Our world is in major trouble. So much of
what John had seen in his vision is unfolding right before our eyes. The earth
has refused to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Unfortunately, only a
faithful remnant is ready to meet Him in the sky. Yet, despite the warnings placed
within God’s Word, many choose to keep their heads buried in the sand and
ignore the sounding alarms.
The time is coming when Christians will no longer be able to close their eyes
to the truth and will have to make the ultimate decision. They will stand for
Christ or take sides with the beast and lose out on eternity. The decision must
be made by every living soul. Some have made it and lost their lives in the
process, only to have the right to gain it in eternity, while others have
passed on without accepting Christ and made their choice to go to the Abyss.
Those who are alive still have a chance to do what is right. Which side will
you choose?
John
was shown the prostitute who sat upon the beast with multiple heads and horns.
This was no ordinary woman, but one who was full of sin and caused others to
drink of her cup. God gave this message so that the woman would turn from her
evil ways and repent. Unfortunately, the prophecy does indicate that many will
not repent and will be lost because of their rebellion. The day of the Lord is
now! God will one day return, and when He does, will you be ready?
Weeping Over Babylon’s Fall
“After all this I saw another angel come
down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his
splendor. He gave a mighty shout: ‘Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a
hideout for every foul vulture, and every foul and dreadful animal. For all the
nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings
of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for
extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich’ ” (Revelation
18:1-3).
Angels are God’s great
messengers who carry the Word of God wherever He has ordained for them to go.
Therefore, in this vision, John saw another angel who had come down from Heaven
and was given authority from God himself to proclaim
a powerful message. The earth was brightened by the angel’s coming because he
had been in the presence of God. There were other times when angels were given
messages to give to man, and there was brightness all around. The glory of the
Lord shines upon whoever is in His presence. The Bible says: “And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared
to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will
cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has
been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:8-11). This is an example of angels being used
as messengers from God to give news to man, with the glory of God shining upon
them. All messages that are given to angels to give to mankind are with
authority granted by God. They do not work on their own accord.
Fallen, Fallen
“With a mighty voice he
shouted: ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the
Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure
spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and
detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her
adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the
merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries” (Revelation
18:2-3).
This message that the
angel had to give was one of many judgments that would befall Babylon. She was
very wicked and had become a place where the devil dwelt. Therefore, the
message that Babylon had fallen was prophetic for today’s Babylon. The Babylon
of old had fallen into the hands of the Medes and Persians. This had been
prophesied long before it took place, but it was given to King Belshazzar again
when it actually took place. The Bible says, “But you, Belshazzar, his son,
have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set
yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple
brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines drank
wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood
and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the
God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the
hand that wrote the inscription. ‘This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin’ Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has
numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been
weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and
given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:22-28).
The Babylon of old was wicked, and the Babylon of today is
the same. Who is the Babylon of today? It is the United States of America. She
has been the most powerful nation in the world, but we are now living in a time
when that title is being stripped away right before our very eyes. America was
once the country that everyone wanted to come to, for it was a land of
greatness, freedom, and opportunities. Nevertheless, she has become a nation of
greed, wickedness, ungodliness, and full of idolatry. Instead of leading the
world in the ways of God, for which many blessings have been bestowed upon her,
she has led the world down the path of evil. Other nations have looked to
America as a model, leading them down the road to sin. Therefore, America will
pay for her wicked ways just like the Babylon of old.
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
“Then I heard another
voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share
in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are
piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she
has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion
from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury
she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not
a widow; I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake
her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is
the Lord God who judges her” (Revelation 18:4-8).
The voice cried out as a warning to come
out of Babylon. God’s message was for the nation to stop sinning and come out
of the midst of confusion. Wherever there is a lack of God, there will be
confusion. The devil is the author of confusion. The Bible says: “For God is not a God of disorder but of
peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people” (1 Corinthians 14:33). America is being challenged on every
front. North Korea, Iran, Cuba, China, Russia, and the Middle East are all
posing a threat to America, while she turns friends into enemies. There is
confusion all around, but the nation is too blind to see what is happening and
heading towards doom.
America’s
sins have reached God, and she will be held accountable for all that she has
done. Abortions, homosexuality, sex trafficking, murder, pornography, ungodly
laws, drug trafficking, scientific abominations, witchcraft, and much more will
be punished by God. There is judgment on the land of America. Sadly, she has
refused to repent for her sins. America is experiencing droughts, earthquakes,
mass animal deaths, police brutality, economic decline, threats of war, murder
in the streets, and more. However, there is still no desire to change and turn
back to God. Instead of acknowledging God, America’s wickedness is increasing.
America’s arrogant attitude towards God will be the cause of her demise, and
when she finally falls, it will be one of such a magnitude that America will
never recover.
Threefold Woe Over Babylon’s Fall
“When the kings of the earth who
committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning,
they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand
far off and cry: ‘Woe! Woe to you, great
city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’ ” (Revelation
18:9-10).
Upon the fall of America, the other
nations will look on as she is destroyed from afar. They will cry over her, and
fear will come to them because they will be in disbelief about what has
happened. To see a great nation fall to such magnitude would have a lasting effect
if they allow God to use it as a way to teach them what not to do. In the
Bible, we see that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah due to the sins that they
had committed as well. The Bible says: “The two men said to Lot, ‘Do you have
anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who
belongs to you? Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this
place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent
us to destroy it’ ” (Genesis 19:12-13). God may not deal with sin right away,
but He will judge it if the nation fails to repent. God never wants to punish,
but He uses it as a way for the hearts of men to turn back to Him. However, in
this particular judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was a permanent one from
which the cities could and would never be restored.
Merchants of
the Earth
“The merchants of the earth will weep and
mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore—cargoes of gold,
silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth;
every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly
wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh
and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and
sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves” (Revelation
18:11-13).
America has been a great importer and
exporter of goods and services. Nations have become wealthy through trade
agreements with her. From food to medical supplies, and even missionaries have
been sent to and from the United States. God has blessed America with more than
she ever could have dreamed of, but not to fill her with pride. God had a
kingdom agenda to bring other nations to the light of Him. Nevertheless, she
turned her back to the God who made her prosperous and committed adultery with
foreign idols and women. This will make the other nations weep when their primary
source becomes dried up like a dead flower. America, just as Israel, provoked
God’s anger. The Bible says: “All this took place because the
Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out
of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other
gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before
them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The
Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right…
The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: ‘Turn from
your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire
Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through
my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked
as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected his
decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he
had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became
worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered
them, ‘Do not do as they do.’ They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the
fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil
in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger… Therefore the Lord rejected all
the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of
plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence” (2 Kings 17:7-23).
God
had blessed Israel to come out of slavery in Egypt. Despite all that God had
done for them, they turned to idolatry. They even tried to worship both God and
idols. However, no one can serve two masters. The Israelites thought that if
they gave God a part of themselves, He would be satisfied with their
prostituting the other part. They would soon find out that God would not share
Himself with any other god. We are to learn from the past so that we do not
repeat the same mistakes. The Bible says:
“For I do not want you to be ignorant of
the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and
that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the
cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same
spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them,
and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them;
their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now, these things occurred as
examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not
be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: ‘The people sat down to
eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.’ We should not commit sexual
immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them
died. We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.
And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying
angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as
warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think
you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:1-12). We must learn from the
stories in the Bible so that we will not repeat the same mistakes. The nation
can learn from what took place with Israel in order to see what will happen
when a nation defies the laws of God.
Woe!
“They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for
is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be
recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from
her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and
cry out: ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious
stones, and pearls! In one hour, such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ ‘Every
sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their
living from the sea, will stand far off’ ” (Revelation 18:14-17).
In one hour, everything will be taken
away from America. The other nations will look and remember what she once had.
Those captains on the sea will watch as she is destroyed. How will America be
destroyed? Will it be through war, nuclear weapons, or natural disaster? Could
it be a combination of things? God sends many warnings prior to the final
judgment, so when it does happen, America will have had ample time to repent.
Nevertheless, the devil often puts blinders on those who want to remain in the
dark, and as a result, they will not see what is about to hit them, while it
was so plainly obvious for those who are connected to God. The Bible says: “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without
revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Many prophets are sounding the alarm, but
few people are listening. They would rather listen to the prosperity teachers
rather than hear the true words of God. They would rather hear pleasing sermons
rather than hear the Word of repentance and salvation. The Bible says, “For the time will come when people will not put up
with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).
Rejoice
“When
they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city
like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping
and mourning cry out: ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on
the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to
ruin!’ ‘Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God!
Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she
imposed on you’ ” (Revelation 18:18-20).
Those righteous nations
that see the final destruction of America will mourn because of her
destruction. They will see that God was the one who allowed her to be brought
down to ruin. However, they will also rejoice in God; they will know that God
is fair and dealt with America in a just and righteous manner. It will also be
a sign for them not to turn from God, so that no similar judgment will befall
them.
The Finality of Babylon’s Doom
“Then a mighty angel
picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea,
and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and
trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever
be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you
again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of
bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the
world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who
have been slaughtered on the earth’ ” (Revelation 18:21-24).
John describes an angel throwing a large
millstone into the sea to demonstrate how Babylon (America) would be destroyed.
This millstone could be war brought to the shores of America, a natural
disaster, or some other judgment that God will allow to take place. All music would
have ceased, and the musicians would never be heard from again. This can be
taken both literally and symbolically. Due to all the demonic music being played
on the airways, even by self-professed Christians, it has turned millions of
people into cocoons for sin, spiritual rot, and debauchery. Many artists have
sold their souls to the devil for fame and have compromised with the world in
such a way that one can hardly distinguish the holy from the unholy due to the ungodly
similarities. This is not to say that all secular music is wrong, but one must
ensure that what is entering the ear gates is nothing displeasing to the Lord
nor goes against His ordinances. This even includes music that is categorized
as Christian or gospel. Nevertheless, God’s people will not be fooled into
compromising the gospel even for money that will eventually be of no value. The
Bible says: “They will throw
their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing
unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of
the LORD's wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for
it has caused them to stumble into sin” (Ezekiel 7:19).
Music
is also a sign of celebration and joy. The
sins of this nation will be accounted for, and all celebrations will cease.
There will be no more marriages, trading with foreign countries, bank
embezzlements, slaying of the innocent born and unborn, worship of celebrities,
sports, and other false gods. God will raise a standard that other nations will
see and call Him blessed. After this destruction, there will be no more drag story-time, child sacrifice, or transgender grooming. Drug and alcohol use, sexual
immorality, violence, theft, pornography, witchcraft, murder, warmongers, and unfaithfulness
to the Lord’s commands would cease. The money-traders would again be overturned
as Jesus did with the ones in the temple, and those who have been sown for
profit will reap poverty and destruction.
HOMEWORK: Based on this week's Friday Night Bible study's discussion held on July 17, 2026, write down the emotions you most often feel when reading and studying the book of Revelation. Explain why then write down which particular text causes the most intensity with that emotion.
