A Tale of Two Cities: Babylon has Fallen
Sermon Notes
Today we are continuing our study of Revelation, the last book of the Bible and we’ll be in Chapter 14. If you have a Bible, go ahead and turn there, if not, the verses will be on the screen.
We spent the last two weeks in Revelation 13, and we saw the alarming power that Satan has as he raised two beasts out of the depths, one being the Antichrist, the other, the Anti-prophet. These two people will win the hearts of many people with their deceptive schemes and set out to destroy all Christians around the world. If you were to read Revelation and stop at Ch. 13 or if you only read Ch. 13, it would be pretty disheartening. The scene is chaotic, and Christians don’t seem to fare too well…. a trend that’s already growing today. A lot of things seem to be falling apart at a rapid pace and the attack on Christianity is increasing. In America, some of our religious freedoms are threatened, but in other parts of the world, Christians are being killed for their faith daily. It can be scary to think about. Even if you’re not a Christian, the changing world and unknowns of the future can and do create a lot of anxiety and stress in our lives. Those feelings are real and often justified.
But we know that God is not a God of chaos, and he does not want us to be overcome with worry and fear. That’s why we’re looking to the book of Revelation to learn how to have peace in a world of chaos. We believe that God wants us to have peace. He wants us to know that even in the absolute worst of times, He is still in control, He is still good, and we can still trust him.
The Big Idea for today is that we can be confident in the trials because God’s story is reliable. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t always feel like it. There are some days that I really question what God is up to you, and I can even get pretty upset because His plan doesn’t seem like much of a plan to me. There have been some days recently that you probably wouldn’t want me as your pastor because of my lack of faith. But this text today has been a reminder to me that I can be confident in the trials that I’m facing because God’s story is reliable. This is why we need God’s Word; to bring us back to these truths. We’re going to cover all of Ch. 14, but we’ll break it into three main sections: The Lamb and His Followers (vv. 1-5), Three Proclamations (vv. 6-13), and The Time to Reap (vv. 14-20). Let’s jump in.
The Lamb and His followers
Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
I want to point out again that the events that we see in Revelation are not necessarily in chronological order. Some of them are, but many of them are not. Many theologians hold to a concentric view of Revelation which means there are rings or layers of themes that get repeated multiple times that can all be occurring at the same time. I say that because these first five verses should sound very familiar to us. The vision is very similar to that of Revelation 5. We see Jesus, the Lamb, standing in authority on Mount Zion, and with him are the 144,000 believers introduced in Ch. 7. You can go back and listen to those messages for more detail, but remember, we don’t have a definitive answer on the identity of the 144,000. Some Bible scholars believe this is a literal 144,000 Jewish converts who will come to faith in Christ during the tribulation, others believe this includes Jewish and non-Jewish converts, and others believe this is not a literal number but that it represents all believers throughout history. We don’t really know which it is.
Either way, John points out a few things we don’t want to miss. The first overarching theme is the way Ch. 14 stands in contrast to Ch. 13. As we go, we’re going to see a lot of visions or ideas from 13 countered in 14, starting with Mt. Zion. Mt. Zion is a name used throughout the Bible for Jerusalem, the Holy City, where the temple once stood and will be rebuilt. Jesus, standing in authority over it, stands in contrast to the Antichrist standing in authority over the kingdom he builds, referred to later as Babylon. To borrow from Charles Dickens, this is literally the Tale of Two Cities.
We’ll see that play out as we go, like with the believers here in Ch. 14 who stand in stark contrast to those who took the mark of the beast in chapter 13. They took the mark as part of the one world order and religion, and that identified them as belonging to the Antichrist. But the followers of Jesus that John sees are marked with God’s name and are identified as belonging to Him. These are the ones, as Paul talks about, that have been sealed by the Spirit. What’s interesting is that there is no neutral identity. Everyone will be marked, it’s just a matter of which mark we get…the one of the Beast or the Lamb.
At least some, if not all, of these marked by God are recent converts who came to faith during the tribulation. In His mercy, God rescued their souls from the deceitful schemes of Satan and his army, and then He physically protected them from the intense persecution of the two beasts to preserve a remnant of the Church during a very wicked time, and that explains the powerful song they are singing.
We saw this imagery in Ch. 5 also as the elders, angels, and living creatures proclaimed the glory of God before his throne, but it was only the believers who were singing the song of the redeemed. In Ch. 14, the believers are singing so loud it sounds like roaring water or thunder, and it’s a song that no one else can sing because no one has experienced what these Christians have. Their sense of rescue is extremely intense. I think I can say that no one in this room has experienced the kind of persecution that these Christians will, but Church, we need to remember that we, too, have a song to sing! We have been marked with God’s name on our heads and sealed by the Spirit! Why would we not sing and celebrate that? Sometimes we can take our salvation for granted, I know I do. But considering what’s happening in Revelation, it should spark a fresh sense of humility, gratitude, and joy that comes out in song. Theoretically, our song should grow louder as we grow in our faith because we’re being refined and our hearts are growing more in love with God.
This leads to the last thing I want to point out about these believers - their sanctification. John says they have not defiled themselves; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes, and they are blameless. This does not mean they are without sin. They aren’t perfect. But they are fully devoted to Jesus. The fact that they have not defiled themselves sexually could be literal since immorality will run rampant (even more than it already is) during the reign of the Antichrist. But metaphorically, it means that they have not been unfaithful spiritually. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God’s people turning to idols and giving themselves to false gods and repeatedly God uses the language of adultery to describe that sin. When we give our worship to anything other than God, it’s like we’re cheating on our spouse. But these Christians standing with the Lamb have remained faithful. They are people of integrity, devotion, and honesty, which stands out sharply against the immoral, deceitful masses who have bowed to the beast. They are adulterers. What this means is that faith saves us, but our lifestyle (our works) must match. God said for us “to be holy as he is holy.” We need to make sure that we are not claiming to be Christians and then giving ourselves over to the idols and false gods of the world. Jesus said you can’t serve two masters. God clearly wants us to remain undefiled and fully devoted to him. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Like with the mark, there is no neutral ground. We either worship and follow Christ or we worship and follow a false god, possibly even the Antichrist. And, as we’re about to see, the future of those two groups is very different.
In verse 6, we move to the next major section: Three Proclamations.
3 Proclamations
6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
This is the first proclamation, and it’s made by one of six angels that we’ll see in the remainder of this chapter. This angel is flying over the earth where everyone can see and hear him, and he’s preaching the gospel. This is unique because Jesus commissioned his followers to spread the gospel. It is not the responsibility of the angels. We don’t see that anywhere else in Scripture, but this is a unique time in history. John McArthur points out that Jesus promised in Matthew 24 that the gospel would be preached throughout the whole world before the end, and the preaching of this angel will in some sense assure that this promise is fulfilled. This reiterates the Apostle Paul’s point in Romans 1 that all men are without excuse when it comes to believing in God. He has and will reveal himself in some way. Even in the last days when the number of Christians on earth is in rapid decline, God sends his angel to preach to the masses and give them one last opportunity to repent and turn to Him.
The message is clear, “Fear God and give him glory.” At this point, most of the world has bowed in fearful worship of the Antichrist giving him the glory. So, this is a plea to turn to the One True God. It’s not too late, but it will be very soon because the hour of his judgment has come as this Tale of Two Cities continues. Look at verse 8.
8 And another, a second angel, followed, saying, “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”
Babylon the Great is referenced six times in Revelation. Ancient Babylon was in Mesopotamia, which is now modern-day Iraq. You may remember from ancient history that it was a political, commercial, and religious powerhouse. It was known for its decadence, gross immorality, and idolatry. Danny Akin points out that in Revelation, “Babylon stands for that system that stands religiously, politically, and economically in opposition to all that is of God. It is the antichrist’s worldwide political, economic, and religious empire.” It is the antithesis of the New Jerusalem, God’s Holy City, but this second proclamation by a second angel is one of finality and victory…. like a news report at the end of a war. Babylon has fallen!
At this point, we know that John is getting a glimpse ahead in the vision, which shows everything is not written chronologically. He sees that the horrific kingdom built in Ch. 13 by the Antichrist will come to an end. It’s gracious of God to give us this clear picture of the end so that when the days are hard and we feel hopeless, we can come here and remember that there is an end in sight. Imagine what this will mean for the Christians suffering during the tribulation to know that Babylon will fall. It can give all of us confidence to press on because this is showing us that God’s story is reliable.
And there’s a third proclamation.
9 And another, a third angel, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
Several years ago, some prominent pastors started coming out saying that the Bible doesn’t teach a literal hell. They must have missed this chapter because these verses make it hard to deny. There is a clear distinction and punishment of those who worship the beast, which also makes it impossible to argue for universalism (the belief that eventually all persons will be saved). This ties back to the idea of one world religion that the anti-prophet will push for and try to establish. That type of system can only be founded on the idea that all spirituality and religious beliefs lead to the same end… but that’s clearly not true. Those who deny God and worship the beast will experience the wrath of God, and their judgment will last for eternity. Hell will be a horrific experience that will be physically agonizing, but worst of all will be knowing (in the sight of the Lamb) that you rejected God when you had the chance to believe. It’s a punishment that should burden us for others because we don’t want anyone to choose that, and it should serve as a prodding motivator for us to remain faithful. That’s why the angel goes on to say in verse 12,
12 This calls for endurance from the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”
This view of the judgment should motivate us to keep running the race…to keep running after Jesus. Sometimes we want to stop. Sometimes we find ourselves asking if the sacrifices and doing things God’s way is worth it. But that’s because we’re only focused on the here and now, so in some ways, this becomes an issue of delayed gratification. Do we want to give in to our fleshly desires now and enjoy all the carnal things of the world, or are we willing to resist those temptations and follow Jesus at all costs in light of what’s to come? God is showing us the right answer to that! Look at verse 13.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
This is not an encouragement we hear a lot…. blessed are the dead. That’s about as popular as the idea of hell. But it’s not just any dead that are blessed, it’s those that die in the Lord. This echoes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs,” and the Psalmist in Psalm 116:15, “The death of his faithful ones is valuable in the Lord’s sight.” God’s Word is clear; it’s better to sacrifice everything, including our lives, than to bow down to the Antichrist or even the things of this world. Delayed gratification is better! And while today we’re not faced with the choice of bowing to the beast of Revelation 13, we are faced with the choice of who or what we will worship. I don’t know if we’ll be here during the tribulation, but I do know that we are faced with the same kinds of choices and temptations today. And if we can hold on (or better yet, hold out) the Bible tells us that we will blessed for our obedience and devotion to Jesus. Even the Holy Spirit chimes in and agrees.
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”
This is the first of only two times the Holy Spirit is quoted in Revelation (the other in 22:17). He says, yes, they will be blessed with rest. Those who worship the beast and receive the torment of hell will never rest (v.11). But those who endure will receive eternal rest in heaven. They will be rewarded for their faithfulness. That’s a pretty strong motivation. I’ll take that delayed gratification! And the rest of this chapter is going to be further confirmation of that.
As a quick recap, in the first two sections, we saw Jesus and his faithful followers preserved and rewarded, we saw one final plea to accept the Gospel, and then we saw the coming fate of those who reject God and bow to the Antichrist.
In the final section, we will see a preview of the final judgment that will be played out in more detail in the coming chapters.
The Time to Reap
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Here we move from proclamation to action as John sees, what most theologians agree is, Jesus coming on the cloud. The language is consistent with Daniel’s vision and the golden crown indicates his Kingship. We also see the fourth angel of the chapter come out and give Jesus instruction (which seems bold) …but it may be better to see it as an announcement of what’s about to happen than telling Jesus when to act. And what’s about to happen is a harvest, but there is a question of what harvest. Is this a harvest of the righteous or the unrighteous? On one hand, we can associate the grain harvest with believers since that’s mentioned several other times in Scripture. If that’s the case it would continue to show the strong contrast between the fate of those who worship Christ versus the fate of those who worship the Antichrist. However, throughout Revelation, John often uses parallel visions to help interpret one another. So, it’s likely that the second vision we’re about to read is used as a parallel to this first one.
17 Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven. 18 Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.
This vision is very clear as the fifth and sixth angels come out to harvest the unrighteous, and it’s not a pretty sight. Like grapes from the vine, they are picked and thrown into the winepress. This fulfills a prophecy from Joel 3:12–13, which says,
Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the surrounding nations. Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe. Come and trample the grapes because the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is great.
And also, Isaiah 63:3-4,
I trampled the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and ground them underfoot in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained. For I planned the day of vengeance, and the year of My redemption came.
Later in Revelation, we’ll see Jesus appear and his garments are stained with spattered blood from this judgment, which also gives more clarity to what’s happening. This is the beginning of what we know as the Battle of Armageddon, which will take place near Mount Megiddo, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem, outside of the city, just as John describes in verse 20. That’s important because it’s God’s way of preserving the temple and Mt. Zion. In this Tale of Two Cities, one city will stand forever and the other will be destroyed in the most destructive and awful war the world has ever seen. Just imagine the blood flowing about 4’ high for 180 miles! It’s gruesome and hard to fathom, but this is God’s wrath being poured out on those who have rejected him. This is what happens when God is no longer extending His grace and mercy. This is His justice against the sinful, hard-hearted people who bought into the lies and chose to worship the beast. We see glimpses of this justice throughout the Bible. Think of the flood that covered the earth, the plagues against Pharoah, and the Israelites conquering the Promised Land,… but there’s one place that gave us the clearest picture of God’s wrath… the cross.
At the cross, God poured out the fullness of His wrath on Jesus, his son. As a parent, can you imagine how difficult it would be to see your children caught up in the reaping and smashing here in Revelation 14? Yet, that’s exactly what God not only witnessed but carried out on Jesus. He was crushed in the winepress of God’s wrath and his blood flowed, but it was our sin that put him there.
Isaiah 53:5 says,
But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.
Revelation 14 should highlight for us the magnitude of the Gospel and God’s glorious grace! Judgment is what we all deserve, but the gift of salvation is available to us! Like the 144,000 we can join in the song of the redeemed and be with Jesus for eternity. We don’t have to fear the wrath of the Antichrist, and we don’t have to fear the wrath of God. Through Jesus, our souls can be safe from both. Our bodies may suffer. We will die. But our souls will have rest in heaven.
As I said earlier, we don’t have to wait for the tribulation for this Scripture to be relevant to us. I want to give you 3 ways we can apply this passage to our lives today.
Be hopeful because the truth will triumph. Parts of Revelation can feel discouraging. In chapter 13 it seemed like evil was winning. The lies and deception were taking over the world. Sometimes our current lives can feel like that too. It can feel like everything is wrong and working against us. It’s overwhelming at times, and we can feel like giving up. But this text shows us that it’s not how the story ends. Don’t buy into the lies of the enemy, because even if our circumstances are awful, and they’re going to be at times, we have hope in the future. The truth will prevail! Our lives here are just a spec on the timeline of eternity, and as one theologian said, it’s “better to worship the Lamb who redeems and rewards than the beast who deceives and destroys.” We have to stand on that truth!
The second application is,
Be faithful because the righteous will be rewarded. Notice it’s not our righteousness that will be rewarded, but those marked as righteous who will be rewarded. We have no righteousness of our own, but we are counted righteous in Christ. That’s an identity that we can’t lose, and we’ll receive the full blessing of that in Heaven. However, Revelation 13 and 14 repeatedly call us to endurance, faithfulness, and wisdom. We have to remember, like Paul, that we are running towards a finish line, and we can’t afford to let our guard down, we can’t afford to take our eyes off of Jesus, and we can’t afford to be deceived by the enemy. We need to pray for wisdom and perseverance so that we can be like the 144,000 who are blameless and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
This leads to our last application.
Be diligent because God’s wrath is real. As with all of Revelation, this should stir up a burden within us as we’re reminded of the reality of what’s coming. People around us will experience God’s wrath. People we know will not be safe when the time for judgment comes. This kind of perspective should override any racial, social, or political differences that we have and compel us to spread the good news. Granted, it’s not always going to be received well, and it may even cost us our lives at some point, but can we be content not trying? Ask God to show you opportunities to be a faithful witness. Don’t try and scare people into heaven (don’t start with Revelation 14) …. although the time may come for that. For now, look for a few people you can build a relationship with and get to know them for the purpose of sharing the love of Christ. Love a few, so we can love the many.
Here's the Big Idea for today: Be confident in the trials because God’s story is reliable. It may seem like things are off track and getting worse. It may seem like you’re fighting a losing battle, but we can be confident because God’s story is reliable. He shows us how the story ends. Jesus will come back, the wicked will be judged, and God’s people will have rest for all eternity.
Remember the words of Jesus in John 16:33,
“You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
