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🎵Piano Music🎵 🎵Piano Music🎵 One day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for ye have done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion. For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of ye. Let's pray. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the King James Bible. Dear Lord, we thank you for this wonderful church. You have given us your God. We thank you for the pastor you have given us. Please bless him tonight as he preaches your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Tonight we continue our series, our Bible study with the book of Isaiah. Let me just go give a little bit of review from last week regarding chapter 11. And then I'm also going to finish up just the last six verses of the chapter that I didn't get a chance to cover last week. In chapter 11, chapter 11 spends a considerable amount of time just talking about some of the elements of the Millennial reign. And what it spends time talking about the most is essentially the fact that God is changing the animal kingdom. And we compare that with Romans chapter 8, how the Bible tells us that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in the sense that they're waiting for the adoption of the sons of God. Essentially saying that, you know, the animal kingdom, nature, the world is actually waiting for that resurrection. It's waiting for Jesus Christ to transform this world. And we see a couple examples of that in chapter 11 where we see that God basically changes the metabolic condition of each animal. They're no longer predators. They're not eating each other. There will be no nature is metal or discovery channel where the lion is chasing after the gazelle. Everything is just going to dwell in unity and in peace. And of course, the reason God is expressing that in chapter 11 is just to kind of give us a picture, a glimpse of the extent of peace that we're going to experience in this world. To the point where even the animals are not going to be killing each other. And it even says that a child shall lead about some of these animals that were previously carnivorous, that the child can reach into the pit of serpents and asps and nothing's going to happen to them. And so obviously there's a great transformation that takes place when Jesus Christ comes to rule and reign during the millennial reign. Now let's go and pick up in chapter 11 in verse number 10. I'm just going to cover these last couple of verses briefly. It says here in verse number 10 of chapter 11 in that day, there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people to which shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious. And what this basically is saying is that because Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning on this earth, he is essentially the dictator of the world at this point. He is the king of kings, Lord of lords, ruling physically in this land. The Bible compares them to an ensign. Now what is an ensign? Well it's basically another way of saying a banner or a standard. And if you think of a banner or a standard in context of war, it's essentially a sign that declares to the enemy or anybody else who that side you're particularly on. And so it's saying here that when Jesus Christ rules, referring to the root of Jesse, there will be no obstruction to the truth. Everyone's going to know that Jesus Christ is in charge. And the reason for that is because the enemy is temporarily removed. Temporarily as in a thousand years. Satan is cast into the bottomless pit. And because he's essentially removed from the picture for these thousand years, false religion is not a thing. And of course the truth has always been available. It will always be available to all people. But of course there's obstacles of deception. There's obstacles of false religion. There are obstacles of philosophies, vain deceit, and rudiments of this world that obstruct people's vision from the truth. But in the millennial reign, none of that stuff is going to exist. There will be no false religion. There's not going to be any promotion of philosophies and vain deceit. The end sign, the banner of Jesus Christ will be clearly seen so that Gentiles can go to Jesus Christ and not have to overcome false doctrine, false religion, things of that nature. And so that's what it means when it says that Jesus Christ will stand as an end sign. He will be the standard king. He will be the standard ruler. This will be the standard religion for all the world is the religion of Christ. Look at verse 11, it says, it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the isles of the sea. And he shall set up an end sign for the nations and shall assemble the outcast of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. Now, what is this referring to? Well, obviously, there is more of an immediate fulfillment of this regarding the Judah of Isaiah's day. But this is also prophetic of the millennial reign because if you think about it, when you look at end times Bible prophecy, at the end of Daniel 70th week, you have the Battle of Armageddon. And once that's done with and complete, you have the inauguration of the millennial reign, which is also when the believing Israelites saved people from Judah and all the tribes of times past, inherit the land once again. So God essentially collects the dispersed of Israel, saved Israel, and brings them back into the land. This is what that's referring to. Look at verse 14, it says, but they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west and they shall spoil them of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon shall obey them. Now, the next couple of verses is essentially reiterating what verse 14 is saying, which is that God's going to bring salvation to Judah and Israel by getting rid of their enemies. Now this is still in context of the millennial reign. And if you know anything about what takes place at the millennial reign, you know that this is in conjunction with all Israel being saved. Now hold your place there in Isaiah, go to Romans chapter 11 briefly. We're going to just touch on this particular subject, this topic, because it is important. And if you think about it, chapter 11, even chapter 12, as we're going to see tonight in chapter 13, it's in chronological order when dealing with end times Bible prophecy. Because look at Romans 11 verse 25 in context of what we just read regarding the victory over the enemies of the Lord here, the enemies of God's people. It says in verse 25, for I would not brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Now what is this referring to? Well it's referring to the fact that when you look at Israel collectively, you have to be able to separate them between two people groups. One being saved Israelites, which the vast majority of them just don't exist today. But if you were to look at all of history, we can conclude that there's a lot of saved people in Israel, in Judah, throughout the centuries. People who believed on the Lord, end times past, in the Old Testament, and of course even in the New Testament. Now the other Israel are the Israel according to the flesh that are not saved. So when it says blindness in part is happening to Israel, it's referring to the fact that that section of Israel that has not believed on the Lord, they're blinded. And it says that as a whole collectively Israel, it will remain that way until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. Now the fullness of the Gentiles, another way of saying that is, or the way the Bible would put it is, the times of the Gentiles. And what that's referring to is actually the end of a 42 month period, three and a half year period. Which actually takes place in end times Bible prophecy at the abomination of desolation. Three and a half years thereafter, you have the battle of Armageddon, then you have the inauguration of the millennial reign, and that is essentially the completion of the fullness of the Gentiles. You can compare that to Luke 21, you can compare it to Revelation chapter 11, where the Bible talks about the Gentiles trotting Jerusalem underfoot, and it gives us that time frame that says for 42 months. So Israel collectively will remain blind until that time period, and then look what it says in verse 26, and so all Israel shall be saved. Now a lot of dispensationalists, pre-tribbers will interpret that to mean that at the battle of Armageddon, the Jews are going to see Jesus coming on a white horse, and that's when they get saved by looking upon him. But obviously that's nonsense, it's been refuted many times, it's stupid to even think that that's how people get saved. Because Jesus came humbly in the first century AD, and they crucified him. So it makes you think that anything is going to change 2,000 years later. What is this referring to? When it says all Israel shall be saved, it goes on to say, And if you look at the theme of the book of Isaiah and other major prophets, you'll often hear this phrase of the remnant of Judah, or the remnant of Israel. Referring to the fact that there is a small group of people that will be delivered from God's wrath. Implying that the rest of Israelites, the rest of Judah, will suffer God's punishment. So they will be removed from Jacob, and then the remaining Israelites, the remaining those of Judah, will be saved. You understand? Now how does this fit end times of Bible prophecy? Well after the battle of Armageddon, at the inauguration of the millennial reign, you have saved Israelites from all of time, all the eras, inherit the land, but at that point, ungodliness is removed from Jacob. What is the ungodliness? Unsaved Israelites. So unsaved Israelites will no longer occupy Israel. So why is that important? Because only unsaved Israelites occupy Israel at this time. They're not God's people, they're not God-fearing people. They don't worship the God of the Bible, because the God of the Bible is Jesus Christ. And so right now, it's infested with God-hating, anti-Christ individuals, and according to the Bible, that is the ungodliness of Jacob. But in the end times, when believing Israelites are resurrected, and they stand in their time, ungodliness or the unsaved Israelites are removed, and at that point you only have saved Israelites inheriting the land. How do we know that? Because you've got to look at the timeline that it says that that happens at the fullness of the Gentiles. And when you compare Luke 21, Revelation 11, you understand that that happens after the battle of Armageddon. It's very simple. And it says in verse 27, For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins, as concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. Now what's funny is that you have Zionists who often point out this scripture and say, Yeah, they're enemies for the gospel's sake, or excuse me, they're enemies for your sake, but they're also beloved for the Father's sake. Well, what they don't understand is that these are two different groups of people. The enemies are those who are not the elect. The elect are those who are actually saved. So when it says that, as concerning the gospels, they are enemies for your sakes, it's referring to unsaved Israelites, unsaved Jews, who are persecuting God's people, hindering them from propagating the gospel, as we see throughout the New Testament. But as touching the election, now who are the election according to the New Testament? Saved people. And if we're talking in context of Jews, Israelites, it's saved Jews. Like who? Like the apostle Paul. Peter, right? He said, well that term is only designated for Israelites, though, and Jews. No, because when Peter, who is a Jew according to the flesh, is writing to Gentiles in Cappadocia, Bithynia, Pontius, Galatia, which are Gentile nations, he calls them the elect. So there you have it. They are beloved for the Father's sake. And the they there is not only referring to Israelites who are saved, it's referring to us as well. Because we are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the fact that we're saved. Now go back to Isaiah, if you would. So that is essentially what the latter end of Isaiah chapter 11 is referring to. Of course it spends a considerable amount of time explaining to us what the millennial reign is. But then it kind of goes into the salvation of Israel, the fact that their enemies are going to be removed out of the picture. God's salvation would come to them. Now tonight, because of the brevity of chapter 12, I'm actually not going to cover chapter 12 at all. And the reason for that is because it's pretty self-explanatory. It's essentially an interlude of worship. And I think the reason that chapter 12 or the content of chapter 12 is included here, is because of the fact that chronologically, once Israel or Judah, saved Israel and Judah, inherit the millennial reign, what do they do? They praise God. They're thankful for the salvation of Jesus Christ. They're thankful for the salvation of God that came upon them. And this is why it says in verse 1, And in that day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Now obviously, this is speaking generally as though the nation is one person, right? It's as if a person is speaking, but it's referring to the entire nation. And God was angry with Israel. He's angry with Judah. But his anger is turned away. Why? Because ungodliness is removed from Jacob. And of course, they receive the comfort of the Lord. They are praising God and worshiping him because of his fulfillment of his promises that we see throughout the Bible being fulfilled in the millennial reign. Now tonight, we're going to spend the remainder of the sermon in chapter 13. Now chapter 13 is about the burden of Babylon, which is ironic that we're kind of covering Babylon tonight, being that tomorrow is the Fourth of July, amen? But for the next couple of chapters, really, you have this malediction against all of these nations. So it's just preaching sermon, sermon after sermon against the other nations. Now if you've paid attention, up until this point, God is just ripping on Judah, right? He's ripping on Israel, he's getting on Israel, he's getting on Judah. But now he's going to turn his attention to the surrounding nations. And it's a series of judgments against these nations, Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre. These are nations that have persecuted God's people, and therefore, they're going to get it next. And it reminds me of 1 Peter, chapter 4, you don't have to turn there, where it says in verse 17, For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. Kind of like what we see in Isaiah, right? The judgments were first towards Israel, towards Judah. And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? Essentially saying that, you know, even though God is judging his people, I mean, if he's judging them this harshly, what do you think he's going to do to the people who are not saved? What do you think he's going to do to the people who have persecuted God's people, right? That's essentially what it's talking about here. Now tonight, we're going to look at the judgments, the indictments against Babylon. Now what's interesting about this is that at this time, Babylon is actually not a superpower. And some would say that this particular chapter or this curse that's coming upon Babylon takes place a hundred years prior to it even being destroyed, okay? And this kind of fits any time you see judgments in the Bible, because, you know, God will often allow a certain period of time before he actually judges a nation or judges a person, because he's long suffering, right? And so, you know, on a practical level, when you find someone who's backslidden, they're away from God, they're involved in sin, you're like, why aren't they being judged? Well, here's the thing, maybe God is just being merciful to them, and that judgment is coming one day, okay? And so I'm sure the Israelites, you know, sometime during those hundred years, are probably thinking like, why is God allowing the Babylonians to do this? And it's like, yeah, but they're going to get theirs one day, okay? You know, he's not going to forget their deeds, he's not going to just let it go, he's going to speedily punish them in his time. Now look at verse number 1 of chapter 13 here, we're going to look at the day of the Lord upon Babylon, it says in verse number 1, the burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. Now if you've read the Bible a couple times, or just at least once, I'm sure you've noticed that phrase, the burden of, and then it gives you like a nation, right? And what is that referring to? Why does he call it the burden of Damascus, the burden of Tyre, the burden of Babylon? Well, burden is something that's heavy, and what Isaiah is referring to here is like the heavy message that's going to come upon Babylon. The burden is the message that Isaiah is carrying to Babylon. He says in verse number 2, Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. So what this is referring to is that, just as God used the Babylonians to punish his people, now he's going to use another nation to punish the people that he used to punish his people. It's interesting that he's raising up even the evil for the day of evil. And so he is raising up another nation to punish even the Babylonians, and when you look at the context of the chapter, you can conclude that this is referring to the Medo-Persian Empire. As for a few reasons, one, it literally says later on, it talks about the Medes, but also we know based upon the succession of world powers, that the nation or the superpower that takes over after the Babylonians is the Medo-Persian Empire, Cyrus the Persian, and it also, the king of Persia, and it also calls him the mighty one, and it even says the person who rejoices in his highness. And it's said that Cyrus was a man who actually knew the Lord, or he feared the Lord to a certain capacity, and so this is referring to that person. And if you've read, for example, the book of Daniel, in Daniel chapter 7, you have Daniel having a dream, and he has this dream of a succession of animals. The first being a lion, the second a bear, the third a leopard, and the fourth is unnamed, but the first one that's a lion is referring to that Babylonian empire. The bear is the Medo-Persian Empire because it's lopsided. The reason it's lopsided is because it's a dual kingdom with one kingdom being stronger than the other. So this is how we know we can conclude that the nation that's going to be used to punish Babylon is the Medo-Persian Empire, Cyrus, king of Persia. He says in verse number 4, The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people, a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together. The Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, at the weapons of a signified nation, to destroy the whole land. Now let me just interrupt myself real quick and just quickly mention that even though this is a literal judgment that's going to come upon Babylon, this is also prophetic of end times Babylon. And it's important that when you study passages regarding Babylon and end times Bible prophecy in the Old Testament, you can't necessarily extrapolate every single thing from that particular chapter and say that it all applies to end times Babylon. A lot of people make that mistake and think that everything that it says in the Old Testament regarding end times prophecy, or if it signifies or has a hint, a tone of end times prophecy, that it all has to do with Daniel's 70th week or what takes place in end times. But you have to understand that you've got to leave some for what's going on in his day. And in fact, the majority of it has to do with their day. And this is how people can get mixed up because they read this and they're like, well, where is that in Revelation? It's not. There's some elements that are not. When it talks about these other nations that he's going to punish, those nations don't even exist. And so you never want to walk into the danger of applying every single verse that seems to have a hint or a tone of end times to end times. Obviously there are sections of it that definitely deal with end times and the way we can distinguish which one does and which one doesn't is it repeated in the New Testament? If it's repeated, that's on purpose because God wants you to make that connection and to further reinforce whatever he's trying to teach for end times. Does that make sense to everyone? And so the same goes with Babylon. And so we're going to look at all the end times Bible prophecy statements here. But obviously there's some verses that don't match up with end times and that's okay because it still happened during this particular time. So we see Cyrus, king of Persia, being the instrument that God uses to destroy Babylon. And now we're going to look at the morning for the day of the Lord. Now look at verse 6. It says, How ye? For the day of the Lord is at hand. What does it mean to howl? Well another way of saying it is to mourn. It's to weep, right? It's to make a sound of lamentation because of pain. It says, How ye? For the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt, and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth. They shall be amazed one at another. Their faces shall be as flames. Now turn with me if you would to Luke 21. Hold your place there in Isaiah and go to Luke 21. And if you have a paper or a pen, just put it in the book of Revelation because we're going to be referencing that as well throughout the Bible study tonight. Now let me just say this is that the day of the Lord, when you study in the Old Testament, 100% of the time, it's synonymous with God's judgment. And God drives that in constantly that the day of the Lord is essentially describing when God pours out his wrath upon a nation, a person. That's what he calls it. And all the elements that surround the day of the Lord in the Old Testament all have God's judgment upon them. There's nothing positive in the Old Testament about the day of the Lord. But here's the thing is that it's also synonymous with the rapture in the New Testament. And here's where our preacher brethren, our beloved preacher brethren, they err on when it comes to end times Bible prophecy. Because they believe that the day of the Lord has to do with the battle of Armageddon. So when they read into the phrase the day of the Lord in the New Testament, they automatically interpret that as taking place at the battle of Armageddon. And quite honestly, I sympathize with that. And I could understand why. Because the battle of Armageddon is God's judgment. And you can basically call it the day of the Lord as well because of the fact that it's God's wrath being poured upon the Antichrist, the false prophet, and his armies. However, when you look at the elements that surround the day of the Lord and compare it to the elements that surround the rapture, they're one and the same. So when the day of the Lord takes place, it's wrath upon the unsaved, but it's salvation for the saved. It's the redemption of the body. So the same elements found describing the day of the Lord is what we find prior to the rapture as well. And it's virtually indisputable that that's the case. You can compare every single passage of the Old Testament of the day of the Lord and compare it to the New Testament description of the rapture in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, and Revelation chapter 6 and say, oh, this is the rapture. And to say that it's the rapture is not taking away the fact that it's judgment upon the unsaved. And this is one of the reasons why we are post-trib pre-wrath. And it fits like a glove because of the fact that the rapture takes place a little after the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week. So everything prior to that is considered tribulation, according to the Bible, but everything after that, because it's the day of the Lord, is the wrath of God. So when you look at the timetable, after the day of the Lord, you have what? The seven trumpets, seven vials, the three woes, all of them essentially describing God's wrath being poured upon this world for three and a half years. Very important. Now look at Luke 21 in light of what we just read in Isaiah. In verse 23 it says, But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trotted down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, upon the earth, distressed of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. So that's synonymous with what we see in Isaiah, where it says these people are going to be howling at the day of the Lord. Okay? Mourning. And in fact it says that their hands shall be faint. Every man's heart shall melt. That's what we see in Luke 21. Men's hearts failing them for fear. Because when the rapture takes place for us it's like, beam me up! But the world, when they see the Lamb, all these God-hating atheists, and agnostics, and people who have mocked Christianity, you know they're thinking, I'm screwed! They're thinking, crap! Because you're not going to be able to hide from him. Where is thy mouth now? And we're just going to be like, I told you. I told you. For us it's great. Lift up your head for your redemption draws nigh. But for the unsaved, it's one of the most terrifying days. To see someone just pierce through, you know, the spiritual realm to the physical realm on a cloud, and everything is just dark, and just like a flash of lightning. And he's not coming, you know, like he came the first time. He's coming to make war. In fact, go to Revelation now. Hopefully you put a pen there, or a piece of paper. Look at Revelation chapter 1. We're going to visit a couple different chapters in just a bit. But let's just go to Revelation 1 first. It says, It says, Even so, amen. So Matthew 24 says that they mourn. Revelation 1 says that they wail. And Isaiah chapter 13 says that they howl. It's just different ways of saying, AHHH! Which that was probably just very minimal compared to how they're actually going to scream. Okay. Now why are they doing that? For fear? And in fact, the latter end of chapter 6, having mountains fall on you sounds better than what Christ is going to do to them. Because they say to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us. So it's like, which one would you rather have? Fall into the hands of God, or having God fall on you? Right? Or sorry, no, fall into the hands of God or having mountains fall on you? They're just like, Tell the mountains to just fall on us and hide us. It's like, just have that crush us. Because Jesus Christ, who's the rock, is going to crush them no matter what. So this is like, they're terrified, they're fearful, this is what the day of the Lord is being described as, it's a terrible day for the unsaved. Okay. Because it's payday. It's the day of vengeance. It's where God gets back at the world for all the blood that they've shed, all the mockery of Christianity, and so on. Go back to Isaiah, hold your place here in Revelation. We're going to look at the elements of the day of the Lord, regarding the heavenly bodies. Look at verse 9, it says, Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel! Wow. Both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. No, he loves sinners, yeah, but here it says he's coming to destroy the sinners. He says in verse 10, For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Now, study all the times that the day of the Lord is mentioned in the Old Testament, you'll have those elements, maybe not perfectly stated exactly the same, but it's always involving the sun and the moon being darkened, the stars of heaven not shining forth their light, or falling from the sky. And in fact, Matthew 24, you don't have to turn there, and verse 29 says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Revelation chapter 6, verse 12 says, And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and a sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her on timely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. So we see those parallels there between what the New Testament describes as the rapture, the day of the Lord, and the day of the Lord in Isaiah 13. Look at verse 11 of Isaiah 13. It says, And I will punish the world for their evil. Now, really, in context, who is he punishing? Babylon. But here he says he's punishing the world. So you see that dual fulfillment there. Even though he's addressing Babylon, which is a particular nation, he's actually also referring to the world. Okay? I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and I will lay low the hideness of the terrible. Now, you say, well, why is that important to even say that he's referring to the world there? There's a doctrine called Preterism that believes that there's only one fulfillment of these Bible prophecies, but, hold on a second, the world was not punished for their evil in that day. There's other people who were not punished during the punishment of Babylon all around the world that did not suffer the wrath of God, meaning that that still has to be fulfilled. And this is why it's important that when you read the Bible, you read it knowing full well that God has layers of prophecy that have to be fulfilled. Sometimes they are completely fulfilled, like the coming of Christ in the first century A.D., but there's other instances like this where the triangle does not fit into the round hole, because the world was not punished for their evil in the judgment of the Babylonians, so therefore, your mind has to shift towards the future and realize, oh, this is a prophetic statement about the entire world. The Bible is beautifully written, folks, where he can just judge Babylon and just make application to thousands of years into the future. It's like, awesome! I will punish the world for their evil. Look at verse 12, it says, I will make a man more precious than fine gold. Now that doesn't mean that he's going to be valuable. Precious means scarce, meaning there's not going to be a whole lot of men there because they're going to be killed and destroyed. That's good poetry right there, amen? I just hope, like, you know, Hobby Lobby uses that one day, thinking that it's actually something really nice, but it's just like, no, it means that he's going to kill so many people, you know, men are going to be scarce in the land is what it's referring to. Even a man than a golden wedge of Ophir therefore I will shake the heavens and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chaste row and as the sheep that no man taketh up they shall every man turn to his own people and flee everyone into his own land. Everyone that is found shall be thrust through and everyone that is joined into them shall fall by the sword their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished. So when you look at verses 13 through 16 and you compare that to end times Bible prophecy, that's not necessarily the element that's specifically highlighted in the book of Revelation. Okay, now we're coming back to the actual judgment of Babylon excuse me, the judgment of Cyrus the Persian to Babylon and that's why it's talking about the children being dashed to pieces before their eyes this is now addressing the fact that this is what Cyrus is going to do to Babylon. Now go to Revelation chapter 9 if you would, Revelation chapter 9 because I want to address the first couple of verses verses 11 and 12 where he says I will make a man more precious than fine gold referring to the fact that a lot of dudes are going to die okay, people in mass numbers will be killed by God's wrath look at Revelation 9 and verse number 15 it says and the four angels were loose, this is already by the way into God's wrath so if you read the book of Revelation God's wrath begins in chapter 8 okay, those were the trumpets are first sounded, that's when God's judgment and wrath is poured upon the world chapter 9 begins with you know, the judgment of the locust and then it gets into 200 million horsemen supernatural animals that are sent forth to asphyxiate the population burn them with brimstone and fire etc. look at verse 15 the four angels were loose, which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year for to slay the third part of men for into the world and the number of the army of the horsemen were 1000,000 and I heard the number of them and thus I saw the horses in the vision and then I sat on them having breast plates of fire and of jacinth and brimstone in the heads of the horses whereas the heads of lions and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone by these three were the third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths for their powers in their mouth and in their tails for their tails were like unto serpents and at heads and with them they do hurt and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils, idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornications nor of their thefts. Well you say well how is that parallel to what we see in Isaiah 13? He's punishing them for their evil and the evil that we see here is the fact that there are murderers, sorcerers fornicators and thieves what about the scarcity? Well how about the fact that he's you know just toasting what is it one third of them? That's a lot of dead bodies everywhere and so this literally happened to Babylon but it's a microcosm of what will happen on a grander scale globally in the end times. Go back to Isaiah if you would chapter 13 we're going to look at the desolation of Babylon look at verse 17 it says in verse 17 behold I will stir up the meads against them which shall not regard silver and as for gold they shall not delight in it their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb their eyes shall not spare children so again now what is it doing? It's going into the future but then it's coming right back once again to address the actual judgment that's going to come upon the Babylon of what Isaiah is preaching against here and this is another indication that it is referring to the Medo-Persian empire because he clearly spells it out that the meads are going to do this now this is kind of showing us that God is turning the heart of the king against Babylon in such a way that they're not satisfied with gold they're not satisfied with silver they're not satisfied with gold in other words they can't be bribed that are not being punished God has set forth in their heart to just destroy them no matter what the bribery is and they're going to be very violent and of course they're not even going to pity the children, the young men and the fruit of the womb it says look at verse 19 and Babylon the glory of kingdoms the beauty of the Chaldees excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah now that's really important because of the fact that when you look at the way Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed it was destroyed with fire and brimstone now when you look at Babylon and how it was destroyed in this particular instance I don't believe literal fire and brimstone is going to come down and rain upon them because obviously what's raining upon them spiritually is God's wrath through the Medes and the Persians right? and the picture that's being put forth here is that they're going to be made desolate the way Sodom and Gomorrah was just completely desolate however you can also make the application to end times because in the end times during God's wrath fire and brimstone will literally come down from heaven and in fact the first instances of judgment in chapter 8 all have to do with fire God's just burning up all the trees you know destroying the marine life turning the water into blood I mean think about that that is utter chaos you're burning up tons of trees making the air arid and just you know very difficult to breathe and then you add on top of that you have all this marine life that's being destroyed and killed fish stink you add fish mingled with blood it smells even more you add whatever percentage it is in chapter 8 of the oceans being turned to blood and all this marine life dying I mean the world is just going to smell horribly it's just going to be a horrible place to be at that time and so God is overthrowing the world during that time and that's why the Bible talks about the fact that Sodom is destroyed with fire and brimstone chapter 8 of Revelation talks about the fire coming down from heaven destroying them people are asphyxiating through the 200 million horsemen it says in verse 20 it shall never be inhabited neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there neither shall the shepherds make their fold there now I do want to mention this that obviously when you look at the day of the Lord in end times you know that it's referring generally to the entire world like the whole world suffers at the hand of God's wrath right? but you also have to take into account that God is specifically talking about Babylon too and even though there is a literal Babylon in the Old Testament that existed at one point there's also a spiritual Babylon in the New and the Babylon the mystery the great mystery of Babylon the whore harlot mother of harlots in the book of Revelation is referring to a system it's referring to a nation okay and so even though here we see it kind of mingled in with God's wrath being poured upon that specific nation well in the end times end times Babylon that's a specific nation is going to be punished yes but it also applies to just all of the world as well okay now in Daniel 70th week when you look at the timeline of that Babylon the nation is going to be destroyed that doesn't happen until like the very end of Daniel 70th week but it's basically the end of the third woe which is the end of the seven trumpets and seven vials the point that I'm making here is that you kind of have a mixture of God's judgment upon Babylon but also on all the world here in this chapter and the end times God is judging all the world through the seven trumpets and seven vials but he does hone in and specifically focus on Babylon as well now not to be mixed up with the literal nation of Babylon that we see here though because this literal nation you know Nebuchadnezzar and all that you know that doesn't exist it's a spiritual Babylon okay now go to Revelation chapter 18 if you want to do an in depth study on this you study Revelation 17 and 18 Revelation chapter 17 gives you an introduction to Babylon and gives you some of the descriptions of Babylon and you know a lot of times fundamental Baptists have often interpreted that to mean that it's referring to the Roman Catholic Church and you can definitely see why because the Roman Catholic Church is a whore of an institution right and it's great that you can just make all kinds of application you know the Bible is so expansive and applicable to many different types of things and so you know I preach at the Red Hot Preaching Conference against the Roman Catholic Church and I talked about Babylon how the Roman Catholic Church is a whore of an institution and a lot of the elements of Babylon end times Babylon applies to the Roman Catholic Church however the immediate interpretation the main interpretation I don't believe it's literally the Roman Catholic Church not that they're not going to play a role in the success of Babylon because ultimately all of the false religions of this world will come together united but it is of my opinion my interpretation in my lifetime in my generation I believe it to be the United States of America because when you look at the the characteristics of Babylon throughout the Bible you come to the conclusion that it's referring to a one world super power that is superior to all nations and in the end times the reason that's important is because the Antichrist needs that one super power to get into power and use the whore and to discard the whore so just as God you know uses one nation to punish another nation in like manner you know he's going to use the Antichrist to punish Babylon and the kings of the earth to punish Babylon for its wickedness its deeds now obviously there's nothing in the Bible that spells out United States of America as being Babylon but obviously you know in the day and age in which we live when we look at the attributes of end times Babylon you compare it to the United States of America if it were to happen in our lifetime the United States of America will fall into place into being end times Babylon now we know that if it doesn't happen in our lifetime maybe another super power can come up a hundred years two hundred years from now but you know we're living in this generation so we're to interpret the Bible in this generation okay and so if it were to happen there's no other nation that we can point to other than the United States of America okay now look at Revelation 18 verse 7 referring to Babylon it says how much she had 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 this is referring to the pride of Babylon and so when you look at the pride of Babylon compared to the pride of the United States of America you know Americans are extremely proud of their nation and I don't mean like I'm proud to be an American I'm talking about prideful in its power and the fact that nothing can take us you know and we have the greatest military we have the greatest power and and the reality is this is that the world is always looking at what America is doing the world is always concerned with what America is doing right which puffs up America even that much the more it says in verse 8 therefore shall her place come in one day death and mourning and famine and she shall be utterly burned with fire you know like Sodom and Gomorrah for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her and the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and live deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning standing afar off for the fear of her torment saying alas alas that great city Babylon that mighty city for in one hour is thy judgment come obviously there's different theories of how end times Babylon will be destroyed if we were to interpret it through our generation we would say it's probably like a nuclear bomb of some sort because it talks about the burning the destruction the smoke of her burning and the fact that she's destroyed in one hour and I would say it probably would take an hour or less right or actually I don't even know how long it takes for an atomic bomb to just destroy everything I'm sure it just happens in a matter of seconds but you know you have this utter destruction that comes upon her and when you look at end times prophecy you see that there's ten kings that are responsible for turning on Babylon now you say why do you think what's another reason why you think it's the United States of America well because America's a major major supporter of the state of Israel and if you know anything about end times prophecy and the antichrist you know the antichrist is going to be a Jew and if you don't believe that you know you need to stop reading your Left Behind series and start reading the Bible I always thought it was going to be a Muslim Islam is the enemy of Christianity yeah it is but you know what there's a greater enemy than Islam and it's called Judaism and the last time I checked on the New Testament Islam was not the number one adversary of the Bible believer in the New Testament and you know all you have to do is look at what mainstream Christianity is promoting and that's how you know who's the enemy like let's say you haven't read the Bible and you want to just kind of streamline your understanding and knowledge of the Bible and who's the enemy just look at what mainstream Christianity is doing and be like okay that's the enemy right there that's the devil and you know what Zionism is a major factor in mainstream Christianity they believe in the Jews being God's chosen people and pray for Israel in spite of the clear passages of Scripture in the New Testament and in fact the New Testament is like is like garlic to the vampire of mainstream Christianity you quote the Bible they're like ahhh you know they just can't take it because Fox News and Ben Shapiro and the Daily Wire are always telling them to support Israel and the Jews are God's chosen people and they're the apple of his eye and blah blah blah this so when you look at that you read the Bible and you look at that like oh yeah the Antichrist is going to be a Jew has to be you know and if you're anything like us every new famous Jew that pops up is like man is that the guy it's like Jared Kushner like I don't know you know you could pass for an Antichrist you know the Antichrist I know you are an Antichrist but you know I kind of wonder if you're the Antichrist you say well that still doesn't really explain why you think America would be Babylon well you know Babylon is a whore that is used by the Antichrist because you know a whore according to biblical division is someone that you use and you abuse and you discard you don't love the whore you use the whore and you know what America is used by Israel fact and you know my favorite story to tell is when I witnessed to a Jew he was an Orthodox Jew Jerry Curl and all and he even said like you know because I was trying to witness to him and then he sympathized for me he felt like sorry for me he's like look look look we like Christians because you're helping us I mean the greatest insult you could ever like and I'm thinking to myself like I don't support the Antichrist but he's speaking for all Israel he's speaking for all Jews in Judaism and Israel when he says that you know what he's right because America aside from its political you know support of Israel and that's the only thing we agree with the liberals on I guess nowadays and if you ever want an icebreaker for the liberals to talk about hey I'm against the Jews too you know because you know they're against Israelites or not Israel but they're against the state of Israel and they don't even know why they're just kind of going along with whatever narrative is being pushed by their you know rulers or whatever but you know aside from the fact that America supports them politically then you have this sub category of Christians who are conservatives who are involved in politics who are supporting them spiritually so when you have politics just you know supporting Israel and you know send them money and you know being a whore to them kind of words that I want to use but I can't because you know this is the sacred desk here but you know what I mean you know what I mean aside from that then you have Christians who are promoting Zionism behind their pulpits pushing this narrative that they're God's chosen people and just in tandem with that Zionist propaganda political propaganda those two is proof the fact that it's happening in the United States of America that America is Israel's whore I think that's the best way to put it America is Israel's whore and Israel is going to milk America as much as she's worth but you know once once they consummate the marriage which he's not going to marry her once they come together you know he's not going to marry her what is he going to do he's going to discard her the ten kings are going to discard her and so you know obviously I could be wrong but you know when you compare a lot of what's taking place I think it's pretty legitimate unless there's another nation that rises up that's more of a valuable whore than the United States of America is to Israel can you think of one? and by the way I know I live here okay this isn't treason because I love the people here in America and here's the thing I apologize for what other Christians preach in support of Israel you know because that's not the Christian message look at verse 21 so the destruction shall come upon them upon Babylon and we see that in end times that Babylon is the last thing to be destroyed prior to the battle of Armageddon because God like destroys everything and in fact he even judges Jerusalem he judges Jerusalem and then Babylon comes into his remembrance you know which is by the way proof that Jerusalem can't be Babylon amen because he judges Jerusalem and then he's like oh yeah by the way you little whore and then he burns her with fire that's what he does and so once that's accomplished then you have the battle of Armageddon okay so the destruction of Babylon is like towards the very end of Daniel's 70th week now here's the last thing I'm going to cover and this is very interesting and so just hang with me for a couple more minutes verse 21 but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures and owls shall dwell there and satyrs shall dance there and the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses and dragons in their pleasant places palaces excuse me and her time is near to come and her days shall not be prolonged so basically what it's saying is that once Babylon of what Isaiah's talking about here once it's destroyed it shall not be inhabited by people and one of the indicators that it's just completely destroyed is the fact that animals begin to take over because any time a particular area is void of humans animals always take over okay it becomes a habitation of animals and this is why you know for example you know God when the children of Israel are going into the promised land he's like I'm not going to remove all these people in one year because if I do then the animal the beasts of the field are going to take over because it's always a blessing when humans inhabit and populate a specific area you know you don't want to be like Florida where you just the alligators are just like using your pool and you know they're just crazy animals you guys need to get some dominion over those animals over there just you know and they got rats they got rodents they got all kinds of things like it's Florida they got no control they got no dominion over there that's not a sign of God's blessing and I'm being serious about that you know people are like oh you know you can't you know take over this area where animals live knock down all the trees kick the birds out they're not producing some sort of food just kick them out and in fact you know in 2020 when COVID happened you know a lot of these national parks closed down like people weren't allowed to go there because of COVID and a lot of these animals began to become bold and they started like inhabiting the areas where people would go and visit because there aren't people there so that's just a natural byproduct of a desolate area when humans are not taking over then the animals come take over so that's what it's saying here now go to Revelation chapter 18 and I want you to look at verse number 1 so you say well is that applicable to Babylon of what Isaiah is talking about or is this having to do with end times Babylon? Both because he destroys Babylon it's desolate and then the animals take over and then in end times Babylon he destroys that Babylon and devils take over look what it says in verse 1 become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird so this is basically what we see in Isaiah chapter 13 right where it's made desolate and in Isaiah chapter 13 it says that it shall be houses full of doleful creatures owls and satyrs now satyrs is not you know narnia or whatever like you know some goat on two feet playing a flute referring to just a goat of some sort that's what a satyr is but it's not there on accident though because of the fact that you know Satan is often portrayed as a goat Baphomet right so what I believe this is saying here in Revelation chapter 18 is the fact that when Babylon is destroyed which potentially could be America it'll be made desolate animals take over and it specifically says that it becomes a habitation of devils now what I believe that's referring to is the fact that devils will possess those animals in end times Babylon so how do you know that? well if you remember back in Matthew chapter 8 when God cast out the legion of devils out of the maniac not the legion but he cast out the devils out of the maniac of Gadara I think it was a legion the legion of devils out of the maniac of Gadara they plead for him to allow them to go into the swine right and then they run off and then they drown themselves well here's my answer to where do all the devils go in end times because we see in Revelation chapter 20 that Satan is cast into the bottomless pit but it doesn't really make mention of what happens to the other devils and demons except for what we see here in Revelation 18 that Babylon becomes a habitation of devils and it's almost as if it becomes a hold for all those devils for that thousand year period until the day of judgment where they're permanently cast into the lake of fire so when you compare Isaiah 13 to Revelation 18 you see the desolation of Babylon which results in animals taking over and more specifically in Revelation 18 it's just the animals that get possessed by these devils in that area or whatever it may be and so that's what I believe it's referring to there and so we're going to conclude that right there the judgment of Babylon continues on to chapter 14 and we'll cover that next week let's pray, Father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the fact that we know that no matter how much time passes whether it's a lifetime whether we don't see it in our lifetime we know that vengeance belongs unto you and that you will right every wrong and you don't forget things Lord judgment will come upon the evil of this world and may it grieve us Lord and may we pray unto you daily for your justice to be carried out but even if we don't see it in our lifetime may we pray in faith knowing full well that you will equal out the balances Lord and bring judgment and justice upon this earth we love you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name Amen