Sound The Trumpet : Revelation 18:21

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“Revelation 18:21”
by Art Sadlier
October 24th, 2010

"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," Verse 21.

As we come to verse 21, we have the method of the destruction of Babylon.

Again I emphasize that the Babylon referred to in our text is not the city that long ago sank into the Euphrates River. This Babylon is a religious system that came into being in the days of Nimrod. In Genesis 10, we find this man named Nimrod; he was of the fourth generation from Noah. That is where Babylon began! Harry Ironsides said, "Nimrod was the great apostate of the Patriarchal age." The spirit of Babylon is a man-made way of salvation as opposed to God's way of grace. They sought to build a tower to heaven with their own works, by the works of their own hands. That describes the Babylonian system that is the program of all false religion.

Genesis 11:3 says, "And they said one to another, Go to let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar." Verse 4 says, "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." We will get to heaven, in our own way, by the works of our own hands. That is the Babylonian system. That is the eschatological Babylon that will be destroyed in the tribulation period, not an extinct city on the Euphrates River. Rome is the city that houses eschatological Babylon.

The counterfeit Bride of Christ (The Church of Rome) has the same soteriology (method of salvation) as Babylonianism. Notice in verse 3, "They had brick for stone and slime for mortar." Their building materials were counterfeit, not the real thing. Their plan of salvation was not the real thing either. The real thing is found in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast." The spirit of Babylon is a man-made way of salvation by works instead of, by grace through faith.

In reference to the term “Mystery Babylon,” John Walvoord said, “It has been noted by many writers that the iniquitous and pagan rites of Babylon crept into the early church and were largely responsible for the corruptions incorporated into Roman Catholicism from which Protestantism separated itself in the Middle Ages.”

This is not the Babylonian Empire, nor is it the City of Babylon. This is the mysterious pagan religious practices of early Babylon. These are the practices of the Church of Rome and they will be at the heart of the Harlot Church of the tribulation period.

For a thousand years the Roman Catholic Church has practised Babylonianism.

First they have taught and practised a religion of salvation by works (human efforts).

Secondly they have sought to turn this Babylonian system of salvation by works into a world-wide religion under the authority and control of the Catholic Church. Over the long years they have perverted the gospel and sent multitudes to hell with their false gospel. Adding to their judgment, they have martyred multiplied millions of God's people who have rejected their Babylonian system.

This false religious system comes to full flower in the tribulation period. We see it typified in Revelation 17, as a woman riding on the beast of Antichrist's kingdom.

There is a cause for this judgment of God. The cause is this counterfeit religious system of Rome and her corruption of the gospel, sending millions to hell. The cause is the Roman Church which has slaughtered millions of God's precious children. The cause is the leaders of Rome proclaiming that they speak for Christ in this world. This judgment is a response to the cry of the saints in Revelation 6:10, "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?"

Let me make a clarification at this point. There are two judgments of this Babylonian system. One is found in Revelation 17 and is upon Religious Babylon. The other is found here in our text and involves economic and political Babylon, the kingdom of Antichrist who carried this system into his kingdom.

The judgment of religious Babylon was by fire in Revelation 17:16. The judgment of political Babylon is here in our text. We see a mighty angel taking up a great millstone and casting it down on the city. As a result the city is submerged into the sea and comes to its end, never to be seen again.

This destruction is foretold in Daniel 2:44-45, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Here in Daniel`s prophecy we see the kingdoms of men coming to their final judgment and the eternal Kingdom of God and His Christ established.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13