Okay, Shabbat Shalom. The passage we are going to read today is in Revelation chapter 18. So everyone please open your Bibles, and I'm going to read this chapter today, which deals once again with the city of Babylon and what God is calling Mystery Babylon. First of all, we read in chapter 17 the judgment of the religious Babylon, and today in chapter 18, we are going to deal with the judgment of the political and economic Babylon. I'm beginning to read from verse one, and the chapter began this way, 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 demons, 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 I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works, in the cup which she hath filled to her double. How much she has glorified herself, and lived delicately, so much torment and sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart, I sit as a queen, and am not widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day. Death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burnt with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived delicately with her, shall bewail her and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall whip and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. The merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and the pearls of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all dying wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of vessels of most precious wood, and of brass and iron and marble, and cinnamon and odors, and ointment and frankincense, and wine and oil and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

And the fruits of thy soul lusts after are departed from thee, and all the things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, for in one hour so great riches is come to naught.

And every shipmaker, and all the companies in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. 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. And a voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipes, and trumpets shall be heard no more at all in thee.

And no craftsman, and whatsoever craft he be, shall be found no more in thee. And the sound of millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by the sorceries were all nations deceived, and in her was found the blood of the prophets and of saints, and of all that was slain upon the earth.

This is the eighteenth chapter of the book of Revelation. In which we can see, beloved brothers and sisters, the details that God is giving Yohanan, John, when John was on the island of Patmos, and the Lord Jesus, through the angel, show Yohanan, John, what is going to happen, what is known to be in throughout the history of the human race as Bavel, Babylon, confusion, confounding, that which is against the will of God. And at the end of the book of the Revelation, chapter 17 and chapter 18, deals with the destruction of Babylon, of confusion, of man-made religion and man-made system that rejected ultimately the Son of God, the Messiah, Yeshua.

Well, if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, in the previous chapter 17, we saw the destruction of what is known to be as the religious Babylon, ecclesiastical Babylon. It is a system, it is religion of men that rejected the true ways of God. We have looked over in Genesis chapter 10 and 11, and where we saw that already after the coming out of the Ark of Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, there was one of the descendants of the sons of Noah who had a son that is called Nimrod. Nimrod means let us rebel, or we will rebel in our Hebrew language, and Nimrod built a city. And we know that the name of this city called Bavel in Hebrew because God came down in chapter eleven and he confounded the language of the people in the land of Shinar in the city of Bavel who built the tower to reach to heaven to make a name for themselves.

Actually it's even prior to that for when sin came into this world there was consistently a rebellion against God by men. Whether it is religiously or whether it is politically. Whether it is in system of religion or whether it is in a system of lifestyle of which men rejected the ways of God. So God has a case against Bavel. God has a controversy with Babel and he ultimately will have to consume and to deal with both religious Babel and also political and economical Babel. Now, we have covered chapter 17, and if you remember, we understood from chapter 17 this harlot, this whore in verse 1 of chapter 17, and in verse 5 is none else but the false church, the false belief that is still going on today in this present day, in the last day of the church age, which is the false religion.

It is religion without the Messiah. It is man's way in getting right in their own way and the denial of the truth of the Messiahship of Yeshua. In fact, the Bible called this religious System, Mystery Babylon in verse 5 of chapter 17. And so we learn that once the true church, the true called out ones, the true believers have been taken out of this world to heaven, to be with Yeshua the Messiah, Revelation 4 and 5, we are in the presence of the Messiah in glory, the false religion, the false church will remain in the Tribulation time. In fact, in chapter 2, it is the church of Thyatira, verses 18 on, where the Lord Jesus the Messiah said, Behold, in verse 22, I will cast her into bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation.

This is the one that God will leave behind once the church will be taken out of here. What is known to be the Taya Taira, the continual sacrifice, the system, this religion that denied and did not give the right authority to the Lord Jesus the Messiah. It is the Babylon of the time that will remain during the Tribulation period, the false religion. The true church, as I mentioned, is already in heaven, and during the Tribulation, that false religious system will continue to stay here during the first half of the Tribulation. And according to chapter 17, if you remember, we find out that this harlot, or this whore, is sitting upon many waters, and she is mingling with the kings of this earth. In fact, it says to us here in chapter 17 that this mystery Babylon, this false church, this whore, is the one that is uniting with the king of this earth in the first half of the Tribulation.

So Babel, confusion, will remain here, but in the middle of the Tribulation, the religious Babylon will be destroyed. How do we know that? That's where we read in the last verses of chapter 17, if you remember, if you just look back, where we find out what's happening here in the last verses. It says here in verse 16, And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore. The ten horns, we have learned already from last ministry meeting that these ten horns are ten kings. It's clearly mentioned in verse 12 of chapter 17. The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings.

Which have not received a kingdom yet, but received power as kings for one hour with the beast. In other words, there will be for a season there, and this whore, false church, gonna remain and mingle and associate with those kings of this earth at the time of the Tribulation period. But what's gonna happen in the middle of the Tribulation, it says here in verse 16 of chapter 17, that the ten horns which thou sowest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore.

And shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her with fire. In fact, what we learn that the first kings of the tribulation period is the kingdom that the Antichrist will begin with, after the middle of the tribulation, he will destroy this horde, this false church, and those ten kings will hate her. As it says here, they will make her desolate and naked, and they shall ultimately destroy the false church here on earth. And what's going to happen, brothers and sisters, in the middle of the tribulation now, that there will be another religious system will be established, and this is where, if you remember, from the book of Daniel, in the middle of the seven years, the beast will situate himself in Jerusalem.

He will seek to claim to be God, and he will seek worship from the whole world. What he gonna Sit in the temple in Yerushalayim claiming to be God. That's what the Bible calls us the Abomination of desolation. And so now religious Babylon will be destroyed in the middle of the tribulation and a new system of religion will be established now when the false Messiah, the beast, will claim worship totally for himself.

And so now we are moving from chapter 17 where the religious Babylon had been destroyed, now we find out in chapter 18 how the political Babylon, the economic Babylon, will be destroyed. And you know brothers and sisters, it often goes hand in hand. Politic and false religion, economic and false religion go hand in hand. In order to advance in your religion, you have to be connected with politic as well as with economic. It has to do with wealth, has to do with power. So often time you notice in history of religion, it is often time religion mixed with power, religion mixed with authority, and that's what we would call a mixture of church and state together. And here, now, in chapter 18, the Lord Yeshua the Messiah through the angels showed John that it's not only the religious Babylon gonna be destroyed, but also the political and economic Babylon will be destroyed. Now, I don't know how you understand it over the years from your studies of the Scripture, but according to the Word of God, what we learn here, that this was a literal city that is called Babel.

It's mentioned many times in Revelation chapter 17 and 18, the word city. Notice that, and the woman which you saw is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Now, you know, Bible teachers over the years have deliberated, will the city of Babylon be restored? Will the city of Babylon be rebuilt again? Or is this... City really speaking about a central place where maybe some believe it is Rome, and others believe in another location, some believe it even Jerusalem.

But I would like to suggest today that in these verses, in chapter 18, that my view on that is that in the future day, the whole economy will be shifting back to the Middle East, where the center place from which the ruling over this world and the authority of this world will be shifting, even economically and politically from what is known today North America, like the place that the world is being run through today is from United States, is the greatest country, and in New York City you have the place what we know the financial market, and it's become the center of this world economically, but it seemed to be that it's going to be shifting back to what is known today the Middle East, Iraq. And the area around there where Babylon began, the city of Babylon was there.

And look what it says, it's specifically saying, verse 18, the woman which you sawest is a great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. It is from Babel, from that city which the beast, the count of El Messiah, will rule economically over this world, politically over this world, while in the city of Jerusalem, he gonna have his image situated in the temple in Jerusalem, in the middle of the tribulation, and from there, he will have the worship of himself in the city of Jerusalem. So he gonna have the religious area in Jerusalem, the political area from Babylon, and he's going to rule over the kings of the earth, as it says here in verse 18 of chapter 17. So let's move on now into the statements that we read in chapter 18. That's where we are today. First of all, notice verses 1 to 3, we have the condemnation of Babylon. Look verses 1, 2, and 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 strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and become a habitation of demons. 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 have waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

We see an angel in verse one. John sees this angel because he said, and after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven. This angel is another one of those servants of God who is coming to John in that vision from the island of Patmos, and he revealed to him certain things about this political Babylon, this economical Babylon. God has a case against Babylon, and God is going to judge Babylon. And so it says in verse 2, look at the proclamation of the angel. He says, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. This great Babylon.

That if you remember years ago, Nimrod had built. Later on it was Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar said, isn't this great Babylon which I have built, this great powerful city and kingdom that ruled through Babylon. Now is the end. God is judging this city and the political rule over this world when we read, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. Notice it's the proclamation comes as if it already had been done. Now remember, at the end of chapter 16 of Revelation, we finish with the tribulation period. But John receive additional information about details, how the tribulation gonna end. Well, religious system will be destroyed. The political system will be destroyed. And so he says Babylon is fallen, is fallen. And now he's saying something that is very interesting in verse 2b.

It says that Babylon become a habitations of demons, and a hold of every foul spirit. And then it says, and it's become a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now this is also extremely interesting. You know when the tribulation will end, and the messianic age is going to start, when the world will be beautified, and there will be a renovation of this world, if you will, a new heaven and a new earth of the millennial age. This is not the eternal order yet. What's going to happen, it seemed to be that there will be an areas in this world in which the Lord will not renew, if you will. And this area, or Babylon, as it says here, will become a habitation of demons.

It says it become a hold of foul spirits, again, demonic activity, and then a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. The Lord Jesus, in one of parable, used that bird as a picture of satanic influence, of Satan. So it seemed to be that when the millennium will start, that Babel, this area there, will become a habitation, a cage, a hold of demons.

As it says here at the end of verse two, notice the three words, habitation, hold, cage. Those three words, it's like a place where God will confine demons and will confine foul spirit, will confine that which is demonic, the falling angels. At least it seemed to be that that is what he is conveying here. And some Bible teachers do teach that, that in the time of the millennial age, when all the world gonna be renovated and there will be a beautifying this world, there will be an area that demons will be located there and held there in a cage, if you will, for that period of time. And Babylon is falling, he said. That's what's gonna happen to her.

Then it says in verse three, the reason, why does Babylon going to be judged so extremely like this? Well, it gives us the reason. It says in verse three, for all nations. Have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the kings of the earth committed fornication with her. And the merchants of the earth were waxed rich through the abundance of delicacies. In other words, the city headed up, of course, at that time by already Antichrist in the beginning of the Tribulation. And what she, this city, will provide for the kings of the earth is delicacies, fornication, all this kind of lifestyle that is against the will of God.

And God says, that's it, the judgment of Babylon is coming. And here we find out how this Babylon is going to be judged by God. Now I want you to, for a moment, to turn to Isaiah chapter 13, and you can see that it was already prophesied by the prophet Isaiah concerning the fall of Babylon. Isaiah said in chapter 13 and verse 17, he says this, Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

I'm jumping to verse nineteen, Babylon and the glory of the kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldeans, the excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Do you remember when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah? He cast fire and brimstone over the city of Sodom and the city of Gomorrah. Then it says in verse 20, It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. You see, while Isaiah, of course, was prophesying about the immediate future in the history of Israel, really we can take this prophetically forward to the Tribulation period, where we read, It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt from generation to generation. That's what Isaiah, the Hebrew prophet, have prophesied concerning the city of Babylon. In chapter 51 of the prophet Jeremiah, we read in verse 24 of chapter 51, these statements concerning Babylon.

And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion. In your sight, says the Lord. Behold, I am against thee, this is against Babel, all destroying mountains, says the Lord, which destroyed all the earth, and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and I will make thee a burnt mountain.

Look at verse 26. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, but thou shalt be destroyed forever, saith the Lord. You see, prophetically, God have already said it through the prophet Yirmiyahu, the Hebrew prophet, what's gonna happen to Babel, to Babylon, because God has a case against the city of Babylon and the world in which will be controlled from the city of Babylon. So the condemnation of Babylon we have in chapter eighteen, verses one to three.

So now, what we find out, in verse four to eight, Of Revelation chapter 18, that God is now calling His very own people to separate from that city of Babylon, because He's going to judge that city. And so look what it says in verse 4, and I think it is very important to read it in light of what the prophet Jeremiah already said to the people of Israel years ago, to come out of that wicked city. Look, he says in verse 4, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of their sins, and that ye receive not of her plague.

Brothers and sisters, Israel, or the Jewish believers of the time of the Tribulation, are called to leave that city of Babylon. You know, we learn here, That during the Tribulation, God will have His people during the Tribulation period. You see, the heavenly company is gone already. The church and you and I are part of the church. We have been taken already at the end of chapter three, the beginning of chapter four of the book of Revelation. But there will be those who will remain during the tribulation here. There will be the preaching of the 144,000 Hebrews. There will be the preaching of the two witnesses. There will be those who will accept the message of the gospel, and they, some of them will die, will be martyrs, and others will still remain here, and they will be called now to leave the city, because God is going to judge the city of Babylon. And so, this really, this verse 4, is taking us back to what Jeremiah said already long time ago in the 50th chapter, when Jeremiah was calling the Jewish people to leave that city of Babylon.

I'm going to read that, Jeremiah chapter 50, in verse 6. My people has been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from the mountains to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. And now we read in verse 8, remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the goats before the flocks.

A little bit further on, and I think it is verse 6 of chapter 51, flee out of the midst of Babylon. Notice verse 45 of Jeremiah 51, my people, go ye out of the midst of hell. Go ye out of the midst of Babylon. What God said to Israel historically, Long before the church was born, when Israel was called to separate from Babylon, from this confusion, there is a repetition of it and a reference to it in the future day in the Tribulation, where he's saying to them in verse four, come out of here, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins. You know, brothers and sisters, this thought of coming out of Babylon and coming out of this world and its system had been the challenge of God to his people throughout the ages.

When God called our father Abraham, he says, leave your father's house. Leave, at that time, the Ur Kasdim, this is the Mesopotamia, leave and go into a place where I will give it to you. When Israel was in Egypt, God took Israel out of Egypt and he brought them out of the land of Egypt into the promised land, to the land of Israel, the land of the Bible. During the history of our people Israel, he said to them, you come out, don't mingle with the world and its system.

In the church age, we are just the same, John said in 1 John 2, love not the world, not the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We are also called to be a separate people, to leave the system and its ways, and to be separated unto the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And those Jewish people, and many others during the tribulation, God saying to them as well, come out of here, O my people. And be separate, do not be partaking of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues. So he's calling his people to leave that area because the judgment is going to fall upon the city of Babylon. In verse 5, look, Babylon's sins and iniquities have reached up to God.

It says in verse 5, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. You know, God is bearing with men, with the human race. His patience, his patience is extended to mankind, but there's coming a time where God's patience have ended, and the judgment of God will fall upon men. The sins of Babylon have reached unto heaven, and the iniquities of Babylon God had remembered. In verses six, seven, and eight, look at the accusation against Babylon. There is nothing but idolatry, pride, and that pleasure of sin that is existing in Babylon. The city, as well as the whole system, economic system, and political system. Look at that list that we have here in verses six, seven, and eight. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works.

In the cup which she has filled, fill to her double. How much she has glorified herself. She lived delicately. So much torment and sorrow give her, for she says in her heart, I sit as a queen, and I am not widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plague come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly destroyed with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judge her. See, brothers and sisters, look at this. She says, the city of Babel and the political system that had been headed up from Babel over the rest of the world, the system that reject God, she says, I sit as a queen, and I'm not a widow, and I will not see sorrow. Everything is fine.

She's enjoying pleasure of sin. She's enjoying her own way and set God aside, and she says, listen, nothing gonna happen to me. I'm like a queen, and I'm not a widow. I have everything, and no sorrow will come upon me. And the Lord that He was so patient with the whole world and its ways is now at the end of the Tribulation is dealing with Babel, dealing with a political and economical bubble. He gonna destroy this world. That's why it says at the end of verse eight, therefore shall plagues come in one day.

It says here, death and mourning and famine, she shall be utterly burnt with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judge her. You know, I think about that word one day. There's a verse in Proverbs chapter twenty nine that Solomon, the king of Israel says, it's the voice of the Lord. He says, he that often has been reproved shall suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.

God is reproving and appealing to men and challenging men and saying, turn to me, turn around, come back to me. And men reject him, not realizing that at one point in a sudden way, God is going to destroy a person out of the face of this earth. Here is the destruction of the city of Babel and the whole political system and economical system that is going to be destroyed in one day. The Bible said to us in verse eight, come in one day death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire.

So we talk about the condemnation of Babylon in verses one to three. And then we talk about the call of God for His own people, the people of Israel, the believers during the tribulation, to come out from the city, and you notice that the rest of the nation are going to be fleeing soon into what is known as Petra, Bozrah, for the protection of the Lord there. But here He called them, my people, come out from among that city of Babylon. And so now notice that in the next verse 9 to verse 19, we have the lamentation over the fall of Babylon. What's now is going to happen is that people that have politically and economically have benefited from this system called Babel, Babylon, when this city will be destroyed, then they will begin to wail over that city.

And so notice that, who are going to mourn and wail over the city of Babylon destruction? Who are going to wail? There are three groups that we have here that are going to wail and they are going to be the one who are going to lament over that city destruction. The first one will be the kings of this earth. It says in verse 9 and 10, And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and live delicately with her, shall bewail her and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off, for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, here's the word city again, Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come.

See those kings of this universe, it says the kings of the earth. You see, while the city is located in what is known today Iraq, where Saddam Hussein years ago sought to rebuild that city and to establish that city, Babel, and to reign, if you will, over this world from Babel, that city gonna be destroyed, but the kings of the earth have benefited from her. And so you know what they're saying right now? They're standing afar, as it says here in verse 10, because of fear of her torment, and they say, alas, alas, that great city, Babel, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come.

You remember that we just read in verse 8, in one day, tormentation and death and mourning come. Now in verse 10, they are crying those things. In one hour is thy judgment come. You know why they are crying now? Because according to verse 9, they committed fornication, they lived delicately with that city, with that kingdoms, if you will. They've enjoyed fornication with this city, with this kingdom. They've enjoyed the pleasures of sin with that city, and now they are mourning, because in one hour the city had been destroyed. And so they stand afar off, and they say, alas, alas, that great city of Babylon, that mighty city, has been destroyed, because now there's no more benefits from that city. From that power. There is no more benefit from that system anymore. So they're crying that cry, alas, alas. So they lost by the destruction of that city, and because they committed fornication, and they lived in that lifestyle, they felt that loss, and they are crying and lamenting for that city.

But not only the kings of the earth, brothers and sisters, but also, look at this, in the next verses, verse 11 to the first part of verse 17, we have the merchants, the one who was the salesman, and the saleswomen, if you will, they're going from place to place, they're selling, and buying, and selling, and all of a sudden they don't have any gain anymore, because that city is being destroyed. That city that from it, the whole world had been controlled. So look what it says in verse 11. Here is their mourning, the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.

Now you notice that this is always like this in history, when you can have a good business, and your business is prosperous, and everything is fine, you set God aside, but when the business have been changing, and the merchandise haven't been purchased any more, your whole prosperity have changed, and all of a sudden you begin to weep and to mourn. That's what happened there. It's called here the merchants of the earth. You know the merchants of the earth, they go to one place, they buy it, they go to another place, they sell it, and they make business, they make living.

Well here they began to weep over her and no one buy their products anymore. That's what we see here in verse eleven. We now continue in verse twelve to fourteen, we can see what kind of merchandise they were buying and selling. Look at the wealth. They were dealing with things has to do with wealth. It says in verse twelve, the merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls and fine linen and pearl and silk and scarlets and fine wood, all vessels of ivory and precious wood and marble and brass and cinnamon and odors and ointments, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, beasts, sheep and horses and chariot and listen, they were even buying and selling slaves and the souls of men.

You see, they were dealing with all kind of things, and merchant, it has to do with a lot of wealth, a lot of pleasure, things such as gold, silver, precious stone, pearls, and fine linen. They were even dealing with the souls of men. They were selling and buying. In fact, it tells us that these ones are slaves.

You see what happened, brothers and sisters, not only that the kings of the earth were weeping over the destruction of Babel, also those merchants, the buyers, the sellers, the businessmen of the tribulation period. And again, I would like to say that there is always a connection in the world system between the religious and the economic. Often time without God, it is connected together. And so the destruction of religious Babylon was done by the kings of the earth themselves, who said, we will allow religiosity for a season, we will allow churchianity for a season, but in the middle of the tribulation, they destroy it, and the Antichrist situate himself and establish a new religion. You worship me.

I am the one that you will worship. I will be both in Jerusalem, an image of mine going to be situated, and I'm going to rule the world from the city of Babylon economically and politically. And so now the merchants of this earth began to wail because of the loss. Notice what it says in verse 15, the merchants of these things which they were made rich by her shall stand afar off before the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. Notice, by the way, that the kings of the earth now stand afar off.

The merchants of this earth now stand afar off. You see, before they were mingling with that city, they were going back and forth, they were buying, selling, they were connected with it, but now they are standing afar off because now the city is being judged, and ultimately the whole system, the whole universe is going to be judged, the Babylon of this universe is going to be judged by God. And now notice what it says in verse 16, they said, Alas, alas, the great City. Now again, brothers and sisters, you notice how many times the word city is mentioned in Revelation chapter 18, indicating, at least to me, that it is the reestablishing of the city of Babel in the Tribulation period. Out of Babel, there will be a control, political and religious control over this world.

So they're crying, alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. For in one hour, so great riches is come to naught. Just the same like the kings of the earth said, in one hour, thy judgment is come. The merchant says, in one hour, your great riches have come to naught. You know what that tells us?

That all the wealth of this world ultimately will be destroyed. You know, I've heard the story of a Jewish man who said that a Jewish man outside of the land of Israel asked one of the ministers of Israel who came to visit that country, and he said to him, tell me, how come God did not give the riches of the oil to the nation of Israel? And he gave it to the Arabic nations around the nation of Israel, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and on and on those nations around Israel are wealthy with oil.

He didn't give it to his people Israel. So that man said, you know, God gave our Arabs neighbors the wealth of oil, but he gave our people Israel the word of God. God's word and God's promises have been given to our Jewish people, and the word of God will remain. Heaven and earth will pass away, Yeshua the Messiah said, but my word will remain, the same will change not. But the wealth, whether it is oil, or whether it is silver and gold, or whether it is scarlet, ultimately, beloved brothers and sisters, it will be totally destroyed by God. As those merchants said, in one hour, those great riches has come to naught. But the word of God and the promises of God will remain throughout eternity.

And so even in the history of God's people, God may give to the people of God much wealth. Whether it is Israel the nation or believers in the church age, but the point is that the wealth are not to replace God and God's word. What God had given his people are to be used for the blessing of God's people and for the glory of the Lord, and yet not to set God aside. And that's the important. Now notice, we said that there were three groups.

They were lamenting over Babel, fall. It was the kings of the earth in verses 9 and 10. It was the merchants of this earth in verses 11 to 17, the first part. But look at the third group that is lamenting over the fall of Babel, and that was the shipmasters and the sailors. In other words, those are the ones that were moving products from one place to another. Those are the ones that were moving stuff from one area to another area through the sea. It says, And every shipmaster, and sailors, and as many as made as trade by the sea, stood afar off.

And notice that, when it's come to them in verse 17b to verse 19, they also stood afar off, and in verse 18 and 19, and they cried, when they saw the smoke of her burning. And they said, What city is like unto that great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and they cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by the reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate. Brothers and sisters, you notice that all these three groups, The kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, the sailors of the sea, all use the same expression, alas, alas.

All of them have cried, all of them stood afar off, beholding the destruction of the city, which will not be limited only to the city of Babylon, it's ultimately the whole economic system will be destroyed. The whole political rule gonna be destroyed by the coming of Yeshua, the Messiah at the second coming. That's why I said that the tribulation have actually ended at the end of chapter sixteen, and chapter seventeen and eighteen give us an additional details on how the destruction happened, and how the religious system have been destroyed, and how the political and economical system have been destroyed, and how the city of Babylon From which the rebellion had begun already in the earlier chapters of Genesis, the destruction of the same city Babylon at the last chapters of the book of the Revelation.

From Genesis to Revelation, that system ran through, rejecting God politically, rejecting God economically, and rejecting God religiously. Both Babel are going to be destroyed by the coming of Yeshua the Messiah ultimately. And so you can see that in verse 19, for in one hour she is made desolate. And so now, at the end of this chapter, Revelation chapter 18, we have in the last verses of this chapter, verses 20 to 24, that while there was lamentation on earth, there is rejoicing in heaven.

While they were weeping and crying here on earth because of what happened to this political system, economical system, and religious system, in heaven, there is rejoicing. You know why there is rejoicing in heaven? Not rejoicing to see the suffering of the human race. No, the rejoicing is because God have ultimately received His rightful place. God received His rights. God is the one who is in charge. God's will and God's ways are ultimately what will give blessing to mankind. And so look, we read in verse 20, rejoice over her, verse 20, thou heaven, where we talked about earth before, the kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, the sailors of the sea.

But now we are directed to heaven, and there is a call and say, Rejoice over her, thou heaven, rejoice over her, ye holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. You see, what we learn here from these verses, verse 20, is that this time in heaven there is rejoicing, and there is a call of rejoicing, heaven to rejoice because of this. By the way, there are three groups here in verse 20, where it says holy apostles, it should actually be saints and apostles.

Saints and apostles and prophets, there are three groups. The saints are all those people who are really redeemed companies that are already in heaven. The apostles, that has to do with the messengers that were sent in order to present God's word to this world. The prophets can take us back to all those who spoke forth the word of God, and they presented the message of God. They were rejected, they were despised, and yet they presented the word of God. And so you can see, brothers and sisters, that in verse 20, there is a call to rejoice in heaven. Rejoice, O thou heaven. And ye saints and apostles, And prophets, for God has avenged you on her. You see the word avenge? You know, we are never called in the Bible to have a personal avenge against men. The Bible never teach us. Remember what God said to us, and the Apostle Paul said also in the book of Romans, God said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

In other words, we are never called to avenge, to wish evil upon someone. But God's will will ultimately prevail. And God will avenge. Anything that had been done to men, God will ultimately deal with it. And so here, in verse 20, those three groups that are rejoicing in heaven, the saints, the prophets, the apostles, they rejoice over that because God avenged them. Against the city, the political system, and so on, that God have dealt with. Now in verse 21, look at the angel who describes the end of Babel, the end of Babylon.

He says, And the mighty angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and he 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. You know, I think I should read Jeremiah 51 verse 63, where we read these, And it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it.

And cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise any more. The evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary, thus far are the words of Jeremiah, Yirmeyahu. You see, Yirmeyahu was speaking, and he was actually saying, you know, listen, that when he finish the ending of the reading of this book, that he will take, will bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. Well, where is the Euphrates River? It's in Babylon area.

It is right there. The Babylonians, the city of Babel was situated on the two side of the Euphrates River. And so what we see here that what Jeremiah wrote in chapter 51 verse 63 and 64 is repeated here at the end of chapter 18 of Revelation, where we find out in those verse 21 that you take great millstone, be cast into the sea, saying thus, with violence shall this great city be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. In other words, there is a total consuming of the city of Babel at the end of the Tribulation period. And the conclusion, brothers and sisters, of chapter 18 is with the word no more mentioned at least five or six times in the last verses of Revelation chapter 18.

What there will be no more in the city of Babylon. Look at this. Verse 22 and 23, there will be no more activities of joy and celebration in that city. Look, it says in verse 22, And the voice of harpists and musicians and of pipers and trumpets shall be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman and whatsoever craft he be shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. Verse 23, And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.

And the merchants were the great men of the earth. For by thy sorceries were all the nations deceived. You see, there's five or six times the word no more at all will be found in the city of Babylon. No more craftsmen, no more sound, no more anything that has to do with the celebration, like it says in no more light, no more, as it says, no more the voice of bridegroom and the bride anymore in the city of Babylon.

You know why all this is because the city of Babylon and the world political and economical system have rejected what God had provided for them, and God says, here it is the response to that. There will be judgment, no more bride and bridegroom, no more sounds of joy, no more merchants and merchandise. There will be totally judgment that gonna fall upon the city of Babylon. And he gives us at the end here the twofold reason why, number one, for by thy sorceries were all the nations deceived. You know, sorcery has to do with demonic and satanic religious activities.

Babylon have a politically and religiously have been deceiving the world, the whole nations, with sorceries, as it says here. But the second reason is verse 24, and that's the end of this chapter. The second reason, because in here was found the blood of the prophets and the saints. And of all that was slain upon the earth. You see, Babylon, whether it is the false church, the religious church, was the one that have killed the true saints of God during the Tribulation. And later on, the blood of the prophets and the saints, the Antichrist will persecute the people of Israel, and many who have already accepted the Messiah during the Tribulation, they will be persecuted by him, and ultimately many saints will die. It's called here the blood of the prophets and of the saints, they were already believers.

That's not the rest of Israel who are going to flee into Petra, Bozrah, to be preserved there for three and a half years. Those are saints. Those are prophets that have been killed with the hands of this system, Babel, Babylon. The loss of life, the persecution of the people of God during the tribulation. And so we have here in verse 24 the reason also of the ultimate and final judgment of God upon the city of Babylon. Well, I'm going to close again with just one remark. You remember we read Psalm 137 in our last ministry meeting? We notice at the end of the Psalm that people of Israel were saying these words about Babel. Psalm 137, verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 137, O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, happy shall be he that reward thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be that takest and dashest thy little ones against the stone.

That's how we ended up with our last ministry meeting of chapter 17. And I would like to mention these verses again because what happened here in Psalm 137 that the mind of the believers must be aligned with the mind of God. That nobody is happy to see ones die, but we are happy to see God's ways prevailing. God's purposes coming to pass. And that's what we see here in Psalm 137 verses 8 and 9, where the Jewish people of the past and those in the future will have to align their mind and thoughts with the will of God, where they will agree that God judgment upon men is right and that God has to have his purposes Come to pass here in this world, and that's how Babylon is ultimately will be destroyed. Well, praise God that His will will ultimately is going to come to pass. Can you say amen for that? Amen. Praise the Lord.