What John continues to see here in Chapter 14, are the events that will transpire right before the Day of the Lord. John sees this in verse 6;
"And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach
to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and nation"
So right before Jesus comes to execute His wrath on those who are destroying the earth, He again will send another messenger, this time an angel, to proclaim the truth that leads to eternal life. Remember, Jesus had already sent Enoch and Elijah to proclaim the gospel of the truth. Now again Jesus is sending throughout the whole world the message by which people can avoid going through His wrath, by receiving what He did on the cross, to give them the gift of eternal life. Jesus wants as many who would choose to come to Him to have the chance so that they can avoid the alternative, which is eternal death. Remember what Peter wrote in his 2nd letter Chapter 3, verse 9;
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some may count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all me to repentance."
In verse 7, the angel proclaims this with a loud voice;
"Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come, and
worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and see and springs of water."
The interesting thing here to note, is that the angel, at the same time he is saying that Jesus' judgment is coming, is pointing out that Jesus is the creator on the heaven and earth. Jesus spoke all things into existence. After He avenges the blood of the saints on those who murdered them and stops Satan and his armies from destoying the earth, He is quite capable of again speaking into existence and creating anew that which He desires.
In verse 8 a second angel follows saying this;
"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of
the wine of the passion of her immorallity."
Babylon the great is the city that will be built in the last days which will be like the capital of the world. The nations of the world will all participate in the building of this city. The merchants of the earth will become wealthy because of the supplies that will be required to build this first class modern city. The thing to note here is that as the first angel is proclaim the gospel of salvation, the second angel is letting people know that this city has been destroyed. This again shows the great grace of Jesus. This will now force those on the earth to look more closely at their choice. They have just been deceieved by Satan that he is claiming to be God, but now Satan's city has been destroyed. So they will ask themselves, "was this man (Satan) really God or is this message by the first angel the truth?"
There are many scripture verses making references to this city and the king of this city. I think it is important to pinpoint where this city will be. The prophet Ezekiel reveals where this city will be built. Daniel talks about the king of the north that will bring forth the proposal of peace. This king is the one that makes a seven year covenant with the many. He is also the one who becomes (IT) in the middle of that covenant. This is Satan who is cast down to the earth, at the same time this king of the north recovers from a fatal wound. This leader now becomes a vehicle of Satan, who will then proceed down into Israel and seat himself in the Jewish temple that will be built during the seven year peace covenant. When Daniel says that he will be the king of the north, it is in agreement with what Ezekiel wrote in his 27th and 28th Chapters. In Ezekiels 27th chapter, he reveals that the city will be Tyre. In Chapter 28, Ezekiel reveals that the king of Tyre is Satan. Tyre is in Lebanon, directly north of Israel. This city will corrupt the whole earth.
There is a lot more to talk about pertaining to this city. Babylon the great will be talked more about as we go through Revelation. My next blog will be solely dedicated to decribing this city and it's king. There is much to much to include in this blog.
Jesus peace and grace be with all of you.
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