Studio Electives - Babylon and the Beast with David Rosenthal

it's nice to see all of you here this evening thank you for taking time out of your schedule to join us for the studio electives I hope all of your Bibles this evening shake your heads yes if you brought your Bibles where you have your iPads or phones whatever it may be because we're gonna be Lord willing zipping around some scriptures if if I did it the way I had it intended we'd probably have about 300 slides okay with lots of lots of Scripture on there this is one of those subjects where I can't just take you to one verse or one chapter in the Bible it's the preponderance of the evidence I guess as you would say when you're dealing with with Biblical prophecy you it's difficult to just go to one passage and really shouldn't because so much of the writers in the Bible are you know they're it's good to cross reference because that helps to bolster your understanding of what their intent was and what makes it even more challenging and in some ways complicated is that many of the Old Testament writers in the scriptures when they were prophesying they prophesied a near prophecy maybe within the next fifty a hundred years of their lifetime and then there was a a long term or last day's prophecy connected to it and where one prophecy ends and the next one picks up can be the matter of a verse or a sentence or a few words and so that always makes it challenging when you're looking back at the Old Testament prophets but I have to tell you as I was studying just and going back and forth between writers and and books of the Bible the Old Testament is just full of wonderful exciting amazing historical future end times information that it's just a wealth of wonderful information and the more I study it the more I am saddened by the fact that so many of our churches are not teaching from the Old Testament there are some wonderful examples of pastors who are doing that of course but but by and large I think we have missed so much of what what the Old Testament prophets have to say to us and we have in a certain sense kind of looked at the Bible with an American lens or American lenses or Western lenses and it's so critical to see the Bible in context as it relates to history culture geography the Jewish people the Land of Israel and God's master plan for Humanity so Before we jump in let's just have a word of prayer as we start this evening Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this opportunity for the freedom that we have to meet in a place like this to to openly look at your word to study it there's so much for us in these passages and certainly we we are only scratching the surface of what you have for us but we we do ask that as we look through these passages as we explore these subjects that you would give us clarity that you would help me to speak clearly that that you would guide us in the way that you would want us to go in our understanding we thank you for what you have done for us your love for us and we pray that we would have a blessed time here this evening in Jesus name we pray amen so if you've been with us particularly the last few sessions that I've had here we've been talking about Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots the abominations of the earth particularly as it ties to Revelation chapter 17 and 18 tonight were we're kind of taking taking the journey a little bit further than where we had gone we'll do a little bit of review just to kind of put things in context again for you kind of get your mind tracking in the right direction as we move forward but I am hoping that we will get to some Old Testament passages that help to corroborate and give us deeper insight into the identity of this this entity called mystery babylon the great mother of harlots I also want us to touch on the concept of who the Beast is the identity of the beast you know when you're talking about revelation 17 and 18 what you have is a description of a harlot a prostitute that is riding on a beast and so the two go together and the identities of either one help to identify the other so to get a sense of what the Scriptures have intended for us to understand we really have to look at both entities now I'm planning in future sessions to look further at the concept of the Beast so we'll touch on that I hope this evening as we explore mystery babylon babylon and the beast particularly in the old testament but as we get going i would just want to give you again a quick summary bring you up to where we are Mystery Babylon the Great a wicked harlot who rides a beast the Beast has seven heads ten horns as described in the book of Revelation and the religious and economic system when you read through revelation 17 and 18 it's clear that what we're talking about this entity this harlot who rides a beast we're talking about a religious and an economic center that Bible describes this as a city I would suggest to you that it's broader than a city and when you look at some of the Old Testament passages you'll see that we're talking about a region not just one specific city but I do think that it's important for us to see that it's religious and has a strong economic component when I say religious is a false religious system that's going to be judged severely by God there's a special judgment reserved for this entity whoever she is Mystery Babylon the Great the timing of her destruction again I want to put it in context where are we talking about this taking place after the rapture during the day of the Lord when God's wrath is poured out on the earth the day of the Lord you should understand if I could say one thing to help people understand Bible prophecy better it would be that the day of the Lord and the concept of the day of the Lord is the Lynch into understanding so much it opens up worlds of understanding as it relates to the last days the day of the Lord is the time of God's out the outpouring of his wrath upon evil wicked pagan nations at the at the end of time that day of the Lord is a critical component and there are signs or indicators throughout scripture and in the book of Revelation that give us a clear understanding of when that time of God's wrath is about to begin cosmic disturbance the Sun will be darkened the moon will not give her light the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken cosmic disturbance is the key indicator that the time of God's wrath the the major event in the future of his wrath where he pours out his judgment and brings history to a proper consummation and culmination that time of his wrath is indicated by cosmic disturbance here again just to give you a little bit more context we're talking about the 70th week of the Book of Daniel this is it's called the 70th week of the Book of Daniel because Daniel receives an answer to his prayer to his to his quest of the Lord what's gonna happen to my people he's given a framework of time of seventy sevens of years are determined upon whose people Daniel's people the Jewish people so he's given this period of time a framework for where God is going to bring to fruition and culmination the history of humanity as it relates to the Jewish people and the rest of the world there is a final seven years of that seventy sevens of years there were 483 years that took place and we we won't get into that today we've talked about that at other times and we'll talk about that in the future but there is this final seven-year period of human history that is still hanging out there in the future now you may know it as the tribulation period that is traditionally how its referred to I'm not going to get into more detail about it tonight have to tell you that that is a phrase or a word used to describe that final seven-year period of time that is not found in the Bible nowhere in the scripture is that final seven years called the tribulation period it's an easy jump if you just say oh it's the tribulation period they say oh it's the time of God's wrath all seven years must be God's wrath and therefore since as believers were not appointed unto wrath we must be raptured over here at the beginning pre-tribulation aliy before that final seven-year period of what they would say is God's wrath I'm here to tell you that if you read the book of Revelation chronologically you will see that that wrath is indicated by cosmic disturbance clearly in the book of Revelation and it's not at the beginning of the seven year period of time that cosmic disturbance takes place sometime right in here we don't know exactly where this point is we had to pick a point for the chart but we don't know the time of God's wrath the hour of the day but we will know the general time period of when that will take place so after the rapture of the church rapture of believers after the cosmic disturbance the Great Tribulation cosmic disturbance and then you have the rapture after that time period we have God's wrath known as the day of the Lord the day of the Lord that is critically important and the reason I'm making such a big deal out of it right now is because when we're looking back to the Old Testament we we must find texts that are consistent with the day of the Lord otherwise we may be reading a text in the Old Testament from the prophets that was something they were prophesying that it was a near term prophecy right but what we're interested in is what is the identity of Mystery Babylon the Great and the Beast that she rides at the end of human history therefore we must connect it with day of the Lord or the time of God's wrath so when we look back to the Old Testament passages that's a clear indicator when you're reading texts that are describing God's wrath his vindication if you're if you're reading text specifically about the darkened the moon will not give her light you know you're in the context of the last days when you're reading those passages again prophetic day of the Lord indicators cosmic disturbance and there's another one that is fascinating we don't have time to get into tonight silence in heaven you will read that in the book of Revelation in perfect chronological sequence after the cosmic disturbance there is all there is silence there is a gasp in heaven at what is about to transpire on the earth that God is about to pour his wrath on a wicked humanity so silence in heaven you also will find that in the passage in the Old Testament as well to corroborate the concept which is amazing ok Revelation chapter 17 and 18 so get your Bibles out if you would I'm not going to go through all of all of it but again I have to give you the flavor of what's going on here once again to put our minds in the right right right mode of thinking revelation 17 come hither the end of verse 1 and I will show thee the judgment of the great that sitteth upon many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication so she leads the kings of the earth astray whoever this entity is this Mystery Babylon she's described as a harlot as a prostitute riding on this beast the kings of the earth have committed fornication and the habitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication so he carried me away into the wilderness desert so there's another there's another component of of how we can identify this this this prostitute this Mystery Babylon she is the kings of the earth have committed spiritual fornication with her okay so keep that in mind as we're reading a lot of these passages they're committing spiritual fornication with her she's in the wilderness in the desert that's not incidental that's an important component of the description in the wilderness or desert don't think of a wilderness like Colorado we're talking a desert like the Middle East and you have to keep that in mind when you're thinking you have to put on your cultural thinking when you're talking about these passages and when we go to the Old Testament this is Middle East turn you have to think Middle Eastern when you're looking at these at these descriptions she's sitting upon a scarlet coloured Beast full of names of blasphemy verse five upon her forehead was a name written Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots abominations of the earth she is drunk with the blood of the saints so she's wicked she's murderous with the blood of the martyrs and when I saw her I wondered with great not really admiration but all just what what what's being seen she's the next is a description of the beast that she rides on verse 11 let me let me go back to verse verse 9 here is the mind which hath wisdom the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits I would suggest their kingdoms that's what the Bible tells us and there are seven kings five are fallen one is the other is not yet come when he cometh he must continue a short space these are world empires Gentile world empires throughout human history the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth to perdition the ten horns which thou sawest on the Beast are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive power as kings one hour with the Beast so in the future what we have is a beast that she's riding the Beast has seven heads Egypt Assyria Babylon medo-persia Greece Rome these are these are world empires these were all historic persecutors of Israel through through ancient history all of them so it's a false I'm suggesting Jim cutting right to the chase it's a false religious system that has been that has dominated throughout world history these empires a satanic false religious system and I would suggest to you that when now when we get to the final manifestation of this false religious system it's the greatest manifestation of false religion that has been perpetrated that the world has ever known and I would suggest to you that is Islam today the ten horns which thou sawest this is verse 16 the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast these shall hate the and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire for God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree and give their Kingdom unto the Beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled and the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth now again there are many people that have said well this is New York City or Washington DC or Rome I would suggest to you that I don't think it's any of those and I think you're gonna be see that more clearly I hope the further we go along in the study this evening as we move into the Old Testament but again I remind you keep all of this in a Middle Eastern framework in a Middle Eastern context as you're reading through it so there are 10 horns on this beast that she's riding they are ten Kings and these ten Kings I believe are going to unify in the last days most likely forming a caliphate and Islamic empire that is run by Islamic sharia principles so remember Islam is not only religious it's also political it rules politically from a religious framework so you have to see Islam almost interchangeably in many respects and I believe when we're looking at these this beast that she's riding that this beast is represented at the end with ten Kings who unified together and what does it say it says the Beast turns on her and burns the rider with fire and destroys her and what I would suggest to you and I'm gonna be again right up front I'm not gonna hold it up until the end I would suggest to you that what I think the Bible is teaching I won't be a hundred percent dogmatic because we all have to learn and grow as we study the Scriptures but I would suggest to you that it looks to me as I study that what we're talking about is and entity which is a false religious system of Islam the greatest perpetrator of false religion that mankind has ever known that is riding through these empires again it was false religion and at the ultimate manifestation of that false religion in the last days is the greatest manifestation of that false religion which is Islam which we are living with today which is the adherents are hundreds of millions throughout the world the greatest manifestation the world has ever known of false religion and that is riding this beast comprised of ten horns seven heads and ten horns the seven heads are that are the Gentile world powers throughout human history false religion has been riding on and you get to the end the ultimate manifestation is a ten Nation Confederation that will be Islamic if you look at the ten at that the nations around Israel today remember where Middle Eastern centric if you're looking at those nations that surround Israel and you're looking at those nations you will see that they were all historic persecutors of Israel at one point or another and today they are all Islamic they are all Islamic so what I am suggesting that I believe the Bible is teaching is you have the false religious system of Islam which is the woman riding on a beast comprised of ten nations at the end of time those ten nations will be Islamic and you say I can smell the wood burning ten Islamic nations are going to turn on the false religion of Islam and destroy her and burn her with fire and that's exactly what I'm suggesting to you he's going to happen at the end chapter eighteen verse two and he cried mightily with a strong voice saying Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen that's language you'll find in the Old Testament by the way and has become the habitation of devils in the hold of every foul spirit in a cage of every unclean and hateful bird for nations verse three for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication spiritually and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants now we're getting into economics the merchants of the earth are rich through the abundance of her delicacies heard another voice from heaven saying come out of her my people that you be not partakers of her sins that's perplexing come out of her my people that you may not participate be partakers of her sins when God pours out his judgment and destroys her and burns her with fire for her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities verse 7 she glorified herself she's lived deliciously verse 8 second half of the verse and she shall be utterly burned with fire for strong as the Lord God who judgeth her verse 9 and the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning standing afar off this is important because you're gonna you're gonna read about these same descriptions in the Old Testament shortly standing afar off verse 10 for the fear of her torment saying alas alas that great city Babylon that mighty City for in one hour is thy judgment come and the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore so she's she's wealthy she's buying all the merchandise from the merchants who were on the sea merchandise of gold silver precious stones and pearls in fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet wood all manner of vessels of ivory vessels most precious wood of brass iron and marble cinnamon and it goes on and on and listen end of verse thirteen and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and I would suggest to you that Saudi Arabia is well known for its slave trade there are many expats coming from other parts of the world many from poor countries who are in Saudi Arabia today that are essentially have essentially become slaves they give their passports over when they arrive and those who are kind of their business owners keep those passports and many of them are almost trapped they're paid a low wage Saudi Arabia the people who live in Saudi Arabia who are citizens of Saudi Arabia they by and large are living on entitlements from the government from oil revenue so that's they're trying to change that now but it's a very difficult thing but slavery is very prevalent there and souls of men the end of verse 1315 the merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment weeping and wailing saying alas alas that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls for in one hour so great riches has come to nought listen to this very important and every shipmaster and all the company and ships and sailors and as many as trade by sea stood afar off verse 18 and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning saying what city is like unto this great city I mean this isn't a small potatoes we're talking about the merchants of the world again in the Middle Eastern context saying what city was like this they're weeping they're wailing nobody's buying their livelihood is is gone they're in shock and they cast dust on their heads that is not an American trait that is a Middle Eastern trait casting dust on your head and cried weeping and wailing saying alas alas that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness verse 22 and the voice of harpers you'll find that in the Old Testament - in the descriptions and musicians and of Piper's and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee no craftsmen or whatsoever craft shall be found any more in thee and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all indeed verse 23 in the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee for thy merchants were the great men of the earth these aren't little guys the great men of the earth the merchants who were doing business with her for by thy sorceries see that it's almost like a spell it's almost as if this entity demonically is casting a spell spiritually deceiving the nation's and economically they've bought into the system hook line and sinker for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth that's revelation 17 and 18 so we have the woman who rides the beast a counterfeit religious system of Islam and I would suggest to you birth and thriving in Arabia in Arabia today just briefly Saudi Arabia again I want to call to your attention Saudi Arabia is a big sand pit they export two things oil and religion false religion they however are very strategically located a peninsula with water again on three sides and on one side the Persian Gulf filled with all kinds of natural resources energy oil natural gas they have gotten rich exceedingly wealthy more so than you can imagine the excesses are beyond description in Saudi Arabia today the monarchy the ruling class I don't know if you've heard just recently the crown prince Ben Solomon has just had a big shakedown of many of the princes and monarchs and dignitaries where he is he locked them in a ritz-carlton hotel in Riyadh the capital in the center of Saudi Arabia major shakedown over a period of a month or so and has extracted he says cleaning the swamp has extracted billions and billions of dollars from these other monarchs there he is he is pulling power to himself and he is saying I'm gonna clean up the swamp and I'm going to be become more transparent why because he is desperately scared of a running out of oil and moving he must move Saudi Arabia away from an oil based energy dependent economy to one of shipping and trade and commerce and entertainment and you'll see that a little bit more so I just wanted to get you away the Lancia Persian Gulf and then when you come over here you have the Red Sea now the Red Sea again very important because the Red Sea takes you right up here to the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal that runs through Egypt the Suez Canal man-made very important trading route because it takes you to the Mediterranean Sea and then all of Europe so that Suez Canal is very important which means that the Red Sea is also very important he who controls the Red Sea controls the major shipping lanes of Asia the Middle East and Europe very very significant that's a story for another day and I would love to be able to share with you what's happening around the Red Sea but for now we're gonna try to stay on track as we move forward so in terms of the major components the major cities the players capital city Riyadh the religious center of Islam Mecca 50 miles away on the coast the city of Jeddah which now has under construction the world's tallest skyscraper they are putting trains high-speed rail they are completely redoing Mecca in amazing ways Medina the other religious center in Islam and then of course Jerusalem to them would be the third holiest city in in within Islam but Mecca would be first and then you have cake they call it cake King Abdullah economic City which is a relatively new city started by crown prince's father and the crown prince has poured more money into it it's a major port facility they are developing major port facilities in Jeddah King Abdullah economic City is has major port facilities but I want to go back to Mecca for just a moment you can see one of the world's tallest skyscrapers were built they've been bulldozing entire swath around the Kaaba which is the central religious component of Islam in the center of course they make pilgrimages called the Hajj there so you have many many millions of people making pilgrimage what's going to happen in the Millennial Kingdom in Jerusalem at the temple in Jerusalem people from around the world there's going to be a highway it says from Assyria to Egypt and people will be coming to worship the Lord from all across the world up to worship the Lord at the New Jerusalem and the Temple in in Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom the thousand year millennial kingdom this is a counterfeit of that where you have millions of people making pilgrimages from all over the world to come to the Kaaba to worship here it is closer up you can see they circumambulate around there's a whole series of rituals that they're involved in they believe that this is the gateway to Allah here at the Kaaba we'll get into more detail except to show you they're bulldozing around building skyscrapers and hotels they want millions more people to be able to come this is part of the economic and entertainment and religious transformation of Saudi Arabia going on today this is the port city of Jeddah 50 miles away you can see some new skyscrapers coming here's another one that's being built major port facility it's going to be the port of Mecca the port of Mecca it already is but you have container ships that are plying the Seas all the time all the time one of the major trade routes of the world and this becomes very significant because what did we read in revelation 17 and 18 the merchants and those who were on the sea became rich because of her wealth that becomes very significant particularly with in light of what Saudi Arabia wants to continue building trade Commerce based economy with its strategic location state-of-the-art technologies all managed by national and global experts who strive to offer the best possible services king abdullah port this is King Abdullah economic City the new city on the Red Sea King Abdullah port has earned its place at the heart of the world's major shipping lines all within a solid plan that will bring to reality its vision of becoming one of the largest ports in the world you have to look at the logistical issues politically economically this is very significant for a reading here in revelation 17 and 18 now I want to move up the Seif up the red sea further to this area right in this location right here this is where I mentioned to you if you were here with us last time the city of neon it's a new proposed city the new city of neon a 500 billion dollar metropolis on the red sea proposed by Crown Prince Ben Salman a city state that will span three countries Saudi Arabia Egypt and Jordan a land area 33 times larger than New York City over ten thousand square miles it will utilize the most advanced technology and artificial intelligence it will be designed to be the greenest most efficient destination on earth intended to draw the world's top businesses and tourism it will be the independent of the kingdom's existing governmental laws I'm going to go back to this business and tourism just today just today Saudi Arabia announced a sixty four billion dollar initiative to build entertainment facilities in Saudi Arabia over the next ten years sixty four billion with a B that is showing you major commitment to draw people from around the world to visit Saudi Arabia in the next five to ten years if things continue on the trajectory that they are now Saudi Arabia will be a world-class tourist destination watch for it it will be independent of the kingdom's existing governmental laws this is astounding a city-state independent of existing governmental laws and the crown prince says it will be free of old traditions and gender restrictions they're already promoting it women can drive their building movie theaters women can wear bikini is that the Red Sea resorts now they are complete women can own businesses now without fear of reprisal within the male-dominated culture amazing what's happening in Saudi Arabia listen to the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seventy percent of the Saudi people are less than 30 years old and we will not waste 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideas Wahhabist radical Islamic ideology this is coming from the crown prince who's about 32 years old himself we will destroy them today we want to live a normal life amazing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman okay the last days Babylon in the Old Testament can we find a description of this this last days Babylon we know babylons in the Old Testament because historically we know so much took place there we know that the Jewish people were taken into captivity in Babylon we know king named Nebuchadnezzar we know Daniel was there so we know so much of Babylon but can we find a last days Babylon in the Old Testament look at Isaiah chapter 13 and 14 if you would with me Isaiah 13 1 the burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son of a Masjid see look at no so a burden is kind of an Oracle or or a prophecy against okay so you see a burden of or an Oracle of or a lamentation of these are these this is bad news for whoever the object is in the sentence so in this case we're talking about the burden of Babylon this is bad news for Babylon verse 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 now remember what we saw in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 we saw a description of a woman Mystery Babylon and she's riding on a what a beast with ten which are ten Kings or kingdoms that are unified okay and we're told that those kings or kingdoms are going to turn and burn her with fire in the last days right destroy her total destruction so there's this entity of the beast that I want you to I want you to see here as we're looking the noise of a multitude in the mountains this is a burden against Babylon remember that's how the chapter started the noise of a multitude of the mountains like as of a great people a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together the Lord of hosts muster earth the hosts of the battle so who's responsible for generating this army against Babylon the Lord the he's utilizing them as he did throughout ancient history he used nations and Kings to to punish right wicked wicked wicked Israel sometimes when Israel was disobeying he he brought nations in to punish them took them into captivity so the Lord is using this tumultuous noise of kingdoms as Gathering of Nations he's bringing them together verse 5 they come from a far country from the end of heaven even the Lord and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole and there's that indignation it's he's on the warpath verse 6 Howley you'll find Hallie in many of the texts that describe this for the day of the Lord there it is God's wrath is at hand it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty verse 7 therefore shall all hands be faint every man's heart shall melt they shall be afraid pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them they shall be in pain as a woman that travail that they shall be amazed one at another their faces shall be as flames verse 9 behold the day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it verse 10 here we go for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light the Sun shall be darkened and it's going forth the moon shall not cause her light to shine this is cosmic disturbance before the day of Lord exactly as you find it in the book of Revelation in chapter 6 and I will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquity and i will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible I will make a man more precious than fine gold even a man than the 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 now what you should know is when you're talking about the wrath of God remember there is a special judgment reserved for this entity called Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots that's a special judgment God remembers to give her the full portion of what she deserves at the end however other wicked nations are also getting zapped the Lord is pouring out his judgment on all the nations around Israel that were historic persecutors of his people and even Israel is dealing with wrath and judgments that are taking place turn if you would to verse 17 behold I will stir up the Medes who are the Medes today most likely they're the Kurds okay this is the region of northern Iran northern Iraq they're also they're also in the area of eastern Turkey parts of northern Syria this is the Kurdish people the largest identifiable people group on earth without their own homeland today these are the Kurds 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 they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb and there I shall not spare children so God is summoning among these nations there's tumultuous group of Nations that are coming he calls out here I will stir up the Medes against them who the burden is against Babylon so the burden is against Babylon and the Lord is stirring up these nations to do his bidding to bring judgment upon Babylon and he calls out here Isaiah calls out the Medes verse 19 and Babylon the glory of the kingdoms the glory of kingdoms the beauty of the Cowley's excellency shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah it shall never be inhabited neither shall it be dwelt in from generation and generation neither shall the arabian do Arabians live in New York City or Rome Italy most there are some but they're not pitching tents there most likely neither shall the arabian pitch tent there neither shall the Shepherd's make their fold there verse 21 but while beasts of the desert shall lie there so this entity that's being destroyed this Babylon is in the desert Arabians pitched tents there and there is a nation that the Lord is calling up that he is mustering a group of Nations to pour judgment to attack and destroy Babylon at the end remember back to the image that we created for you at the beginning where we talked about the woman Mystery Babylon the false religious system is riding on a ten horned beast and the Beast turns and burns her with fire at the end destroys her so here what you have is that discussion of Babylon clearly day of the Lord texts last days last days Babylon and we're talking about the Lord stirring up a group of nations from the north you're gonna read from the north over and over again including the Medes who are north of Arabia to come down and to attack and destroy look at I want you to follow me if you will down to Isaiah 14 and let's go to four that thou shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say how hath the oppressor ceased the Golden City ceased so this is a joyful idea that finally the suppressor this this this mystery this babylon this empire that was a persecutor has being destroyed by the lord by this by this group of nations in the last days verse 5 the lord hath broken the staff of the wicked and the scepter of the rulers he who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke he that ruled the nations in anger is persecuted and none hindereth the whole earth is at rest and is quiet they break forth into singing isn't that amazing look at verse 11 that down to the grave the haughtiness the pride of babylon remember it passages about Babylon she says I sit as a queen who's going to mess with me I'm controlling all things nobody's nobody's gonna nobody's gonna pass judgment on me I'm controlling my situation verse 11 that pomp is brought down to the grave and the noise of thy vials the worm is spread under thee now it's almost talking like an individual that's coming into play here the worm is spread under thee it's like a grave this entities in a grave and the worms cover thee verse 12 how art thou fallen from heaven o Lucifer son of the morning how art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nation's Lucifer is specifically connected to this entity Babylon that's being destroyed in last days by there's so much more that I could point out to you here let's move over to Isaiah 21 verse 1 the burden of the desert of the sea would you call Saudi Arabia a sandbox with three seas around it as a peninsula would you call it a desert of the sea as whirl winds in the south pass through so it comes from the desert from a terrible land first to a grievous vision is declared unto me the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously in the spoiler spoiler go up o alam who is alam Persia Iran today ok so now we have two entities we have a group of nations but we have two specifically called out we have Alam which is Persia or Iran and we have the Medes in the previous text right which is the Kurdish area both very close together go up alam besiege o media all the sign thereof have i made to cease therefore are my loins filled with pain pangs have taken hold of me as the pangs of a woman that travaileth it's this is this is unbelievable for the writer to see for isaiah to see verse 9 and behold here cometh the chariot of men with a couple of horsemen and he answered and said babylon is fallen is fallen and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground so here you have the exact phraseology fallen fallen is Babylon verse 11 the burden of Douma that's in Arabia by the way he calleth out to me from seer that's in Edom Edom is the area of just south of Moab and Edom is the area of northwest arabia again we have new names for these countries today and new borders but remember we're looking at this biblically in these geographical land areas of the Middle East Edom is in the geographical area of the Arabian Peninsula it's the northwestern portion of Arabia incidentally it's very close to the new city proposed called Neum that whole area was the area that was part of Edom and the Midianites verse 13 the burden upon arabia in the forest in arabia shall you lodge oh he traveling company of dida NIEM d Dyneema merchants from the area of arabia we know that they were tribal verse 16 for thus hath the lord said unto me within a year according to the years of a hireling and all the glory of Kedar shall fall Kedar isn't in arabia and the residue of the number of the archers the mighty men of the children of Kedar shall be diminished for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it Kedar are the military sons of Ishmael so when you read about Kedar that's the military sons of Ishmael and they were in the area of Arabia down to Isaiah 22 verse 6 and Elam bare the quiver with the chariots of men and horses so again you have persia and iran skip over if you would to chapter 23 the burden of what do you have in your Bible it's higher tyre now this is very important we're reading about tyre many times the Old Testament writers when they were penning these passages under inspiration divine inspiration of God they repeated the same concepts in different ways in ensuing chapters so they would repeat it and say a little bit differently or the poetic license would be a little bit differently or they'd come at it from a different angle so many times when you're reading these passages the writers are saying the same thing but they're giving you more additional information or coming at it from a different angle I would suggest to you that that's what's happening here in Isaiah chapter 23 now I want to I want to back up for just a second we know we know that there was a Babylon we know that historically the Medes came see some of you may be saying well I thought the Medes came and destroyed Babylon so maybe that's what these passages are talking about you know the ones we just talked about the destruction of Babylon and the Medes right media is coming to destroy Babylon so maybe it's the historic you know at the time of the prophecy it was coming shortly thereafter because I can kind of you know sense that maybe some of you may be thinking that I want to remind you the context of what we were reading was day of the Lord day of the Lord passages so what we have in view in many of these passages is we have again a near term prophecy where Babylon was attacked the Medes did attack Babylon and you know what they did when they attacked Babylon they diverted the river that ran through Babylon they diverted it to another channel into a marshy area to the north of the city the river ran to the side and you know what when they went in they took over without a big fight now there were later conquests of Babylon but in the context of what we are familiar with and the Scriptures are teaching Babylon wasn't decimated at the time when the Medes came in to take it over there was not much of a conquest that a conflict that took place there so and you didn't have you had Babylon continued on it wasn't decimated it continued on well after that I want to get over to tire tire is a city in what is today Lebanon tire also was a historic city very significant very important it actually was it had an island off of the coast so where you had ancient tyre there was a gap in the Mediterranean Sea a short one and then you haven't had an island so both sections were actually part of ancient tyre the religious and economic center was on the island and many the people lived on the mainland with it with a large wall around them we know that tyre was attacked by Nebuchadnezzar Babylon and we but we also know that was for thirteen years and he was never able to to conquer it particularly the island portion and we also know that later Alexander the Great attacked the area of Tyre and was able to to destroy it to conquer it so it's a legitimate prophecy that we're reading here but again I would suggest to you that in the context the writer is going beyond the near term prophecy in ancient times to a longer term end of end of history description the burden of tyre halle ships of tarshish for it has laid waste so that there is no house no entering in from the land of chittim it is revealed to them skip down to verse 6 pass you over to Tarshish howl ye inhabitants of the isle is this your joy a city whose antiquity is of ancient days her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn verse 8 who have taken this counsel against tyre the crowning city whose merchants are princes whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth verse 11 he stretched out his hand over the sea he shook the kingdoms the Lord hath given a commandment against the Merchant City to destroy the strongholds thereof skip to verse 15 this is isaiah 23 1514 how ye ships of tarshish for your strength is laid waste same kind of terminology that's used in the description of Babylon in the last days verse 15 and it shall come to pass in that day that tire shall be forgotten seventy years according to the days of one king after the end of seventy years shall tire sing as an harlot taken verse 16 take a harp go about the city thou harlot that has been forgotten make sweet melody sing many songs that thou mayest be remembered verse 17 and it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years that the Lord will visit tyre and she shall turn to her hire as a prostitute and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth and her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord it shall not be treasured nor laid up for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing behold the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste so skip over to the end of chapter 24 verse 19 the earth is utterly broken down the earth is clean dissolved the earth is moved exceedingly the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard and shall be moved removed like a cottage and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it and it shall fall and not rise again and it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the hosts of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth upon the earth skip down to verse 23 then here's the cosmic disturbance the moon shall be confounded the Sun ashamed when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount zion and in jerusalem and before his ancient ancients gloriously so I would suggest to you that there is a parallel between Mystery Babylon and the ancient city of Tyre both I believe are alluded to in connection to the last days Babylon so don't be too confused I'm gonna go quick here it's turn over I'm gonna skip there's a whole section in Jeremiah 49 50 and 51 that is just absolutely remarkable amazing I strongly encourage you to read it keeping in mind all the things that we're talking about tonight it will help you as you read Jeremiah 49 50 and 51 but skip over if you would to Ezekiel 26 27 and 28 so if you're not convinced about my my comments about tire let's look at Ezekiel 26 verse 2 son of man because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem aha she's broken that was the gates of the people she has turned unto me and shall be replenished now she has laid waste verse 3 therefore thus saith the Lord God behold I am against the Oh tyre and will cause what many nations to come up against thee as the sea causeth his waves to come up verse 7 for thus saith the Lord God behold I will bring upon tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon a king of kings from the north and I would suggest to you that we're talking about Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon again that's true in the in the concept of tyre in the near term prophesy from when this was given it's true that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to attack tyre but I would suggest to you that there is a longer term prophecy the end of the age where where we see Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon that's referring I believe it's referring to the Antichrist that is leading a 10 nation coalition against Babylon in the last days against Mystery Babylon with horses and with chariots and with horsemen and companies and much people verse 13 and I will cause the noise of the songs to cease and the sound of the harp shall be heard no more same language that's used in the book of Revelation I will make thee like the top of a rock thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon desolate absolutely desolate for I the LORD have spoken it saith the Lord thus saith the Lord God to tyre shall not the aisles shake at the sound of thy fall when the wounded cry when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee then all the princes of the sea verse 16 then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones and lay away their robes and put off their broidered garments they shall clothe themselves with trembling they shall sit upon the ground and shall tremble at every moment and be astonished at thee it's almost exactly the description that we see in Revelation chapter 17 and 18 where the merchants are astonished by this there they're putting their putting ashes and dirt on their heads as if the Middle Eastern custom is they're doing the same thing the princes are disrobing and they are there they're groveling in the dirt they shall take up lamentation for the and say to thee how art thou destroyed that was inhabited of seafaring men the renowned City which was strong in the sea she and her inhabitants which caused their terror to be on all that haunted now shall the Isles tremble in the day of thy fall yea the Isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at the departure when we talk about Isles I would suggest you these are faraway ports there's some islands these are faraway destinations that are coming to this destination tyre I would suggest you Babylon they're coming to this destination as merchants there on the sea they have ships there getting rich off of her right this the same was true in ancient tyre they were they were the Phoenicians they controlled that part of the world they were known to be seafaring they there was a crossroads of economics that took place there but this is also description in revelation 17 and 18 of what's going to happen in the last days Babylon verse 19 for thus saith the Lord God when I shall make thee a desolate City like the cities that are not inhabited when I shall bring up the deep upon the you know tyre today is still inhabited is thirty at least thirty thousand people plus that live in the city of Tyre today this says I will make the Edessa last city that are not inhabited about tyre so it has to be a future it has to be a future future time period tire is in Lebanon you can look it up today this is there's a city that's there great waters shall cover thee again the description chapter 27 verse 2 now thou son of man take up a lamentation or an Oracle against tyre verse 3 and say to tyre o thou that art situated at the entry of the sea which art a merchant of the people for many Isles thus saith the Lord God Oh tyre though has said I am perfect of perfect beauty I sit as a queen remember in the book of Revelation verse 4 the borders are in the midst of the Seas in other words the the setting is in the midst of water of the actual seas because why the merchants those who were in cargo ships those who trade the city is and is in the midst of the sea the builders have perfected the beauty there's so much more that I could say I want I want you to come away with let me just let me just get to verse chapter 27 verse 30 and shall cause their voice to be heard against thee and shall cry bitterly these are the merchants and shall cast up dust upon their heads exactly as the description in revelation 17 and 18 they will be wailing and they'll say in verse 32 halfway down what city is like tyre like the destroyed in the midst of the sea verse 34 in the time when thou shall be broken by the Seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all that company in the midst of thee shall fall remember merchandise and all the inhabitants of the isle shall be astonished at thee those who are trading with her and their kings shall be sore afraid they shall be troubled in their countenance the merchants among the people shall hiss at thee thou shalt be a tur and shall never be any more so what I want you to come away with there's more we could discuss but I don't want to keep you any longer is that there are and please read Jeremiah 49 50 and 51 and there are other passages as well you know what to look for you're looking for day of the Lord context wrath of God remember the Old Testament prophets gave near-term prophecies and then you have to look is there a longer term end of time prophecy that is in view here and I'd suggest that most of these are all of these that we've looked at today have a near term prophecy and a long term prophecy why is this significant because the the pieces of the chessboard are being put into place by God right now right now there are quantifying things that we must look for when we're trying to identify these entities if you're trying to identify Mystery Babylon the Great and you can see in revelation 17 and 18 and you can see parallel descriptions in the Old Testament in a last days context you know what to look for when you're looking for this entity who is Mystery Babylon the Great you know that it needs to be near the sea you know that it needs to be near a desert you know that it has to have great economic influence and wealth and prestige in the Middle East you know that it has to be fostering and promoting a false religious system and I would suggest to you that if we're talking about some time in the next 10 20 30 40 years that the only answer that fits is Arabia and specifically I would say from the area of Mecca all the way up the Red Sea coast to the proposed new city of neon we don't know what's going to happen with neon we don't know if it'll ever come out of the sand but I can tell you that there's a lot of talk about it and the Saudi Arabians are putting a lot of stock in it they are putting an incredible amount of money into it more than 500 billion dollars committed to it they are making reforms in that country like you would not believe and I would suggest to you that it's very possible that that there is an alliance coming already being worked on between Israel and Arabia why because they are both fearful of a growing powerful threat from ancient Persia which is Iran today and I would suggest to you and I wanted to take one final one final minute and I would suggest to you that what is really in view and we'll get to this as maybe this is a teaser for the next one and we're gonna have and that is I would suggest to you that the final beast Empire of ten nations will go back to the Book of Daniel when we look at it and explore it more deeply it is going to comprise the area from the Balkans which has a significant Islamic influence from Albania Bulgaria most of northern Greece Macedonia that area it's going to include and I can't be specific up in this region but I'll just give you general all the way down all the way to the borders of India all of these nations are Islamic today and I believe that they're all going to be aligned together as a ten nation confederation of Nations all Islamic under an individual called in the Bible the Assyrian the area of ancient Assyria was this region that was the area of ancient Assyria in the Old Testament you'll find descriptions of the coming Assyrian in reference to the Antichrist I believe he's also referred to in Ezekiel chapter 38 as GOG of Magog Meshech tubal - garma in the area of Turkey and so what I believe is in view is that these nations remember we read in the passages Iran or or Alam the Medes this is Iran right here Iran and the Medes are in this area this region and it says and other nations together a major tool multe that the Lord is bringing together the 10 horns remember on the Beast that the woman rides the ten horns come together I believe all Islamic I believe all gonna form a caliphate and i believe that they are going to come down and they are going to decimate the source of the false religion that has that they have committed spiritual fornication with Islam has permeated their entire religious and economic and cultural systems the false religion of Islam is riding over them and that they at the end will turn and burn and I would suggest to you this area probably down to Mecca some of this areas well but major cities are being constructed along the Red Sea coast along there and I would suggest to you that they are going to be coming down and they're going to be destroying Arabia in the last days and that is what I think is in view the false religious system of Islam being destroyed now why would they do that Iran is very vocal and saying we want to destroy Saudi Arabia they've even prohibited they're both Islam but one is Hsieh one is Sunni they hate each other with a passion if you read the behind the news reports what's going on and the things that are being said between these two Oh vicious enemies of each other and they have come out publicly so Iran is developing nuclear weapons I think some of the descriptions that you're reading and the passages very well could indicate a nuclear a nuclear war between Iran destroying and burning her with fire in Arabia so that's what I would suggest to you again I'm not dogmatic but that's where I believe the scriptures are leading me in my study and I encourage you to study as well so thank you I'm sorry I went long but you're kind of getting used to that with me unfortunately but I hope that it was helpful for you thank you so much god bless [Music] you go deeper in your understanding of God his people and his plan for planet Earth Zions fire magazine is an exceptional resource with powerful insights from Scripture that provide a clear understanding of God's ultimate plan for the last days and the return of Jesus Christ as a first-time subscriber you'll receive a free one-year subscription to Zions fire magazine with no strings attached request your free subscription by visiting our website or by calling our toll free number and we'll send you six free issues one every other month for a full year we depend on the generosity of viewers like you to support the ongoing production of these programs your donation whether 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Channel: Zion's Hope

Views: 9,168

Rating: 4.7746477 out of 5

Keywords: Babylon, Great, Mother, Harlet, Harlets, Mother of Harlets, Mountains, Beast, The Beast, Antichrist, Mystery, Revelation, Prophecy, Prophetic, Ride, Islam, Israel

Id: deilfaFrsJ8

Length: 68min 11sec (4091 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 05 2018