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Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  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.
Rev 18:4  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.

Introduction

Before we get into the things of this chapter which are within us, let go back to chapter 16 and remind ourselves what was the product of the pouring out of the last of the seven last plagues within us all.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This is the greatest earthquake “since men were upon the earth” and this is “a great hail out of heaven, every stone the weight of a talent”. In other words, this is what is necessary to bring us to “bring great Babylon into remembrance before God”, within us.
As always we must remind ourselves that this is the revelation that God gave to Christ because “it is now time [ for us] to read hear and keep the things which are written therein”, including these things written in our study today. That is what this revelation of Jesus Christ is.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This whole book is addressed to “the seven churches in Asia”, because those seven churches are this fallen lady called Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. But this message to those seven churches is really being sent to “he that has and ear”. We have demonstrated that these seven churches, with all their strengths and weaknesses, are all within each of us. These seven churches are filled with many very good attributes and they are praised for all the progress they have made. But progress to a certain point is not sufficient to keep our Lord from removing our candlestick if we are unwilling to acknowledge our shortcomings and repent. The admonition to the first church within us is sufficient to make this point.

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

So in the final analysis this revelation of Jesus Christ within us is addressed to those who are given ears that hear and eyes that see… the things of the spirit, and can be taught that the possessing of many good qualities, does not earn us the right to be unfaithful in any part of our walk. This is the hidden message of this revelation. This is the “demonstration of the spirit and power” of Christ in us.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among [ Greek, en, in] them that are perfect [ Greek, being perfected]: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery [ Greek, secret], even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

If Paul’s preaching was “in the power of God”, and if that “power of God” is contained in “the wisdom of God in a mystery”, and that wisdom is “even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory”, then the power of God is also hidden from “the princes of this world, that come to naught”, and that “power of God” is the gospel, and that gospel is “the revelation of Jesus Christ” within us.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

“Our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”, and that “power of God is the gospel of Christ, in a secret, even hidden wisdom”.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

So the power of the gospel will, in time, make “every man perfect in Christ Jesus”, but for the time it is “hidden wisdom” and it is few who “receive our report” or who are given eyes to see that “the power of the gospel” is the cross, and the cross of Christ includes “keeping the things written therein”.
So let us now consider how it is that we must keep these words concerning the greatest earthquake we have ever experienced or ever will experience, and how we will keep the destructive work of the greatest hailstones the world has ever or will ever see, in our lives. 70-100 pound hailstones. Let’s consider the judgment of Great Babylon within our lives.

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

One of the keys to understanding scripture, is to know that the heavens into which Christ ‘ascended in a cloud’ is the heavens of our hearts and minds. That is what the book of Hebrews calls “the heavens themselves”.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [ the physical temple in Jerusalem] should be purified with these [ the blood of bulls and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves [ those in whom Christ dwells] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

“The heavenly things themselves, and into heaven itself” is into us. When we are told that Christ ascended “up into heaven, and a cloud received him out of their sight”, what are we being told? Where exactly did Christ go?

Luk 24:50  And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.
Luk 24:51  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Here is what that phrase “a cloud” is telling us about where Christ had gone.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The heavens into which Christ ascended in a cloud is the witness of His saints in whom He now dwells. God’s throne is the mercy seat within the temple of God (Eze 1 and 10). Christ is “set down at the right hand of the throne of God”. Where then are His saints?

Eph 2:6 and He raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies [ or, heavenly [ realms]] in Christ Jesus, (ALT)

Is this not what Christ promised us before His crucifixion?

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 

“I will come to you… into the heavens themselves”. That is where Christ went and that is where He dwells to this very day.
So when we read: ” I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory”, what we are being told, is that God has granted us, “the earth” (Jer 22:29), to be enlightened with the understanding of this revelation, which is “the gospel of Christ, the power of God to salvation”, and what that “lightening” reveals to us is the absolute necessity of “keeping the things written therein”.

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

That “enlightened… understanding” and that “glory of His inheritance [ is] in the saints”, and it especially includes the judgment of Babylon within us all. So we are told:

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

Babylon is the fallen woman who is sitting on the beast, on the waters, and on the seven mountains or kings which are all on and in the beast. She is said in this fallen state to be “the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird”. What are these waters, mountains and kings and what are these foul spirits and unclean and hateful birds? As we will see they are all one and the same thing. They are one and all symbols of the many false doctrines which keep us in rebellion against our Lord while we think we are in His service.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Last week we saw all of this. We saw that these many waters where the great whore sits are also called “a scarlet colored beast” , and they are also called “seven mountains which are seven kings”. It is many symbols, but “the dream is one” and it is all the beast we all are.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

It is obvious that the many waters and the scarlet colored beast, are one and the same. That includes the seven heads, which are seven mountains.

Rev 17:9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

So this woman “sits upon many waters, a scarlet colored beast, and seven heads which are seven mountains, on which the woman sits”. But “the mind which has wisdom” knows that mountains represent kingdoms in scripture.

Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet [ that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

What does Daniel tell us of this “great mountain”?

Dan 2:44  And in the days of these [ ten] 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.

While the whole world, sees these ten toes on Daniel’s image, as part of a resurrected Roman Empire, “He who understands what he reads” (Mat 24:15), knows that these ten kings are within, and are “destroyed with the brightness of the coming of Christ”, within us.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [ will let], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

So the “great mountain” becomes a kingdom, and what are we told of these heads which are seven mountains on which the harlot sits?

Rev 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue [ withhold] a short space.

So this woman is also sitting on and directing the affairs of “seven kings, as well as many waters, a scarlet colored beast, and seven heads which are seven mountains.” “The dream is one and all of these symbols are just one beast, which we all are (Ecc 3:18). But why are we given so many symbols for the influence of this great harlot, except to impress upon us the depth of her influence over our lives. “All the nations and the kings of the earth”, are the same as the “seven heads which are seven mountains… and the seven kings… on which the woman sits”. This woman has so affected and influenced our lives that Christ, after telling us “the faithful city is become a harlot” (Isa 1:21) goes on to tell us that the Lord has taken away the whole stay of bread and the whole stay fo water from Jerusalem.

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children [ to be] their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

These “babes” ruling God’s people are spiritual babes, who count milk as the meat of God’s Word, and they count the meat as less than milk and as false doctrine. Both babes and women, as “great Babylon”, rule of the masses of Christianity.
Here is the depth of the affect and influence of the doctrines of this great harlot upon us, by which she “comes in remembrance before God”, in the seventh vial of God’s wrath as it is completing its work within us.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

To extricate us from this  influence and affect of this great harlot, we must endure an symbolic “earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth”. “All of the nations [ within us] have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”. Her doctrines are called “the merchants of the earth”.

Rev 18:3  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.

As is always so, the primary application of these words are within us. The doctrines of Babylon, have flourished and prospered within us, and as a result of those false doctrines, “the merchants of the earth are waxed right through the abundance of her delicacies”.
This is not referring to just the ten commandments, to which all in Babylon subscribe in one form or another. “The abundance of her delicacies” reaches into every niche and corner of our lives, and they make “the merchants of the earth rich” both spiritually and physically.
These “merchants of the earth” first come into our view in the days of King Solomon.

1Ki 10:15  Beside [ that he had] of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

Many years later, the prophet Isaiah, uses Tyre, as a type of Babylon, which as we saw last week is a type of apostate Jerusalem, “that great city wherein our Lord was crucified”.

Isa 23:8  Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers [ are] the honourable of the earth?
Isa 23:9  The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

These are spiritual words concerning the merchandise of the spiritual merchants of this earth. This is how our Lord speaks of “the honorable of the earth”.

Luk 6:26  Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

To what did the business of these merchants lead King Solomon?

1Ki 10:1  And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.
1Ki 10:2  And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.
1Ki 10:10  And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
1Ki 10:11  And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.
1Ki 10:12  And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the LORD, and for the king’s house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.
1Ki 10:13  And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside [ that] which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
1Ki 10:14  Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
1Ki 10:15  Beside [ that he had] of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

Hiram was the king of Tyre, a type of Babylon. But Solomon was also dealing with the merchants of Egypt, and doing exactly what the Lord had forbidden him to do.

1Ki 10:21  And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
1Ki 10:22  For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
1Ki 10:23  So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.
1Ki 10:24  And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
1Ki 10:25  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
1Ki 10:26  And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
1Ki 10:27  And the king made silver [ to be] in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he [ to be] as the sycomore trees that [ are] in the vale, for abundance.
1Ki 10:28  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
1Ki 10:29  And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [ shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring [ them] out by their means.

It all sounds so very good. King Solomon had gathered so much gold that “silver [ redemption] was counted for nothing in the days of Solomon.” The gold that he gathered in one year was the ominous number of 666 talents of gold. And it is all because of “the wisdom which God had put in Solomon’s heart”. Nevertheless what had God told His people?

Deu 17:14  When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that [ are] about me;
Deu 17:15  Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
Deu 17:16  But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Deu 17:17  Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

Strangers are false prophets, horses are the strength of the beast and wives are the churches of this world. Where did it all lead great King Solomon. Our answer is in the very next verse of scripture. This is the meaning of “the abundance of her delicacies” here in Rev 18:3.

1Ki 11:1  But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2  Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [ that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [ was] the heart of David his father.
1Ki 11:5  For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
1Ki 11:6  And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [ did] David his father.
1Ki 11:7  Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [ is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
1Ki 11:8  And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

So King Solomon took Israel into spiritual Babylon, long before Jereboam, the son of Nebat, made his golden calves to keep Israel from returning to Jerusalem, and long before Israel was physically carried away into Babylon.
In truth, the physical captivity of Judah and Jerusalem were nothing more than an outward type of what had already been the case for many years. So it is with each of us, and so we are told:

Rev 18:4  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.

How can we avoid the plagues of Babylon? We can “receive not of her plagues” in the same way we become “a chaste virgin” to Christ.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

How do we become this “chaste virgin”? The only way we can be this virgin is to “keep the things written” in “the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. In other words, the only way we can become this chaste virgin is if we first acknowledge that we are the seven churches of Asia, with all of their strengths and all of their weaknesses. We become this chaste virgin only by acknowledging that we have first “fallen away” and we are this great harlot of Rev 17-18 with all of her “gold, and silver, and precious stones, and all of the rest of her precious woods and her merchandise and her delicacies. Only when we are finally granted to acknowledge that we are in Babylon, will we be granted to “come out of her”. It is the inability to see the beast sitting in the temple of God that withholds his destruction.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time [ Acknowledging that we are “fallen away” and are “Babylon the Great”].
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [ withholds] will let [ withhold], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

As we saw at the beginning of this study, “the power of God unto salvation” is “the gospel of Jesus Christ”. In like manner, the “power and signs and lying wonders” of this great city Babylon in our lives, is her gospel and her doctrines which have permeated our entire society and our lives. Just like King Solomon, we have gone back into Egypt, and are become the very thing we were told to avoid, and we have partaken of the very traffic we were told to avoid, We are dominated by a great and powerful harlot, and only by means of a great and powerful earthquake and by the cleansing work of “great hailstones” will we be granted to “come out of her”.
Next week, Lord willing we will begin to witness the judgment of this great harlot in our lives. What we will find striking is all that the judgment of God upon this great harlot, within us has in common with the judgment of God upon Job, within us.

Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  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 judgeth her.