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Revelation, Part 4: Babylon, the Great White Throne, and What Jesus Said · The Bible in 3D

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: We are in a short series entitled Revelation. It's it's in the symbols. Revelation, it's in the symbols. The medium of communication is symbols. It's a rare form of communication in the Bible.
• 0:25
  We see it in in Daniel. And of course, it's used extensively here in Revelation and you really can't understand Revelation until you know what the symbols mean. But you can't know what symbols mean until somebody tells you. It's not like a metaphor or something that is common to a culture or language. Unfortunately, everybody brings biases and prejudices to the table and they have secondary gain issues which colors how they interpret the symbols.
• 0:52
  So we are continuing on from last time where this idea of a spiritual battle. Chapters fifteen and sixteen, as I said last time, finish out the bold judgments. Alright. Now, sixteen seventeen and eighteen. And this this is really odd the placement of them and how does it fit into the story?
• 1:14
  Again, these are all symbols. Alright, there are two main characters in sixteen seventeen and eighteen. The great prostitute and the scarlet beast. What do these symbols mean? Well, likely the scarlet beast is Satan.
• 1:32
  But who is this woman? First we are told the woman is a great prostitute and the kings and all the businessmen of the nations have committed adultery with her, sexual immorality and somehow she is in league with a scarlet beast. Then the narrative changes. The woman is now called Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes on the earth and the mother of earth's abominations. Still a little while later we are told that Babylon is really the one who sets on seven hills.
• 2:08
  Well friends, you know, if you went to school and got a decent education, even high school, the city of Rome was built on seven hills, everybody knows that. And it's often referred to, Rome is often referred to the city on seven hills. So now the woman has gone from being a great prostitute to being Babylon to being Rome. Yet the description when she fails in chapter 18 falls is not a description of the city of Rome at all, it is a description of a city that has a great harbor or port. The city of Rome is 22 miles from the nearest port.
• 2:51
  So this symbol keeps changing. And I think that's purposeful. So stay with me here. If you read chapter 18 closely everything here has to do with commerce. The woman who gets people to commit sexual sins and to worship other gods sits on the top of the scarlet beast.
• 3:17
  The economic system is represented by the great prostitute who sits on top of Satan. Alright, let's connect the dots. Satan rules the earth through the economic system. Everything comes through the economic system. In effect, first Satan ruled through Babylon and then later Rome and perhaps later through Venice, maybe the city of London and perhaps Satan is ruling through New York City today.
• 3:51
  Some scholars have said that every one of these ruling cities at some time had the great beast. In other words, they had the great financial system and that Satan was working through that great financial system. On top of the economic system sets the immorality, the entertainment industry, the sports industry that's out there, the mafia, the pedophiles, everything comes out of the economic system that enables them. That is, I'm gonna suggest to you, the great prostitute. And it sits on top of Satan.
• 4:38
  But the good news is that in the end it will all be destroyed. Everything is going to be destroyed and you know in chapter 18 it's just all these people and if you look at them they're all involved in commerce, they're weeping because the great prostitute is destroyed because that's who they were and how they made their living. Alright, interesting interlude so when you think about that, you go to the store, you watch TV, you've been to 5th Avenue? Oh my gosh. Go at night and see all the lights.
• 5:25
  Vegas, all these places, I think that's a great prostitute and has to come down. Alright, chapter 19 contains the wedding feast of the lamb. The return of Christ on a white horse and the defeat of Satan. Chapter 20, Satan is chained for a thousand years. The beasts of the land and the beasts of the sea are thrown into the lake of fire.
• 5:50
  But there is one more battle after a thousand years. Later in chapter 20, Gog and Magog are allowed to arise. Satan is unchained to tempt the kings of the world to rebel one more time, which results in one final final battle. And then Satan is also thrown into the lake of fire and then we are done done. The next verse is haunting to me.
• 6:21
  This is chapter 20 verse 11 and John says, then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. And from his presence earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. If you think about this, can you imagine nothing? Everything is gone. This is the great white throne judgment.
• 6:54
  And I think it's fitting. It leads from chapters, you know, the destruction of the economic system to not just the economic system. There is no rebuild. There is no Noah and we rebuild society after the flood. There's nothing to rebuild.
• 7:12
  There is nothing. And you're resurrected. Everything is destroyed. Heaven and earth are literally gone. Yes, you've been raised from the dead but you weren't saved.
• 7:27
  You'll have to give an account of yourself before the living and righteous God who will not be mocked. I just cannot imagine the horror they realize these folks. Boy, did I bet wrong. And then the terrible judgment. Going from that utter helplessness when everything's been destroyed and there's nothing left.
• 7:59
  There's just you standing in front of the great white throne and the judgment is coming. And you will be thrown into the lake of fire if you are not saved. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Alright, but there is good news because after this, God creates a new heaven and a new earth and that takes us into chapter twenty one and twenty two. If you are saved, you will be raised.
• 8:29
  You will not stand before the great white throne. You will stand before the judgment seat of Christ where the reward will be for faithfulness. And you can see this in second Corinthians five ten and first Corinthians three ten through 15. And you will enjoy what they call the wedding feast of the lamb. When someone got married in ancient times, there was always parties, parties, parties, parties.
• 9:01
  And that certainly is going to go on. And you will dwell for eternity in the new Jerusalem with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. It's also well to consider what Jesus said about end times during the last week of his earthly ministry. So what I've given to you is a look at the symbols, the narrative, the narrative techniques to help you as you go through in thinking about some of these issues. But I think it's important that we consider what Jesus said in the last week of his life.
• 9:40
  This is in Matthew twenty four and twenty five. It was days before the crucifixion. Jesus and his disciples were at the temple and somebody said, oh, look at the temple, isn't it beautiful? And Jesus tells the disciples, temple's gonna be destroyed and of course it was in seventy AD by the Romans. Anyway, it's getting dust, they've gotta leave the Temple Mount and so they walked down the Kidron Valley, back up the other side, the Mount Of Olives.
• 10:10
  And you know, it's their favorite place, that's where the garden is where Jesus prayed his last night, the Garden Of Gethsemane. Once they get over there, the disciples are kinda struggling what Jesus said about the temple being destroyed. So they ask him three questions. When will this happen, the destruction of the temple? What is the sign of your second coming?
• 10:35
  And what will be the sign of the end of the age? Now these are actually three separate questions, not two. Some people say two but there are three questions here. How Jesus responded to these three questions are things that we as Christians really need to know as we walk into end times or prepare for them. Number one, Jesus is coming again.
• 10:58
  He is coming again. This time, though he is coming not as a servant, he is coming as lord of lords, king of kings, and he will establish his reign over the earth. Every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow to king Jesus. Number two. We do not know when Jesus is coming again.
• 11:20
  No one knows the time of the second coming. Jesus said it will be like a thief in the night. So anytime somebody picks a date, you know it's wrong because Jesus said no one knows. Number three. Jesus bids us to be prepared and to faithfully watch for his return.
• 11:40
  You know you get a crown at the judgment seat of Christ if you are faithfully waiting for his return. I know people, even a pastor who said, yeah, I really don't want Jesus to come because I wanna see my grandchildren grow up. Well, I have grandchildren and I appreciate that but it's wrong. Would I like to see my grandchildren grow up? I would.
• 12:07
  But more important than that, I want Jesus to come because then my grandchildren don't have to go through this stuff. Number four, when Jesus comes, his coming will be clear without doubt to all people of the world. You you do not have to wonder, you will know. It will be as obvious as lightning in the night sky. I've shared in other places where when I was living in California there was like the, I don't know, the third Saturday of the month all these people got in the desert and this woman who was a prophetess, I guess, you know, and she was talking about the coming of Jesus and he would come, you know.
• 12:46
  Well, you don't have to go to the desert. You will know. That is what Jesus said. You you you'll be no doubt in your mind or in anybody's mind. Number five, there will be judgment of God's people before the judgment seat of Christ which I had mentioned earlier.
• 13:02
  Now the judgment will be an evaluation to determine rewards not punishment. So here's the question. What did you do with the resources that God gave you? Okay. Yeah.
• 13:17
  Maybe you had a business, maybe you had a salary, maybe you had an inheritance, maybe you had good looks, maybe you were a great athlete, I don't know. You were given resources by God. What did you do with them? Did you waste them on yourself? On sex, drugs and rock and roll?
• 13:39
  Or did you use those resources to honor God to further his work here on the earth? Number six, there will be a final judgment of the wicked before the great white throne of God. As a result of the second coming, all people, both living and dead, will be judged by the triune God. And this judgment will be to their destruction. Their destruction.
• 14:10
  To those who are not saved. Jesus said that very clearly in Matthew twenty four and twenty five. And I think that should give you that encouragement as you look through Revelation. But there's a fifth or seventh issue here. Now the first six, no dispute, I don't think.
• 14:36
  Well, if you read scripture in a historical grammatical way, yeah, I think there's no dispute there. But this last issue is greatly disputed but it's one we should consider. What will the world be like during the time of the second coming? And what should we do to prepare for different scenarios? This issue is most often determined by your school of interpretation.
• 15:12
  Some people believe the Lord will not come back until we have a near perfect society when human government is adhering to the teachings of Christ. Therefore Jesus is not coming back until we have reconstructed our governments and until we are all God fearing people. You know, believe, you can correct me here, but I believe Roman Catholic theology is God's not gonna come back until his vicar the pope is ruling over all people in the government and then the vicar can say, okay here you go, it's ready for you now Lord. There are many protestants, Christians who think that they should get involved in politics at all levels of government so that they can work as Christians to enact all these godly laws. And we've seen a lot of people who are say into dominion theology.
• 16:15
  God's not gonna come back until you know, we have remade the world and are following his rules. If that's the case, then you you might wanna get involved in politics at any level because you're gonna hasten God's return. You know, I understand the Shiite religion part of Islam believes that the twelfth imam which is kind of their their Christ like figure is not gonna come back. He's hidden. He's been hiding now for hundreds of years.
• 16:51
  And he's not coming back until there is great chaos. And so that philosophy is what's generating this apparently never ending war there in Middle East. What do you have to do to have Christ come back or in your case the twelfth Imam I believe it is. You know the other side of this argument is no. That scripture is clear.
• 17:23
  The Lord... When the Lord returns it will be a time of chaos and rebellion like in the days of Noah. All you have to do is read Genesis first few chapters there leading up to leading up to Noah in the flood and all kinds of terrible things were happening. You know, the violence, the immorality and on and on. Well, if you believe Christ will come back during the time of chaos like in the days of Noah, then yes we have to submit to the rulers and politicians because we have to.
• 18:08
  Paul said we have to. Okay. But how we use our resources and assets that have been entrusted to us by the Lord, we need perhaps to use those resources in a wiser manner. Yeah, you could give your resources to some NGO or some political party who wants to change the world But it isn't gonna change the world. And when God judges us at the Bema Seat for rewards, he's gonna say, I gave you all this money.
• 18:49
  I gave you all these gifts and you were busy running around the world trying to, you know, save the two headed cow or or you know some, you know, climate change thing. Why didn't you use these resources to feed the needy here? Support ministries and missions around the world. Anyway, number seven is interesting. I can't tell you what to think.
• 19:17
  I mean, obviously, you know where I'm going. But on this... But I think it is just sort of a something we need to think about as we use our resources because we will have to do give an account for it. And we want our Lord to say, well done good and faithful servant. I gave you these resources and yeah, you did buy the new car but you know other than that...
• 19:52
  Alright. Little levity there and I'm done here with the book of Revelation and end times. I hope this gave you some insight and will help you when you read the next book or watch the next movie that somebody wants to talk to you about end times. I also hope that you consider just the final thoughts at least the first six and what we... Directions that Jesus gave us out of Matthew twenty four and twenty five.
• 20:25
  And then, you know, pray about number seven. What should we do in preparation? Alright. In that, let us close in prayer. Gracious Lord, I thank you for your word.
• 20:40
  I pray that the words in my mouth, the meditations in my heart, and the meditations of those who listen would bring you honor and glory. In Jesus name I pray.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Bible in three d. We're so grateful for listeners like you. Your encouragement helps us create and share more transformative content that strengthens communities worldwide. If this episode inspired you, consider supporting our nonprofit mission with a donation at cogworksmedia.org. Also, be sure to check out our other podcast, biblical reflections, for more faith insights.
• 21:19
  God bless.