SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/6/2015
9:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 of Judgment
Defined
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
18:6-8
Message of the
verses: “6 “Pay her back even as she
has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which
she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. 7
"To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to
the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ’I
SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.’ 8 "For
this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and
famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is
strong.”
We are wadding through these three verses in Revelation
18 that define the judgment of Babylon, the world system of the Tribulation
Period, and also the time when all the world will be worshiping the Antichrist
with the exception of those who have not taken the mark of the beast. We will begin with the phrase of the angel “in
the cup which she mixed,” God would “mix twice as much for her.” Now in our last SD we looked at the meaning
of the concept of double as mentioned here and other places in the
Scripture. The angel speaks of the cup
that Babylon has mixed to deceive the nations and now the angel wants God to
give her a double portion. We have seen the
imagery of the cup of God’s wrath in Revelation 14:10 and also in 16:19.
Now the next phrase, the third time the angel speaks to
the Lord he wants to exact complete vengeance on Babylon: “To the degree that she glorified herself and
lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she
says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see
mourning.’” When we look at the words “to
the degree” it is saying that the punishment should match the crime, something
we also looked at in our last SD. In
this section we can see that there are three sins that call for Babylon’s
judgment. The first is that she was
proud, “she glorified herself,” and we know what God thinks about pride. Isaiah 42:8 says “"I am the LORD, that
is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven
images.’” Proverbs 6:16-17 says “16
There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination
to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood.” James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace.
Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE
HUMBLE.’” The next sin is that she
pursued self-gratification; “she lived sensuously.” Paul writes to Timothy about this sin in
1Timothy 5:6 “But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while
she lives.” Thirdly she was guilty of
being self-sufficient for she said in her heart “I will sit as a queen and I am
not a widow, and will never see mourning.”
John MacArthur writes “That proud boast echoes that of ancient Babylon,
who said ‘I will be a queen forever…I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of
children’ (Isa. 47:7, 8; Ezek. 27:2; 28:2; Zeph. 2:15). Yet God’s devastating reply was that ‘these
two things shall come on you suddenly in one day; Loss of children and
widowhood. They shall come on you in full
measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your
spells’ (Isa. 47:9).
“For those three sins Babylon will receive ‘torment and
mourning.’ Basanismos (torment) literally means torture (cf. vv. 10, 15; 9:5;
14:11). Mourning refers to the grief
that the torture produces. Hell will be
a place of both unimaginable torment (20:10; Luke 16:23-24, 28) and crushing
grief (Matt. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30).”
It is hard to get your arms wrapped around what the angel
is asking God to do to Babylon, but as I stated before this is a part of the
attributes of God as He is a just God, and He is a God of wrath, but thanks to
Him that He is also a God of great grace and mercy, holding back what we do
deserve and giving us what we do not deserve because of what Christ has done on
the cross as He experienced the great wrath of God so that God can be just in
offering salvation to those whom He calls.
Who is listening?
We will give an all out effort to finish this section in
our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As I look at what
these verses are telling me I can get a little bit of better understand of what
Christ endured on the cross for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be thankful for what Christ accomplished for
me on the cross.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Jerusalem” (Luke 2:25-26).
Today’s Bible question: “Who persuaded the disciples in Jerusalem
that Paul had been converted?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/6/2015 9:33 AM
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