Thru the Bible

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: No one dreamed that this great city would be judged. Yet by the time the sun went down, Babylon was nothing but smoldering ruins. When the news goes out, the world is stunned. And then begins the wail. The whole world will howl when Babylon goes down.

Steve Schwetz: Wow, that's an ominous warning from the Book of Revelation. Welcome to Thru the Bible. I'm your host, Steve Schwetz, and I'm glad that you're here as our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, begins our travels through the final days of the great tribulation in Revelation 18, starting with the judgment of Babylon. It's a powerful study, and although it forecasts some dark and frightening days yet to come, I think you'll appreciate what Dr. McGee has to say.

Before we get started, I want to share a couple of letters from our fellow passengers on the Bible Bus. First, we got a note from Wanda in Maryland. "I was able to commit myself to the Lord and receive salvation, and I was also baptized a week later. I have been going to church on Sunday and Wednesday nights, but since our church only uses the King James Version Bible, I was lost each time trying to read and understand it. I was told by another member of the church about Dr. McGee. I was so excited I couldn't wait to get home to download the app to see what it was all about. In one week, I have completed Genesis and Jude. I have learned so much."

Wow, that's great, Wanda. You accomplished a lot in a short time. And I do love your enthusiasm, and we love anybody who wants to binge-listen to the program. And I'll be sure to save you a seat on the Bible Bus as it moves through God's Word.

Now, here's a note. This is from Robert in California. "Thank you all. I've been on the Bible Bus for several years, well, almost five now. I started as y'all started Revelation and we're close to that again. I began on my radio as I traveled to the county jail where I taught inmates about Jesus. Later, I found myself studying daily along with Dr. McGee on my computer. I love that man. I find the detailed study has brought me closer to Jesus than I've ever been. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this program. I give every month, hope that it will keep the tires good and the brakes fair. Love you all."

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Now let's thank God for His goodness in our lives as we study His Word together. Lord, thank you for the joy and the hope that you give us through your Word. May your truth penetrate into the hearts of all who listen so that everyone can come to faith in Jesus Christ. And it's in His name we pray. Amen. Here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Revelation 18 on Thru the Bible.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we are in this 18th chapter of Revelation, which is the judgment of God upon economic, commercial, and political Babylon. Actually, this is the place that Antichrist would call his capital. I think the false prophet made his headquarters in Jerusalem where he had put up the image of the Antichrist. And now over on the Euphrates River where civilization began, that is civilization apart from God, and the Tower of Babel was built and Babylon became a great city, and those great cities spread over the world.

Now, this great city at the end of man's little day on this earth has now come to an end. And we saw last time that it was a sudden judgment that had come upon it and destroyed this great city that had been rebuilt, that was the very center of everything. And notice we're told now, as we come to verse nine, and we see the anguish in the world because of the judgment on Babylon.

And I'm reading now from my translation, which I could not recommend, but at least we're bringing out the original. "And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived deliciously, that is in luxury with her, shall weep and wail over her when they look upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour is thy judgment come.'"

Now in this day, that is the day that's spoken of here, Babylon will dominate and rule the world. She'll have the first total dictatorship. That is, Antichrist will be dictator of the world, and the world will become an awful place. In that day, everything will center in Babylon. The stock market will be read from Babylon, not New York. Babylon will set the styles for the world, not Paris. A play to be successful will have to be a success in Babylon, not London.

And everything in the city is in rebellion against Almighty God, and it centers in Antichrist. No one dreamed that this great city would be judged. Yet by the time the sun went down, Babylon was nothing but smoldering ruins. When the news goes out, the world is stunned. And then begins the wail. The whole world will howl when Babylon goes down. If you were on the moon, you'd have to turn down your earphones, so loud would be the howl.

Now we saw in chapter 17 that the kings of the earth hated religious Babylon and with Antichrist got rid of it in order that he might be worshipped, because he didn't want any competition, even in the area of religion. And they all destroyed her. But here in chapter 18, we see that the kings of the earth love commercial Babylon because of the revenue she brought to their coffers.

In fact, it's called here fornication. And you can't have a better word for it than that. And all of the lobbyists were in Babylon, not Washington. They were there representing all the great corporations of the world and the unions and about every organization in the world had lobbyists there. And this is an unholy alliance of politics and big business.

They desert Babylon like rats leaving a sinking ship. Their mourning is both pathetic and contemptible. They eulogize her with panegyrics of praise, but there is a hopelessness in their anguish. They marvel at the sudden destruction of that which they thought was gilt-edged security. And the judgment came in the space of one hour, reminding us of the sudden devastation caused by an atomic explosion.

This is a frightful picture that's presented to us here, and this is the final conflagration and catastrophic judgment that will bring Christ to the earth to set up His kingdom. And let me read now this section. You talk about the effect upon mankind. Listen to this. "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. The merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and of pearls and of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all thyine wood and all manner vessels of ivory and all manner vessels of most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble and cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and the souls of men.

And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee. And all 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 nought.'"

Now as I read from verses 11 through 17 here, did you feel like you might be walking down the main street of some of our great cities? That is, that you were in the main shopping area and you were window shopping and in the windows you see all of these things today. These are products of an affluent society. And the interesting thing is these were available in the Roman Empire of John's day. Everything that is listed here is a luxury item.

Babylon will make these luxury items necessities, just as today the items that, well, we think they're necessities. I remember reading not long ago when the first bathtub was introduced in this country. And do you know who opposed it more than anyone else? It was the doctors. They said it would shorten life if you took a bath every day. Once a week or once a month was enough.

And the bathtub was just a luxury that you couldn't afford. Well, when we go to a motel or hotel today, my wife looks to see if there's a tub there, and I look to see if there's a shower, and generally there's both present. We live in a luxury age, but everything we call necessities are actually luxuries. That is, most of them.

Now let's look at these. I'm taking them up separately. The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise or cargo anymore. Merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls. My, you talk about a depression, they're having one here. You see, we're in the jewelry department here.

And then we leave the jewelry department and we go over to the ladies' ready-to-wear department, in fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet. And then we move to the luxury gift department and all fine or rather citron wood and every vessel of ivory and every vessel made of most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble.

Now we move on to the spice and cosmetic department and cinnamon and spice and odors and ointment and frankincense. They had a great deal of spray deodorant, you see, the kind that works 24 hours a day, so the advertisement on TV says. But here it all is.

Now we go to the liquor department and the pastry center and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat. This is the food of the rich. You see, barley was the food of the poor in that day. All of this is what the rich were living on. They were living high on the hog, eating high on the hog. They were having it fine until Babylon went down.

Now will you notice we move to the meat department where you can get porterhouse steaks and filet mignon and also lamb chops. Notice this. And cattle and sheep. Then the merchandise covers every phase of business. The articles of for a society accustomed to the better things of the material universe. Even men were bought and sold, including their souls.

And my friend today, I think that's becoming more and more true where great corporations have men on the payroll that don't dare move or breathe. They're bound there, and they're almost like slaves today. Right now there's many a woman selling her soul, and they get a good price too, by the way. The articles here are articles for a society that's been living high.

And not only that. And merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves, bodies and souls of men. The merchants of these things who grew rich by her shall stand afar off because of the fear of her torment, saying, "Alas, alas!" Now that in the Greek is a word that you don't even need to translate it to get the meaning. It's "Ouai, Ouai". And that sounds better than "alas" to me.

"Ouai, Ouai" for the great city. "Ouai", you see, is I think sounds better. Why, the very sound of the word "Ouai" is a form of wailing. And the merchants of the earth sit before their TV screens and cry, "Ouai, Ouai," for in one hour wealth so great was laid desolate.

We also have been able to find a parallel in the Old Testament. Do we have anything that corresponds to this in the past? I think so. Ezekiel predicted the judgment of Tyre, the capital of the Phoenicians. And Tyre was to the ancient world what New York City is today and Babylon is to the future. You read Ezekiel 26 and 27.

Now I'm reading beginning at the last part of verse 17. "And every shipmaster and everyone that sails anywhere, that is traveler, and sailors and those who live by seafaring stood afar off and cried out when they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?' And they cast dust upon their heads and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, Ouai, Ouai, the great city wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costly expenditure, for in one hour is she made desolate.'"

Now the third delegation of mourners here is composed of those that are engaged in transportation, the great public carriers. They had become rich by transporting the merchandise of Babylon, just as Phoenicia had done in the ancient world. Now there's no more business. They mourn because of the depression. All went up in smoke in a moment.

They, like the others, marvel at the sudden destruction. All of this, you see, does have an application for us. How do we see the luxury of this world? Do we see it as it really is? We speak today about spirituality and spiritual things, and even in our Christian organizations there is almost an overweening zeal to get out and try to get people to give and especially to approach the wealthy people.

We're paying too much attention to this world. It's passing away, and the things that you see at your fingertips are passing away. You remember the disciples said to the Lord Jesus, "Don't you see these wonderful buildings of the temple?" The Lord Jesus said, "Do you see them? Why," said, "not one stone is going to be left upon another."

That was literally fulfilled. And this world that you live in, this great Los Angeles that we live in, and I think it's a great city and in many ways a wonderful city, I've enjoyed living here most of my life, but it's passing away. God's going to judge this place. But the question is, would it break your heart if you saw the things of this world go up in smoke? Or is your heart today in heaven fixed on Christ? It does make a lot of difference.

Now we come to that section, the anticipation of joy in heaven because of the judgment of Babylon, verses 20 to 24 now, and we finish this chapter. "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints and ye apostles and ye prophets, for God hath judged your judgment on her."

Now you see, the viewpoint of heaven is entirely different. It's no funeral procession there. Rather, it's the celebration of an anticipated event. The saints prayed for it. The prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament predicted it. Now all is fulfilled, and there's joy, for God has exonerated His name and judgment has come upon these things. Just what, by the way, is your heart fixed on today? Make a lot of difference in that day, because you'll either be with the mourners or you're going to be with the rejoicers.

Verse 21 now, and again in our translation: "And one strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone, cast it into the sea, saying, 'Thus with a mighty rush shall Babylon the mighty city be cast down and shall be found no more at all.'" Even heaven calls our attention to the violence and the suddenness and the complete annihilation of Babylon.

Like a stone that makes a big splash and then disappears beneath the waves, will Babylon come to an end. This world you and I live in's going to be judged. Here it is recorded for us. Now will you notice verses 22 and 23? "And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee." The rock music will be going out of style then, and I say thank God for that. If they don't destroy Babylon for any other purpose than to get rid of it, then I say let's get rid of it.

And we're just now getting around to that. "And no more craftsman of whatever craft shall be found anymore at all in thee. And the voice of a mill shall no more be heard at all in thee." All the factories are going to close down. "And the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee." All the neon lights will go out on Broadway.

"And the voice of the bridegroom and the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee." It's all over, no more marrying and giving in marriage here. "For thy merchants were the princes of the earth, for with thy sorcery were all the nations deceived." And I believe that more and more we're going to see sorcery, magic, and this matter of demonism and Satanism will increase more and more as we draw near to the end of the age.

And it will be that that's going to deceive and blind people, just as many today are blinded by this. They see all of the show, the physical things, and they begin to judge a spiritual work by the size of the church, by the buildings, by how up-to-date it is, when after all that is about the worst way I think to judge any spiritual work.

And popular music comes to an end in Babylon. Jazz and rock and roll and hard rock cease in the destruction. Classical music will be stilled also. The crafts that have been prostituted to the service of the Antichrist will end. The wheels of the factories will never turn again. The bright lights of Broadway and Hollywood will go out forever.

It's interesting to note the beginning of all these things as recorded way back in Genesis. The social life and family life shall end. The great tycoons of big business will disappear. This city deceived the world with the worship of Antichrist, and this is the strong delusion.

Now we're told: "And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth." God's people got rough treatment in this city, but God judged it. This is Satan's city. He's a murderer, and this city murdered. The final crime was the slaying of God's people. As we contemplate the destruction of Babylon, we think of other great cities and civilizations of the past that have fallen.

Edward Gibbon in 1788 wrote "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". He said that there were five basic reasons why that great civilization withered and died. Let me give them quickly. First, the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society. Number two, higher and higher taxes, the spending of public money for free bread and circuses for the populace.

Three, the mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more exciting, more brutal, more immoral. And fourth, the building of great armaments when the real enemy was within, the decay of individual responsibility. And fifth, the decay of religion, faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, losing power to guide the people.

And the oft-heard warning that history repeats itself has an ominous meaning in the light of the above. And you can already see these five things that work in our contemporary culture in this country today. And it will be the thing that will bring down Babylon at the end because of the fact these are the things that destroy a nation and the home and the individual.

And thank God this sad story of man's sin will come to an end. Now next time we're going to see the second coming of Christ to this earth to set up His kingdom. And I want us to take a recapitulation of this seven-year period very briefly, and then we are going to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. And it'll be terrible if I sing it now, but in that day I'm going to be able to sing it and join you in the choir. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: For those of you who'd like to spend more time studying Revelation, well, we got you covered. From Dr. McGee's notes and outlines to our Bible Companion for Revelation and so many other great resources, it's our goal to help you go deeper in God's Word yourself. Just download our app, which really has it all, or you can always visit ttb.org. You can also give us a call, 1-800-65-BIBLE, if we can help you find what you're looking for. Again, that's 1-800-65-BIBLE. And when you're in touch, would you tell us your favorite way to listen to Thru the Bible? Is it by app? Is it on YouTube? Is it your local radio station? Let us know. That information really does help.

Now our next study brings us to the end of the dark days of the tribulation and then looks to the glorious coming of Christ. Invite a friend to listen with you. I'm Steve Schwetz, and as always, I'm going to be here holding the doors of the Bible Bus wide open as you hop aboard.

Thru the Bible is a five-year study of God's entire Word, and together we discover God's purposes in history and our lives, found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know Him yet?