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REVELATION CHAPTER 18 KJV WEB See previous page Rev 18,1-24 (46i) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Satan falls by his own wickedness – God has remembered the inequities of the great whore, resembling the downfall of every person who has ever died without Christ. God did nothing to judge Satan; he destroyed himself, like a man caught in the tightening grip of a boa constrictor; every move he makes enables the snake to tighten its grip, until there is no room to breathe, and he dies of suffocation. This is happening to Satan; every move he makes, God tightens His grip on him, suffocating him by His own actions. God has mixed a double portion of the cup that Satan has made the saints to drink. According to his own standard he will drink twice as much. Like a timeline, God will give him enough rope to hang himself, the longer the rope, the farther the fall, snapping his neck like a twig. See also: See also: Pope is the antichrist; 214c / Satan is self-destructive; 50ha (50ha) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> Fall of Satan – We know the Bible is not referring to literal Babylon in south-central Iraq, because it is prophesied never to be rebuilt (Isaiah 13,17-22). Spiritual Babylon to which John is referring has a location, New York City, which is a precursor to Rome's fate (see: Rev 18,9-21; 61k). The Beast will then migrate to Jerusalem where his reign of terror will end. See also: New York City (Rome); Rev 18,1-4; 245k / Babylon; 163j / Satan is self-destructive; 249c (163j) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy your own life – This is a powerful angel that is coming down with a message, illuminating the entire earth with his glory. It says, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” When did Babylon fall and when did chapter 18 take place? Satan employed the Pope to sway the world to Catholicism instead of joining the divinely inspired Great Endtime Revival led by a 144,000 Jews, but the Pope (antichrist) will fail to curb this revival, but will instead receive the Beast's glory to himself, and so the False Prophet will destroy the Vatican, and move his empire to Jerusalem where he will pose as Israel's Messiah in effort to stifle this revival. The Beast will attack Rome and burn it with fire toward the end of the Seals, but it will not be completely destroyed until the end of the Bowls (Rev 16,17-21). Satan's New World Order was set up during the seals, and it says in Rev 17,16-18 that God will use Satan to judge his own kingdom, “The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” It was nothing God did to destroy the antichrist’s empire; rather, Satan destroyed his own kingdom. The last verse in chapter 17 says, “The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” The next verse in chapter 18 (v1) speaks of the fallen city, Babylon. This is a picture of Satan turning against himself. He takes the same medicine that he has prescribed for humanity since Adam ate the forbidden fruit. Satan is the opposite of God and therefore hates himself and is self-destructive. God is the creator and giver of all things, so Satan is the destroyer and taker of all things. Satan is like the potion that is so corrosive that there is no bottle durable enough to contain it. Satan tries to contain himself in the harlot and in the beast, but because he is the embodiment of destruction, being the only thing he knows, his influence eats through these entities and destroys his own kingdom. The result is a burning city, and God takes credit for it, saying that He has judged the woman. See also: Pope is the antichrist; 214c / Catholicism; Rev 18,1-8; 172j / Babylon; 249c (214c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives the wicked just enough rope to hang himself – Once the Pope gets established in Rome as the world’s Savior, he will live luxuriously off the Beast, which is a world monetary system consisting of ten world banks. Our current monetary system lies in the shadows, unwilling to reveal itself as the true rulers of civilization. They don’t want notoriety or fame or popularity; they don’t want to be glorified or to be worshipped like the antichrist. They only want to become wealthier, but the antichrist is spending their wealth on his pleasures, and it has enraged the Beast, so it reduces Rome to ashes. See also: Pope is the antichrist; 249c (249c) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the carnal perception of wealth >> The pursuit of wealth brings a curse – The global moneylenders (the Beast) uses the Pope (his antichrist, who calls himself Jesus Christ) to bring all the people together under one religion, using it as a skeletal structure to establish his one-world economy/government/military. The Beast's Plutonomy runs in the background to keep people from discovering his true motives, that of enslaving the people to his evil empire. Meanwhile an agreement is made that the antichrist can have all the fame, while the Beast makes his fortune, but the antichrist betrays the Beast and spends the fortune on himself. The Beast (false prophet) becomes enraged and will come with his army and destroy Rome, the throne of the antichrist. The Babylonian empire in the Vatican will become a ruinous reap of smoldering debris. God's lesson in all this: If you rebel against me, you will destroy yourself. See also: Babylon; Rev 18,1-4; 245k / Pope is the antichrist, Satan is self-destructive; Rev 18,1-8; 160a KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18,1-21 (217l) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> You cannot control the judgment of God >> You cannot control how God responds to sin Rev 18,1-8 (160a) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit Christ – Since the antichrist can hardly glorify himself with a kingdom that is on fire, Satan will change his identity from Pope to Israel's messiah and migrate to Jerusalem where a world-wide Christian revival is headquartered, which he will attempt to extinguish, which the Pope was supposed to do. The antichrist cannot claim to be Jesus Christ to the Jews, but if he doesn't the gentiles will not receive him. So, the antichrist has put himself in a quandary; he cannot be Israel's messiah and the gentile’s messiah at the same time. He can only be one or the other, for when he was Pope, Israel did not receive him, and the saints will never receive him, which enrages the antichrist. Satan finds this global Christian revival a serious threat to his empire and becomes the Pope to offer an alternative religion to combat the revival. The pope will fail to stifle the revival, yet he becomes wealthy at the beast's expense, so the beast destroys the Vatican and migrates to Jerusalem to pose as Israel's Messiah. He will position himself in the temple, but the Jews will not receive him as their Messiah. Martyrdom of the saint started when the Seals of Satan's wrath began, but it is at this point (the fifth Seal) that Satan fully switches his tactics from deception to murder, overtly ordering the extermination of every Jew and Christian, starting in Jerusalem. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; 172j / Pope is the antichrist; Rev 18-7,8; 181k / Satan is self-destructive; Rev 18-8,9; 245g / Last days (Meaning of the seven heads and ten horns of the dragon); Rev 17,3-5; 164c (172j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Jesus never to die again >> Because His death was sufficient – Why is the evil city portrayed as a woman? She is purporting to be the wife of the lamb, the bride of Christ. This elucidates one very important point: she claims to be Christian. This automatically excludes the Muslims, and it also excludes Judaism. Remember, we are looking at this from God’s point of view. Catholicism is the pseudo bride of Christ. The person that John is depicting in his imagery pertains to more than the present, also to a very long and dark past of Catholicism, all the martyrs she has made of the saints throughout the age of grace. That is, God's judgment does not pertain only to the sins she will commit in the last days, also to the sins she has committed throughout the last two millennia. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18-3; 21m / Catholicism; Rev 18-4; 191j / History of Catholicism (Martyring the saints); Rev 18-4; 191j (183b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through satanic influence -- These verses go with verse 23 Rev 18,1-4 (245k) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestations of the devil >> Manifestation of sin – The city is Rome, yet every nation that participated in the antichrist’s rise to power will be destroyed just like Babylon. The Beast symbolizes the global money system; its roots are planted in the nation that has the strongest economy in the word at the time of his rise to power, and as it stands today, the United States would be that nation, suggesting that New York City will burn too. Satan will assimilate every country he uses to rise to power, though he promised them a piece of the pie when he achieves the glory that he anticipates. He will suck the economic life from them like a spider sucks the juices from its victims, and then leaves the dried carcass a smoldering mass. His intension is to make slaves of us all. See also: New York City (Rome); Rev 18-4; 105l / Babylon; Rev 18,4-8; 230g Rev 18-1,2 (15g) Servant >> Angels >> The presence of angels denotes authority -- These verses go with verse 21. This is a powerful angel coming from heaven and illumining the earth with his glory. It was a good thing he didn’t go the way of Lucifer; he would have been our enemy, whose power of darkness is equivalent to his former glory. Most likely Lucifer was much greater in glory than this angel, since the name Lucifer translated means morning star, that is, the brightest star in the sky (i.e. the planet Venus). However, darkness has a limit in that once the lights are out, it can't get any darker. Rev 18-1 (68d) Authority >> Jesus Delegates Authority To Execute Judgment >> Against sin (112h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Light >> Light exposes sin >> Light reveals hidden deeds (245c) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Literal manifestation of Jesus Christ >> Jesus is the light of the world KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18-2 (145j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Immoral spirits -- This verse goes with verse 9 (163b) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Prison -- This verse goes with verse 13 Rev 18,3-10 (134i) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Adultery >> Spiritual adultery -- These verses go with verses 23&24 Rev 18-3 (21m) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for se curity >> The love of money -- This verse goes with verses 15-24. When it says, “the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality,” it refers to the nations participating in the Beast's economic system by taking the Mark of the Beast, which doubles as their vote to exterminate Christians and other undesirables. It says in verses 9,10 that the onlookers stood at a distance in fear of her torment. Why should they be afraid, except that what has come to her is surely coming to them, since the whole world has taken part in shedding the blood of the saints. They too will be judged during the trumpets and the bowls of God's fierce wrath. John has associated the blood of the saints with the wealth of her empire, and the Mark of the Beast acts as the bridge between them. When people took the mark, they voted to martyr the saints, knowing what he was intending to do, and sold their souls to the devil for a bowl of soup (Heb 12-16). See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18-4; 105l (159i) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >> Drunkenness >> Having a party spirit (164c) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan rules the world >> The world is his kingdom Rev 18,4-8 (29c) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Delivered from death -- These verses go with verse 20 (40l) Judgment >> God is glorified >> God defends His righteousness through judgment (230g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of God’s judgment – In Babylon they tried to build a tower to heaven, and God stopped them by mixing their languages so they could no longer communicate. They would never reach heaven; God wasn’t concerned about that, but in the process of building their tower they learned things that expedited man’s knowledge and hastened the end of his reign on earth, where we find ourselves in these last days. Their tower didn’t reach heaven, but their sins did, coming close enough to rain down judgment on themselves. Other nations and generations have aspired to be equal with God but did not aspire to His righteousness. It is man’s pride that seeks heaven without consideration for its owner, wanting to be like God but not wanting to know Him. When He created Adam, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” and after the fall man has aspired to be like God, but not in the ways that God created him. To say that man has a physical appearance similar to God is not what it means to have His image. Jesus came to us as a human being and embodied what it means to reflect the image of God, but those who would erect a tower to be equal with Him in total disregard of God Himself is an offense. Man will fall according to his level of wickedness, based on the height of his tower of sin. See also: Babylon; Rev 18-4; 105l KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18-4 (16ab) Sin >> The sin nature is instinctively evil >> Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's flesh is tempted to deny God (28f) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Protect us through our walk >> Wise conduct (50h) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> The saints flee into the wilderness - spiritual warfare (Pre-rapture ascension) (51g) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> No partiality between saved and unsaved (99a) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring the word of God >> Endure obeying the word of God (105l) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Led by the Spirit into the wilderness >> Wilderness of safety – This is God speaking as in a loud speaker to His Church. By this time God has taken over the spirit realm where Satan once dwelled as prince of the power of the air. After winning the spiritual battle over the dragon in chapter 12, throwing him to the earth, God now has access to social consciousness and is able to communicate to the whole world in the same way that Satan disclosed his thoughts as god of this world. This heavenly voice speaks to every man and woman living on earth regarding the outcome of Babylon (Rev 8-13; 14,6-8), telling us to exit this satanic empire that is controlled by a computer system using a chip that is placed under the skin of every constituent of the New World Order, called the Mark of the Beast. It is established in every city of every developed nation. Thus, He is commanding His people to exit civilization and flee to the wilderness for safety. Verse 4 gives a hint as to where this chapter fits in the sequence of endtime events. Babylon is not a city but a world empire; and although it has a capital city and its name is Babylon, its location keeps changing, but is never the original ancient Babylon, once located in Iran (Isaiah 13,20-22). A type of Babylon will rise to power during the seals of Satan’s wrath, and it will fall during the trumpet judgments. Rome assumes its title, if not New York City, and then the man of lawlessness migrates to Jerusalem to quell a Christian revival that started there. This is when God calls His people into the wilderness, led by the two witnesses who are part of the 144,000. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; 191j / New York City (Rome); Rev 18,9-21; 61k / Babylon; 191j / Last days (Martyrdom of the Saints); Mat 8,23-27; 164f (168d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not conform to the world and meet God’s judgment (191j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Set apart >> Set apart from the world – Civilization will resemble Babylon during the fulfillment of endtime prophecy, which once existed and fell and has never been rebuilt. God has no religion, but Satan is Catholic, and the cup in her hand filled with the blood of the saints is her form of communion. Satan has enslaved mankind in the wicked institution of Catholicism, in that everyone who takes the Mark of the Beast must join the Catholic Church, and everyone who does not take the mark faces starvation or martyrdom. For hundreds of years Catholicism has oppressed the true faith and has racked up martyrs by the thousands. In the last days she will once more reveal her true colors when she is reinstated as a world power, reigning over the kings of the earth as she did in the Dark Ages, when she suppressed the truth and martyred the saints. The antichrist will pose as Jesus Christ Himself and will establish a law that everybody who refuses to fall down and worship her must be killed. God intends to judge her, not just for the sins that she committed in the last days, but for all her sins throughout the age of grace. Suddenly in one day her judgment will come, being a theme that runs throughout Scripture. In one day everything will change and the life we once knew will disappear. God’s judgment will fall upon her for the sins committed since Constantine, the emperor who in 312 AD made Catholicism the official religion of Rome. In the last days God will judge those who have aligned themselves with Satan’s intension to exterminate every Christian on earth. His judgment will be so severe that people will gasp in horror at God’s revenge on those who touched the apple of His eye. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,5-8; 48g / Babylon; Rev 18,6-8; 49f / Catholicism; Rev 18,15-21; 61g / Catholicism (Interacting with demons); 2Pet 2,1-22; 145i (192k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Stop practicing sin >> Run from sin (209e) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with hardship >> Righteous saved with endurance (218e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> We choose our actions, not their consequences >> Reaping the harvest of our works Rev 18,5-8 (48g) Judgment >> Levels o f judgment >> Judged according to your standard of measure – Every saint the antichrist martyrs, seven citizens of his evil empire will die. Satan is the author of false prophesies, and now he is prophesying over himself and it will not come true, causing his wickedness to return on his own head. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,6-8; 49f Rev 18,6-8 (49f) Judgment >> Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses 17-24. The harlot claimed she would never be a widow; who then is her husband? This goes back to King Ahab and Jezebel (1Kings chapters 18-21; some say Bill and Hillary Clinton were a type of Ahab and Jezebel). Ahab represents the beast upon which the harlot sits, as Jezebel piggybacked on her husband’s authority. The harlot asserts herself and takes over his authority and essentially hijacks his kingship over the nations, just like Jezebel who was more influential as queen over Israel than King Ahab. She essentially took over his kingdom and exercised his authority to accomplish her own objectives, which involved martyring the prophets of Israel. We know that Elijah was in the story with Ahab and Jezebel, who represents the two witnesses, and the prophets whom they hid in caves from Jezebel’s evil presence represented the 144,000. At the end of the story Jezebel is killed and the dogs come and ate her flesh, symbolic of the fate of Babylon. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,9-21; 61k / Babylon; Rev 18,7-10; 104c / Great Endtime Revival (The Jew first); Mat 15,22-28; 210hb KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18,7-11 (74i) Thy kingdom come >> Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and desperately wicked -- These verses go with verses 15-19 Rev 18,7-10 (104c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through fiery judgment -- These verses go with verses 17-20. They will weep and lament for two reasons: their hope of wealth is gone, and what happened to her is destined also to happen to them. God has judged Babylon (Rome) first, and then He will turn on the nations and give them what they deserve during the Trumpets and the bowls of His fierce wrath. See also: Babylon; Rev 18-8,9; 245g (215g) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without warning -- These verses go with verses 16-19 Rev 18-7,8 (19c) Sin >> Mocking God Without a cause >> Motivated by demons (22n) Sin >> Pride comes before a fall (142a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> Prophesy about the dispensation >> The end times (166j) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind cannot discern between good and evil >> The carnal mind agrees with the devil (170e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory of man >> Greed and lust are the glory of man >> Woman is the glory of man (179f) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> False prophets >> False prophets preach works and deny Christ (181k) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Self deception >> Deceiving and being deceived – Multibillionaires and trillionaires that live in the world today can be googled; we can learn their names and faces who are virtually controlling the world, but there is nothing anyone can do to stop them, and they are gaining momentum. It’s all too far above everyone’s head, and their ultimate goal is to rule the whole world. They benefit only themselves, and they make slaves of everyone else, and they use puppet rulers to interface with the public. A Great Endtime Revival has erupted among the saints, so this evil system called the Beast, whose leader is the false prophet will elect the Pope to be their spokesman, who is the antichrist. Note that he treats these moneylenders as puppets too. Each entity of Satan’s kingdom views his fellow constituent as a puppet, yet God has Satan dangling on a string and he doesn’t even know it. See also: Pope is the antichrist; Rev 18,15-21; 61g Rev 18-8,9 (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- These verses go with verse 21. The verses just before this chapter (Rev 17,16-18 ) says, “The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” Then in Rev 18-8 it says, “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.” One passage says that Satan’s kingdom will turn on itself, and the other says that God will judge the harlot. By this we see that God takes credit for Satan’s self-destruction, in that He sowed it into the creation that if it should rebel against Him it would self-destruct. That is, God is indirectly responsible for Satan’s lack of character which caused him to turn on himself. God made the creation in a way that needs Him, and without Him it will attack itself, like the immune system attacks its own body trying to kill a pathogen. God was involved in the transformation from Lucifer to Satan when he rebelled many eons ago, judging him by divesting Himself from their rebellion and his inheritance, which included the entire universe. The creation is now cursed and the fallen angels are essentially black holes, restlessly searching for something to fill their endless void. The curse that God placed on them was that instead of reflecting God's glory, they should reflect the opposite of His nature. For example, God is the ultimate light source, and so Satan epitomizes darkness; God is the creator, and Satan is the destroyer; God owns everything, and Satan owns nothing, dwelling in utter ruin and poverty. Everything he touches he destroys, including his own kingdom. Since Lucifer wanted nothing to do with God, He gave Lucifer his heart’s desire and it turned him into a monster. See also: Babylon; Rev 18,9-21; 61k / Satan is self-destructive; Rev 18,9-21; 61k KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18,9-21 (61k) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> The city of Satan is destroyed -- New York City / Rome – This is referring to two cities being judged on two separate occasions with similar infractions against God, suggesting that this judgment of the great whore called Babylon is a two-city prophecy. Some events are so much alike that it would be difficult to tell them apart if written separately, so God had them written as a single prophecy. The destruction of these two cities refers to New York and Rome, happening about three years apart. John Lennon said this about them: “If I'd lived in Roman times, I'd have lived in Rome. Where else? Today America is the Roman Empire and New York is Rome itself.” The global economy is symbolized by New York City, and when it is destroyed, it takes down with it all the developed nations of the world, so that modern civilization as we know it comes to a sudden halt. Trucks that once hauled groceries will no longer run, causing mass starvation. Owning gold and silver will be of no use, and the destruction of the city is iconic to the demise of the global economic system. New York City is destroyed at the beginning of the Seals and Rome is destroyed about three years later. God has pronounced judgment against the harlot for martyring the saints (v20), tying the wealth of the city to her immorality. On the one hand, we have the city initiating the collapse of the global economic system and on the other we have the city responsible for the martyrdom of the saints. This duality signifies that one city triggers the collapse of the global economy and the introduction of the New World Order, while the other city signifies the collapse of the New World Order and initiating the Trumpet judgments. The Beast will destroy his own city, Rome, and from there he will migrate to Jerusalem and pose as Israel's Messiah in effort to stop a growing revival headed by the Jews that Rome was supposed to stop. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; 166e / New York City (Rome); Rev 18,9-11; 201i / Babylon; 166e / Satan is self-destructive; Rev 18-20,21; 28i (166e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Nature Of Man’s Wisdom >> Man’s wisdom is fixed on personal gain – “Immorality” stands for martyring the saints for the sake of financial gain, referring to the antichrist's immorality and the false prophet's motivation for greed. There is a literal and a symbolic interpretation to many aspects of the book of Revelation, and some of the symbolic meanings are layered. For example, Babylon represents Rome and the United States and even Jerusalem, except that God delivers the holy city, where He intends to place His name and His throne during the millennium, for it represents His heavenly throne, but Babylon represents every nation that helped the Beast rise to power. See also: See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,15-24; 21m / Babylon; Rev 18,15-21; 61g (202b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God by running to the world – The people were not sad about their sin but about losing their businesses; they were sad that the good times ended. Had they been as sorry for their sins as the city was in flames, it would have resembled repentance, which is a game-changer, but repentance never enters the endtime picture, except with the saints. Had the world repented, endtime prophecy, the tribulation and the judgment of God would have ceased. As it was, there was no remorse, only sorrow they got caught but not sorry for what they did. Rev 18,9-20 (186i) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Having a perverted sense of justice Rev 18,9-19 (165b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is at enmity with God >> The world is accountable to God (175b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Using religion as a front Rev 18,9-11 (16e) Sin >> Man’s willingness to be evil >> Allowing sin to reign in your flesh >> Afraid to deal with it (188i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over your circumstances -- These verses go with verses 15-19 (201i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Man’s will over God >> Man is unwilling to repent -- These verses go with verses 15-19. This is definitely a city near the coast, and it says that people on ships will see the smoke of her burning but not the fire itself. They could definitely see the fire consuming New York City from its harbor, but in Rome it is questionable if they could even see smoke, unless of course it was a mushroom cloud that rises to the stratosphere. The people love their world, and they have great regret for its destruction, but for their sins they have no regrets and no repentance, and for this reason, the second phase of endtime prophecy is about to befall mankind who do not have God's mark on their forehead delineated by the Trumpet judgments. See also: New York City (Rome); Rev 18,15-24; 21m Rev 18-9,10 (24d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness creates anxiety -- These verses go with verse15 Rev 18-9 (145j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Immoral spirits -- This verse goes with verse 2 Rev 18-13 (163b) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Prison -- This verse goes with verse 2 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18,15-24 (21m) Sin >> Greed tries to satisfy man’s need for security >> The love of mon ey -- These verses go with verse 3. Some of the prophecies fit snugly with Rome being the city of Satan, while others don’t, and for this reason New York City helps to explain some of the prophecies. It is judged as an omen in the fate of Rome. Immorality, materialism and oppression are often found together as the roots of judgment for both cities that have plundered other countries for their resources in the name of freedom. They have placed other nations in bondage to poverty and paid employees slave wages for working in their sweatshops. Martyrdom of the saints is also involved in her judgment. Basically, what this passage is saying is that all forms of sin come from one source: the love of money. Some might say that we currently live in the greatest time in human history, but most of our modernization is actually in the red, meaning we haven't paid for it, but we will. We are working under a false economy using fractional reserve currency, a fiat money system based on paper that people through the ages have tried, and it has always failed. The Federal Reserve has “printed” trillions of dollars to have the standard of living that people demand, and the consequences are still looming in the imminent future. Once the global economy fails, New York City will be vilified as the culprit that ruined the world, and it will become a smoldering crater, and later Rome will follow suit but for different reasons (v24). See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,17-24; 49f / New York City (Rome); Rev 18,15-21; 61g / Israel's big mistake; Heb 12,7-9; 106f (146e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Deliverance from demon possession >> Casting out spirits with a word Rev 18,15-21 (61g) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Babylon—Capital city of the abominations of the earth / Home town of the Jezebel spirit – Shipmasters stood on their decks watching the smoke of the harlot’s torment. This word picture considerably narrows the identity of this city, completely eliminating Jerusalem, though frankly it is named "Babylon" (1Pet 5-13), a landlocked country. From the western side of the Italian peninsula, a person could easily see the smoke of Rome on a ship anchored in harbor. Some say Babylon is New York, which may be true, but that still does not eliminate Rome. New York will burn for helping the antichrist and his false prophet rise to power. And then there are some who say that the burning of Rome has already occurred (July 19, 64 AD), but they don't understand a very important principle of Scripture: the timelessness of endtime prophecy is exemplified in that some of the events that take place in the last days have already occurred, implying they will happen again, though occurring from different circumstances and at a different time. For example, Christians were blamed for the burning of Rome and were heavily persecuted, and the same will happen again in the last days. Jews will be persecuted and accused of being in charge of the economy when it fell, and Christians will be persecuted for causing what the world says was a self-fulfilled prophecy by preaching about endtimes for centuries. Since the great whore is Rome, then its religion could only be Catholicism, and the antichrist could only be the Pope. When we go back to the book of Daniel and see the nations that were involved in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, every one of them was an old covenant world empire, and Rome fits that description, the city built of seven hills. The Babylon of Rome is destroyed, and it will never be rebuilt, as the angel's heavy millstone will never be retrieved from the bottom of the sea. See also: New York City (Rome); Rev 18,1-24; 50ha / Babylon; Rev 18,15-19; 16f / Catholicism, Pope is the antichrist; 173e (173d) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Worshipping idols – There are other prophecies in Revelation that correlate with the judgment of the great whore being Rome. For example, Rev 17,1-6 describes the great whore as a woman with a golden cup from which she drinks the blood of the saints. It sounds much like communion, which would implicate Catholicism and the Vatican of Rome. Huge numbers of people will buy into Satan’s kingdom, obviously the entire Catholic world, billions of people, and there will be many others who have no vested interest in Catholicism but will feign loyalty to the Pope and take the Mark of the Beast just to eat. The fact that shipmasters were mentioned speaks volumes about the identity of this city; it must be located near a port. That excludes Jerusalem since Israel is a landlocked nation, but brings Rome into focus. See also: Catholicism; Rev 18-20,21; 39ja / Pope is the antichrist; Rev 18,1-24; 163j Rev 18,15-19 (16f) Sin >> Man’s willingness to be evil >> Using sin to achieve your goals – Babylon is the emblem of the world at the end of the age. Anyone who partakes of her wealth partakes of her sins, taking the Mark of the Beast to participate in her economy. See also: Babylon; Rev 18-20,21; 28i (74i) Thy kingdom come >> Heart of man is sinful >> It is deceitful and desperately wicked -- These verses go with verses 7-11 (188i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over your circumstances -- These verses go with verses 9-11 (201i) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Man’s will over God >> Man is unwilling to repent -- These verses go with verses 9-11 Rev 18-15 (24d) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Pursuit of happiness creates anxiety -- This verse goes with verses 9&10 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18,16-19 (215g) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without warning -- These verses go with verses 7-10. The city was destroyed in one hour, suggesting that the cause was probably not conventional warfare, though it could have been carpeted with incendiary bombs in an air strike, as happened to Dresden Germany, or it could have been a nuclear bomb exploded in the center of the city. With carpet-bombing, there is much destruction, but the city itself is usually not completely destroyed, whereas a nuclear bomb could level the entire city. Rev 18,17-24 (49f) Judgment >> Enemies of the prophets are destroyed -- These verses go with verses 6-8. God has always had His prophets, exemplified by verse 20. Some say the dispensation of apostles and prophets has ended, but there have always been prophets throughout the age of grace, and there have always been missionaries, who are called apostles. The purpose of old covenant prophets was to correct the king and teach the way of righteousness to Israel and write the Scriptures, whereas the purpose of new covenant apostles and prophets is to establish churches, keeping them on the straight and narrow path. The Church has always had a prophetic witness, and if that doesn’t seem true, those who deny their existence don't listen to them, and for that reason a high percentage of them were martyred. In the last days the apostles and prophets that God will raise-up neither the Church nor the world will be able to ignore, as in the days of the old covenant, the prophets got in the king’s face and in the face of false prophets, those who loved and practiced lying, who led Israel astray. So it will be in the last days that the apostles and prophets will confront the false prophets, and the people will either listen to them or God will institute another plan for those who reject His word without reference to salvation. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,17-20; 104c / Prophets; Eph 4,11-16; 110ja Rev 18,17-20 (104c) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by fire >> Purified through fiery judgment -- These verses go with verses 17-20. We know that a prophet’s purpose is to protect, maintain and promote the word of God, and apostles have a similar ministry, plus they establish churches. The apostle Paul promoted the gospel in the world and planted churches everywhere he went. Similarly, the main apostles of the last days will be the Jewish Church consisting of the 144,000 with two witnesses who will act as adjudicators of God's judgment against the ungodly. These 144,000 are also called the woman (Revelation chapter 12), and she will be running for her life from the harlot, who is defined by her capital city. Verse 20 says, ‘Rejoice, because God has pronounced judgment against her,’ suggesting that some of these Jewish apostles and prophets will be martyred along with many gentile Christians (her children) among the nations. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,19-24; 189f Rev 18,18-21 (200m) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> He is against Christ who does not receive Him >> Whoever receives the world is against Christ Rev 18,19-24 (189f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Martyrs bring about the judgment of God – Jesus said it would be better for you to have a heavy millstone hung around your neck and be cast into the depths of the sea, than to cause any one of these little ones of mine to stumble. The implication of the millstone, then, is that when the angel threw it into the sea, a rope was tied to it and the other end was tied around the neck of the great whore, which was responsible for martyring the saints and apostles and prophets. It would actually be fair to say that martyrdom was the main reason for God's judgment in the last days, or martyrdom initiated it, and a lack of repentance perpetuated His judgment. Had Satan stopped short of martyring the saints, God's judgment may not have begun, but because of the systematic murder of God’s children, endtime prophecy was written and fulfilled. Once Satan and his antichrist and all those who follow him have caused God to stand from His glorious throne at the martyrdom of the saints, He will also judge the world for their murders, sorceries, immorality, thefts, idolatry and lying that transpires on the earth (Rev 9-21; 22-15). These things have happened throughout all of time, and they have not precipitated the judgment of God until they attempted to rid the world of His Church. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18-23,24; 181j KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18-20,21 (28i) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> God crushes those who make us stumble – It says what happens to Babylon and how it is destroyed by fire in Rev 17,16-18, the passage just before this chapter. One entity of Satan will hate another and will make war with himself, and as Jesus said in Mat 12-25,26, Satan will be divided, and he will end up destroying his own kingdom. "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?" This is actually a worse judgment than God could impose on him, a judgment that was woven into the principles of sin that it should be self-destructive. It completely shuts Satan's mouth, and it shuts the door on any possibility of ever defeating God; all confrontations against God are destined to fail by sin's own hand. Possibly, Satan's hope was to hold the human race hostage for a promise of pardon and escape the sentence of eternal damnation, but now he has no hope of that. See also: Babylon; 39ja / Satan is self-destructive; Rev 18,1-24; 46i / Satan tried to kill Jesus; Lk 23,33-38; 244j (29h) Gift of God >> God is on our side >> He fights our battles for us – The angel will throw a great stone into the sea as an analogy depicting the outcome of Satan, his city and those who worship him. Just as the rock will never be retrieved from the bottom of the sea, so this satanic kingdom and the demonic world in all its wickedness will be put in its place. God intends to lock up Satan for a thousand years and then release him after the Millennium just to show mankind the influence he has had on the world since the beginning of time, that Satan is incapable of repentance. There will be a thousand years of peace, and after Satan has been released, and tranquility will be broken by a sudden need to overthrow Christ’s throne, and then fire will descend on His enemies and consume them. Take away Satan’s influence and man lives in relative peace; the fact that Satan was here on the earth all this time is the cause of most of the horror that has afflicted the earth and its inhabitants. See also: Satan is the tempter; Heb 5-7,8; 46g (39ja) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus defeated this world system >> Jesus defeated people who serve Satan – God pronounced judgment against the harlot for the sake of the apostles, prophets and saints who resisted her religion, Catholicism. We know that the original apostles were all dead before the Catholic Church came into existence, so the apostles and prophets and saints mentioned here refer to those who are alive when these endtime prophecies begin to unfold. Many say the so-called dispensation of prophets has ended, but not according to these verses. The manifestation of Satan in the antichrist resulted from a single thought: Jesus Christ did NOT come in the flesh (1Jn 4-2,3). The Catholic Church has always believed that Jesus Christ DID come in the flesh (Council of Nicaea, 325 AD); therefore, the Catholic Church will reject its fundamental long-held beliefs and deny Jesus Christ, according to 2Pet 2-1, "False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." Also Daniel 11-37,38 says, “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures.” For the antichrist to reject every god and to magnify himself and honor a god of fortresses, means the antichrist glorifies himself in the city that defines him, starting in Rome and then migrating to Jerusalem, after he redefines the religion of each. See also: Catholicism; Rev 18-23; 183b / Babylon; Rev 18,1-24; 50ha / Catholicism (Fusing Church and state); Act 26-31,32; 152b (209g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties -- This verse goes with verse 24. Christ will command His angels to grab the antichrist and the false prophet and throw them into the lake of fire, where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Like a heavy millstone that was thrown into the sea that was impossible to retrieve, so the beast and the false prophet, along with those who served them, will be thrown into hell, completely forgotten. Those in heaven are the only ones throughout the ages of mankind who escaped Satan's grasp. Their numbers in heaven will range in the hundreds of millions, but the numbers in hell will be in the hundreds of billions, and they will disappear from the land of the living, never to return. Rev 18-20 (29c) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> Delivered from death -- This verse goes with verses 4-8 (242a) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Killing God’s prophets -- This verse goes with verse 24 Rev 18-21 (15g) Servant >> Angels >> The presence of angels denotes authority – This verse goes with verses 1&2 (245g) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of God’s justice -- This verse goes with verses 8&9 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Rev 18-23,24 (181j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Deceitfulness of sin – God will judge the world because it was deceived, and a person who is deceived wants to believe something other than the truth. Most of our deceptions come from our temptations to believe a lie, and since we were tempted, there must have been a promise of reward. From the great men of the world who became wealthy, catering to her every whim, to the little man begging for bread, holding out his hand and receiving her mark, they all sacrificed the saints for an opportunity to participate in her global economy, knowing their inclusion would perpetuate the martyrdom of the saints. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18-23; 183b (134i) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Adultery >> Spiritual adultery -- These verses go with verses 3-10 Rev 18-23 (183b) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Witchcraft >> Sin is the incubator of witchcraft >> Through satanic influence -- This verse goes with verses 1-8. The spirit of antichrist has been in the world from the very beginning; it is a spirit that diametrically opposes the very essence of God. This satanic entity called the dragon (or serpent) manifested in the last days is the great harlot who used Catholicism as a front to martyr the saints. God has executed judgment against her for the sins and martyrs she accumulated over the last 2000 years. The spirit of error existed even in Old Testament times, which led Israel astray to believe in many idols and religions of their neighboring countries and to worship Baal in the days after King David, sacrificing their children to the fertility gods, and then later mutating to paganism that followed man across covenants, attempting to worship God through various incantations, seeking His favor through mental ascent without incorporating faith and love. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18-24; 242a / Catholicism; Rev 18-24; 242a Rev 18-24 (209g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties -- This verse goes with verse 20,21 (242a) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Killing God’s prophets -- This verse goes with verse 20. When it says, “In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth,” it speaks of more than the last days, also throughout the centuries of Catholicism’s crimson past, all the saints and prophets whose blood she spilled, not to mention the wars that were fought in her name. Jesus said to the Pharisees in Mat 23,33-36, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.” Jesus accused the Pharisees of killing Zechariah, though he died hundreds of years before the Pharisees were born (835 to 796 B.C.; 2Chronicles chapter 24). When Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all this [judgment] will come upon this generation,” He was referring to two generations simultaneously: His own and the the last days. He was saying that the sins of mankind from Adam to His own time had accumulated and was judged on the cross though His own blood, but then the sins of mankind began to accumulate again after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. Jesus sent them "prophets and wise men and teachers" after his resurrection, and as Israel killed their own prophets, so did the Catholic Church. After Jesus' blood was spilled and people went on willfully sinning, God will make mankind pick up the tab in the last days. The Catholic Church killed many Christians over the last 2000 years. Protestant saints who refused to accept their heresies they condemned as heretics, though the Catholic priests were the real heretics. According to verse 24, God reduced the Vatican to ashes because of the sins that accumulated over 2000 years. Man's bloodiest wars were fought during the age of grace, because the Church didn't have enough salt in themselves to curb man's lust for blood, but the violence did not trigger the end of days until they martyred God’s people. See also: Martyrdom of the saints; Rev 18,1-8; 160a / Catholicism; Rev 18,1-24; 163j / Sin is increased by the law/by Christ; Mat 27,22-35; 210c See next page