Babylon is Fallen
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction:
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 13. Babylon Is Fallen : (Revelation 18:1–24)
Throughout history the petty kingdoms and empires built by proud, arrogant, God-rejecting rebels have come and gone. The spirit of humanism first expressed at Babel has permeated human history ever since. Unshakably optimistic despite centuries of war, slaughter, injustice, and cruelty, people still seek a utopia, to be brought about by humanity’s upward scientific progress. Having taken control (so they think) of their own destiny through science, sinners have no use for God and haughtily replace Him as self-styled gods devoted to their own sovereignty.
But God cannot be so easily replaced nor his plans thwarted by the whims of sinful men.
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Isaiah 46:10
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
The Palmist records God’s reaction to man impudent fury against Him.
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
And compared to the glorious omnipotence of God, the vaunted empires and plans of man are nothing.
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.
All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 13. Babylon Is Fallen : (Revelation 18:1–24)
The inescapable reality is that God, not man, will have the last word in human history, and that word will be a word of judgment.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 13. Babylon Is Fallen : (Revelation 18:1–24)
But nowhere in Scripture is there a more detailed description of the coming judgment than in Revelation 6–18. Those chapters describe the future seven-year period known as the Tribulation. Summing up what they reveal about that period, God’s judgment will rain down on the earth in the form of the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments. Although those judgments will be worldwide in scope, they will focus particularly on Antichrist’s world empire of Babylon. That empire will involve both a religious and a commercial aspect. At the midpoint of the Tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the false Babylonian religious system, which will be absorbed into commercial Babylon (cf. the discussion in chap. 12 of this volume). Religion will not cease to exist, but will be restricted to the worship of Antichrist. The Babylon in view in chapter 18 is Antichrist’s worldwide commercial empire, which will rule the world during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. That Antichrist will be able to build the greatest commercial empire the world has ever known in the midst of the devastating judgments of the Tribulation reveals his incredible power.
God’s destruction of commercial Babylon is the theme of Chapter 18.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 13. Babylon Is Fallen : (Revelation 18:1–24)
With the destruction of the satanic last and greatest human empire, the stage is set for the triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 13. Babylon Is Fallen : (Revelation 18:1–24)
Chapter 18 records seven aspects of that judgment on Antichrist’s commercial empire: judgment pronounced, judgment avoided, judgment defined, judgment lamented, judgment enjoyed, judgment completed, and judgment justified.
I. Judgment Pronounced (vs. 1-3)
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
This opening is a pronouncement of judgment.
And in this pronouncement of judgment, the vision gives us some detail about why this judgment is being enacted.
First, because of pervasive demonic influence.
Second, because of the wretched sensuality that is described in verse 3.
John says that “after these things”.
Keep in mind here that that is a very popular phrase in the book of Revelation and it is used to introduce a new vision.
Which, by the way, goes to further support the fact that the events of chapters 17 and 18 are separate events and not the same event.
A. The Characteristics of the Messenger (vs. 1-2a)
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Revelation
“I saw another angel coming from heaven”.
This is not the same angel from chapter 17.
How do we know that?
The simplicity of a single word gives us great insight into what is going on.
Without belaboring the point, I just what you to understand some peoples interpretation and why, sometimes, we feel that it does not make the best interpretation.
Because there are those that will try to attempt to say that this angel that comes down from heaven is Jesus Christ.
And while that is not at all heretical to say, I do not feel that fits into the language that John uses.
John says that there came down from heaven “another angel”.
There are two Greek words in the NT that are translated “another”.
One is “ἄλλος” and the other is “ἕτερος”
“ἄλλος” means “another of the same kind”.
While “ἕτερος” means “another of a different”
The Greek word the is used here is “ἄλλος”, so John reveals to us in the vision that this angel is another being, but it is of the same kind; so it cannot be Jesus Christ or he would have used the other Greek word for another “ἕτερος”.
There is a possibility that this is the same angel that would encountered earlier in Revelation.
And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
This is a very powerful, unique angel and that leads us to the actual characteristics of the angel.
He has great Domination
“ἐξουσία” in the Greek; meaning that he has the resources and the power to command.
It is very clean where this angel gets his resources and power to command.
The text says that he came down from heaven.
Meaning that he came from the throne of God, from the presence of God and he comes with great authority because he is the representative of God.
Listen, in these last days we need to keep in mind that we too, as the Church of Jesus Christ, are representatives of God.
Jesus said to His disciples:
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Jesus says to the Church:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Just as this angel comes with great authority because he represents and carries the message from God, so we come with authority because we are sent by and carry the message of God.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
And just like this angel, who is speaking in the last days an important message because it is from God, we are carrying in these last days and important message that is from God.
We need to remember that.
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
ii.
It is with great authority that this angel speaks on behalf of God.
Sometimes I think we forget for whom we are speaking.
When Christians cower and allow an ungodly society to dictate policy while we just sit back and allow it to happen is shameful.
But that is exactly what we have done.
And because we have not stood up as ones that carry the authority of the creator of the universe, the ungodly have made policy for all of us.
When if God’s people would stand and tell the ungodly that they will not make policy but we speak with the authority of the creator of the universe and He has already said how things will be.
This angle comes with the message and the authority to enact from God; and we will do well to remember that as well.
ii. He has Great Delight
Now, remember the bowl judgments of chapter 16.
When the fifth angel poured out his bowl, towards the end of the Tribulation, he poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and the Scriptures say that the throne of the beast became dark.
So, remember, there is a period at the end of the tribulation of world wide darkness.
And so it is against that backdrop that the Scriptures tell is that the earth will be illumined with the glory of the angel.
The earth is dark. Babylon is dark.
They have to light not only the night but also the day because God has basically turned out the heavenly lights in His judgment.
And because the fifth bowl happens towards the end of the tribulation and that Babylon falls towards the end of the tribulation, we can rightly assume the when the angel comes he will be lighting an otherwise dark world.
So God sends this glorious angel to illuminate a dark world.
And you can understand the shock that will be experienced as this angel comes with the glory of God to brighten their darkness.
iii. He has Great Distinction (vs. 2a)
John MacArthur Sermon Archive Babylon Is Fallen, Part 1
No one can ignore him. He comes from heaven with great authority, he is an executor of judgment. He comes to earth and illuminates the whole earth with the shining manifestation of divine presence reflected off of him. And he cries out with such a mighty voice that no one can ignore him. He’s going to have the commanding attention of the whole world.
B. The Components of the Message (vs. 2-3)
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
The message that breaks through in horror here and in 14:8 are both from the prophecy of Isaiah.
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
John MacArthur Sermon Archive Babylon Is Fallen, Part 1
Historical Babylon, by the way, fell in 539 B.C. That event, of course, God showed to His prophets. But this is a far-greater fall of a far-greater Babylon, a fall that is the annihilation and desolation that Isaiah and Jeremiah promised. And I really do believe that this final fall of Babylon occurs with the seventh bowl judgment.
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
What you have here is, I believe, a parallel.
The seventh bowl is the destruction of Babylon given in detail in chapter 18.