It was quite a bit of piece of poetry, wasn't it, to make us think concerning the time in which we live and how we are living as the children of God in relation to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And just as sure as He came the first time, He is coming again. Looking forward to tomorrow night. Our brother Max Mills, who was here the first Lord's Day in November, and I didn't get the chance to fellowship with him, but my wife and Paul and Jan did, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow. And I trust we'll have a good time together. I understand there are sixty-some that are registered to come tomorrow night. So we should have a nice group. and I trust the rich blessing of the Lord. When you study the book of the Revelation, and we've been in the Revelation just a little bit on these Wednesday nights, the two most difficult chapters to me are chapters seventeen and eighteen, where we deal with Babylon. And Babylon, as She is identified in Revelation seventeen, first of all, in Revelation fourteen in verse eight, as primarily a city. One of the most difficult things that I ever had to do as a believer is to unlearn what I had already learned. One of the most difficult things is to unlearn something. And if you've ever read much of the literature that he's written concerning the book of the Revelation, you know that ever since the days of the reformers, and you can understand it. If you understand what the reformers went through, I'm thinking of Tyndall, William Tyndall, who translated the scriptures into English. He was called God's outlaw, and what a mighty man of God he was. His burning desire was to make the scriptures available that every plahman, in other words, every man in Great Britain who followed the plah could read the Word of God. And, of course, William Tyndall was hunted like David was hunted by King Saul, but he was hunted by the Pope. And he was hunted like a partridge, and finally the Pope got him and burned him at the stake. but he lived and was contemporary with Luther. Now, all these men, beginning with the reformers, Calvin and Luther and Zwingli and Tyndall and others, these men taught that Babylon in Revelation seventeen and eighteen is the church of Rome. Now, and you'll find that a lot of contemporary writers on the book of the Revelation still teach that Revelation seventeen and eighteen are Rome. Now, I happen to be one of those fathers who doesn't accept that. I believe the woman who is a harlot, presented as a harlot in Revelation seventeen has many daughters. And I believe that Rome is one of the daughters. And I believe that apostate Protestantism is another. And I believe Buddhism and all the otherisms are daughters of, because out of the Tigris, Euphrates, River Valley, out of Old Babylon, which began at the Torah Babel, Genesis chapter eleven and chapter ten. You notice the order I put it in. Chapter eleven and chapter ten. Because when you really study it, you find that in chapter eleven comes before chapter ten. chronologically but not morally. No, it comes that way morally but not chronologically. Let me put it like this. Chapter eleven tells us why you have chapter ten. You understand that. In chapter ten you have the division of the nations by the Lord confounding the language of the people at the tar of Babel. And by the way, that division of the nations in Genesis chapter ten is still valid today. Now that's hard for you to take in, I know. There is a very technical book written called Noah's Three Sons by Arthur Custon. And Arthur Custon claims, and he's done his homework, which you will believe if you read the book, and it's the first of a series of ten books called the doorway papers. He claimed in his book that the threefold division of people is still valid today and each one of these divisions, the Hemite, the Shemite and the Japhethite have contributed their definite part into the fulfillment of the plan and the program of God. It's a very good book to read, very technical. It's hard reading, but it's worth your while if you want to wade through it. I have enjoyed it. I haven't read it for a number of years. I read it maybe five years ago. But what began at the Tower of Babel, you had the beginning of all false religions, and it all flows. out of that place called the land of Shinar with the rebel Nimrod as the leader. Now, the city of Babylon was built at that particular place. It has flowed from us. And Babylon, the harlot, has had many daughters and has many daughters. However, Babylon is a city. This is the one thing that Nimrod said, let us do. Let us build us a city lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. And it's an amazing thing. It's an amazing thing that when Babylon is presented in Revelation, seventeen and eighteen, she is presented as a city that reigneth over the kings of the earth. You have that in chapter fourteen and verse eight. She is first of all identified as a city. When you come to the last verse of chapter seventeen, you read, And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Now I believe that the key to understanding what we closed with last week And I might as well tell you where we want to go in this study. And where I'm going in this study is to prove to you, basically, that Babylon is exactly what Revelation chapter seventeen and verse eighteen says she is. She is a city that reigns over the kings of the earth and she's going to be reigning during the tribulation period. for she is seated on the beast. In other words, the beast of Revelation is the Antichrist of chapter thirteen, verses one through eight. And here's the woman who is controlling the beast. And this city that's going to control the beast is Babylon and Babylon, old Babylon, and I believe the new Babylon, that's going to be rebuilt. The city here is going to be rebuilt on the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq in the Persian Gulf area. Now, having said that much, I'd like you to turn with me to Zechariah chapter five for just a moment. Because I believe Zechariah five is the key to understanding Revelation, Seventeen and Eighteenth, and the details concerning the rebuilding of the city. And we're going to begin reading at verse five. Zechariah chapter five, verse five. Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes and see what is this that God forth. And I said, what is it? And he said, this is an ephah that goeth forth. And he said, moreover, this is their resemblance through all the earth. And ephah was a measuring device like a bushel basket, maybe just a little larger than a bushel. And a bushel basket is a bushel basket no matter what part of the earth it is. This is its resemblance throughout the whole earth. and Iphah is an Iphah no matter where you go. Okay. Verse seven, and behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead. That's about a hundred and twenty to a hundred fifty-five pounds of lead. And this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the Iphah. And he said, this is wickedness. This woman in the bushel basket, if I may use that expression, is wickedness, and he cast it into the midst of the ephah, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. In other words, the wickedness is not going to escape. Now follow. Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings. For they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven, Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it and house in the land of Shinar, and it shall be established and set there upon her own base. In other words, the base of the wickedness was there. That's where it all began. When Nimrod and his company in Genesis chapter eleven decided to rebel against God, and do just the opposite of what God commanded. It was there that he established pagan religion, and the pagan religion that he established is the same just by a different name. If you go to the structure of Greek pagan worship, or Roman pagan worship, or Egyptian pagan worship, the names of the gods are changed, but it's all the same. It has all come out of old Babylon, David. And the base was there, and wickedness is going to return to its own base. And in the final destruction, God is going to destroy the city that the children of men have built. And old Babylon in Revelation or seventeen and eighteen comes before us. Now last week we closed by looking and keeping our fingers in the prophecy of Jeremiah. And I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapters fifty and fifty-one. And just keep your fingers in there or just about at chapter fifty-one. And then turn back to Revelation seventeen and eighteen, and then we'll just keep flipping from the one to the other as we examine what the Word of God teaches concerning the destruction of Babylon. Now I believe, and I think that what we're going over will convince you, at least it should, that Jeremiah fifty and fifty-one where Jeremiah speaks of the destruction of Babylon, is a parallel passage which was with Revelation, chapter seventeen and eighteen, where we have, again, the destruction of Babylon. I believe the identity of the city of Babylon is the same in both portions of the Word of God. I think we went over the first section last week. Did I go over any of this last week? Have you flipped from one to the other? Okay. Then we described the city last week. Whether you're in Jeremiah, fifty and fifty-one, or whether you're in Revelation, seventeen and eighteen, the description of the city remains the same. But we want to go to a second area where we see a parallel, and that is in the destruction of the city. For Revelation seventeen and eighteen primarily deals with the destruction of the city Babylon. If you have your Bible open to Revelation eighteen, let us read just a few verses. We'll read the first eight verses of Revelation eighteen. And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power. And the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. And he's become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 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 which through the abundance of her delicacies. 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 plague. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her work. In the cup which she hath filled, filled to her double. How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously. So much torment and sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart. When anybody speaks in their heart, they're going to tell what they really mean. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. And usually when they speak to their own heart, They're speaking for the dirtiest thing they could talk to, your own heart. For the word of God says, the heart is deceitful, above all else, and desperately wicked. When David communed with his own heart, he got in trouble. David said to his heart, he said in his heart, one of these days I'm going to fall by the hand of Saul. There's only one thing left for me to do, go over to the line of the Philistines. The big mistake he made, he communed with his own heart. God had anointed him king. God said, I'll take you, I'll keep you, I'll bring you to the throne. But he really didn't believe God. He communed with his own heart, and he decided that he was going to take the reins into his own hands. And God providentially spared him from fighting with his brethren. Were it not for the providential activity of God, David would have thought for his own brethren. It's an interesting thing. Be careful how you commune with your own heart. Don't lie to it. Tell yourself how dirty your heart is in the sight of a holy God. Here this woman, this city, who's pictured as a woman, She's speaking to her own heart. And notice what she says. She says in verse eight or verse seven, I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow. She has been able to gain such control. She's been able to gain such control that she says, I'm controlling the world. Now remember. She's riding the Antichrist. She's riding the beast. And that's the figurative language that is used here. Now the beast is going to be so powerful that no man will be able to buy or sell, except he has the mark of the beast or the name of the beast or the number of his name. But behind the beast is going to be this city, Babylon, who controls the economic structure of the world. And the money in the world today is flowing toward one area. It is flowing toward the Persian Gulf area because the greatest oil deposit in the world is there. And all the industrialized nations run on oil. Oil that they must import. And oil that the nations of the Persian Gulf want to export. And here is going to be the center of commerce of the world. And if you read through the eighteenth chapter, it's amazing who cries the loudest when Babylon is destroyed. The shipbuilders and the sailors. You read it for yourself. It's right here. I believe that this is a relevant portion of the Word of God. A very relevant portion. Now let us look at Jeremiah and look at the destruction of the city. First of all, Jeremiah chapter fifty-one verse eight. I hope you have your finger at Jeremiah fifty-one because we're just going to flip back and forth again. Jeremiah fifty-one verse eight says Babylon. is suddenly fallen and destroyed. How for her? Take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed. Now Revelation chapter eighteen and verse eight says, Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine. She shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord who judges her. So the destruction of Babylon is seen in both Jeremiah fifty-one and in Revelation eighteen-eight as being very sudden. But notice the second thing concerning the destruction of Babylon. She's going to be destroyed by fire. Notice verse thirty of chapter fifty-one Jeremiah. Jeremiah fifty-one verse thirty. It says, The mighty men of Babylon have foreborn to fight. They have remained in their hold. there might have failed. They became as women. They have burned her dwelling places. Her bars are broken. Notice she's burned with fire. Now look back at Revelation chapter seventeen and verse sixteen. In Revelation seventeen and verse sixteen we read, And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast. These ten horns are the ten kings of Western Europe that make up the revived Roman Empire. The ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, thee shall hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. The third thing concerning the destruction of Babylon It is. She is never there again be inhabited. Notice chapter fifty of Jeremiah and verse twenty nine. Jeremiah fifty and verse twenty nine. Call together the archers against Babylon. All ye that bend the bow. Camp against the ground about. Let none thereof escape. recompense her according to her work according to all she has done due unto her for she has been proud against the Lord against the Holy One verse thirty nine therefore the wild beasts of the desert with a wild beast of the island shall dwell there and the owls shall dwell therein and it shall be no more inhabited forever neither shall it be dwelled in from generation to generation as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof saith the Lord so shall no man abide there neither shall any son of man dwell therein when God destroys Babylon it will never be inhabited again notice chapter eighteen of Revelation in verse twenty one Revelation eighteen verse twenty one And a mighty angel took up a great stone like a 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 these. And no craftsman whatsoever crafty be shall be found any more in these. and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all indeed it will never be inhabited there's another way in which we have a parallel it is in the destruction of Babylon she is to be punished according to her deeds notice chapter fifty and verse twenty nine the verse that we read previously We'll just take the end of the verse, the second half. Recompense her according to her work, according to all that she has done, do unto her. For she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel. Now, look at the parallel passage, Revelation, verse six. Chapter eighteen, verse six, where we read, reward her even as she rewarded you. and double unto her, double according to her work, in the cup which she has filled, filled to her double. Now one more area. Her fall is illustrated in Scripture. Notice chapter fifty-one and the last two verses, verses sixty-three and sixty-four. And it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading this book that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates. Notice he gives us the location. In Zechariah five, the location is the land of Shinar. And the land of Shinar is on the Euphrates River. And here in Jeremiah fifty one it is the Euphrates River. verse sixty four and thou shalt say thus saith thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her that they shall be weary thus far are the words of Jeremiah notice verse twenty one of chapter eighteen and Revelation Revelation eighteen verse twenty one 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. Now John and Jeremiah each describe the city that is destroyed suddenly and destroyed completely. A city that was in full blossom is plucked up quickly, never destroyed. to appear again. The destruction is sent by God even though God is going to use men to perform His will as you have in Revelation and verse seventeen. And the destruction is sent by God for the past deeds and is pictured as a rock sinking in a body of water never to rise again. And both Jeremiah and John Picture this city. Beloved, I'm looking for the city of Babylon to be rebuilt. It may not be called that. It may not go by the name Babylon, but it's going to become the commercial center of the world. I'm looking for it. And it's an amazing thing to me. that in our day everything is flowing in that direction. Now there's a lot more I have to say, but our time's gone. One of the things I have that we're going to deal with the next time we're together, and that is what he's meant by flee from the midst of her. What is God really saying to his people? It's quite interesting. I think it is more interesting than we probably realize in the light of the hold that the economic situation of the world has on us, even in our daily lives. May God enable us to live for Him day by day. The Lord's coming. The Lord's coming. Let's pray. Our Father, we realize that we spend a lot of time tonight just reading verses of Scripture. But we also realize that you've given us your word to study it. And unless we examine it and examine it carefully, we're going to miss a passage. Oh, Father, enable us to be aware of what is going on in the world. that we may realize where we are in history, and by thy grace, be determined to live for thy glory. For Jesus' sake, amen.