Temple Baptist Church - 11-28-2021
Revelation 18:20-24
A. Chapter 18 is a picture of the end of the Tribulation Period. Religious, commercial, and political Babylon are pictured here as all three will come to a sudden end as their sins have reached unto heaven and God's patience expired and purpose finished.
B. Tonight, I want to look at two things: 1) Verses 9-19. The Weeping on Earth. 2) Verses 20-24. The Rejoicing in Heaven. In the preceding verses, we saw:
C. Verses 9-10. The Weeping of the Kings. The kingdom of Antichrist, Satan's realm, has hated the end-time religious system from the beginning but found it necessary to "put up with her" until her purpose was achieved and she was no longer needed. But the kings of the nations under the reign of Antichrist wept over her demise.
There are two reasons given for their weeping. 1) They weep because of the destruction of their lavish lifestyle. These kings, not the nations, have been made rich through their "fornication" with the whore. As the whore prospered, these kings prospered. 2) They weep because of the destruction of the city of Rome itself. The revived Roman Empire is centered in the city of Rome. These kings distance themselves for fear of becoming a part of Rome's burning and torment.
D. Verses 11-16. The Weeping of the Merchants. The collapse of the economic system quickly follows the destruction of the religious system because it was the riches and merchandise of the great whore that fed the world's economy. These merchants weep, not for the religious system but for the loss of merchandise. The love of money is the root of all evil and the economic system rests upon the whore's supply. Supply and demand must be kept equal for an economy to prosper. If either drop, then the imbalance will lead to merchandise with no money to buy or money with no merchandise to buy. Either brings about economic disaster. In verse 15, these merchants also stand afar off for fear of the whore's judgment.
E. Verse 17-19. The Weeping of Logistics. Logistics – the aspect of dealing with the procurement, maintenance, and transportation of military matériel, facilities, and personnel. As the economy of America continue to decline, instead of producers, America has become a nation of logistics i.e., distribution centers for products made overseas. Ships bring merchandise made overseas to our ports and are delivered to distribution centers for the distribution to stores. No merchandise, no ships—trucks—trains with anything to deliver, thus shutting down the entire economy. We are getting there quickly in America. Without merchandise to deliver, all logistics come to a standstill.
F. Verse 20. Rejoicing in Heaven because of God's vengeance. God's prophets and God's people have suffered for thousands of years at the hands of both anti-God religions and politics. There is an old saying, "The wheels of justice grind slowly but surely." When the time is come and the earth is ripe, the Sycle of God's justice will be thrust in, and the earth reaped.
Matthew 23:34-37 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: (35) That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (36) Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. (37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
G. From the blood of righteous Abel to the last martyr who dies in the Tribulation Period, God's people have looked for the justice of God to be applied to those who hated and killed God's people.
Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Psalms 9:11-13 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. (12) When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. (13) Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:
Psalms 13:1-2 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? (2) How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Revelation 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Revelation 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
*** Turn to:
Hebrews 11:32-40 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: (33) Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, (34) Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (35) Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: (36) And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: (37) They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (38) (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (39) And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: (40) God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
God's people have suffered for a long time! All that I can say is, "About time!"
H. Verse 21. The violence of her overthrow. Most great fortress cities and vast empires are systematically destroyed through internal decay as was the way of Rome. But some great empires have been thrown down quickly and with much violence. Thus was the empire and great city of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar's son, Belshazzar.
Daniel 5:24-31 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. (25) And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. (26) This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. (27) TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. (28) PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (29) Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. (30) In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. (31) And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
When God wrote on the wall with His finger, Belshazzar's kingdom fell that same night. The end-time religious and political systems will not slowly decay as most empires have but will be utterly destroyed with great violence in a moment's time.
J. Verse 22-23. As the "no mores" of Revelation 21, the "no mores" of destruction of the wicked are found here.
1. The "no more" of silence. The silence and of her overthrow. The voices and sounds cease into a deafening silence. No more music, singing, and dancing. No more sounds of industry found there.
2. The "no more" of bright lights are to be seen, lighting up the night. The city and landscape darkened.
Isaiah 24:8-12 The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. (9) They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. (10) The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. (11) There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. (12) In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
3. The "no more" weddings as marrying and giving in marriage come to a halt.
Luke 17:26-30 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. (27) They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (28) Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; (29) But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. (30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
4. The "no more" of deception of great men who through their salacious dealings robbed the poor of the land.
K. Verse 24. The Rejoicing of the Martyrs. A stark contrast from the wailing and lamentation of the wicked who have gained and to the rejoicing of the saints of God who have suffered so severely through the millenniums. "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." All is done; all has been righted.
Isaiah 13:19-20 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. (20) It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
