest because the first recorded conflict here with Abram, we are familiar with him as Abraham, note how it starts in Genesis 14, “It came about in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar.” And we read about a conflict here and Lot is going to end up getting caught up in it and Abraham will have to come and deliver him. So, you have Babylon even coming at this early history in the record of Israel.

We have to go over to the prophets so I will take you to some of the prophetic books, beginning with Isaiah. Three prophetic books we are going to look at, let me just give you rounded dates so it helps, easy to fix in your mind. Isaiah is prophesying around 700 B.C.; Jeremiah around 600 B.C.; then we will go to Zechariah who was around 500 B.C. Now the dates are around that but I selected those just because you go 700, 600, 500. Isaiah starts prophesying even before the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. So, we are going to Isaiah first. He prophesies, Isaiah 13, and he is going to have two chapters here connecting to Babylon. And remember in Old Testament prophecy sometimes the prophet is given information regarding something that is not too far in the future. And mixed in with that will also sometimes be prophecy that will only relate to a far distant future. We know that from the first and second coming of Christ. Isaiah will write about what we know, what will happen at the first coming, and sometimes he will write about what happens at the second coming. And sometimes they are mixed together. That doesn't mean they are speaking of the same thing. Now as we look, we can sort out, this will refer to the first coming of Christ, then this will refer to the second. That's the way we will look at Babylon here, we can't read these chapters, they are long chapters.

Isaiah 13 begins, “The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.” We'll come down to the part that refers to the distant future, our seven-year period that we are talking about in Revelation. Verse 6, “Wail for the day of the Lord is near, it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” And sometimes when they are talking about a destruction that will happen in the near future, like when Babylon will be judged by God with the Medes and the Persians, that just gives you a preview of what is ultimately going to happen to the final form of the Babylonian kingdom. So, he jumps to the future, that's the day of the Lord, that's that seven-year period in biblical prophecy. “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, they will writhe like a woman in labor.” And we have seen some of this kind of language earlier in the book of Revelation because that is characteristic of that seven-year period.

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.” That hasn't happened yet, but it will. “The stars of heaven, their constellations will not flash their light, the sun will be dark when it rises, the moon will not shed its light.” We saw some of this stuff talked about in Revelation 6. So, you see, we have moved to worldwide events because verse 11, “thus I will punish the world for its evil.” This is all coming together and the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 18 is the final judgment before the return of Christ on the unbelieving Babylonian system of the devil. “I will punish the wicked for their iniquity, put an end to the arrogance of the proud and the base, the haughtiness of the ruthless . . . I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir.” Remember Jesus said if He didn't come at the end of seven years, there wouldn't be anybody left alive. We've seen that in the tribulation. So obviously that kind of judgment on that scale, that is a judgment on an unbelieving world hasn't happened.

Verse 13, “Therefore 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.” Then when you come to verse 17, “I am going to stir up the Medes against them.” The Medes and the Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire that took into captivity the southern kingdom. We're familiar with this with the days of Nebuchadnezzar and following and then with Belteshazzar and the writing on the wall. So, you see this coming judgment that is in the near future gives us a preview, and then he tells us about what that ultimate judgment will be like. It will be a much greater scale. And you see it is put in the context of when God will bring final deliverance to His people Israel. That obviously hasn't happened.

Look at Isaiah 14:1. Remember when the Bible was written like by Isaiah, it didn't have chapter divisions and verse divisions. “When the Lord will have compassion on Jacob 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, as male servants, female servants,” and so on. Verse 3, “And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil, and harsh service.” You see that will happen because Christ is going to return with the destruction of Babylon. So, when we get done with Revelation 18, what is the next event? Heaven opens and Christ returns. This is the context and what will happen when Christ comes? Israel will be established in the land, there is only one nation in all the world that God has chosen for Himself. That is Israel. So, people will want to join themselves to the Jews. Now there is anti-Semitism and people want to persecute the Jews and be rid of the Jews. There will come a day when people will want to be connected to the Jews because the kingdom Christ establishes is a Jewish kingdom, ruled by a Jewish Messiah with one nation as the focal nation, with its capital in Jerusalem. So that's Isaiah, gives you a flavor there.

Come over to Jeremiah, we're going to Jeremiah 50. We have two long chapters so we can only highlight some things. I would encourage you to take some time, sit down this week and read these chapters in their fullness. You see Babylon, Babylon, Babylon. Jeremiah 50 opens up, “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon.” Now the northern ten tribes by now have been taken into captivity, the Babylonians have conquered the southern kingdom. Daniel has been carried to Babylon as a captive. Ezekiel gets carried, remember Nebuchadnezzar had to come up and subdue Jerusalem and the Jews three times—605, 597. . . In 605 Daniel is carried to Babylon; in 597 Ezekiel is carried to Babylon; in 586 Nebuchadnezzar says I have had enough. He comes up and destroys everything, takes everything out of the temple, carts it back to Babylon and so on. Jeremiah is in this time of Babylonian captivity, he is writing and the Lord gives him revelation concerning Babylon. Jeremiah never goes to Babylon, he is left in the land.

“Declare and proclaim among the nations, lift up a standard,” verse 2, “do not conceal but say Babylon has been captured, Marduke has been shattered.” He is the god of the Babylonians. You'll note we are writing in the past tense. But Babylon is the dominant kingdom now, that's why we call it the prophetic past. It hasn't happened, Babylon has not been captured, Bel has not been put to shame, Marduke has not been shattered. These gods of Babylon have not been destroyed. They are ruling, but you have this past tense.

Verse 4, “’In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘the sons of Israel will come, they and the sons of Judah.’” The sons of Israel are the northern ten tribes and the sons of Judah, that's the southern two tribes, their descendants. So, He is going to bring them back together again as one nation, as Ezekiel prophesied. “They will go along weeping as they go and it will be the Lord their God they will seek. They will ask for the way to Zion, turning their faces in its direction, they will come that they may join themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.” That's obviously yet future. We know what is one of the main purposes of the seven-year tribulation, so bring the heat of pressure from the Lord on them in judgment for their unbelief that they will ultimately submit to Him. “And then they will say, ‘blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Remember Revelation 11, the turning of Israel and thus all Israel will be saved. We are here now at the coming to the end of that seven-year period so this is all put in that context—the final salvation of Israel, the final judgment of Babylon in its final form.

Keep going, look at verse 13, “Because of the indignation of the Lord she will not be inhabited, she will be completely desolate. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified.” Down at the end of verse 15, “This is the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on her, she has done to others so do to her. You cut off the sower from Babylon,” all of that. Then he will mention Nebuchadnezzar in verse 17. But then you come down to verse 19, “I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan. His desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.” Israel is back in their land, north and south. “’In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none.”

That's not true today. Israel is a nation in rebellion against God. They are not recognizing Christ as their Messiah and Savior. “There will be search made for iniquity, the iniquity of Israel, there will be none.” God has cleansed them, that's Romans 11, all Israel will be saved. “For the sins of Judah, they will not be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.” Remember we will get to this yet future in Revelation, there will be Jews but it will be a remnant that will be saved. Jews have been dying and it takes a lot to bring a sinner to his knees because we are stubborn. Jews, how could they be so stubborn? Well, look around. I see an auditorium filled with stubborn sinners. I can't see me, well a little bit. I know, you are all looking at me, right? You see the biggest sinner of all. But no iniquity fell, the remnant has been cleansed. Well, we are back. Israel has turned to Christ and called upon Him to deliver us. He has come, they are cleansed. This is the period of time in which he is writing.

Why will this all happen? Down in verse 34, “Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of Hosts is His name.” We have to pick up what he says about Babylon here. Verse 39, “Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals, the ostriches will live in it. It will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.” It's going to be annihilated just like Sodom and Gomorrah. “No man will live there nor will any son of man reside in it.” Come down to the end of verse 44, as God tells all this I like it. “Who is like Me? Who will summon Me into court? Who them is the shepherd who can stand before Me?” A shepherd refers to a king because he had the oversight of the people, like sheep of the pasture. Nobody can stand before the Lord, nobody can call God to account.

You come to chapter 51 and it's still about, verse 1 says “I'm going to arouse against the king of Babylon.” And down to verse 5, “Neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of Hosts.” You ought to mark that in your Bible, anytime tells you the church has replaced Israel. “Neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the Lord of Hosts, although their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.” That doesn't mean God has rejected Israel, we looked in a previous study, because God's holiness, His character and His promises are at stake.

Now keep this in mind, this is a verse we read in Revelation 18, the background for it, “Flee from the midst of Babylon, each of you save his life. Do not be destroyed in her punishment, this is the Lord's time of vengeance, He's going to render recompense, Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine, the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen, been broken. Wail over her.” This is what we have in Revelation 18, we will see, and the call to come out. Israel must come out of Babylon, you are to disassociate yourself from this system, its religion, its political, its commercialism. Remember the whole world is into this corruption.

You can see how long this chapter is, look at verse 15. “It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom. By His understanding He stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,” and so on. Verse 17, “All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge.” Idols, they can't do anything. But verse 19, “The portion of Jacob is not like these, He is the maker of all.” Verse 24, “I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for their evil that they have done to Zion before your eyes. Behold, I am against you, oh destroying mountain.”

And we talked about a mountain being a symbol of a kingdom in the Old Testament. Here you have an example, he calls Babylon a destroying mountain, He is going to stretch out His hand against them. Verse 26, “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner nor a stone for foundation. You will be desolate forever.” And the judgment going on. Verse 45, “Come forth from her midst, My people, each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the Lord.” We read that in Revelation 18. Verse 47, “Therefore behold days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon, her whole land will be put to shame, her slain will fall in her midst. Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers will come from the north, declares the Lord. Verse 53, “Though Babylon should ascend to heaven, though they should fortify her lofty stronghold, from Me destroyers will come, declares the Lord.” Verse 55, “The Lord is going to destroy Babylon.” Verse 56, “The destroyer is coming against her,” the end of the verse, “the Lord is a God of recompense, He will fully repay.” Verse 58, “Thus says the Lord of Hosts, ‘The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed, her high gates will be set on fire.’”

So here is what Jeremiah commanded Seraiah, who is his servant, to tell Zedekiah. But it doesn't do any good. And “he wrote in a single scroll all this calamity that would come upon Babylon.” See Babylon, Babylon, Babylon, Babylon. You would have to have almost irrefutable evidence to say all of a sudden you get to New Testament prophecy about Babylon and Babylon is no longer Babylon.

Look how it concludes, what he is to do. Verse 61, “Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, as soon as you come to Babylon,” remember Jeremiah hasn't left to go to Babylon, he never does go to Babylon. So, he sends his servant with this prophecy of the scroll to read to the people, the Jews that have been transported to Babylon. Some of Jeremiah's writings caused Daniel to understand that the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years, as Daniel tells us in his prophecy. And “you will say,” verse 62, “you O Lord have promised concerning this place, to cut it off,” he's talking about Babylon, that's the place to be cut off.

So, you have a problem if you move that to another place. He says it is this place you will cut off. “There will be nothing dwelling in it, whether man or beast, it will be a perpetual desolation. As soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it in the middle of the Euphrates.” Because remember Babylon is right on the Euphrates. Strange thing to do with the scroll, why would you do that? Well, here, “When you throw it in you say, just so, Babylon, sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her. They will become exhausted. These are the words of Jeremiah.”

Then he goes back to current times in chapter 52. Remember without chapter divisions and so on it would be confusing, you had all these things together. This prophecy, the Euphrates, that key river, this is the prophecy that it is thrown in there. And there it is, sinks down, perhaps it is still there at the bottom of the Euphrates, waiting for the time to be fulfilled when the demons bound at the Euphrates are loosed and the Euphrates dries up and so on.

We have to go to one more place, Zechariah 5. And Zechariah has a series of visions, and he is down around 500 B.C. and the Medes and the Persians have taken Babylon by then. He has a series of visions, two of them are in chapter 5, I think visions #6 and #7. We're going to pick up with verse 5, and I think this is the seventh vision in the book. Verse 5, “Then the angel who was speaking went out and said to me, ‘lift up now your eyes and see what is this going forth.’ And I said, ‘what is it?’ He said, ‘this is the ephah going forth.’ And again he said, ‘this is their appearance in all the land. And behold a lead cover was lifted up.’”

So, an ephah as we talked about, we've been to this passage before, was a bushel, if you are using dry measure like wheat or a grain, or a 5-gallon can for liquid. So, you get an idea about the size, and it has a lead cover. Lead would be heavy, and to note you want something that is going to hold in whatever is there. And “a lead cover was lifted up and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” Now obviously a 5-gallon can and a woman sitting in there . . ., but this is in a vision so everything here can be reduced. But the point is being made, so this can be transported in the vision. “And so he said, ‘This is wickedness.’” Well when the cover is lifted up, evidently the woman starts to come up to come out. “He threw her down,” the angel, “into the middle of the ephah and put the lead cover back down. Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, there were two women coming out with the wind in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.” Now there may be an indication, the women are used here in connection with the woman who is evil and they have the wind in their wings so they can carry this, but then wings like a stork. And back in Leviticus 11 a stork is one of the unclean birds that Israel was not allowed to eat. So perhaps the uncleanness is connected here with the wickedness they are transporting.

At any rate, a natural question from Zechariah. “I said to the angel who was speaking with me, ‘where are they taking the ephah with the woman in it?’” Now this is where we are going. “Then he said to me, ‘to build a temple for her in the land of Shinar. And when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.’”

So picturing that time. Where is it going? To the land of Shinar? I don't think we should make that the land of Italy or another major city. It is the land of Shinar, the city of Babylon. What don't you understand about Babylon being Babylon? I'm not saying you, you know what I mean. Why do we want to change it to something else? Well it doesn't fit. You are going to build a city like this? I take it when you have the devil pool all his resources, and remember all the kingdoms of the world are under his authority, for his final spectacular last hurrah, he can do it quite quickly and spectacularly. There will be billions of dollars pouring in to build this city, this temple. The whole world is thrilled that this is now what we have looked for. Unity, harmony, no borders. I'm not politically talking. But it is one world, one ruler, one worship system, prosperity for all. I take it that's where wickedness is going in the last days, and it is interesting a temple is built there. What did we have in the original Babylon back in Genesis 11? That temple, that tower being built with the city around it.

Come back to Revelation 18, remember this is a study of Revelation 18. We'll just read some verses quickly and we don't have to do it because basically we have seen all of this in the Old Testament. We'll get the detail of the destruction beginning in verse 9. But this angel came “down from heaven having great authority. The earth was illumined with his glory.” We sometimes don't appreciate, angels aren't deity, but they serve in the presence of Almighty God. Remember when Moses would go up on the mount and be in the presence of God, he would come out and his face would glow. These are angels that serve there regularly, and they radiate something of the glory of the God in whose presence they serve. Authority? Remember when Gabriel came to tell John the Baptist's father about having a son and so on. How will I know this is true? What do mean how would he know this is true? I am Gabriel, I serve in the presence of the Lord, I don't tell lies. He won't be able to speak until afterwards.

Verse 2, “He cried out with a loud voice saying, fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” So that was back in Isaiah, Jeremiah, we get the same emphases. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” “Become a dwelling place of demons, unclean spirits, prison of every unclean and hateful bird. All the nations have drunk of the wine and the passion of her immorality.” It's a spiritual immorality they are talking about here, it's all corruption. “The kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, the merchants of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her sensuality.” Then look at verse 4, “Come out of her my people, that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.” You don't want to be part of this system, you don't want to be caught up in it. She is going to be paid back, she is coming to judgment. She thinks she is secure. Verse 7, “I sit as a queen, I am not a widow, I will never see mourning. Then one day her plagues will come.” She will be destroyed. Why? “For the Lord God who judges her is strong.”

I want to take you back to one passage, 2 Corinthians 6. We read this and say that is all interesting future, but it tells us something. You know this system exists today, not in the final form it is going to take, but “the whole world lies in the evil one.” All the kingdoms of the world are under his authority, all the unbelievers in the world are slaves of the devil. The Babylonian system in that sense is operative. It has different faces and different forms, but underlying it is one unified leader, the devil, with one purpose—to turn worship away from the living God to himself. We have to be careful, and you'll note in this, not only the actual religion goes there but the political and the commercial aspects go as well. In 2 Corinthians 6 we see the similarity here. Paul writes to the Corinthians, verse 14, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers. What partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? What fellowship has light with darkness? What harmony has Christ with Belial?” What has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? “For we are the temple of the living God which dwells in us, just as God said, I will dwell in them, walk among them. I will be their God, they will be My people. Therefore come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, I will welcome you, I will be a Father to you, you will be sons and daughters to Me says the Lord Almighty. Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

You see the thing God expects from us today is not to get entangled in this corrupt system of the devil either. It's not like well, I'm glad I won't be there when that Babylonian system . . . I'm glad I won't be there in those days, either, but we are here today and that system is still operating, it's a result of the fall. We have to be careful that we don't become ensnared and entangled in all the world, for all that is in the world is the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life.” But you know what happens, and I've shared with you, been part of studies in past years where they studied in countries, the Gospel goes in and impacts the poor who have nothing and then they become believers. They become more successful, more responsible and their passion for Christ diminishes as their status increases. We have to be careful, we are prosperous. Pretty soon our prosperity has left little time for the Lord. I'm so busy, we have so many things and somehow the Lord . . . Well, we do this, we give Him as little, doesn't interfere with life. That is to be our life.

“Come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord.” Doesn't mean we can't have jobs in the world, but we are not to be entangled the way the unbeliever is. We're not living for this world. This world is not our home, we are just passing through; our citizenship is in heaven. So we want to be careful as we read about the culmination of this world religion, this world system, as Peter will write, it's all going to be consumed and destroyed. Be careful you don't invest your life in that which is so transitory, so passing, so empty. We as believers know how it all ends and we know something of its corruption. You see God's attitude toward it in what we read about Babylon. It is no different today. That system just in His sovereign plan hasn't come together in the form which will result in His judgment on it finally, but we are living. What a sad thing that God's people have been caught up in the Babylonianism of the day, religiously, politically, commercially and somehow fail to have lived separate lives that testify to His grace.

Let's pray. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. You do not speak idle words, You speak truth to which we are accountable and responsible, we who have placed our faith in You and the Savior You have provided are to honor You with our obedience to the truth, lives lived free from the bondage to sin and Satan and all the allurements of the world because we have become children of the living God, enslaved to God and righteousness. May that be the evident manifestation of the way we live our lives. We pray in Christ's name, amen.