(Revelation) Revelation 18:21-20:6 — Zac Poonen

Babylon as Religious and Commercial Counterfeit

Revelation chapter 18, we were considering in our last study the destiny of Babylon, the mother of harlots, and we saw a little bit last time of the religious nature of this corrupt system that professes to lead people to God, but actually leads people away from God.

Revelation chapter 17 deals with Babylon as a religious system counterfeiting the truth, and there's very much in it which we can't cover in just a brief study. It's a whole subject by itself, but if we were to examine all the heathen religions of the world, we'll find there's a tremendous similarity to the truth in many of them.

This is Satan's counterfeit. It's all flowed from that original Babylonian religion started by the descendant of Noah, Nimrod, in Genesis chapter 10, and that religious system has not only penetrated heathen religions, it's penetrated nominal Christianity in its various denominations, the mother of harlots, beginning with the Roman Catholic Church, and the harlots that are found in Protestantism and Pentecostalism today.

Those are strong words, but those are the words the Holy Spirit uses, so we're not ashamed to use them. Revelation chapter 18 deals with Babylon as a commercial economic system. Money, and all that money can buy, and all that man does, evil, cheats, deceives, tells lies, loses his soul finally in order to earn money.

Money and religion have led more people away from God than we could say almost anything else. Jesus said the two masters were God and money, so we find here religious Babylon and commercial Babylon in chapter 18, and out of both of these systems, religious and commercial, the word of God comes to us in Revelation 18, for, come out of her my people.

Have nothing to do with that. Now we look at verse 21, and it's Revelation 18, 21. A strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence and will not be found any longer.

Jezebel, Repentance, and the Destiny of Babylon

Now, earlier on in the book of Revelation, when we were studying chapter 2, I mentioned the name of another woman, and that is Revelation 2 and verse 20, Jezebel. There, Jezebel is called a false prophetess.

It's a symbolic name, and it was a false prophetess who brought suckly heresy into the church, and some of the things said about her are very similar to the things said about Babylon in Revelation 2 20.

She teaches and leads my bondservants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent, verse 21, and she does not want to repent. And essentially, it is because people do not repent, because Christians, this was referring to a Christian church in which the corruption, this Babylonian system represented here under the name Jezebel, had penetrated.

Christians, when they do not repent and turn from and give up this system, then the end result is Babylon. And in contrast to that, when Christians turn from sin and from worldliness and spiritual adultery and immorality, then the result is Jerusalem, the bride of Christ.

So we find essentially the difference between Babylon and Jerusalem is essentially one of repentance. It's all a question of whether there is a spirit of repentance in my life, a spirit of turning away from sin.

If that is found in my life, a constant hatred of sin, a repentance, a mourning each time I fall, the only way that I can escape ending up in Babylon. Now, the reason I mentioned Jezebel is when you turn to the Old Testament, to the history of the Israelites, and we find Ahab was one of the kings of Israel, the worst king of all.

And you read there in 2 Kings, chapter 9, that after Ahab had died, Jezebel, like Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, whom I spoke about last time, ruled as queen. And there was a man called Jehu, who was commissioned by God to be the king.

And we read in 2 Kings, chapter 9, that Jehu was the instrument God was going to use to destroy Jezebel because of her harlotry and her spiritual immorality. And we read here when Jehu, verse 2 Kings, chapter 9, verse 30, when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked out of her window.

You see, this is where all this lipstick and mascara and all these things began, with Jezebel adorning herself to attract men, immoral, adulterous, it's exactly as you see in Babylon in Revelation 17, and looked out.

And Jehu was not impressed with all this. He just looked up and said in verse 32, who's on my side? And two or three officials looked down, verse 32. 33, he said, throw her down. Notice what we read in Revelation 18, 21, Babylon will be thrown down mightily.

He said, throw her down. So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall. And it says here in verse 35, when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands, because the dogs, verse 36, had eaten her flesh.

Now that's going to be the end result of those who sit in the name of Christianity, and are worldly in spirit and in life, they are going to be cast down. That's what we see in Revelation 18, 21. Thus will Babylon, the great city, be cast down and won't be found any longer.

Music, Worldliness, and Babylon's Deception

And the sound, verse 22 of Revelation 18, the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer. Notice the emphasis on music. Music in Christendom can be a good thing, if it's kept under the control of the Holy Spirit.

But in much of Christendom today, it's under the control of the devil. We even have rock music preaching the gospel these days. You can imagine how much the devil has infiltrated Christendom. You don't need to be filled with the Holy Spirit now, you only need to know how to shake your hips and strum a guitar and croon into a mic in order to draw people to Christ.

This is the ridiculous humbug that goes under the name of Christian music these days. Well, that's part of Babylon, harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters. Just in passing, let me tell you, if you turn to Genesis chapter 4, you find that the people who first invented musical instruments were the sons of Cain.

After Cain was driven away from the Lord, it says in Genesis 4, 21, that one of the descendants of Cain began to invent musical instruments. Isn't that significant? It's not that we're against musical instruments.

The thing is, music is a means, is a tremendous means the devil has used to lead people to hell. And music is found in Babylon too. Just like money, music. You can speak the word of Jesus and you can sing so-called Christian songs, but with the spirit of Babylon in that music.

And that's what we need to beware of. Revelation 18, 22, the son of harpists, musicians, flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer. Industry, craftsmen of any craft will not be found in you.

The son of a mill will not be heard in you. The light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer. The voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer, for your merchants were the great men of the earth.

Notice the emphasis throughout when we read about Babylon of greatness. The great men of the earth, even in Christendom, there are people who seek to be great, to be one of the great men of the earth.

No, that's not our calling, if we are to be in the bride of Christ. We are to be despised and rejected as Jesus was, not to be one of the great men of the earth. And it says here, all nations were deceived by your sorcery.

And in the Amplified Bible it says, by your magic spells. It's amazing, the spirit of Babylon has deceived Christians in every nation by teaching them that they can go to heaven, even though they live for the world and for money and for pleasure and for honor.

It's as though a spell has come upon them. I mean, it's so obvious for anyone reading what Jesus taught and the apostles taught, that it's impossible for a person to be a part of the bride of Christ if he's so worldly.

And yet there are multitudes and multitudes of Christians today who think that they can be worldly in their spirit and their life and still be a part of the bride of Christ. This is the result of this magic spell that Babylon has put upon people so that they can't see.

It's a sorcery, it's a deception by which people are deceived. For example, Jesus said you cannot love money and God. But don't you think there are multitudes of believers who try to do it? They will discover in the final day that Babylon had put a spell upon them, that when they loved money they did not really love God.

It was impossible. Jesus said that very clearly in Luke 16 13. It's impossible to love God and money at the same time. If you love one, you hate the other. And yet the spirit of Babylon teaches you can love God and you can love making money.

That's just not possible. Here's how people have been deceived. And as a result of this deception, where Christians run after money, run after the great things of the earth, run after bigness in this world, run after a sensuous life, decorate themselves like Jezebel, then and yet to imagine themselves to be a part of that pure and holy bride of Christ.

That is a tremendous deception. And the result of this is in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth. The true servants of God have been slain by this system because when a prophet gets up and denounces all this, he is not popular.

He is slain or persecuted in some other way. And it says in this Babylon has been found the blood of all the prophets who stood against their corruptions and their immorality and their worldliness. And of all the saints and of the many many people who have been slain on the earth.

Think of the multitudes who have been slain through the love of money, through the pursuit of pleasure and through the pursuit of power and honor. In this spirit we find the murderer of millions and millions of people in the history of the human race.

That's why the Lord says have nothing to do with this, come out of it. Now chapter 19 and verse 1. After these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God because his judgments, that's referring to his judgment on the harlot Babylon now, are true and righteous.

For he has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality and he has avenged the blood of his born servants on her. Hallelujah is a charismatic word. It's found mostly in charismatic circles and Pentecostal circles.

Now I wish that all charismatics and Pentecostals would study the bible to find out the only four places in the new testament where the word hallelujah occurs. Hallelujah occurs in the new testament in only four places and all those four places are in chapter 19 verses 1 to 6.

And do you know why they say hallelujah? Because Babylon is judged. I wish we had more charismatic praise meetings of that type. Hallelujah Lord, Babylon is going to be judged. Your judgments are true and righteous.

But there are people sitting in Babylon, charismatic Babylonians, who don't understand this and there's where the magic spell of the sorcery of Babylon has deceived them. This is the first time in the new testament that the word hallelujah occurs.

And what are they saying hallelujah for? Hallelujah Lord, because you've judged the great harlot who was, in one translation it says, who poisoned the earth. Who poisoned the earth. You know how much poison you need in a glass of to kill a person?

A few drops. That's how Babylon corrupts the christian faith. It's not all wrong. It's truth mixed with error. A glass of milk with a few drops of this poison sufficient to kill. Who has poisoned the earth with her immorality and he has avenged the blood of his bond servants on her.

Reasons for Heaven's Hallelujah

That's the first reason for shouting hallelujah. And verse 3 says the second reason is exactly the same. Hallelujah. Her smoke rises up forever and ever. Think of that brothers and sisters. There's such terrific joy in heaven when the harlot is judged.

The bible says in Luke chapter 15 verse 10 that there's joy in heaven when a sinner repents. We can understand that. We read in revelation 12 verse 12 that there's joy in heaven when the believers overcome satan.

Here it says there's joy in heaven. Revelation 18 20 rejoice oh heaven because the harlot is judged and that is something which the devil has hidden from many people. There is joy in heaven when a sinner repents.

Luke 15 10. There's joy in heaven when a believer overcomes. Revelation 12 verse 11 and 12. There's joy in heaven when the harlot Babylon is exposed. Her sorcery made manifest for all to see. Her deceptions exposed and judged once and for all.

And we need to anticipate that joy and say thank you lord. I praise god that one day this corrupt system that calls itself christianity and has no interest in following in the footsteps of jesus taking up the cross every day is only interested in having a good time in this world becoming great and making money in the name of religion and all this garbage that goes on in the name of jesus christ.

Popes and pastors and priests with their crosses and their dresses and their miters and crowns and all the garbage that's accumulated and christened them through the years and their feasts and their festivals and everything else is going to go down in the crash.

Hallelujah. Her smoke ascends forever and ever. We need to get something of the spirit of heaven into us as much as there is joy in heaven over a sinner who repents and over a believer who triumphs. There's joy in heaven that this corrupt system that's deceived millions of people in these 2 ,000 years is finally brought crashing down and burnt up completely by god.

And if we are one in spirit with god we will share that joy. And it says in revelation 19 for the 24 elders they get excited about this too. And the four living creatures they fell down and worship god who sits on the throne and for the third time there's another hallelujah for the same reason.

Have you seen that? Three times hallelujah because the harlot is judged. Have you got that? This is the reason for hallelujah in the new testament. And that's significant. He who has years to hear let him hear.

And a voice came from the throne saying here's the fourth hallelujah coming and notice the reason for that. Give praise to our god all you his bondservants. You who fear him the small and the great. I'll tell you something we can enter into the praise of heaven and the hallelujah over the judgment of the harlot only if we are his bondservants.

Verse 5 that means we have become his love slaves. And if we fear him and his word the small and the great. I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters. Verse 6 and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying hallelujah the lord our god the almighty reign.

This is a tremendous reason for praising god that god is on the throne and something more. Listen this is the contrast of the judgment of the harlot. The fourth reason for the hallelujah. Let us rejoice.

Here is the fourth reason why heaven rejoices. I told you heaven rejoices when a sinner repents. When a believer overcomes. When the harlot is judged. And number four reason when the bride of the lamb is ready for the marriage.

Be glad and give the glory to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and here's the reason to rejoice and to shout hallelujah the fourth time his bride has made herself ready. That's a tremendous statement.

The Bride Makes Herself Ready

He doesn't say the lord made her ready. Read it carefully. All stupidity comes because we don't read the scriptures carefully. She made herself ready. Never forget that brothers and sisters. It's you and I who are going to decide whether we're going to be ready for the coming of the lord and i want to show you three verses in that connection.

1 john 3 verse 3. In 1 john 3 verse 2 it speaks about the second coming of christ. When he comes we shall be like him because we will see him as he is and everyone who has this hope of the second coming of christ what does he do?

Verse 3 purifies himself. When does he stop purifying himself? When he reaches the purity of him jesus christ just as he is pure. I purify myself if i have the living hope of christ coming and i can read verse 3 like this the corollary of it the opposite of it and everyone who does not have the hope of the second coming of christ is identified by this fact that he does not purify himself in his daily life.

That's clear. Another verse is 2 corinthians 7. 2 corinthians 7 and verse 1 this is again a similar uh word as we read in revelation 18. Notice 2nd corinthians 6 17. Come out from their midst and be separate says the lord.

Come out of her my people. We read in revelation 18 4. Same thing here 2nd corinthians 6 17. Then if you have such a i will be a father to you. Verse 18 and you shall be my sons and daughters says the lord almighty.

Therefore chapter 7 verse 1 having these promises beloved what shall we do? Let us cleanse ourselves. Many believers know that the lord cleanses them. That's one side of the truth. They do not know how to cleanse themselves.

What do they cleanse themselves from? From all defilement of flesh and spirit. How far are we to cleanse ourselves? Till every defilement of flesh and spirit has gone out of my life and i perfect holiness in the fear of god.

This is the bride of christ. The one who has made herself ready. Who has purified herself according to 1 john 3 3. Who has cleansed herself according to 2nd corinthians 7 1. From all defilement of flesh and spirit.

2nd timothy chapter 2 and verse 20 and 21. 2nd timothy 2 20 and 21. In a large house this is referring to the church. There are not only gold and silver vessels. These are the overcomers. Then there are vessels of wood and earthenware which are for dishonorable use.

And i start off as a vessel of earthenware and wood for dishonorable use because i live according to the lust of my flesh. But then i can transform myself into a vessel of gold and silver. How? Verse 21.

If a man cleanses himself. Not if a man prays to the lord to cleanse him. The lord can forgive me when i have sinned. But i have to cleanse myself from that which i see to be evil in my life. That comes through repentance.

That is what i said. Jezebel did not want. She repented not. She did not cleanse herself. She did not purify herself. Therefore she remained a vessel unto dishonorable use. Finally judged. But if a man cleanses himself from these.

He will be a gold and silver vessel. A vessel for honor. Sanctified. Useful to the master. And so we see in revelation 19 verse 7. His bride has made herself ready. And yet that's one side of the truth.

The other side of the truth. It is god who has helped her in her self-purification. Because it says in verse 8. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen bright and clean. Given to her means it was a gift.

And yet it was a gift that was made possible because she responded to the exhortations of scripture. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saint. Now the bible says we are clothed with the righteousness of christ.

But it also says in romans 8 4. That the righteousness of the law should then be fulfilled inside of us. And that comes through the daily life. Where it says here. Notice what is the dress of the bride.

The dress of the bride is her own righteous action. Not the righteousness of christ. That's so clear from revelation 19 8. We got to be blind as a bat not to see it. Her own righteous acts are her dress.

How did she get these righteous acts? Because she took those scriptures seriously. To cleanse herself. To purify herself. To purge herself. To make herself clean. To prepare herself. She took that seriously.

She took the exhortation seriously in philippians 2 13. Which says let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Every time i work out my salvation with fear and trembling in the power of the holy spirit.

From some sin to which i've been a slave. I put one more stitch on my wedding garments. And over a period of years i have woven my own wedding garments. What about a christian who has taken it all carelessly?

Who said oh the blood of jesus cleanses me and i just live as i like. You know what that christian is described in? Where that christian is described? In chapter revelation 16 verse 15. Behold i'm coming like a thief.

Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments lest he walk about naked. You mean there are people going to walk about naked on the wedding day? Imagine a bride coming naked on the wedding day.

She'd have to run. She's not the bride. She's not the bride at all. And yet there are people it says who are going to be naked in that day. Why naked? Because they did not take seriously the exhortations of scripture.

They have no garments. They have no righteous acts of their own. That is the deception of babylon. That is the mystery of iniquity. That's the magic spell that babylon has cast upon so many christians saying you're clothed with the righteousness of christ now it doesn't matter how you live as it were.

That is a tremendous deception. Her own righteousness is her wedding dress. Of course this is not the righteousness which is like filthy rags but that righteousness which is fulfilled in the power of the holy spirit as we have walked in the footsteps of jesus in the situations of daily life.

And we read here the dress of the bride is fine linen verse eight bright and clean. It's very wonderful to see the contrast between the simplicity of this new covenant bride and the gaudiness of babylon with purple and scarlet and gold and the bride of christ in no gold no purple no scarlet the color is not mentioned it doesn't say it's white but it does say it's fine linen bright and clean.

The emphasis is on the cleanliness and the brightness and the purity. Notice a verse in psalm 45. Psalm 45. Psalm 45 verse 13 this is a bridal psalm. Sometime when you get time you can read it. It's a psalm about the marriage of the lamb.

We don't have time to read through the whole psalm but it's in the middle of this psalm which deals with the marriage of the lamb that you have that wonderful verse in psalm 45. Verse 7. Thou is loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

Therefore god thy god has anointed you with the oil of joy. It's very significant that this verse comes in the middle of the psalm dealing with the marriage of the lamb. And then it says about the bride.

Verse 13. The king's daughter the bride is all glorious where not on the outside but on the inside. She has a meek and a quiet spirit. Her clothing is interwoven with gold inside. She is glorious within and not on the outside.

And thus she will be led to the king. And that's word is going to be fulfilled in revelation 19. Verse 8. Further we move on to verse 9. He said to me right blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb.

And he said to me these are true words of god. Now that seems to indicate to me fairly clearly that there are people who are not going to be in the bride of christ. When it says in verse 9 blessed are those who are invited a bride is not invited to her own wedding.

Those are others who don't belong to the bride who have not been so faithful to qualify to be in the bride of christ but who have still trusted the lord kept themselves pure from babylon. They're not part of babylon.

And yet they were not wholehearted enough to be in the bride of christ. You remember what jesus said. The seed that was sown on the good ground did not all bring forth fruit alike. One brought forth 30 fold another 60 fold and the third 100 fold.

It's all good ground. But we could say the hundred fold is part of the bride of christ and the 30 fold and the 60 fold are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. There is a difference even among those who obey the word of god.

Even among those who have steered clear of babylon there are. There is a difference in the wholeheartedness and zeal with which each person judges himself and cleanses himself and makes his wedding garment ready.

But it is blessed to be among the 30 fold in the 60 fold. Too blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. And he said to me these are the true words of god. Just in case anybody thinks this is just some man's crazy idea the holy spirit has inserted that right there.

Because that's the very thought that may be passing through somebody somebody's mind right here. Oh these are just some ideas aired out here. And how wonderful the holy spirit brings that right home saying these are the true words of god.

True Servants, Prophecy, and Worship

And then john was so excited at this. He said he fell at his feet to worship this person who was showing him all this. And here is the mark of a true servant of god. He said to me don't do that. Don't worship me.

Don't get attached to me. A true servant of god will always direct you to jesus not allow you to get attached to him. Anyone who wants you to get attached to him which is a form of worship is a counterfeit servant of god.

You see that in christendom today i tell you i seen it all over believers who virtually adore and worship some great man of god. And that man of god is a counterfeit. If he doesn't turn away that worship and say don't do that.

They may not fall down at their feet but various other equivalents of that where they almost hang on word that this man says they live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth instead of every word that proceeds out of god's mouth.

Brother can you tell me what i should do. Please find out the will of god for me. For this should i do this should i do that should i do. The other. They live by every word from his mouth. That is idolatry.

And there's a lot of so-called prophecy these days which is being abused like that. No this man says don't do that. I'm a servant. He says like you notice the immediate reaction that's the mark of a man of god.

As soon as he sees somebody adoring him or getting too attached to him he immediately reacts and pushes him off and said nothing of the sort don't you do that to me. I'm just a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of jesus.

He says all i'm doing is holding to the same testimony that jesus held to the torch that jesus held in his earthly lifetime proclaiming for example what he preached in the sermon on the mount blessed are the pure in heart they shall see god.

He says i'm just proclaiming the same thing i'm just holding for the torch that jesus held in his earthly lifetime all the things that he said there in the sermon on the mount the same testimony i'm holding.

That's all you must worship god not man. For here's a beautiful definition of prophecy of true prophecy. Very important in these days when there's so much counterfeit prophecy the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy now that has two meanings the testimony of jesus.

One is that true prophecy always testifies to jesus not to the so-called man of god standing up saying thus said the lord if a man draws you to himself through prophecy attaches you to himself. Write it off as a false prophecy.

The spirit of prophecy the testimony of jesus that's one meaning of it. The second meaning of the testimony of jesus is that that truth as i just said which jesus held up in his earthly lifetime is the spirit behind all true prophecy even today.

In other words if you were to read what jesus spoke in the gospels what did he speak on most of the time. Read that and you'll get a pretty clear guideline as to who is a true prophet today. If we don't know what jesus taught in his earthly lifetime we haven't been careful to read through the gospels we will be deceived by much prophecy today because 99 of what goes under the name of christian prophecy today is not holding forth the same thing that jesus held forth in his earthly lifetime.

You just got to read through the sermon on the mount to get a a brief sample of jesus preaching and see whether today's prophecy conforms to that. The testimony of jesus that which jesus held forth is the spirit of true prophecy the counterfeit.

We see plenty of it today. Now we move on to chapter 19 verse 11. This is referring to the second coming of christ. I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. And he who sat upon it is called faithful and true.

Christ's Return and Righteous Judgment

This is referring to jesus christ coming down to earth like we said last time with his feet standing on the mount of olives. You remember when we studied chapter 6 there was a man riding a white horse.

That was the counterfeit of this the antichrist here is the christ himself. He who sat upon it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. Notice the emphasis again and again on righteousness in judgment.

We saw that in verse 2 of chapter 19 his judgments are true and righteous. We saw that repeatedly in chapter 16 and again here in chapter 19 verse 11 see one of the problems many people have is how can god judge so many people and consign them to hell.

That's why we find so often in the book of revelation the word righteousness connected with judgment. God's judgment will all be righteous. He wages war and his eyes are as a flame of fire penetrating through to the deepest motives and attitudes in our heart.

His head many diadems proclaiming him to be king of kings. He has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself. He's got a new name which we also saw in revelation chapter 3. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood symbolizing the fact that the blood that jesus shed on the cross is something that will be spoken of and that he'll be remembered for eternally.

You know all those who are resurrected to be with the lord eternally will be cured of all their physical disfigurement. If a man for example was lame or without a hand on earth in his resurrection body he'll have a completely whole body.

Everybody in heaven will be healed of all their wounds and all their disfigurements. Except jesus who will have the wounds in his body the wounds of the cross by which he will be recognized. The beautiful song we sing i shall know him.

I shall know him when by his side i shall stand. I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hand. He's one person who's going to have nail prints in his hand in eternity. The robe dipped in blood.

And his name is called the word of god. Here's another name of jesus. He's called faithful and true. He's called by a new name which we still don't know what it is. Verse 12. Verse 13 he's also called the word of god.

And he has another name verse 16 king of kings and lord of lords. And verse 14 speaks of the armies of heaven the overcomers who are called chosen and faithful. The 144 000 clothed in fine linen white and clean.