Rejoice Over Mystery Babylon Avenging the Apostles & Prophets | #bibleverse #endtimes #apocalypse

Well, welcome everybody to All Things Fulfilled. It's good to be here. I think this is the last Sunday. Yes, this is the last Sunday of the year and it's been a great year, a talenting one, in terms of discussing the book of Revelation. We're on the downside of the book now, but we are definitely grateful for this opportunity. Let's see, let me make sure I did get the recording on. So, good morning to you, Robin, to Deb, to Richard, Eric, and of course Rod is here as well, and I'm sure there will be others joining us. All right, this morning we have a lesson on rejoicing over, or rejoice over, which is the avenging of the apostles and prophets and the saints Revelation 18 verses 20 through 24, to complete that chapter, but it actually extends into chapter 19, and so we'll talk about that a little as well. Now, a major theme in the book of Revelation is found in verse 20 and following. It is the avenging of the apostles, the prophets, and the saints. So, we come to the reason why God destroyed Jerusalem. Most are familiar with the text in Matthew 24 verses 31 through 37, where Jesus condemns the rebellious Jews for being partakers with their fathers in murdering the prophets. When we look at 1st Kings 19 and verse 10, Elijah said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek my life. So, Jesus is drawing back on that history regarding what had been done in the days of Elijah, in terms of his claim that they murdered the prophets, and of course from other Old Testament texts we see that very clearly, and thus he is saying, fill up, then measure of your father's guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of the devil? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes, some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate. Now, these verses fulfill the prophecies made before in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 35, verse 41, and verse 43, and those passages read as follows, Vengeance is mine, and Recompense I will render. Vengeance to my enemies, and repay those who hate me. And again, verse 43, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and render vengeance to his adversaries. So, you can see all the way from Deuteronomy 32 that God had prophesied that there would be vengeance taken on this terminal generation. So, when you read Deuteronomy 32, you should be able to clearly see that God is prophesying for the future. I remember when I first encountered Deuteronomy 32, Ray Jackson, who has passed on now, a preacher in the church of Christ, Ray has an objection to us way back in the 80s, I think it was, trying to use the term at hand in verse 35 to say that judgment was at hand in the day of Moses, but it wasn't, because Moses told him in chapter 31 that these were the things that were going to occur in the last days, in Israel's last days, just like Jacob had done in Genesis 49, verses 1 and 2, and therefore, the at-hand wretched who Israel's end time, and not to their beginning days as it was in the time of Moses. So, he's dealing with vengeance that will come about from the as a result of these persecutions and murders that took place that we were just referring to, and as we see alluded to in Revelation chapter 18. He says, and I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. That's from Leviticus 26, and so those chapters dealt with the curses upon Israel for disobedience to the covenant, and that would be the rebellious ones, of course, out of the nation. Let's make this clear that this vengeance is poured out during the days of the Roman invasion and destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Then, of course, he says, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who in the midst of her depart, for these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Now, Revelation chapter 18 and verse 20 is what some may consider a very unusual command. As a matter of fact, they might want to even charge or chide God over it, because of what it says. It says, rejoice over her, O heaven, for God has avenged you on her. Now, we have, therefore, this command for both the and the apostles, and of course the saints to be included, to rejoice in God's vengeance against their enemies. Some would have the church engage in what is called inappropriate behavioral response. In other words, emotional expressions that don't align with the current situation. I'm doubt that is unwarranted. You may have, I'm sure some of you are privy to Tristan, I think his last name is Gabriel, to his complaints against the Preterist view, and particularly against Don Preston, making remarks about dancing in the street, etc. And so, you know, a lot of commentary is being made about these saints dancing in the street at the fall of Jerusalem, as an inappropriate behavioral response. So, a part of this lesson is addressing some of that as well. It wasn't correct for God to command rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem. Was the rejoicing an appropriate or inappropriate behavioral response? I will lay out how the Judaizers, the rulers, and the Gentiles persecuted the saints of God. Mostly, however, it was the Jews, or at least by your own prediction. John 16 verses 1 and 2, Jesus told his apostle, he says, the time would come when those who killed you would think that they were doing God a service. So, they crucified the Savior. They added insult to injury by desiring a release of Barabbas, a notorious criminal and murderer. David was stoned to death, was speaking the truth while praying to God. They had beaten and imprisoned the apostles. Herod killed James, the brother of Jesus, with the sword, and was intending to kill Peter, who was in jail. I said Jesus was not the brother of James, but he had killed, he was intending to kill Peter with the sword, and he was jailed for a time until he was released as a result of the angels. Paul was beaten within an inch of his life at Iconium after he had terrorized the church and tried to persecute it before his conversion. But later, after his conversion, he became the subject of the same kind of persecution that he was improving of and meeting out to the saints. The high priests, the rulers, and the elders were persecuting the church up to the very time of the siege in Jerusalem. And, so, the question is, was rejoicing over the fall of Jerusalem out of character with God's own behavior? So, we're not just talking about the behavior of vehicles of humans, but what about God's behavior regarding this? He's the one who commanded them to rejoice, O Jerusalem, and, uh, apostles and prophets, even saying to heaven, rejoice over her, O heaven. Well, God acted regarding the fall of his enemies can be seen from a text like Proverbs chapter 1, verse of 22 through 31. And this text reads, how long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? But scorners delight in their scorn. Now, wait, where are the scorners? Scorning against God, against his people, against everything that is right, and that's supposed to be appropriate behavior? You're beating people down, and you're scorning them as a result. So, he asks the question, how long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in scorning. That's their emotional response. They're happy about doing what they do, and it says, and fools take knowledge. Earn my reward. Surely, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you, because I have called, and you refused. I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel. So, they rejected every attempt that God made to redeem them, to restore them, to bring them back to him. They just refused to respond appropriately to God's long-suffering, God's mercy, his grace, etc. And his forbearance on their behalf. And he says, therefore, and they would have none of my rebuke. Even with rebuke, there is something in my eye that is bothering me. I'm sorry about that. Okay. It says, I will also laugh at your calamity. What? Um, inappropriate behavior from God. I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror comes. When your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. God says, I'll be indifferent to their will. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, if I'm not even showing up for them. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel, and despise my every rebuke. Nothing God could do could change them. They were reprobates, he's saying. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own weight, and be filled to full with their own fences. Now, here's another text from Psalms chapter 2, verses 2 through 4. It says, the kings of the earth set themselves, and we refer to this passage last week, and we refer to it a few other times, since our study in the book of Revelation. It is quoted in the New Testament, uh, it's a couple of times or more. But it says, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his unwanted, saying, let us break the bonds, or their bonds, in pieces, and cast away their cords from us. Notice, he who sits in the heavens, shall love the Lord, shall hold them in derision. And derision means to deride, as imitating a foreigner, to speak unintelligibly, uh, to having derision, to laugh, to scorn, to mark, to stammer. I think, I listened to, I don't know, some of you may be familiar with Steve Harvey's nephew, Humming. Uh, sometimes he pulls pranks on people, and I listened to him, uh, one day, when he was pulling a prank on a guy who stuttered, and who stammered. And, uh, this guy was ordering some, uh, I guess some furnishings and decorations for a party that he was throwing, but he stuttered really badly. And, uh, so, Nephew Tummy called him up, and, uh, was mocking his, I think this guy's sister had pulled a prank on him, and he was pretending to be someone at the store. And, uh, so Nephew Tummy was, uh, mocking him by stuttering, uh, and, and stammering. Uh, the guy told him, he says, wait a minute, wait a minute, you know, let's, let's stop right here. He says, let me tell you this. If I get to that store, and you don't have, you know, uh, a stutter, uh, that you're not for real about this, he says, I'm gonna beat you down. So, to mock someone with, you know, stuttering, uh, is certainly considered an insult, uh, to them, but that's exactly, uh, what the text says. In terms of, you know, God, uh, stammering, uh, et cetera, you know, a person who can't form their sentences without having to repeat, repeat, and stutter, uh, so much, but that's the idea. Uh, he said that he would laugh, and that means he would have pleasure, or, uh, in their destruction, uh, meaning to make merry, to rejoice, to laugh, to mourn, to make sport of. So, then it says, he shall speak to them in his wrath, and distress them in his deep displeasure. Um, to vex them, to make them tremble, agitate, to agitate them, to make them anxious, afraid, dismayed, or troubled. And so, God says he would do this in his deep displeasure, um, with burning anger, fury, so, my question again is, is this an appropriate behavior from God to people who are even made, and blessed, and loved, and provided for, who cast it all in their faith, and return to knowledge, and obey him? Well, I don't think we're wiser than God, and if that's God's response, it has to be a righteous response, and that's what the Bible says. It talks about this being the righteous judgment of God, but, uh, so, here's God commanding heaven, and the church, and the apostles, uh, to rejoice while this was happening to Jerusalem. Now, people want to play on our emotions, and talk about how there should not have been any rejoicing at the time that Jerusalem was destroyed, and the siege was taking place on Jerusalem, but that's not what the scripture says. The scripture says, rejoice over her, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. Uh, that doesn't make them sick to be willing to obey God, at least from my perspective. Now, you may have a different point of view, but I'm trying to read it to you from the text. So, it would be inappropriate behavior to disobey God, in my judgment, and to cry and mourn for their former enemies and persecutors. Let's say, for example, a man was violently attempting to rape your wife, or sister, or some beloved family member, and he's the act of attempting to do so. You dial 9-1-1, the police come in, they're not retraining, so they shoot him. Would you rejoice that your wife or mother was saved from the assault, and seek to comfort her? Or would you ignore her, and cry crocodile tears over the assailant, who is lying there, bleeding to death, in anguish, you know, from his wound? I think sensible people would tend to comfort their loved one who has been traumatized. Uh, at least I don't think that'd be the most rational, um, response to a situation like that. But the Bible says this was the righteous judgment of God. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, 6 through 10, it says, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God, for your patience and faith, and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. Which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffered. Since it is a righteous thing with God, to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and give you who are troubled rest with us. When the Lord is revealed from heaven, let us mighty angels in flame and fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, uh, one of the things that incenses, incenses victims the most, when these violent crimes are done, is when nothing is done to them. You treat them as though, uh, they're just plain, regular citizens, who have done no violence, and justice has never made it out to them. And, um, and people treat them, you know, in ways that are totally, you know, uh, he says these shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. When he comes in that day, to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired, among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. Now, here Paul is quoting from Isaiah chapter 66, verses 13 through 15, where God repays the covenant breakers. It says, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Remember the famine that took place during the time of the fall of Jerusalem, that wiped out a lot of them, and most of that was their own doing, because they burned the stores of corn, that could have caused them to survive the event, at least not die of hunger. However, the scripture says, behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and wail for grief of spirit. You shall leave your name as a curse to my chosen, for the Lord God will slay you and call his servants by another name, so that he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth, and he who swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes. So, Paul said that this righteous judgment comes in that day, which would have been the time of the parousia, the time that is referred to in Revelation chapter 18, verses 20 and following. Now, let's take note of something else. In 1 Thessalonians, and this has been one of the key passages, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, it goes all the way through chapter 5, verses 1 through 3, and beyond for that matter, as far as the actual context. I remember at some point in time when John MacArthur was teaching on Matthew 24-36, and he was trying to make a distinction between the prairie death that is the Greek word for but in that text, to say that this marks a change of subject. And wanting to say that, you know, Matthew 24 could be divided into two comings, one that took place the fall of Jerusalem, and then one that was yet in our future. And he barked and barked and barked on prairie death. Well, here's the point. Prairie death is also used between 1 Thessalonians 4, verse, what was the last verse in that text, 17 or 18, and chapter 5 and verse 1, because it says, but of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. Well, those times and seasons refer to the eschatological coming, but the resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4 also referred to the parricia. So how was Paul changing the subject using the word prairie death? It was a fallacious argument, and it actually proved that the continuity between Matthew 24, 35, and 36, that but did not change the subject. He's dealing with one coming all the way through the chapter, just as he is from 1 Thessalonians 4, here through 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. But nevertheless, when we talk about the resurrection, the resurrection is a joint experience with God and the saints, or you could say with Christ and the saints. But if you go back to Isaiah chapter 26, beginning at verse 19 through 21, it says, your dead shall live together with my dead body, they shall arise. Now, that's saying that in some sense, God is participating in that resurrection process. Together with my dead body, they shall arise, awake and seeing you who dwell in the dust, for your view is the view of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Now, I certainly don't believe this is referring to physical bodies coming out of the ground. Dwelling in the dust has to do with people in a compromised position, in a state of humility, in a state of sin. And that's the idea. That's all he said. Um, my people, go into your chambers and shut your doors behind you by yourself and work one little moment until the indignation is passed. Well, behold, the Lord comes out of his place. There's the coming of the Lord to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain. The saints, therefore, as in 1 Thessalonians 4, would be caught up, notice the scripture says, together with the Lord in the air. So it's not just the saints in the air, it's the Lord also. Well, the first question we should ask regarding the change that took place is what's the place in the mind of God? Well, we saw from the text that God says he's rejoicing, he's laughing, he's mocking over the saints, or excuse me, over the rebellious Jews who were dying in the siege because they rejected everything that he tried to give them in order to save them. And they still refused to do it. Now, there are some people who believe that Christ, and of course I debated William Benton, and I know there's some out there who believe that Christ was killed in a physical body. Well, if he's in a physical body, he has a physical brain, which I don't believe is the case, but nevertheless, there are some who believe it. Well, if he has a physical brain and he's caught up in the air with the rest of the saints, or they're caught up with him, why would his brain function be different than theirs? But that's for those who believe that he has a physical brain, which I don't think so. I don't think the image of God refers to the physicality of God. God is spirit. No man has seen him at any time. And that's why Jesus had to be unveiled in the book of Revelation, to demonstrate his deity. And that's the same way God has always done in the Old Testament, demonstrating his spiritual presence and existence by manifesting himself through physical events. And that confuses a lot of people, but that's just the fact of the matter. But it's definitely obvious that God has consciousness. He just doesn't have a physical brain. Now, neuroscientists also agree that man's physical brain dies. And the reason I'm saying this is because I actually contacted one who is a theologian as well as a physical neuroscientist. And his response was, and I have it recorded in a reel, that the physical brain dies and decomposes just like the body does. And the person's name is Andrew Newberg. And this came about in a private email sent to me after I had asked him some questions. And so here was the question, does the brain continue to function in death or does it die and decompose with the body? He said, as far as we can tell. Now notice that as far as we can tell, the brain decomposes just like the body. Then I asked him directly whether God has a brain like humans. He said, those concepts of God would not include a physical brain like we have as human beings. Well, since the brain is fleshly, and since God is spirit, which does not have flesh, God does not have a fleshly brain. This suggests that God's consciousness and mind operates outside the confines of the fleshly brain. And so conscious would be something independent of flesh. Even though it operates within. That as far as the brain is concerned. Now, I'm not a neuroscientist, so don't hold me responsible for trying to think about technicalities related to it. I'm giving you the response of a neuroscientist. At any rate, Paul also wrote that the church had the mind of Christ. Well, if the church has the mind of Christ, then the church ought to be thinking like Christ thought. And the text says, rejoice over her, O heaven, your holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. So if it's not incorrect for the church, I mean for Christ to rejoice, it would not have been incorrect for the church to rejoice over the avenging of them. And over their numerous from that avenging. Trying to pigeonhole this conversation into one emotional response. Certainly doing violence to the text from my judgment. And so this command of heaven to rejoice over the fall of mystery Babylon or Jerusalem is not inappropriate behavior as far as the scripture is concerned. And, you know, we say that the saints are practicing inappropriate behavior from obeying and following the example of Christ. Now, let's consider this. We're just about done for this morning. I know we're out of time, so we're going to run over just slightly. But at any rate, look at the behavior of the women after the campaign against the Philistines in 1 Samuel chapter 18, 7 and 8. It says, now it happened as they were coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistines. But the women had come out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced and said, Saul is slain his thousands and David his ten thousands. It would have been more appropriate for the women to have packed raisin cake, figs and wine, and gone to the land of Philistia to comfort the widows and the children and the enemies of Israel instead of dancing over David and Saul's victory. Regardless of the bloodshed of some in Jerusalem, Jesus said that a man's bone shall be those of his own household. He said people in your own house will be your enemies. Judas was Jesus's relative. He was one of the members of the tribes of Israel. Jesus said to him, friend, do you betray me with a kiss? Do the apostles have mourned over Judas? You know, when you think of the situation with Aaron, when Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire on the altar, Leviticus 10, 1 and 2. When that incident happened, as a matter of fact, let's go back and read that real quick. Leviticus chapter 10, verses 1 and 2. It says, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they before the Lord. Now, these aren't children's sons, and they were priests. And Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying, by those who come near to me, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people I must be glorified. So Aaron held his censer. He didn't say a word. I'm sure people would think, well, that's inappropriate behavior. But you see, that was God's judgment. And so, as we look at the text in Revelation 18, to close out this morning, rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her were found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth. They killed all the righteous people. After these things, I heard a loud voice, because the text doesn't end, at least the context of this judgment on Babylon doesn't end in chapter 18, so sometimes we have to ignore the chapter divisions. Even after these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Hallelujah! What does that mean? Praise! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments. He doth be a judge in great hurry to corrupt the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged on her the blood of his servants. But then they said, Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who sat on the throne saying, Amen, Hallelujah! Then a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all you servants, and those who fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty thundering saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Well, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, that's the avenging of the apostles and prophets and saints. And God said, Rejoice over her, O heaven, and to all his righteous servants. Well, I hope that helped some. Hope it gave a little bit more clarity on the subject and take us out of the realm of emotional hype into what the scriptures actually say about an appropriate response over the fall of the persecutors and murderers of the people of God and those who spurned the very invitation for salvation. Let's say good morning once again to all of you, to Deb and to, let's see if I can, that's Salmon and Matthew, to Carol, Julie, Beatrice, Alan, Eric, Richard, Robin, et cetera. And if there are any others out there who are listening, we certainly appreciate you being with us this morning. I want to thank you. And we now move into chapter 19. Things are just getting better. You know, at the moment, in terms of what's happening in this story with Jerusalem and its fall and the rejoicing and blessings that God has for his saints. So everyone have a happy prosperous new year. May God bless you and keep you throughout. With that, we're going to say good morning to you. You have a wonderful day.