Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Heaven and the holy apostles and prophets are called to rejoice over fallen Babylon because God has avenged them upon her. The call belongs to the prophecy of Babylon's final condition, reached when the church has rejected the threefold warning and when God's people still in Babylon are given the last call to separate from her. It falls during the proclamation of the third angel's message, when another angel descends with great power and the earth is lighted with his glory to spread present truth everywhere and prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. The power thus avenged is mystic Babylon, judged for joining church and state to compel worship of the beast's image by a false Sabbath in opposition to God's law, and its desolation is the doom of this final apostasy. Therefore the testing truth for this time is to be presented with boldness and a loud voice, with no toning down or diversion, for everything is at stake in this life-and-death issue.
Babylon's Final Prophecy
Revelation 18:20 belongs to the prophecy of Babylon's final condition, reached when the church has come to the state foretold by the second angel through rejecting the threefold warning. It stands with the final call for God's people still in Babylon to separate from her, where those who reject truth are left to believe a lie while the open-hearted receive the light of truth and heed the call. It is part of the very last call to the churches, the last message of mercy and testing warning for this time that is now to be given, and it is being fulfilled together with the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18. That revelation was given by God through Christ Himself to John on Patmos to call minds in these last days to the things that will be and to give solemn warning of the last events of this earth's history. God in mercy holds back His judgments while waiting for this warning of Revelation 18:1-24 to be given more fully to the world, because many have not yet heard it, and these testing truths for this time are to be read and understood by all.
After this last call comes what is pictured in chapter 19, when the beast and false prophet are taken and cast into a lake of fire, the dragon who instigated the great rebellion against heaven is bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, followed by the resurrection of the wicked and the final destruction of Satan and all the wicked and the final triumph and reign of Christ on this earth. The verse falls during the proclamation of the third angel's message, when another angel descends with great power and the earth is lighted with his glory. The Holy Spirit blesses consecrated proclaimers so that the knowledge of God and salvation and present truth spread everywhere to every city and town, the message lightens the earth with glory so the world is not left in darkness, sanctifies those who receive it, and prepares a people to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming. It is part of the last work to be done for the world and the last great testing truth, to be proclaimed by human agencies with a loud voice, with all power and efficiency and without diversion into other lines.
It stands together with proclaiming the Sabbath of the Lord, showing the seventh day to be the seal of the living God, showing what may be expected from the papal power that has made void the law of God, and warning that the Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp the hand of that power. It belongs to the warnings of Revelation to be given to the people as part of the last message of mercy, and it is no inferior matter but a message Satan would have silenced.
Heaven's Vindication in Judgment
Rejoice over fallen Babylon is heaven's assurance that God will avenge His holy apostles and prophets upon her, and it pictures heaven with God's faithful people rejoicing when those persecuted by Babylon are avenged. The power so avenged is mystic Babylon, judged because the work of false shepherds and their opposition to God's law reacts upon them. It is specifically the power that joins church and state and compels worship of the beast's image by keeping a false Sabbath, whose desolation is the doom brought by this final apostasy, and God repays its cruelty and violence. Great cities consumed by God's wrath answer for the sins of the human agents who corrupted their ways, not for anything done by the buildings themselves.
God has a storehouse of retributive judgments which He permits to fall upon those who continue in sin in the face of great light, keeping a record of every good and evil deed. He will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger, nakedness, oppression and abuse have cried to Him for help. The vengeance is fulfilled when the most costly supposed fireproof buildings become ashes as Sodom perished in the flames of God's vengeance. Vessels costing immense sums with their treasures of gold and silver and human freight sink into a watery grave, man's pride is buried with treasures accumulated by fraud, and the flattering monuments of men's greatness are crumbled in the dust even before the last great destruction, bringing sorrow no human balm can heal. Its rebellion ends when the wicked are destroyed at Christ's coming.
Revelation 18 portrays things yet to take place in the cities, culminating in God's avenging destruction of a sinful city as a wonderful display of His power because of sin and His avenging of His holy apostles and prophets. The calamity is God's rebuke upon those who abused privilege and wronged their fellow men, calling them to make amends and to hear God's voice. It must not be ignored, met with indifference, or made light of, nor answered by flattering expectation of building far greater buildings in the future. If means are defiantly invested as before, God will exercise His power to counteract such efforts.
The destruction that fell upon San Francisco on April 18 was shown in night representation as an illustration of the coming day of God's wrath and terrible judgment foretold in Revelation 18. The vision brings distress as if the day of judgment had come, to teach the wickedness existing in the world and the importance of obeying God's law. The chapter warns of coming judgments on the earth that will surely be fulfilled when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth, yet it does not identify a particular city such as New York as the target of a predicted disaster. It gives no particular light that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave, only the certainty that one day its great buildings will fall with the rest. Then terrible scenes will take place, and the great buildings and massive structures of cities will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God's power, by one word from the Lord and one touch of His mighty power, in scenes whose fearfulness cannot be imagined.
Proclaiming the Last Warning
Rejoice over fallen Babylon belongs to the last message of mercy, the warnings of Revelation to be given to the people, the truth for this time, the third angel's message, the last great testing truth and last work to be done for the world. It stands together with proclaiming the Sabbath of the Lord, showing the seventh day to be the seal of the living God, showing what may be expected from the papal power that has made void the law of God, and warning that Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp the hand of that power. It is no inferior matter but a message Satan would have silenced, bound about, and mingled with deceptions to create side issues that turn attention from the great issue.
It is to be presented in no measured terms but with boldness and power and a loud voice, with no toning down or muffling, by human agencies with all power and efficiency and without diversion into other lines. Everything is at stake in this life-and-death question, for the third angel's message is to be strengthened and confirmed as the great test to be brought upon God's people in the last days. The message lightens the earth with glory so the world is not left in darkness, sanctifies those who receive it, and prepares a people to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming.
The chapter records scenes described as about to take place that must be read to learn the things yet to take place in the cities, holding testing truths for this time that form the last call of mercy and warning to be sounded to all. God in mercy holds back His judgments while waiting for this warning to be given more fully to the world, because many have not yet heard it, and these truths are to be read and understood by all. Its words will surely be fulfilled in retributive judgment on those who persist in sin despite great light, when proud costly structures are reduced to ashes as Sodom perished, vessels with treasures of gold and silver and human freight sink, riches gained by fraud perish with man's pride, monuments of greatness crumble even before the last great destruction, God avenges widows and orphans who cried to Him in hunger, nakedness, oppression and abuse, and He keeps record of every good and evil deed bringing sorrow no human balm can heal. The description should cause all who read to fear and tremble and turn from evil and heed the light and hear God's voice and make amends, and must not be ignored, made light of, or answered with defiant investment and greater buildings, lest God exercise His power to counteract such efforts; but those who do not love the light and will not come to the light lest their deeds be reproved will not follow on to know the Lord.
Heaven and the holy apostles and prophets are called to rejoice over fallen Babylon because God has avenged them upon her. The call belongs to the prophecy of Babylon's final condition, reached when the church has rejected the threefold warning and when God's people still in Babylon are given the last call to separate from her. It falls during the proclamation of the third angel's message, when another angel descends with great power and the earth is lighted with his glory to spread present truth everywhere and prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. The power thus avenged is mystic Babylon, judged for joining church and state to compel worship of the beast's image by a false Sabbath in opposition to God's law, and its desolation is the doom of this final apostasy. Therefore the testing truth for this time is to be presented with boldness and a loud voice, with no toning down or diversion, for everything is at stake in this life-and-death issue.
Babylon's Final Prophecy
Revelation 18:20 belongs to the prophecy of Babylon's final condition, reached when the church has come to the state foretold by the second angel through rejecting the threefold warning. It stands with the final call for God's people still in Babylon to separate from her, where those who reject truth are left to believe a lie while the open-hearted receive the light of truth and heed the call. It is part of the very last call to the churches, the last message of mercy and testing warning for this time that is now to be given, and it is being fulfilled together with the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18. That revelation was given by God through Christ Himself to John on Patmos to call minds in these last days to the things that will be and to give solemn warning of the last events of this earth's history. God in mercy holds back His judgments while waiting for this warning of Revelation 18:1-24 to be given more fully to the world, because many have not yet heard it, and these testing truths for this time are to be read and understood by all.
After this last call comes what is pictured in chapter 19, when the beast and false prophet are taken and cast into a lake of fire, the dragon who instigated the great rebellion against heaven is bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, followed by the resurrection of the wicked and the final destruction of Satan and all the wicked and the final triumph and reign of Christ on this earth. The verse falls during the proclamation of the third angel's message, when another angel descends with great power and the earth is lighted with his glory. The Holy Spirit blesses consecrated proclaimers so that the knowledge of God and salvation and present truth spread everywhere to every city and town, the message lightens the earth with glory so the world is not left in darkness, sanctifies those who receive it, and prepares a people to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming. It is part of the last work to be done for the world and the last great testing truth, to be proclaimed by human agencies with a loud voice, with all power and efficiency and without diversion into other lines.
It stands together with proclaiming the Sabbath of the Lord, showing the seventh day to be the seal of the living God, showing what may be expected from the papal power that has made void the law of God, and warning that the Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp the hand of that power. It belongs to the warnings of Revelation to be given to the people as part of the last message of mercy, and it is no inferior matter but a message Satan would have silenced.
Heaven's Vindication in Judgment
Rejoice over fallen Babylon is heaven's assurance that God will avenge His holy apostles and prophets upon her, and it pictures heaven with God's faithful people rejoicing when those persecuted by Babylon are avenged. The power so avenged is mystic Babylon, judged because the work of false shepherds and their opposition to God's law reacts upon them. It is specifically the power that joins church and state and compels worship of the beast's image by keeping a false Sabbath, whose desolation is the doom brought by this final apostasy, and God repays its cruelty and violence. Great cities consumed by God's wrath answer for the sins of the human agents who corrupted their ways, not for anything done by the buildings themselves.
God has a storehouse of retributive judgments which He permits to fall upon those who continue in sin in the face of great light, keeping a record of every good and evil deed. He will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger, nakedness, oppression and abuse have cried to Him for help. The vengeance is fulfilled when the most costly supposed fireproof buildings become ashes as Sodom perished in the flames of God's vengeance. Vessels costing immense sums with their treasures of gold and silver and human freight sink into a watery grave, man's pride is buried with treasures accumulated by fraud, and the flattering monuments of men's greatness are crumbled in the dust even before the last great destruction, bringing sorrow no human balm can heal. Its rebellion ends when the wicked are destroyed at Christ's coming.
Revelation 18 portrays things yet to take place in the cities, culminating in God's avenging destruction of a sinful city as a wonderful display of His power because of sin and His avenging of His holy apostles and prophets. The calamity is God's rebuke upon those who abused privilege and wronged their fellow men, calling them to make amends and to hear God's voice. It must not be ignored, met with indifference, or made light of, nor answered by flattering expectation of building far greater buildings in the future. If means are defiantly invested as before, God will exercise His power to counteract such efforts.
The destruction that fell upon San Francisco on April 18 was shown in night representation as an illustration of the coming day of God's wrath and terrible judgment foretold in Revelation 18. The vision brings distress as if the day of judgment had come, to teach the wickedness existing in the world and the importance of obeying God's law. The chapter warns of coming judgments on the earth that will surely be fulfilled when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth, yet it does not identify a particular city such as New York as the target of a predicted disaster. It gives no particular light that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave, only the certainty that one day its great buildings will fall with the rest. Then terrible scenes will take place, and the great buildings and massive structures of cities will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God's power, by one word from the Lord and one touch of His mighty power, in scenes whose fearfulness cannot be imagined.
Proclaiming the Last Warning
Rejoice over fallen Babylon belongs to the last message of mercy, the warnings of Revelation to be given to the people, the truth for this time, the third angel's message, the last great testing truth and last work to be done for the world. It stands together with proclaiming the Sabbath of the Lord, showing the seventh day to be the seal of the living God, showing what may be expected from the papal power that has made void the law of God, and warning that Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp the hand of that power. It is no inferior matter but a message Satan would have silenced, bound about, and mingled with deceptions to create side issues that turn attention from the great issue.
It is to be presented in no measured terms but with boldness and power and a loud voice, with no toning down or muffling, by human agencies with all power and efficiency and without diversion into other lines. Everything is at stake in this life-and-death question, for the third angel's message is to be strengthened and confirmed as the great test to be brought upon God's people in the last days. The message lightens the earth with glory so the world is not left in darkness, sanctifies those who receive it, and prepares a people to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming.
The chapter records scenes described as about to take place that must be read to learn the things yet to take place in the cities, holding testing truths for this time that form the last call of mercy and warning to be sounded to all. God in mercy holds back His judgments while waiting for this warning to be given more fully to the world, because many have not yet heard it, and these truths are to be read and understood by all. Its words will surely be fulfilled in retributive judgment on those who persist in sin despite great light, when proud costly structures are reduced to ashes as Sodom perished, vessels with treasures of gold and silver and human freight sink, riches gained by fraud perish with man's pride, monuments of greatness crumble even before the last great destruction, God avenges widows and orphans who cried to Him in hunger, nakedness, oppression and abuse, and He keeps record of every good and evil deed bringing sorrow no human balm can heal. The description should cause all who read to fear and tremble and turn from evil and heed the light and hear God's voice and make amends, and must not be ignored, made light of, or answered with defiant investment and greater buildings, lest God exercise His power to counteract such efforts; but those who do not love the light and will not come to the light lest their deeds be reproved will not follow on to know the Lord.