,, After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. "Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix for her double. "In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'"Therefore her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
“ Revelation 18: 1-8
We have already talked about Babylon and the need to rebuild the once ruined city of Babylon, about five thousand years old, the remains of which are located between the great rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Chapter Eighteen Revelation speaks of the destruction of this city and we should say that about the destruction of commercial Babylon and we talked about the destruction of religious Babylon in the seventeenth chapter.
"And after this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having a great field; and the earth shone with his glory. And he cried with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and a prison for every unclean spirit, and a prison for all unclean and hateful birds.
After the vision of the great "prostitute woman" and the beast that carries her, and after the destruction of the "woman with ten horns on the beast", John sees a new vision shown to him by another angel ... who had a large area; and the earth is lightened by his glory. ". This angel does not speak from heaven but descends to earth and he comes with great authority because he has the task of accomplishing a great task. We read what he says:
"And he cried with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen," The fall of Babylon is certain, and we can read verses that speak of the speed of the event.
"Therefore in one day her wickedness will come:" (verse eight) and in the tenth it says, "for in one hour thy judgment is come!" and then we read, "And he became a dwelling place for the devils, and a prison for every unclean spirit, and a prison for all unclean and hateful birds."
In the last days in the second half of the great tribulations, Babylon will surely be a place of "unclean spirits", and according to the texts of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, it will be even in the time of the Millennial Kingdom.
,, And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses; it shall be a habitation of jackals, a courtyard for ostriches. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall bleat to its companion; also the night creature shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs and hatch, and gather them under her shadow; there also shall the hawks be gathered, every one with her mate.”
Isa.34: 13-15
,, And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; ostriches will dwell there, And wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged."”
Isa.13: 19-22
,, "Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, and the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities," says the LORD, "So no one shall reside there, nor son of man dwell in it.”
Jer.50: 39-40
"For he watered all the nations with the poisonous wine of his prostitution; And the kings of the earth were harlots with her, and the merchants of the earth were enriched by the riches of her sweetness.
The old Babylon, whose founder was Nimrod and Semiramis, did not only create a false religion which "poisoned" nations, but also trade, commercialism were born in it, as well as the policy that follows this, which is of course contrary to God's truth.
God told Adam:
,, In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."”
Gen. 3:19
But in Babylon, a way of life was found that was contrary to what God said, a way was found that was easy and based on the principle "buy cheap where there is and sell expensive where there isn't and you don't have to do anything" no You have to shed sweat. And this principle has spread all over the world, because with the poisonous wine of its prostitution it feeds all nations; They serve precisely for these purposes. Trade is an easy way to make money, and with it go "my kinds of sins" due to various interests or fraud, evasion, theft and the like, similar to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.
,, "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. "And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.”
Ezekiel 16: 49-50
and we see that they were destroyed, and the same will happen to Babylon, "Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen,"
Until now, we have talked about the judgment of Babylon, and now we have something else, "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not interfere with her sins, and so that her evils do not harm you," and this is a similar call to Israel:
,, "My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the LORD.”
Jer.51: 45
and it is very important because it says first: "that you do not interfere with her sins" and second that "and that her evils do not harm you." which means that we should not be part of his punishment. This is a principle that God has always used, first he warned and then the punishment came and it will be and with Babylon God will remove his people and then the judgment will follow.
Before he brought the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, God said:
,, "and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
"For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
Deuteronomy 7: 2-4
We see that God advises that they have no "connection not to interfere" with the Egyptians because God will punish them otherwise and in our text God also calls us not to "interfere" with the Babylonian religion because in the end we will be judged but God says something completely different:
,,
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
Ps.1: 1-2
and through the apostle Paul God tells us:
,, But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.”
2 Thess.3: 6
,, Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."”
2 Cor.6: 14-18
,, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.”
2 John 1: 9-11
So God kindly invites us not to mix with the "Babylonian" religion so that we do not participate in the evils that await the "Babylonian religion" and all those who worship those "sciences" that this religion offers and those "tempting baits". "which is preparing for the future because we have already seen what will happen in the future. And that is why God calls us not to" drink poisonous Babylonian wine "no matter how nicely packaged, served and offered it is because we will surely be" poisoned ". and besides, we have the words of the Lord Jesus who said:
,, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6:24
It is clear that God wants us to separate from "Babylon" for our good, and here is the spirit of self-sufficiency of people who do not want to listen to God's advice and think that "Babylonian religion" is enough for everything they want, so they say, I sit like a queen, and I am not a widow, and I will not see sorrow, "but we also see what God promises them in the verses of this chapter we are studying:
"For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her as she paid you, and give her twice as much according to her deeds: with which cup she seizes you, take her twice as much. As much as she is glorified and give her so much torment and sorrow; for she saith in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am not a widow, and I will not see grief. for strong is the Lord God who judges her. "
So the conclusion would be, let’s listen to what God kindly recommends to us while we still have time. let us turn to the true God, believe in Him, because otherwise we can expect the "evils" described in the Bible, which will surely come, and according to what it says, it can happen very quickly.