Revelation, chapters 18 - 20

• The symbol {XXIII #.} after a word/phrase means that word/phrase is given in Greek on page XXIII (Reve)-- scroll down (if necessary) to that #;
• the symbol  means the Greek is the same as for the same word recently covered;
• the symbol  means the word does not exist in Greek.

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Chapter 18 Written by the apostle John (in addition to the Gospel of John); note that these 4 later books by John (1st-3rdJoh & Reve) were the only books written after Rome was destroyed-- all the books after the Gospels are listed/described on the HOMEPAGE

After this I saw another angel coming down from Heaven. He had great authority & the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons & a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean & detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, & the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.

Then I heard another voice from Heaven say: Come out of her, MY People, so that You will not share in her sins, so that You will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to Heaven, & GOD the FATHER has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Thereby you will: Give her as much torture & grief as the glory & luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, & I will never mourn.' Therefore in 1 day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning & famine. She will be consumed by fire, for Mighty is the LORD GOD who judges her.

• When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her & shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep & mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off & cry to the city: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In 1 hour your doom has come!'
• The merchants of the earth will weep & mourn over her because no 1 buys their cargo anymore--
  • cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones & pearls;
  • fine linen, purple, silk & scarlet cloth;
  • every sort of citron wood, & articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron & marble;
  • cargoes of cinnamon & spice, of incense, myrrh & frankincense, of wine & olive oil, of fine flour & wheat;
  • cattle & sheep;
  • horses & carriages; &
  • bodies & souls of men.
• They the kings will also say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches & splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.'
• The merchants who sold these things & gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep & mourn at her torment & cry out about the city: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple & scarlet, & glittering with gold, precious stones & pearls! In 1 hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!'
• Every sea captain, & all who travel by ship, the sailors, & all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' They will throw dust on their heads, & with weeping & mourning cry out about the city: 'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In 1 hour she has been brought to ruin! Shifting gears: Rejoice over her, O Heaven! Rejoice, saints & apostles & prophets! GOD has judged her for the way she treated You.'

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone & threw it into the sea, & said:

• With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
• The music of harpists & musicians, flute players & trumpeters, will never be heard in you again.
• No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again.
• The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
• The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.
• The voice of a bridegroom will never be heard in you again.
  • Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
  • In her was found the blood of the prophets & of the saints, & of all who have been killed on the earth.

Chapter 19 Written by the apostle John

• After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in Heaven shouting:
  • Hallelujah! Salvation & glory & power belong to Our GOD, for true & just are HIS Judgments. HE has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. HE has avenged on her the Blood of HIS Servants.
• And again They shouted:
  • Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever & ever.
• The 24 Elders & the 4 living creatures fell down & worshiped GOD, who was seated on the Throne. And They cried:
  • Amen, Hallelujah!
• Then a voice came down from the throne, saying:
  • Praise Our GOD, all You HIS Servants, You who fear HIM, both small & great!
• Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters & like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
  • Hallelujah! Let Us rejoice & be glad & give HIM Glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, & HIS Bride has made Herself ready. Fine linen, bright & clean, was given Her to where. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)
• Then the angel said to Me,
  •  Write: 'Blessed are Those who are invited to the wedding supper of the LAMB!' And he added, These are the true Words of GOD.
• At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to Me,
  • Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with You & with Your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship GOD! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

I saw:

1. Heaven standing open & there before Me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful & True. With justice HE judges & makes war. HIS Eyes are like blazing fire, & on HIS Head are many crowns. HE has a Name written on HIM that no 1 knows but HE Himself. HE is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, & HIS Name is the Word of GOD.
   • The armies of Heaven were following HIM, riding on white horses also & dressed in fine linen, white & clean-- for HE alone had the sword. Out of HIS Mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. 'HE will rule them with an iron scepter'-- a quote of Psa 2:9a, which says, YOU will rule them the nations with an iron scepter (said before the creation of the world), clearly identifying the chief rider as the risen SON. HE treads the winepress of the fury of the Wrath of GOD Almighty. On HIS general Robe & specifically on HIS Thigh controlling the horse HE has this name written: KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS.
2. an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, Come, gather together for the Great Supper of GOD, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, & mighty men, of horses & their riders, & the flesh of all people, free & slave, small & great.
3. the 2nd beast (we saw about the beasts in Reve 9 - 13 Chapter 13 1. & 2.) & the kings of the earth & their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse (see 1. above) & HIS Army. But the beast was captured, & with him the false prophet (see Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 16 6.) who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast (see: Reve 9 - 13 Chapter 13 end-- before the commentary; Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 14 beginning of 3.; Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 16 beginning of 1.) & worshiped his image. The 2 of them were killed with the sword that came down out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, & all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

Chapter 20 Written by the apostle John

• And I saw an angel an angel coming down out of Heaven, having the key to the Abyss (see: Reve 9 - 13 Chapter 9 1. & Chapter 11; Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 17) & holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, & bound him for 1,000 yrs. He through him into the abyss, & locked & sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the 1,000 yrs. were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
• I saw the thrones on which were seated Those who had been given authority to judge. We did see 2 beasts receiving authority to judge the saints (see Reve 9 - 13 Chapter 12 & Chapter 13); more often we saw angels receiving authority-- for partial & final judgments (see Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 14 - Chapter 17).
• And I saw the souls of Those who had been beheaded because of Their testimony for Jesus & because of the Word of GOD. These were mentioned in Reve 4 - 8 Chapter 6 5.; Reve 9 - 13 Chapter 11 & Reve 14 - 17 Chapter 17). They had not worshiped the beast or his image & had not received his mark on Their foreheads or on Their hands. They came to life & reigned with Christ 1,000 yrs. (the rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 yrs. were ended.) This is the 1st resurrection. The 2nd death has no power over Them, but They will be Priests of GOD & of Christ & will reign with HIM for 1,000 yrs.

When the 1,000 yrs. are over, Satan will be released from his prison & will go out to deceive the nations in the 4 corners of the earth-- Gog & Magog --to gather them for battle. I found a footnote that though Eze 38:2 speaks of a Gog in the land of Magog, there is no doubt that the time period of the Gog & Magog that Ezekiel prophesied about cannot be confused with the time period of the end of Reve (the end of the world)-- because the chronology of the events were quite unigue. Now that likely is the case, as the only times Gog & Magog are mentioned are Gen 10:2; 1stChr 1:5; 5:4; Eze 38 & 39; & Reve 20:8-- but there's a another reason the 2 time periods cannot be confused. Because they are also quite unique by date:

• undated (but before 2000 B.C.): Gen 5:32 has 1 of Noah's son as Japheth; Gen 10:2 & 1stChr 1:5 have Japheth's son as Magog (i.e., Magog may have seen his grandfather).
• after the kingdom divided (after 722 B.C., when Israel was taken captive to Assyria): 1stChr 4:35; 5:4 have Asiel's son as Seraiah, Seraiah's son as Joshibah, Joshibah's son as Joel, Joel's son as Shemiah, & Shemiah's son as Gog-- i.e., there is only the possibility that Noah's Magog & Asiel's Gog were connected. Indeed, 1stChr 5:41 says that Asiel to Joel were in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah.
• Ezekiel began prophesying in 593 B.C.
• Ezekiel prophesied about Gog & Magog in ~590 B.C.
• Judah (the southern kingdom) was taken captive to Babylon in 586 B.C.
• Ezekiel's ministry ended in 571 B.C.
• the captivity in Babylon ended in 539 B.C.
• thousands+ of years later the world ends!

In # they are like the sand on the seashore. Thet marched across the breadth of the earth & surrounded the Camp of GOD's People, the city HE loves. But fire came down from Heaven & devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast & the false prophet had been thrown-- see Chapter 13 3. above. They will be tormented day & night for ever & ever.

Then I saw a great white throne & HIM who was seated on it. Earth & sky fled from HIS Presence, & there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great & small, standing before the throne, & books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in all the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, & death & Hades gave up the dead that were in them, & each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death & Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the 2nd death. If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.