END OF TIME PROPHECIES 209

Praise for the God of unity                   Revelation 19v6-7.

"And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.  Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."

John now hears a melody of harmonious voices.   The repetition of the word "as" suggests that he is in a trance, but the details are real.   What he hears are the voices of a great throng similar to many waters and mighty thunderings united in praise to God.   Anyone who has heard the roar of a football crowd of about 100,000 people will understand a tiny fraction of what is here.   The heavenly chorus has become a choir of immense proportions with the theme on their lips the prospect of the marriage of the Lamb and his bride.   This represents the greatest union that has ever taken place and gives evidence of the sovereign power of God who has brought sinners, destined for eternal loss, into close union with the Lamb of God.   The occasion is the greatest reason for rejoicing ever, that human beings can be brought into closest union with one who is not only God, but who is also man, and who has demonstrated His love to bring them there.   People talk of the wedding of the year, here is the wedding of all time.   The betrothed wife of the Lamb separated by many years is about to enter into eternal union with the Lamb of God who died for her.   This is the greatest love story ever told and it is the culmination of the real story of the bible which is basically a love story from beginning to end.  

• Genesis 1v26-27     The love story of Adam & Eve, together destined for world dominion, but fulfilled only in Christ and His church.
• Genesis 24               The love story of Isaac & Rebecca, when the servant of Abraham went to a far country to find a bride for Isaac.
• Genesis 29               The love story of Jacob & Rachel, possibly the greatest love story in the bible apart from Christ and the church.   Jacob served no less than fourteen years of hard work to win Rachel as his bride.
• Ruth                          The love story of Boaz & Ruth; the elevation of a Gentile woman, debarred from Israel by historical enmity, becomes the wife of the great man.
• Song of Solomon      The love story of king Solomon & the queen of Sheba; although Solomon portrays this as love between a Shulamite woman and a shepherd boy, in fact he is probably speaking of the Ethiopian queen who came from afar to witness his glory. 
• Jeremiah 31 & book of Hosea with Malachi chapter 1   the love of Jehovah for the nation of Israel; an everlasting love; an undying love; a love even in the context of unfaithfulness.  
• Ephesians 5          The love of Christ for the church; which is said to be the pattern for all marriages  "Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.......that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Here in revelation chapter 19 we have the consummation of the bible story.   The Lamb of Calvary now exalted in heaven.   The church is called his wife, taking forward the imagery of the state of betrothal in Jewish culture, that such betrothal was binding unless there was just cause during the betrothal period for them to be separated.   The day of the marriage is come! The eternal blissful union is about to be sealed!   Praise for the God of unity!  God and man forever together in heavenly bliss!

Amazon bookshelf    George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 208

Praise to the God of sovereignty                  Revelation 19v4-5.

"And the four and twenty elders, and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying "Amen: Alleluia". And a voice came out of the throne saying "Praise our God all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him both small and great".

The key to the understanding of this third song of praise, is the two-fold reference to the throne.   We have already seen that before God unfolds the judgments on earth and the blessings in heaven we have brought before us in chapters 4&5 the repeated reference to the throne.   No less than fourteen times in these chapters our eyes are  turned to the throne, and here again in verses 4&5 our attention is drawn to the throne.    The abiding principle of the throne is the sovereignty of God who controls all.  

Two groups we have met before, the twenty four elders and the four living creatures shout praise to the God who sits on the throne.   Then in verse 5 an unidentified voice from the throne calls for all to praise Him.   The noise in heaven gets louder as different groups in the vast throng in heaven open their voices, as one, to praise the living God.   It is not now so much about what he has done, it is more about the glory of His person.   The worship is directed alone to God on the throne.   The twin groups mentioned before are seen together in Revelation 5v6, 5v8,5v14, 14v3, 19v4.  The significance of these two groups together is that they represent:

•   The four living creatures..........the highest order of angels, the cherubim.
•   The twenty four elders...........the highest order of human beings in heaven, the church.

There are other angels in heaven but these four represent the closest to God; the same with the elders. Together, angel voices of the highest order, with the nearest group of human beings to God, add their voices to the great multitude in heaven.   They worship the sovereign God, who rules supremely, and perfectly over all, and without whom nothing could exist.   From that throne He controls the universe and all in it, whether physical or moral or spiritual.   He restrains and constrains as He will.   He is sat on the throne, (could be render set, because it is a permanent state), and He will never relinquish sovereignty to anyone.  

There is a beautiful and breathtaking statement at the end of verse 4.   The twin groups utter the word "AMEN: ALLELUIA."   Normally we would think of this in the reverse order; we would say "Praise the Lord" and then we would say "so let it be," (Alleluia; Amen) thinking of it as a future event.   The beauty which is here is that these highest order of beings put it in the opposite order.   In effect they are saying not "so let it be" but "it is so" followed by "praise the Lord."   What was seen in the past as a distant hope is now a wondrous present reality as heaven rejoices for the greatness of all that God is.  

Added to this is the voice from the throne.   This unidentified voice occurs many times in the book of the Revelation and usually refers to one or other of the persons of the Godhead.   Since it is God the Father who is being worshipped here, and we have heard from the highest order of angels and human beings in heaven, this voice must be either the Spirit of God or the Lamb of God.   This voice comes directly from the throne, so Deity is speaking and the call is this  "Praise ye our God all ye His servants, and all ye that fear Him both small and great."     Every inhabitant of heaven at this time is called to worship God in an I mperative tone, because so great is the God of heaven that every voice must proclaim His greatness.   Never has there been such a gathering of worship like this, and it will be repeated time and again throughout all the ages of eternity.  PRAISE BE TO GOD! 

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 207

Praise to the God of eternity                   Revelation 19v3.

"And again they said "Alleluia." And her smoke rose up for ever and ever".

Now a fresh cause for praise, the realisation that this is now a permanent state, and will last as long as God exists, and that is forever. The crushing of Babylon signals the end of sin and rebellion; sure there will be further uprisings from the kingdom of the beast(ch. 19), and from the millennium rebels(ch 20),but the end is nigh. The all-consuming destruction is symbolised in the phrase "her smoke rose up for ever and ever". This is similar to the comment on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19v28 "And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and behold, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace". This is confirmed in chapter 18 verses9-10 and 18 by the phrase "the smoke of her burning".

Babylon, the seventh great world empire, "utterly destroyed", burnt to cinders, never to rise again, her judgment sealed forever. Note the use of the past tense to describe the future, such is the certainty of her eternal destruction. Note also that the words "ever" are in the plural; literally "for the ages of the ages", in other words, never ending. This brings us to the truth of the eternal nature of God.

Solomon penned these words in Ecclesiastes 3v14-15, and we should not forget them "I know that whatsoever God doeth IT SHALL BE FOREVER: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God doeth it that men should fear before Him. That which has been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past"

The eternal nature of God means those who are blessed, are blessed forever; those who are cursed, are cursed forever!Throughout the never- ending ages of eternity all living creatures will either be blessed of God or cursed by Him and the decision, determined in this life, is irreversible. The issue is eternal bliss or eternal torment. Consider the following scriptures, solemn, as they are;

• Daniel 12v2 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt".
• Matthew 25v46 "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal".
• 2 Thessalonians 1v9 "...who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power".
• Revelation 14v11 "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, which worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name".
• Revelation 20v10 "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever".

These, together with chapter19v3, should persuade us that Divine retribution against sin is eternal, and all outside of Christ will suffer it.  Jesus, who came from the glory to tell us, spoke of hell and   heaven; this He did to warn people of God's eternal opposition to sin and to flee from the wrath to come. As much as many, including so-called bible teachers, refuse this teaching, it is indeed an indisputable truth, the contradiction of which will not alter the facts. The Word of God clearly teaches eternal damnation and eternal blessing. The following scriptures are helpful in presenting the truth of eternal glory; Galatians 1v5; Philippians 4v20; 1Timothy 1v17; Hebrews 1v8; 13v21; 1Peter4v11; 5v11; Revelation 1v6; 4v10; 5v13; 5v14; 7v12; 10v6; 11v15; 15v7; 22v5.

God's judgment is eternal for good or bad.  

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 206

Praise to the God of equity                    Revelation 19v1-2.

"After these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying "Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand."

What we have here is an almost unimaginable scene, a great multitude in heaven with one voice praising God.  

• Verse 1     praising God for who he is.
• Verse 2     praising God for what He has done.

Firstly we focus on the great multitude on heaven.   This was predicted of old.   To Abraham (who is said to be the father of all that believe), God said, "look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be."   Genesis 15v5.

In Psalm 22v25, the chapter predicting the crucifixion of Christ, it says  "my praise shall be of thee in the great congregation."     Similarly in Psalm 25v18 it is written " I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people."    Again in Psalm 149v1 it says  "praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of saints."    This will be a vast assembly of redeemed people in heaven.   A similar thing is said in Revelation 7v9  "after this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb..........."   Who comprises such a vast assembly of human beings in heaven?   Firstly there will be old testament saints, whose spirits are even now in heaven( Hebrews 12v23), and whose bodies will be resurrected toward the end of the "time of trouble"( Daniel 12v1-2). Then there are the saints of the Church age.    There will also be countless individuals who are saved during the tribulation period as indicated in Revelation 7v9-17.   A New Yorker by the name of Fanny Crosby was inspired by this to write  "What a gathering of the ransomed that will be."   The saints of all ages in heaven with one voice praising God!   We can only imagine that all voices will then be perfect and this will be the largest choir ever assembled anywhere in the universe.

• This song of praise is first to God for who He is.   To understand the four words used to describe God we could insert the word "ascribed". In other words "salvation ascribed to God; glory ascribed to God; honour ascribed to God; and power ascribed to God."   Not only so, but the definite article is before each of these words suggesting that the only true salvation and glory and honour and power belong to God. "To the Lord our God the (only) salvation, and glory, and honour, and power.   In a world which has corrupted salvation and honour and glory and power, the whole of heaven with one voice ascribes to God these four qualities as being His and His alone.   God is the only Saviour of men; God is the supreme glorious person; to God belongs everlasting praise and honour (this in contrast to the dishonour the world gave Him); and only God has the power to see His purposes through to the end.   All other purposes will fail, heaven rejoices in the only true God.  
• Praise for what He has done.     His judgments are said to be "true and righteous;" true, as to their design; righteous as to their execution.   This phrase declares the perfections of God and all in heaven know it and proclaim it.   Not only has He exposed the great whore, but He has judged her.   Having weighed the evidence before His infallible eyes He has brought to an end the corruption and deception and violence of the world's anti-God system. Unlike Babylon who deceive, He is true. Unlike Babylon who violently kill, He saves by righteousness in a way which is consistent with His character.  He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.   Down through the centuries God has asked His people to cast aside vengeance and leave it to Him,   "vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay."   Only a perfect being like God can judge the hearts of all people.   The principal however is clear that those whose sins were not covered by the blood of  Christ will pay for their sins, every on of them, in the day of judgment.    There could not be a greater contrast than here, a great multitude praising God for salvation, and another multitude suffering God's judgement. In the end Divine equity will be exercised universally.

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 205

             HALLELUJAH          Revelation 19v1-10.

"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying "Alleluia........."

Four times in scripture this word Alleluia appears, and all in these verses. The old testament equivalent occurs about 80 times and mostly in the Psalms.   Indeed the Psalm 117, which in terms of chapters is at the very centre of the bible begins and ends with "hallelujah"....literally "praise ye the Lord". This is the central message of the bible, and it is fitting that the return of Christ to earth is prefaced by a fourfold declaration that proclaims glory to God.
The word is in two parts; hallel, the Hebrew word for "praise", and "Jah", which is the shortened form of Jehovah.   Together they say "Praise the Lord."   The construction of the words with the "u" joining them makes it imperative. It should not be considered merely as the right thing to do, rather it is something which must be done, and, indeed will be done in every sphere, and by every living creature.   Further, it is not so much something we say ourselves, it is to proclaim the worth of God to all, almost compelling them to do the same.
In our modern world it has come to mean "hooray", but that demeans it, because the praise is directed to God, and not to any mortal.

The Hallel group of Psalms run from 104-150 and their message is that God will be praised in His universe.   The last verse in the Psalms reads like this "let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord!"; the last phrase is the essence of "Hallelujah."   Psalms 146-150 begin and end with Hallelujah.   This is the goal to which we are all heading..... universal praise of God with no dissenting voice!   When describing God's wonderful salvation in Ephesians chapter 1, three times over Paul declares "To the praise of His glory"  v6 v12 v14.   In that great exposition of the gospel, the letter to Romans, Paul sprinkles the doctrine with a number of doxologies (expressions of praise to God), chapter 1v25, chapter 9v5, chapter 11v36, chapter 16v27.   This is the highest, the noblest, perspective of the gospel, that which issues in the glory of God.   There is a phenomenal statement in Psalm 76v10  "surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."  Nothing and no one will prevent the glorious objective of the universe from fulfilment.   God will be glorified and we shall see that coming out vividly in this section of God's word.  

There are four declarations of  "alleluia":

• Praise to the God of equity..... verses 1-2.
• Praise to the God of eternity.....  verse 3.
• Praise to the God of sovereignty.....  verse 4-5.
• Praise to the God of unity.....  verses 6-7.

This praise comes from many different groups; these include old testament saints, saints from the church age, saints from the period of tribulation, the cherubim before His throne, the seraphim above His throne, the vast hosts of angelic beings in heaven.   The scene is awesome and will be the fulfillment of Psalm 22v25  "my praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation."  

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 204

Reasons for the righteous judgment of God.               Revelation 18v23b-24

"...for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all the nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all the slain of the earth".

We have, before, referred to the certainty of Divine judgment, and the principles thereof. Romans chapter 2 discusses in detail the judgment of God on all people, regardless of their background, thus paving the way for the necessity of the Divine intervention in the latter half of chapter 3. We only truly understand God's provision of grace when we accept the fact of His judgment on us all. The inevitability of the righteous judgment of God can be stated as follows:

• The INFINITE nature of the perfection of God.
• The INCURABLE nature of the imperfection of man.

Today, we focus on the second of these, as illustrated in the exposure of the sins of Babylon. Jude records in v7 of his letter that the complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a beacon of warning to the world that God will not forever allow man to tarnish His earth, "set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire". God has intervened in the past and He will do so again, and the reasons are plain for all to see; we have breathed His air, ate His food, used our GOD GIVEN talents to glorify ourselves, and have ignored Him, and denied Him, and abused Him, and dishonoured Him, and defied Him with impunity. On top of all that we have rejected His Son, we have refused Divine mercy, there is nothing left but Divine judgment. In His judgment upon human beings God does two things. He warns His people of the event, and He gives evidence of the just cause. In the case of Babylon He has warned the entire world thousands of years in advance.

God's righteous judgment on Babylon is stated for three reasons;

• The sin of pride.   "thy merchants were the great men of the earth"..........like their founder, Nimrod(Genesis 10v9) of whom it was said "even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord" these men had exalted themselves above any station in life allocated to them. In contrast to Jesus Christ who humbled Himself, and who taught His followers to be "meek and lowly in heart", these men took the glory to themselves. Men pride themselves in their achievements, and efforts, and inventions, ignoring the fact that every thing they have comes from God including the wit to do what they do, and the gracious Divine providence that bestowed on them the privileges they enjoy. This was the very sin of Sodom that brought their downfall, "Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her,..........and they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good"  Ezekiel 16v49-50. This is the same sin that brought down Satan(Isaiah 14v11-18), also King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26v16), and King Nebuchadnezzar( Daniel 4v28-32), and countless others , and all of us who lift up our hearts in pride and self- importance. "God resisteth the proud, but gives grace to the humble". James 4v6. Pride is a dangerous thing, it is a huge sin in the eyes of God, it leads to all kinds of folly, it is a distortion of reality, because in relation to God we are all very small indeed.  Here are the wise words of Solomon "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs 16v18.
• The sin of deception.   "for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived"........It is a strange thing that largely goes unnoticed, but there is no law in existence which outlaws deception. Of course if it leads to defrauding anyone, there are laws against that, but not for deception, yet in the sight of God it is a great sin, and the world is full of it. Sin entered the world through deception, business thrives on it, it is considered a skill, but it is a lie because it promises something which will never be fulfilled. Babylon in the end times ply deception to enrich themselves; the word used is interesting "sorceries" is pharmakeia, from which we get our word pharmacy, a store for drugs. Now it may be that Babylon will control the world drug trade, whether legitimate or otherwise, and by this means make people depend on them for supply; another rendering is the use of magic, authenticating their system using the magic arts. Overall, however the purpose is to deceive, and it is possible these and other things will be used to dull people's senses, taking them away from God. Doctrines of demons would have the same effect, as Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4v14 "........carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive".   Whether by doctrine, or drugs, or illusory magic, the intention is to rob people of their God-given dignity.   The final solemn word on the subject in Holy writ is this "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire......." Revelation 20v10.
• The sin of violence.   "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth".   Whom they were unable to deceive they slew. Unlawful killing is a heinous crime in the eyes of God. Man was made in the image of God, and to intentionally remove a life from earth before it's due time is to play God and to tarnish His image. The words of Genesis 4v10 are very strong "   the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.....". God took a dim view of this first murder, and takes the same view of every subsequent murder. Here He charges Babylon with the unlawful killing of the prophets and the saints and all the slain of the earth!   Jesus does the same in Matthew 23v35 "that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zecharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar..........".   Note the law of association inferred here; not only the violent deeds will be punished, but association with a system practicing them is enough to condemn us as guilty of the sins of the entire history!! 
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END OF TIME PROPHECIES 203

The acclaim of heaven                         Revelation 18v20-24.

"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath 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 the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsmen, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found anymore in thee; and a sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.   And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth."

The key to these verses is the repeated phrase (6 times over) "no more at all."   The time has come for God to bring to an end the rebellion of Babylon and all associated with her.   God will finish with sin in His universe and the downfall of Babylon is just the beginning.    Such will be the devastation that this arch enemy of God and His people will be crushed never to rise again.   Again the Spirit of God uses symbolic language to illustrate the extent of the crushing of Babylon, as the angel takes up a millstone and casts it into the sea with the declaration that in the same way Babylon will be destroyed.   Then we have the six fold proclamation "no more."

All of heaven is commanded to rejoice; all angels, all saints, all prophets and apostles, because what has been the source of their persecution and martyrdom, through the years, has now been brought to an end.   Eleven of the twelve apostles were martyred, the prophets from Abel to Zechariah and finally John the Baptist.   Stephen and James in the book of the Acts and countless martyrs down through the centuries of the present age, not to mention the countless millions who will be slain during the period of the tribulation it is all brought to a sudden end and heaven must rejoice.

The fall of Babylon signals joyous scenes in heaven and prepares us for what is the real purpose of the book, the return to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom.   This crushing of the anti-God world system signals the end of the kingdom of the beast and the false prophet and the end of Satan and his hosts and the banishment of the wicked dead from the presence of God forever.    The cry of the angel, as he outlines the fall of Babylon and what it means, prepares the reader for what will be experienced in a Christless eternity.

• No more music, harpers, musicians, pipers, trumpeters; all withdrawn from their existence.
• No more craftsmen of any sort, nothing to occupy the time or the talent for that talent was given of God, whom they did not acknowledge and now that talent is withdrawn.
• No more the sound of the grinding millstone which brought food and sustenance to the world. No more meal times no more respite, everything of good withdrawn.
• No more light of the candle; all illumination removed from the existence.   They rejected light, they will live forever in the blackness of darkness. 
• No more the voices of the bridegroom and the bride; no more joyous occasions, nothing of any hope for the future.

The phrase "no more at all in thee" refer to occupations which are normal everyday things.   All these were legitimate things done but in independence of God.   Their rejection of God means that God will reject them and will remove from them everything, even of a legitimate nature.   There can be nothing more solemn than what is recorded here.   What their soul sought after will be denied them because they denied the living God. They will also be denied normal everyday pursuits.   We will next see the three-fold reason for such a judgment, but in the meantime it behoves everyone reading this to wake up and render to God His dues before it is forever too late.

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 202

The anguish of the merchants of the earth          Revelation 18v11-19.

"And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore............Alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!  For in one hour is she made desolate." 

Luxurious living       

As every business man is aware, success in trade is an all consuming occupation and the search for greater riches becomes rampant.   Great Babylon will provide a route to great riches for many people; however as we know "the love of money is the root of all evil".   To understand the success of this trade we tabulate below the goods and services which have made the merchants rich.   The description is of fabulous wealth for some by means of inflated costs.   The word "merchants" is used in Ezekiel 28v16 of Satan who is the origin of all materialism.   The age old enemy of Israel, the Cannanites, were merchant traders as per the meaning of their name.   In verses 11-13 we have a picture of future Babylon trading in luxury goods and enriching all who will do business with her.   This world trade comes under a number of headings.

• Precious metals and jewellery.        Gold, silver, precious stones, pearls.
• Bespoke tailoring.                            Fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet.
• Luxury furnishings.                        Thyine (expensive scented cedar wood), ivory, precious wood, brass, iron, and marble.
• Perfumes and spices.                      Cinnamon, incense, ointments, frankincense
• Food.                                               Wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep.
• Transportation.                               Horses and chariots.
• Human slavery.                               Controlling the bodies and souls of men..

All of the above represent only what rich people could afford and of course the future equivalent will be on a greater scale.

Lifestyle

The Holy Spirit now focuses on their lifestyle "the fruits that their souls lusted after........ the dainty things..........the goodly things," all these have now gone and will never return. They lived for material gain and sensual pleasure.   The merchants of these things are in anguish of soul because all they have worked for is gone. They have lost everything for that is what they lived for.   They stand afar off for the fear of her torment; fear and despair replace greed and desire, as seen from  the comment in verse 17  "in one hour so great riches is come to nought." It does not seem to occur to them that all the things listed above have come from the hand of God and were to be shared out equally amongst all his creatures.   The merchants saw the riches, they failed to see the God whose hand supplied them.  Materialism became their god and the true God was cast aside.

Lament

Involved in all this were all the merchants, and ships, and companies, and sailors, the sea traders, who brought exotic goods from afar, and like the merchants they wailed as they watched the end of their trade.   The lesson in this sad story, for all of us, is that material riches are not the true riches; all materials come from the hand of God and were intended for the benefit of all, not for the paradise of a few.   The world which leaves out God (humanism) and follows after riches (materialism) will come to an end.   The world at large today has forgotten that every breath we take is a gift from God, that all the food we eat would not be there but for the grace of God, the same for the clothing we wear, the same for the skills that make products for our use, the same for the genius given to mankind to harness the forces of nature for his benefit.   John the Baptist understood this when he said in John 3v27  "a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."   When man leaves God out of their lives, God can and will remove His material blessings.   Their thinking was exposed by their statement in verse 19 "what city is like unto this great city?"   To the God of heaven a city is a very little thing; He the One to whom the nations are as a drop of a bucket in His sight!   Their eyes should have been on One so great, and not on the tiny things with which they had become so occupied.

"IN ONE HOUR SO GREAT RICHES IS COME TO NOUGHT!"

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 201

The amazement of the kings of the earth                          Revelation 18v8-10.

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.   And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail, and lament for her, when the 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."

• The swiftness and severity of the judgment.   We can only imagine the description that is here.   In modern terms it could be a nuclear attack, or an asteroid from outer space, or something else.... we just don't know.   What we do know is that it will come very, very swiftly and unexpectedly.     Verse 8  "Her plagues shall come in one day."   Verse 10  "In one hour is thy judgment come."   Verse 17  "In one hour so great riches is come to naught."  verse 19  "In one hour is she made desolate.   What has taken years, to build this greatest city of all time which rules the world and controls vast riches, suddenly comes to nothing.   This was predicted beforehand; Isaiah 14v4  "How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased.   The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked;" Isaiah 14v2  "For I will rise up against them saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name and the remnant;" Isaiah 47v11   "...........and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly which thou shalt not know."   We now think of the severity of the judgment  "She shall be utterly burned with fire."   Anyone reading this should tremble in the knowledge that God can in a short space of time totally annihilate a city of this world.   Other scriptures give account of this but by far the most comprehensive statement is in Jeremiah 50v35-38 where it says a sword will come upon the Chaldeans,  upon the inhabitants of Babylon, upon her princes, upon her wise men, upon her liars, upon her mighty men, upon her horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her.......... a sword is upon her treasures, and a drought is upon her waters for they shall be dried up.   The same chapter in verse 46  comments  "at the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.   This will be the greatest calamity ever witnessed because it will be seen by the whole world. 
• The strength of the Lord in battle.     "Strong is the Lord God who judges her."   Here we see the might of God against the might of earth.   Babylon which symbolises the greatness and splendour and power of earth is totally broken in one day.   There is a common saying  "Rome wasn't built in a day."   this is true, but Babylon will be destroyed in a day.   Jeremiah 50v23-24 sums it up   "how is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!".......   because thou hast striven against the Lord."   In Jeremiah 51v15-18, in the midst of the account of Babylon's destruction attention is drawn to the power and might of the Lord. (Readers should pay attention to these verses).
• The sins of the kings of the earth.    No-one is too high ranking, or too great to avoid the judgment of God.   The sins of these kings and these are far greater in number than the ten horns, they are the kings of all the earth.   What they did was commit fornication with the woman and lived luxuriously with her.   They defiled their souls by uniting to a corrupt system for the sake of material gain.   In this time period the twin evils of materialism and humanism will hold sway.   It is always easier to go with the flow than to "swim against the tide."   The kings of the earth now reap the fruit of their life choices as they see the source of their power and riches  come to nothing.    
• The shock felt in the world corridors of power.     They bewail and lament her fall.   Bewail means to cry vocally and loudly; to lament is to grieve over a period of time.   Their whole world has collapsed.   They have just witnessed the collapse of everything that they held dear, they are now proving the futility of power without God and the deceitfulness of riches.   They stand afar in fear of her torment, lest the same destruction comes upon them.   The fear of God takes hold, but it is all too late; they sold their souls to the devil for a morsel of bread.   The folly of their thinking is exposed in the final statement  "Alas, alas that mighty Babylon that great city."   They will find, as everyone will find, there is only one who is mighty, and there is only one who is great.  

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 200

The appeal for the separation of God's people             Revelation 18v4-7.

Immediately prior to the judgment on Babylon the call goes out  "come out of her my people" and the two-fold reason is given  "that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues."

• The One who makes the appeal.     It is noted here that this is  "another voice from heaven;" again we have the unidentified voice which appears fourteen times in the Revelation.   Sometimes the voices are those of angels, but the unidentified voice, it seems, is the voice of God Himself.   The references are chapter 1v10; 1v12; 4v1; 6v6; 9v13; 10v4;10v8; 14v2; 14v13; 16v1; 16v17; 18v4; 19v5; 21v3.   The voice of God calls His people to separate themselves from the world in a moral and spiritual sense throughout history, but in this case it is also to separate physically from the city which is about to be destroyed.
• The terms of the appeal.      "Come out of her My people;" it is amazing, considering the character of this city that some of the Lord's people are resident within its borders.   Babylon has always been opposed to God and the call is always for separation.   A number of scriptures through the years bear this out.   Jeremiah 50v8  "remove out of the midst of Babylon."   Jeremiah 51v6  "flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every man his soul."   There is a link between Babylon & Sodom & Gomorrah in the context of divine judgment.   In Isaiah 13v19  "Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom & Gomorrah."   The same call is found there and is recorded in Genesis chapter 19: verse 12 says  "And the men (the angels) said unto Lot, hast thou here any besides?   son-in-law, and thy sons and thy daughters and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring out of this place: for we will destroy this place for the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to destroy it."   Again in verse 22 it says "haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou become thither."   The Lord will not destroy any city until His people are removed.   In a spiritual sense in 2nd Corinthians 16v17 we are asked to separate ourselves from the world  "come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing."
• The basis of the appeal.     This is threefold; in short, the abiding principles of remembrance, reward, and retribution.     These are an unalterable principles inscribed on the pages of holy scripture, which govern this world of ours.  

1.  Remembrance.   "For God hath remembered her iniquities."   We may forget, God does not.  Every action for good or evil is recorded.   Eccleseastes 3v15 says  "that which hath been is now and that which is to be hath already been  and God requireth that which is past."   In Luke 8v17 Jesus said  "for nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid that shall not be known."   At the judgment of the last day it says in Revelation 20v12  "and the books were opened...... and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."   God remembers everything and there are no exceptions.  
2. Reward.     The great principle of reward in scripture is that everyone will receive for good or evil.   Paul develops the principle in Romans 2v6-8 and begins  "who will render to every man according to his deeds........."   Ecclesiastis 12v14 says "for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil".   What we do in this life has eternal consequences and the best way forward is to live in the fear of God.  
3. Retribution.     The idea of the word "double" in connection with judgment is not that you receive double for what you have done but that you receive exactly what you have given out.   It expresses the thought my grandmother used to say  "what goes around comes around" and that is a sure and solemn biblical truth.   In Galatians 6v7 (the law of sowing and reaping) it says whatsoever a man soweth THAT shall he also reap.   Only in Christ do men escape the penal sentence of the law of God.  For example Jesus warned people against judging others by saying in Matthew 7v2  "with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

Of Babylon it says  "she glorified herself," she lived without God;  "she lived luxuriously" this she did by robbing others; she showed her arrogance by boasting that she would never fall and she would never see sorrow.   How wrong she is! She will see both.

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly

END OF TIME PROPHECIES 199

                                                          Revelation 18 v1-3

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.   And he cried mightily with a loud voice saying  "Babylon the great is fallen is fallen , and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.   For all nations have drunk of the wine 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."     

We wish to study this astonishing chapter, which records the fall of Babylon in all its aspects, in the following way: it is only as we look at the passage step by step, that we understand the enormity of what is here.

• Chapter 18v1-3      -     the announcement by the angel.
• Chapter 18v4-7      -     the appeal for the separation of God's people.
• Chapter 18v8-10    -     the amazement of the kings of the earth. 
• Chapter 18v11-19     -  the anguish of the merchants of the earth.
• Chapter 18v20-24     -  the acclaim of heaven at the destruction of Babylon.

The announcement of the angel.

Another angel appears on the scene.   The Greek word "allos" suggests this is a heavenly angel but distinct from the one in chapter 17v1.   This has given scholars a problem to understand why two angels would be used to declare the fall of Babylon.   We cannot be dogmatic but the clue may lie in the thrice repeated phrase  "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen."   It seems clear that chapter 17 is dealing with Babylon as a worldwide religion  (an amalgamation of many religions).   There the emphasis is on  "the inhabitants of the earth."   In chapter 18 however the emphasis is on the kings of the earth, and the merchants of the earth thus suggesting we are dealing with here the political/commercial aspect of Babylon in a one- world global enterprise.   It seems to me on balance however that both branches  grow together and both branches fall together.   Four things are said about the angel that are very informative.

1. He came down from heaven.   This angel has come as an emissary of the throne of heaven.  in the previous chapter it would seem that the ten horns destroyed the woman.   However here it is made clear that this was heaven's action using the agency of men.
2. Having great power (authority).   This lone angel is confronting the forces of evil singlehandedly and would require great authority to do so.   The bible is full of examples where even demons and Satan himself must bow to the authority of God.   The voice of this angel as was the voice of God. 
3. The earth was lightened with his glory.    None of us living in this world have any conception of what an angel looks like.   If we were to see one now we would tremble at the awesome presence of such a being.   The phrase used is that he illuminated the entire earth with his presence.   On earth we are the highest form of creation but in heaven there are beings greater and mightier and more glorious than we.  
4. He cried mightily with a strong voice.   Babylon the great is fallen is fallen.   Not only was his physical presence awesome but his mighty voice ensured that the whole earth knew of the news according to heaven. God often uses the past tense to proclaim the certainty of any future event; here He uses the aorist point tense,( which is an action completed in the past); it just means that in the mind of God the fall of Babylon was inevitable. 

The message is that Babylon has fallen never to rise again and fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 13v19-22.   She will be inhabited only by demons; she will become the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.  (Birds are used in Matthew 13 to describe demons). She will remain a place haunted by the foulest of ghosts, not fit for human habitation.  God never judges without explaining the reason and in verse 3 the angel gives the reason, this evil woman, (religious/political system of power) has corrupted the whole earth, every nation, every king, and every merchant.   For the sake of financial gain they have sold their souls to the devil. 

Amazon bookshelf   George Neilly