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
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