Revelation 19 – Lesson 24

 

Last time we saw the destruction of Babylon.  Now John is hearing a great multitude in heaven shouting their praises to God.   Then in his vision he sees the long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:1-10 – Praises in Heaven           

In Revelation 19:1 we see salvation and glory and power belong to God.  Salvation can only be found in Him because He delivered us from sin and eternal hell.  It is God who will bring us glory.  By His power He created the world and by His power only He can bring it to a meaningful conclusion.

In the opening verses we see several attributes of God.  He is powerful, true, and just.  “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.”  There was a celebration because God destroyed Babylon punishing her with the punishment she deserved.  Babylon’s destruction was final and will never be built again.  (Rev. 18:21; 19:1-3)  This is heaven’s response to the judgment of the great harlot, Babylon.  The multitude is praising God for the judgment.  These are probably angels, because the saints are not told to praise God until verse 4.

God’s judgments are always absolutely fair.  He is to be worshipped because He is just and He will judge every evil empire and avenge the blood of the martyrs.  He will do this through Jesus.  Jesus will return as King of kings and Lord of lords. 

The 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fell down and worshiped and called for all the believers including Old Testament saints, the church age saints and the Tribulation saints to give praise to God. (Rev. 19:4-5)

This should influence and change our worship.  God is in control and He keeps His promises.  Good will triumph at the end.  We should be extremely thankful and celebrate and honor God.

The praise continues and calls for the marriage of the Lamb.  “Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” – Rev. 19:6-8  The group praising God is so loud that it sounds like rushing waters and thunder.  They continue rejoicing and praising God for the marriage of the Lamb has come.  The fine clean white linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.

The marriage is the eternal union of the church with Christ.  The bride is the church universal.  She has made herself ready for her wedding.  Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for her by His death on the cross.  The marriage of Jesus and His church will be complete and there will be a great wedding meal.  She is given the dress to wear, salvation.  She has not earned it, but she has obeyed the Lord and has done what was right.

The angel told John, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb… These are the true words of God.” – Rev. 19:9  No one can earn the right to go the wedding meal - only those whom God invites.  Some believe those invited are Israel who will turn to Christ during the Tribulation. (Rom. 11:25-27)

Passages that display the love of the Lord Jesus for His people:

John 14:15-21 – He sent His Spirit to be with us.

John 15:9-17 – He chose us.

2 Corinthians 11:2 – He has a godly jealous for us wanting us to be pure.

Ephesians 5:25-33 – He loves us so much that He died for us.

The church is the bride of the Lamb, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

John was so impressed with the angel that the fell to his feet to worship him, but the angel told him not to.  Angels are servants of God and so are all Christians.  We should only worship God. (Rev. 19:10)

Principle:  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.

Revelation 19:11-21 – The Rider on the White Horse

John saw heaven standing open.  He saw a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True and with justice he judges and makes war.  The rider is God the Son, Jesus.  These names reflect His character; He is always faithful to His promises and always speaks the truth.  He comes to make war with Satan and his armies and to judge all on the earth.  This is the Battle of Armageddon.  Jesus will come for all to see and with a large heavenly army.  His eyes were like fire and he had many crowns with a name on Him that no one knows but He himself.  He’s dressed in a bloody robe and His name is the Word of God.  Some believe the bloody robe is the blood of Jesus from His death on the cross.  Others believe this blood is the picture of judgment - the blood of the slaughtered enemies. (Isaiah 63:1-6)  Armies of heaven followed Him on white horses.  This army is the redeemed saints.  They were dressed in fine, white, and clean linen because they have overcome the devil.  His mouth had a sharp sword to strike the nations.  He will rule with an iron scepter – meaning His law is absolute and unwavering and He will never change.  He will tread the winepress of God’s wrath.  On  His robe and on His thigh is written “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. (Rev. 19:11-16) 

Details of His coming are found in Matt. 24.  He will come as fast as lightning and He will come immediately after the Great Tribulation.  The sun is darkened and moon will not give light, stars will fall, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.  He will be coming on the clouds with great power and glory.  A great trumpet will sound announcing His coming. 

The armies are probably the raptured church, angels, the church, Old Testament saints, and the Tribulation saints.  All will share in the victory.  This war is the Battle of Armageddon John described in Rev. 16.

Then John saw an angel standing in the sun calling to the birds in the air, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” – Rev. 19:17-18.  The angel is inviting the birds to feed on the results of what will shortly take place.  Christ’s victory is declared before it ever begins.  When this battle is over, the great supper will take place.  Actually there won’t be a war at all as we think of war.  It will be over immediately. 

Then he saw the beast (the Antichrist), the kings and their armies gathered together to make war against the God and His armies.  But the beast and the false prophet were captured.  They were thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  The rest were killed by the rider (Jesus) and the birds ate their flesh. (Rev. 19:19-21)

The beast and the false prophet were used by Satan to perform his evil deeds.  They were vile and evil and they will get what they deserve by being sent to the Lake of Fire or Hell.  Satan will join them, but only for 1,000 years.  Then Satan will be released for a short while.  Then he will join the beast, the false prophet and all unbelievers for all eternity.  We will see this described in Rev. 20. 

Principles: 

Jesus will conquer His enemies and claim His people as His bride.

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords!

Hallelujah!  What an exciting chapter.  All corrupt religious and political systems that are controlled by Satan’s power will not last.  They will come to an end.  Until then God’s people will continue to give Him praises, because He governs destiny.  The Lamb will be triumphant!

Next week we will study Revelation 20.  – I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

__________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below. 

Revelation 18 – Lesson 23

 

Revelation 18 – The Fall of Babylon          

John saw another angel coming down from heaven.  He had great authority and the earth was illuminated by His glory.  God was always with John since the glory of God shone and was absorbed by those around Him.  (Rev. 18:1)  Remember when Moses met with God on Mount Sinai.  He came down from the mountain and his face was shining from being in the presence of God.  When we spend time with God, we shine as well. 

The angel shouted “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” – Rev. 18:2a  He said the city had become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of unclean spirits and detestable birds.  Every nation was influenced by Babylon.  Every merchant grew rich from her excessive luxuries.  (Rev. 18:2b-3)

Who or what is Babylon?  In the last sentence of chapter 17 it tells us that the woman that John saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.  In John’s time that city was Rome.  Rome was an enemy of God and persecuted many Christians.  Babylon represents any evil city, nation, place or even government systems.  It has great influence over people with material possessions, luxuries, wealth and the worship of anything other than God.

There are consequences for making riches and luxuries the top priority in life.  The more you have the more it seems you want.  You never seem to be satisfied.  You may become greedy and self-centered.  You may tend to forget God and what He’s done for you making Him not the center of your life.  Wealth and possessions are your number one priority.  The Bible warns against this.  “Set your hearts on the things above, not on earthly things.” - Col. 3:1-2  “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matt. 6:20-21

Then John heard another voice from heaven calling for believers to come out of Babylon.  He is giving another chance for unbelievers to repent and turn to Him.  He is a God of second chances.  God wanted all the people to separate themselves from Satan’s kingdom.  (Rev. 18:4)  Babylon had so many sins that they were piled up to heaven.  God remembered her crimes and her consequences will a double portion of judgment.  (Rev. 18:5-8) 

God remembers the crimes of sinners, but if you are a believer God has forgiven you and remembers your sins no more.  Isaiah 43:25 – “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

It’s sad and hard to believe that there were believers still living in Babylon.  God wants His people to physically leave the city and to separate themselves from the evil worldly practices.  God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked.  It’s like Lot living in Sodom.  God called him out of the city before He destroyed it.

God is going to pay Babylon back double her deeds.  Babylon boasts that she is a queen not a widow and will never mourn.  She would not repent of her sins.  Her heart was hard.  God will destroy her.  He will bring plagues, pestilence, mourning, famine and fire upon her.  (Rev. 18:7-8)

Three groups of people will mourn Babylon’s fall - the kings, the merchants, and the sailors.  The kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury and sin will be sorrowful over the fall of Babylon.  Why?  It won’t be for the city, but for themselves.  They will be bankrupt.  Their so called good life will come to an end.  They will have lost their trade and profit.  No one will buy or sell any more.  The merchants will mourn.  No more cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, fine linens, spices, wines, and oil.  The sea captains and sailors will suffer, also.  They will suffer as Babylon suffered.  She will be destroyed in 1 hour.   They will all weep and mourn over her. (Rev. 18:9-19)

All the people of Babylon will mourn because they used their money solely for luxurious living.  They consumed it with their selfish lusts.  They valued their wealth over human life and suffering.  Money, prosperity, capital, treasures, materialism, affluence, and privilege are the gods they serve.  They put their trust and hope in these things, and it was gone in an instant.  They invested merely in temporary things and will not reap nothing eternal.  The lesson here is don’t trust in your money or your riches, but trust in God.   Live generously and serve God and your fellow man.

Matthew 6:19-21 tell us where true treasure if found and stored.  True treasures are not possessions and wealth, but it’s all about the hearts and motivations which are stored in haven.

Heaven is called to rejoice over the fall of Babylon.  They rejoice because finally God judged evil and put an end to sin once and for all time.  Evil will be gone forever!  “Rejoice over her, O heaven!  Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets!  God has judged her for the way she treated you.” – Rev. 18:20

Then a mighty angel promised that no one will ever see that city again.  He picked up a boulder and threw it into the sea.  The stone sank with a great splash and with such force that it destroyed Babylon.  Babylon fought against God and God punished her severely.  (Rev. 18:21-24)

Babylon’s evil empire is now dead,  but God’s people will live forever because God promised if they believe in Jesus they will have eternal life.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Principles: 

Don’t’ trust in your money or your riches; trust in God.

People who love for the world will lose everything in God’s judgment.

There is a battle between God and Satan, good and evil - GOD WINS!

Next week we will study Revelation 19.  – I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

__________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below. 

Revelation 17 – Lesson 22

 

Revelation 17:1-6 – The Woman and The Beast

One of the seven angels invited John to see how God would punish Babylon.  The angel called Babylon a great prostitute who sells her body for sex.  She had great influence upon the people.  The kings of the earth committed adultery with her.  The adultery mentioned is the worship of idols and false gods instead of Almighty God who created the earth.  The inhabitants of earth were intoxicated with her adulteries. (Rev. 17:1-2).  Her beauty is only skin deep.  She may look good, but soon her evil will soon be revealed.  Someone who is drunk has no idea what they are doing.  This is like these kings.  They were so wrapped up in the wealth, greed and evil that they didn’t realize the magnitude of what they were doing.

People are attracted to and worship many idols and false gods today.  There are many false gods in this world fighting for our attention.  People turn to money, power, reputation, sex, appearance, beauty, comfort, family, self, fame, entertainment, pleasure, and instant gratification.  Anything you put before God is a false god and an idol. 

This prostitute is not a literal woman.  We’re told in verse 18 that the woman is Babylon and some say it represents the city of Rome.  Babylon can be looked at as an ungodly world system that is against God or as the city of the Antichrist.  She turns good into evil.  She sits on many waters and has great influence.  We learn in verse 15 that the waters “are people and multitudes and nations and languages”.  All the kings of the earth shared the trade and culture with her.  They desired wealth, luxury and false gods.  She caused the nations and people of earth to worship the beast.

John was taken by the Spirit into a desert where he saw a woman sitting on a red beast covered with blasphemous names and had 7 heads and 10 horns.  She is dressed in purple and adorned with beautiful expensive jewels on the outside, but inside she was anything but beautiful.  True beauty in found in Jesus alone.  She carried a golden cup filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.  On her head was written, “Mystery Babylon the great the mother of prostitutes and the abominations of the earth” – Rev 17:5.  She was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. (Rev. 2-6)  She was a killer of believers.  She represents all who hate God, but someday she will face His justice.

This golden cup could mean that all this evil and immorality of the world has been brought into the church.  The church was tolerating almost anything and everything.  They were watering down Jesus and God’s truth. 

2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Jeremiah 39:1-10; and Daniel 5 show the name “Babylon” is appropriate for this woman.  These passages tell how they desecrated the temple of God and treated the people.  We see that today.  We see some churches watering down Jesus and the gospel.  They are tolerating life styles and choices that God does not approve of, because they don’t want to hurt people’s feelings or because it’s the popular thing to do.  They call it being tolerant.  They say times have changed and we need to accept those changes.  I think they need to read the Bible to see what God says.

The beast is the Antichrist who is the great enemy of Christ and God’s people.  The woman was drunk not with wine, but the blood of believers.  Babylon was responsible for the death of God’s people.  They died because they were loyal to Jesus.

Principle:  Anything you put before God is a false god.

Revelation 17:7-14 – The Woman and The Beast Explained

John was astonished, because this vision had to be shocking and confusing.  The angel explained to John.  The beast we saw in chapter 14 is the Antichrist.  He was killed yet rose from the dead to deceive the people of the earth.  He is red like the red dragon, Satan.  He is full of blasphemous names against God.  The people of the earth whose names are not written in the book of life will worship the beast.  Scripture calls for us to be wise.  The 7 heads are mountains.  They are also 7 kings.  Five had fallen and one had not come yet.  Some believe the five fallen are Julius Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.  The 6^th was Domitian and was alive in John’s day.  The 7^th is the Antichrist, the coming leader revived from the Roman Empire.  He will also be the 8^th and rule the entire world. (Rev. 17:9-11) 

We know the Antichrist is coming and will be a Gentile and will have some connection to the ancient Roman Empire.  It could be through ancestry, geography, or a structure of his government.  He will be a Gentile ruler leading the modern remnants of the Roman Empire which includes lands as distant as Indian, Turkey, and Egypt.  Read more about this in detail in Daniel 2 & 7 where you will see the succession of Gentile world powers that conquer Israel and Jerusalem.

The description of the beast and the Lord is very different.  The beast once was, now is not, and yet will come and will be destroyed. (Rev. 17:8)  The Lord is and who was, and is to come.  He will live forever.  (Rev. 1:4; 8; and 4:8)  The beast is a counterfeit of Jesus.  The beast comes to destroy and Jesus came to save.  Jesus triumphed over Satan on the cross.  Satan’s final days will end to total destruction.

Rev. 17:9 states wisdom is required.  How do you gain wisdom?  We gain wisdom by asking God for it; we stay in His Word and ask Him to help you understand it.  Then we will be able to discern between a lie and the truth.  Stay in prayer.  Our faith will be strengthened and our trust in God will become stronger and stronger.

The 10 horns are the 10 kings who haven’t received their power yet, but they will receive authority as kings for a short time along with the beast.  Their goal it to make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.  With Him will be His chosen and faithful followers. (Rev. 17:12-14)

Principle: The Lord is and who was, and is to come; He will live forever.

Revelation 17:15-18 – God’s Purpose Will Be Accomplished

There is no unity of God’s enemies.  We see that in Judges 7:22 and 2 Chronicles 20:22-23.  God is in control and God’s purposes will be accomplished.  “For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God’s words are fulfilled.” – Rev. 17:17  This was God’s plan in order to punish Babylon.  God is in control and His plans will succeed, because He is the only real God.

We can see Babylon traits in the world today.  There is a cultural system that pulls people away to ungodliness.  It encourages sin, selfishness, tolerance of all things, greed, love of money and material things.  But remember, God will still achieve His purposes in the world.  He is sovereign and in control – and – He wins in the end!

Jesus never sought power or authority, but lived as a servant and lived to glorify God.  True beauty is in Jesus.  His punishment on the cross for us brought us peace that is true beauty.

Principle:  God is in control and His purposes will be accomplished. 

 Next week we will study Revelation 18.  – I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

__________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below.