Wednesday Bible Study: Seventh bowl

 

Rev 16:17  The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 

Rev 16:18  And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 

Rev 16:19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 

End of story?  Not at all.  The fall of Fortress Babylon is told extensively, both in Ezekiel 27 under the name "the Ship Tyre"...

Eze 27:32  In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: 'Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? 

Eze 27:33  When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth. 

Eze 27:34  Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you. 

Eze 27:35  All the inhabitants of the coastlands are appalled at you, and the hair of their kings bristles with horror; their faces are convulsed. 

Eze 27:36  The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.'" 

And similarly in Revelation 18...

Rev 18:7  As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.' 

Rev 18:8  For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." 

Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 

Rev 18:10  They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come." 

And in many other spots.  But I am led to tell you the story from Isaiah 24, because, it was told me, that this version brings you INTO the falling city, and not just from the view of outside observers mourning the loss of her riches.  Before we hit this, a few things to note about Fortress Babylon.

This is the city the AntiChrist builds to run the economies of his world.  His first step was taking power, the "Rome" phase; the last was becoming "god", the "Jerusalem" phase.  If you stop to read the passages around the ones in Ezekiel and Revelation, you'll see this is an economic realm here.  Some, myself included, wondered how that could be possible.  I recently talked with someone who believes Dubai is the "new Babylon".  I don't see it, but going from a lowly fishing village in 1966 to this now:

credit Ivan Siarbolin

Shows it can be done- and faster, if you are using the entire world's (almost) resources to do it.  But there is a catch- the fifth bowl plunged this Babylon into darkness; and the sixth set loose the kings of the Rising Sun after them.  So now you have an attacking army, led by demons, and suddenly this great earthquake hits.   

Look again at the last two verses of the bowl judgment:

Rev 16:19  The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 

Now, let's look at Isaiah 24...

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. 

Isa 24:2  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. 

Isa 24:3  The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word. 

Isa 24:4  The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and withers; the highest people of the earth languish. 

Look at v1 and v4 first.  Empty = depopulate.  John is no longer hearing what fraction of the population is being killed; these are NOT survivable events. Twist its surface= turns everything upside down. This is no longer recognizable as the world we know.  In verse 4, it has both "the earth" and "the world".  This isn't mere poetic licence. One refers to its physical features; the other to its ability to sustain life.  This is an extinction event; and while we are looking at it in Babylon, this is happening across the globe.

Now look at v2.  the first 3 pairs- people/priest, slave/master, and maid/mistress tell us there is no protection from this in your position;  the second three, buyer/seller, lender/borrower, creditor/debtor, tell us that no economic status, no wealth, even that number of the Beast, will save you.

As always, God gives the reasons for His judgment:

Isa 24:5  And the land is defiled under its people; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the everlasting covenant. 

Transgressed the Law means unrepentant sin; Changed the ordinances?  Look here:

Dan 7:24  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise. And another shall arise after them. And he shall be different from the first, and he shall humble three kings. 

Dan 7:25  And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and plot to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and one-half time. 

This is the 'new rules' the AntiChrist laid out; the new "Christmas" celebrating the deaths of the Two Witnesses, the false Easter of his own "resurrection", and more.  This charge, then, is obedience to the false god.  And the everlasting covenant they are breaking, is rejecting what Jesus Christ did for them; rejecting the salvation He won at the Cross.

Isa 24:7  The new wine mourns, the vine droops, all the merry-hearted sigh. 

Isa 24:8  The gladness of tambourines ceases, the noise of those who rejoice ends; the joy of the harp ceases. 

Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to those who drink it. 

Isa 24:10  The city of shame is broken down; every house is shut up so that no one may come in. 

Isa 24:11  A crying for wine is in the streets; all joy is darkened, the gladness in the land has gone. 

Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is stricken with ruin. 

This is a city who have countered seven years of disaster with drunkenness and music, and now it's gone.  No more music; people are crying out for alcohol ( as it is the only thing still drinkable after the third bowl), and there is none to be had.  Look at v10; the commentators tell me this means every doorway, every means of escape, is blocked by ruins.  The fortress the AntiChrist counted on, his "god of fortresses" has failed the people of Babylon.

Isa 24:17  Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! 

Isa 24:18  He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 

Even if they could get out of the city, where would they go? Because the earth is on its last legs...

Isa 24:19  The earth is breaking, breaking! The earth is crashing, crashing! The earth is tottering, tottering. 

Isa 24:20  Like a drunkard, the earth is staggering, staggering! And it rocks to and fro like a hut. And its trespass is heavy on it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 

As this is happening in Babylon, it is happening across the very universe...

Isa 24:21  On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. 

Neither demon, angel, or general will escape what is happening in that day.  This will be FINAL judgment.  And if there is a time lapse, it is only an hour that the sailors will be able to mourn "the Great City".  But in that hour, with the world falling apart around them, there is one last act to play out...

Rev 16:14  For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 

Rev 16:15  ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!") 

Rev 16:16  And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.