Revelation 18:20 “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.”
God is saying, up in heaven, you can rejoice over the destruction of Babylon.
The New Testament apostles, who are now up in heaven, and prophets during the Old Testament (this can include some in the New Testament); they’re rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon.
The question is how can this make sense if it’s referring to USA? Definitely not. But it can make more sense if it’s Rome because there were apostles and prophets existing during the time of Rome.
In Revelation 17, Babylon is not known as a city, it’s a spiritual female demon, the whore. Cities that are known as evil and judged by God, they will have a demonic spirit behind them. What God is referring to over here is this spiritual Babylonian wicked system that has been going through nearly all dispensations because of Nimrod’s Babylon. That’s why it doesn’t make sense for it to be USA.
What city or religious system is known to be the Babylon system?
Semiramis Nimrod, Semiramis is known as a mother and child figure or to the Catholics, Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus.
All these believers throughout all time are rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon for God avenged the apostles and prophets, people of all time, of Babylon’s corrupt system.
Babylon’s corrupt system is not just the Roman Catholic church time, this is of all time, Nimrod and Semiramus’s spiritual Babylonian system has corrupted and hurt so many people that different cultures and cities around the world adopted its Babylonian practices.
Every description at Revelation 17 and 18 fits to a tee with the Roman Catholic church. Not only that, some of the descriptions in Revelation 17 and 18 actually contradict the other candidate cities outside of the Roman Catholic church so there’s no other better candidate for Babylon than the Roman Catholic church.
That’s why it makes sense in Matthew 23 where Jesus said to the Pharisees Sadducees and to Jerusalem that they were the ones held accountable for the blood of the prophets and for the persecution of Christians.
Why would Jesus put all the blame on the Jewish religious leaders? That’s because of the Babylonian system. It makes so much sense then when Babylon burns at Revelation 18, everybody of all times was rejoicing because this wicked system who has shed blood, so they’re held the blame for it.
Imagine these Jewish religious leaders who are known as twofold more the child of hell than yourselves at Matthew 23, they receive that blame just because of joining the Babylon system. This makes sense in Revelation 18, where God’s fiery judgment is double and that matches with Matthew 23.
That’s why at Revelation 18 God says to come out of her, my people, and receive not her plagues. Anyone who partakes in this Babylonian system receives greater damnation and judgment.
Do Christians rejoice over the destruction of our enemies?
Notice in verse 20 that we can rejoice over the destruction of Babylon. Now that’s very strange if you look at Romans 12, Christians are not supposed to rejoice or to be happy over the destruction of enemies. In fact, we are supposed to show them goodness. That may be hard for Christians, however Romans 12 continues that the more we show them goodness rather than rejoicing or seeking vengeance for ourselves, the greater their damnation is. God does the vengeance. Romans 12 says ‘vengeance is mine’ which makes sense at Revelation 18:20 that it’s not us seeking vengeance but God.
There are some people who do not believe in dispensationalism and they rejoice and ruin their testimony, saying ‘I’m so glad about the judgment of God with Hurricane Katrine or Orlando shooting where there were Sodomites being killed’.
In the New Testament dispensation, we’re supposed to feed and show goodness toward our enemies. Some of these people would use Revelation 18:20 to say that it’s justified where they can be happy about unbelievers dying or being judged by God.
The key thing on how we can tell if this is righteous joy or fleshly joy is this: What is your first reaction on what would happen to your enemy?
Would you want your enemy to repent and for the Lord to show goodness and forgiveness, or would you prioritize more that God would judge the individual and kill the person?
If you’re truly spiritual of God, what God would prefer in 2 Peter 3:9 is the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Romans 2 God shows more goodness to unbelievers so that they can repent.
However, if they don’t, then they get greater damnation and judgment. This makes sense with Babylon, God has shown the unbelievers much grace and mercy and time, because He wants them to repent, that’s why He says come out of her my people that you don’t partake in the plagues at Revelation 18. God would not prefer judgment.
How will Babylon be thrown down into the sea?
Revelation 18:21 “And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”
A mighty and strong angel takes a millstone and throws it into the sea.
He says, Therefore like this great millstone sinking into the sea, this great Babylon is going to be violently going down the sea.
You can’t see it anymore.
Here’s an interesting theory, if you compare this with the book of Mark 9, Jesus said that if you offend these little ones it’s better that you had a millstone hanging around your neck and cast into the sea.
What did He mean by that? If you keep reading, it talks about hell.
Notice that the millstone sinking is likened to hell. When we connect the dots here, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone, that sounds like hell.
Revelation 21:8 has fire and brimstone which is the second death. What the Pastor taught about Sodom and Gomorrah is that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by hellfire and are sunk down into hell and it was found no more.
This sounds like Revelation 18. So if hell comes down from below, scientific natural activity where fire is going to spread out from below, just like volcano pouring out lava and that lava comes from hell, it rains down fire and brimstone. And it does the same thing with Babylon and it sinks down like a millstone and it shall be found no more just like Sodom and Gomorrah. That sounds like an interesting theory to think about.