 Okay, welcome back everybody to our second hour on this course, PC 308, our second lecture for today. We are continuing journey through Revelation. We are now in Revelation chapter 16. Yeah, just any questions till now before we proceed? Any questions from what we covered in the previous lecture? Any questions? Okay, so the sixth bow is really the signal for preparations to take place for this great and final battle. I shouldn't say great, but it is the final battle. We may call it World War III or whatever, but it is the final battle, the battle of Armageddon. We are seeing how the preparations begin. River Euthydus dries up, the Ammonic spirits are released through the mouth of the Antichrist and the false prophet, meaning they instigate the kings of the east to begin to come and all armies of the earth to come. So there is a build up towards it and then we see the climax, the battle of Armageddon, which will take place. By the time we come to Revelation 19, that is the battle of Armageddon. So Revelation 16 is the beginning for the build up of that final battle of Armageddon. Then the next bowl that Revelation chapter 16 verses 17 to 21, somebody could read it, this is the seventh bowl, somebody could read that please. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the earth and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven. It is done and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and a great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of wine of the fastness of his wrath. You could read the next two verses also in us. Then every slain fled away and the mountains were not found and great hail from heaven fell upon men. Each hill sown about the weight of a talent. Men blossomed God before the plague of the hell since that plague was exceedingly great. So, seventh bowl, this is it. Last one, this judgment is poured out. There are all kinds of things happening in the atmosphere. There are thunderings, lightnings, the weather conditions, earthquakes, cities are shaken, cities are shaken to the point where even the great city of Jerusalem is divided into three parts. So you just have to imagine an earthquake that just divides the city into three parts. Nations all over the world. So global shaking, atmospheric weather conditions are shaking the earth. This is it. This is the last one. But it also signifies something. God is going to judge Babylon, says that. And great Babylon was remembered. God is going to judge Babylon. And we will talk about that. We'll talk about that. But the human response is they just angry with God. It says men blasphemed God. Seventh judgment has been poured out. It's the last one. It's done. Nations are shaken. Earth is shaken. People angry with God. And there's one thing left. God is going to judge Babylon. Now Babylon in the Bible, you find it used in three contexts. One, of course, Babylon is a little city, little place in Iraq, the physical place, the geography. But as we're going to see in the next two chapters, Babylon represents two things. Now the word Babylon literally means gateway to God. And it has the roots in the book of Genesis when people tried to build a tower to reach God. So it was a man's attempt to reach God, or scale the heights and become like God. But it also literally means confusion because God caused people to be confused by giving different languages and they didn't understand each other. They were dispersed. So Babylon signifies gateway to God, trying to be like God. So Babylon, literally there is a place, city, all of that. But in the next two chapters, we will see that right here at the end of the tribulation, and this is the final bowl judgment being poured out. And one thing remains. God is going to pour out His wrath on Babylon. Remember we saw in chapter 15, that was it, yeah, chapter 14, sorry, the angel announcing Babylon is fallen. Babylon is fallen. Don't put your faith in Babylon. It's going to fall. That time has come. God is going to judge Babylon. What is Babylon? Two things. Chapter 17 talks about mystery Babylon. Chapter 18 talks about the great city Babylon. And I'll just give us a heads up of preview. And when we read it, we will understand it. Chapter 17, talking about the mystery Babylon, represents a world religious system of false religion. And as you read it, you'll understand why, because first of all, it's called mystery Babylon. The word mystery is often used in connection with revelation, with something that's being unveiled. This mystery Babylon is referred to as a harlot, a prostitute, an adulterer. And she sits over the nations. Meaning she has influence over the whole people, all over the world. Now, a harlot in the Bible, both oldest and new testament, is used to signify people who depart from God. They are spiritual harlots. They're adulterers. Meaning they leave God for something else. So that language is used for this mystery Babylon. She's a harlot. She sits over the nations. And she persecutes the people who have the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. He kills them. So it's a religious system that is destroying those who hold the truth, the word of God, mystery Babylon. And what we see in chapter 17 is, I'm just giving you a preview. So when you read it, you understand that initially this mystery Babylon was supported by these 10 leaders, 10 world leaders. Remember, Daniel spoke about them, that the 10 toes, the 10 horns, who were actually responsible for bringing the Antichrist into power. You know, the Antichrist, the little horn, he influenced these three horns and overcame them and they pushed him up. So you read in chapter 17 here that these 10 leaders were all subscribing to this mystery Babylon, which basically was being promoted by the Antichrist and the false prophet. But suddenly they withdraw their support and this whole world religious system collapses. It's gone. Basically it's God judging this substitute, something that took away or was brought in as an attempt to take away worship from him. The great city Babylon, when we come to chapter 18, you will read again a preview. So when you read it, you'll understand. The great city Babylon, which you can see very clearly in chapter 18 represents a global financial system, a global financial system. It was a system by which the nations were trading. They were buying and selling and all of them, they were all trading. And within one hour this Babylon, which is the great city Babylon representing a global financial system collapses within one hour and the wealth of the nations disappear. It's gone. All the wealth just disappears. So two things that attempt to replace God, religion, money. Mystery Babylon, great city Babylon. And God's final judgment is on these two things because they've tried to take the place of God and man thought he could ascend to be like God through these two things, both gone. When you read these chapters, it will become very clear. So let's do it. Chapter 17, let's go through verses 1 to 6. Christopher, you have a question. Go ahead. Yes. I think we'll come to the end of the articulation and the amount of discussion that has been put on the earth. And what I would like to understand is, when we look at the nature of God, and we always mention that God never changes, but there seems to be two facets of God, where we say God is love. And then there is also this lot of God, which is, you know, that is actually now being very, you know, sort of very visible right now, you know, at this time. It is also there in the Old Testament. And then when Jesus came, it seemed to be, you know, that there was a lot more, a lot of, I mean, a different way to get to, you know, to heaven and, you know, we are now, you know, we have not more ability to do that because, you know, we have the Holy Spirit. You know, Jesus has taken upon us, you know, our sin and, you know, in a sense here, it's easier. And we don't see that, you know, that the other side of God, which is obviously there. And I guess there's two questions. One is of the nature of God. And the other part is that because, you know, we were created in this image, there is also this, sort of, dual-faceted aspect of human beings, you know, where there is this capability of great love. And there's also, you know, this inherent, you know, violence and, you know, aspect of human beings and, you know, the ability to do, to be very, to have a lot of anger and, you know, do things that are, you know, because of that anger. So I just wanted to, I understand these two aspects of, I mean, these two questions actually. Yeah. So the nature of God, you know, has never changed. It's always been the same, consistent. Now, it seemed like when, you know, in the Gospels and the Epistles, suddenly God changed because there's been so much emphasis on grace, compassion. But we must not forget that when Jesus came, it was grace and truth. Right? So it wasn't just no law, but it was grace and truth. And if you look at the life of Jesus, you find that while he was gracious and compassionate with the people, towards gentle crowd, but towards, you know, instance, towards the Pharisees, he was, you know, called them, you know, hypocrites. And, you know, so there was that expression of truth that was sometimes, you could say, strong, you know, say, hey, you're hypocrites and, you know, what are you doing? And he did speak about hell as well. You know, he said it's better for you to lose a name than one limbo, than for your whole body to be constant to hell. While we do emphasize a lot on his grace and his healing and compassion and so on, the reality is Jesus did speak of the other things as well. Same thing when he come into the Episodes, a lot of our teaching and preaching is emphasizing grace, but the Apostle Paul did in men's words. You know, I mean, for example, in Romans 11-22, he said, consider the goodness and severity of God. You know, so if you look carefully through the Episodes, you'll find that it's very balanced. There is this pointing to the severity side of God. So, you know, while we preach so much on the goodness of God, which people do need to hear about in the Episodes, you also find the severity side of God. And Paul said, consider both the goodness and the severity of God, you know. And he said the goodness of God, Romans 2, the goodness of God leads us to repentance, you know. So there is that goodness leading us to repentance. So the nature of God has not changed. Just that our presentation, our preaching and teaching, has emphasized a lot on the goodness in the New Testament, in the church, you know, emphasized the goodness and so on. But if we look carefully, there is the other side also being presented throughout the Gospels and the Episodes, the goodness and the severity of God. And so here we are in the Book of Revelation, where it is God's acts of judgment, on sin, on sinfulness, and so on, bringing everything to a close. So we are seeing that final act. And the focus is on that. It doesn't mean that God is not being kind or not being loving at this point. He is everything. He is grace and truth. He is love. He is also just. And so everything is being held together. But the emphasis, the focus here in the Book of Revelation is this, the final judgment of God. And so that's why it looks as though God has seized to be kind or compassionate. No, it's just what is being presented to us, makes us focus in on that. But he's still God of great compassion, God of great love, who in his justice is executing the judgment that is deserving upon sin and those who have rebelled against God. That's how I would respond. So just to add to that, when we say that human beings are blubbering evil and they are, I mean, it is attributed to the sin that came from Adam. And I guess what I'm coming from is that there is already this aspect of, you know, severity that is there in God, which would have come to human beings because we were created in his image. So, you know, is it the sin that came from Adam? I mean, is that, you know, the ability to do, you know, why are things attributed to the sin or is it because it inherent in us when we were created? So I think we can look at it like this. I understand what you're saying. The second part of your question, yeah, which I did not answer actually. I understand what you're saying. And I think we can look at it like this. See, the capacity for emotion is in God and it's also in man. The capacity for emotion inherently is not wrong. It's not sinful. For, you know, love is an act of the will, but love is also an emotion and love is also expressed through action. So there is the determination, there is the emotion, there is the action. It's all part of love. The same thing when it comes to anger. Anger is an emotion by itself. It's neutral. What determines whether that anger is right or wrong is what was the determination, what was the emotion, what was the expression of it, the action. So if I'm angry about a good thing, what determines that anger is, hey, I'm angry about a good thing. The emotion is it may stir me up to, you know, into some positive thing like maybe pray or intercede or do something good. And the expression is the action. I pray, I do something good. So what actually caused this whole thing, anger and emotion, it was expressed in a very positive way. So when sin came in, the emotion, and we're focusing on the emotion, the emotion part of it, of us was corrupted, which means this capacity of determination of emotion and expression was used for wrong things, sinful things. So the capacity for emotion inherently is not wrong. It's in God, it's in us. But sin corrupted it, meaning this whole, you know, if you call it mechanism that's built in us, was now being used or is used for ungodly things. Whereas I can be, I can have emotion for very good things in a very positive way. And that's very helpful. That is part of who we are. You know, somebody could have an emotion, you know, they want to win an event. They want to do something. They want to find a solution to a problem, whatever. See, all of that is very positive use of emotion. I hope that helps. You know, we can develop this thought further, but I hope this helps Christopher. Yeah, thank you. I don't think I want to prolong it here. I guess the real question, which you can address later, perhaps is, you know, that this, it's not just now in the emotion now, because, you know, there are actually acts that are happening right now because of the emotion. And this is obviously not happening because of sin, even by God, because God doesn't have any, there's no sin in God at all. So yeah, maybe you can discuss that later here. Yeah. Right. So this is coming out of the justice of God. God is just God. And whatever we are seeing happening in the book of Revelation is an expression of his justice. Good. Let's get into chapter 17. Let's read about mystery Babylon. Reverses each please. Let's go through it. Revelation chapter 17. Then one of the initials you had, the second words came and talked with me, saying to me, come, I will show you the judgment that the great heart led to sits on many waters with whom the kings of earth committed and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of reformation. So he carried me away in the spirit to the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Verse four. Verse four onwards, somebody please. Verse four, he says, the women was dressed in purple and scarlet and was green with gold, precious stones and pearls. He held a golden cup in her hand filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was mystery. Babylon the great, the mother of prostitute and the abominations of the earth. And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bought testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Verse seven onwards, thank you. For the angel said to me, why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, woman and the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel. Those names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. When they see the beast that was and is not and at least. Verse nine. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Shall I continue? Okay. Please. There are also seven kings. Why have one fallen, one knees and other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and he said the seventh and is going to perdition. Shall I continue further? Thank you. Somebody can read it. Somebody else was well onwards. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received received no kingdom as yet but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them for he is lord of the lords and king of the kings and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. Then the angel said to me the waters you saw where the prostitutes are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hit the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked. They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority until God's words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth. Okay. Thank you. All right. Very, very interesting chapter. Thank you. So John is being tried to imagine this, right? John is suddenly seeing this whole thing. He's taken into wilderness. You know, now the wilderness is very interesting because it is the place of preparation. The prophets of God in the scriptures, the prophets of God were usually prepared in the wilderness and then brought into visibility when they were ready to start their ministry. It's very interesting. So here, he's taken it as well. I'm saying, look, something has been, this mystery Babylon has been prepared and he sees this, you know, he sees this harlot, a prostitute, a woman, who's an harlot. He gets the understanding. This is an harlot. And she's full of blasphemy. Verse three. She's full of blasphemy and the very nature is fornication, adulteration. You know, we're talking about spiritual terms. So this is departing from God, going away from God and blasphemy, picking against God. So that's why we are saying, as you read this description, because, hey, look, this is a religious system. It's taking people away from God, causing people to rebel against God, go away from Him, speak things against Him. This form of religious system. And other things that we see about this woman is, she's sitting upon many waters and then explains to us in verse 15, the waters are the nations, people. That means this woman has been sitting over all of these people. Other things we can see, verse six, about this woman is, she has been drinking on the blood of the martyrs, meaning this is a system that has actually been fueled or its life is coming from the death of the martyrs. People are being killed and this is living on that. So again, you're saying it's a religious thing. It's anti-Jesus, anti-Jesus, killing all these things. And what is happening is the beast, verse seven, the beast is carrying her. The beast is the Antichrist. He's the one who's being the main opponent of this mystery Babylon. And she's supported by these 10 horns, so the beast is one who's got great authority, seven heads, and 10 horns being supported by these 10 leaders. And yet he says this mystery Babylon that she, verses nine to eleven, that she has actually been sitting, she's not new because she has been already there upon these seven mountains. Now these mountains represent kingdoms. How do we know that Daniel's after two? What did we see in Daniel two? And in the days of these kings, God himself, we saw this big rock coming and destroying all these kingdoms and becoming a big mountain. And Daniel said that's the kingdom. So a mountain represents a kingdom here. And he's saying here, this woman has been, you know, in the wilderness has been supported over time by seven kings. Five have already fallen. So remember this is with reference to John's time. Five have fallen, one is. So what was, is during John's time, the Roman. Five have fallen, meaning five have come and gone. Five before John's time. We saw already the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Mes and Persians, the Greeks, all of these kingdoms already come and gone. One is, that is what was is during John's time, the Romans. Other has not yet come. That is the seventh. And the beast represents the eighth. So this mystery Babylon has been in existence for quite a long time. Through five previous kingdoms, the sixth Babylonian kingdom, the seventh introduced by the beast, sorry, fifth, the beast is the eighth. So five previous sixth, the one that was Roman, and one that is yet to come, which is the seventh, which represents in Daniel chapter two, the loosely held empire that follows after the Roman empire, the eighth, which was introduced by the Antichrist. So this mystery Babylon, which is this religious system keeping people away from God and blasphemous, adulterous, taking people away from God, has been going on for all of this time. And she's going to be supported by the beast, who is then being held by these 10 leaders. But what will come, what will happen is, verse 12, the 10 kings are, they are going to give their power and authority to the beast. So these 10 leaders are supporting this beast, the Antichrist. He's made promises to them, but they haven't received what he has promised to them. And they are, at that point, they're making war with the Lamb, verse 14, with the Lamb. So these are the people who are going to come against Christ. Okay, this is the final battle of Armageddon. But what's going to happen? Or 16? The 10 Hawks will hate the harlot. So something has changed. The 10 leaders have supported the Antichrist. This harlot is riding on the support of the Antichrist. The 10 leaders are waiting for what, they've given their full support to the beast. And they're waiting to receive what he has promised. So look, so you can imagine verse 12 and 13, how that would have transpired. The Antichrist will say, Hey guys, you 10 of you, you're supporting me. I'm going to give you, you know, your kingdom. I'm going to give you all these things, all of that. So he's got their all support. They're waiting to receive it. And the Antichrist is promoting this world religious system. But something happens. It says here, verse 16, the 10 horns will hate the harlot and tear it down. Basically, they will go against this whole mystery Babylon, this religious system that was riding on the shoulders of the Antichrist. And verse 17 says, because God earned their minds against the beast to fulfill his purpose. So God himself turns them causing this mystery Babylon to fall, to be brought to desolation. So this mystery Babylon, which the angel in Revelation 14 had announced is going to fall. Babylon has fallen. This mystery Babylon, which is a religious system, that was being promoted by the Antichrist and the false prophet, is brought to nothing, is made naked, made desolate and burned with fire. Verse 16, basically it's reduced to nothing because the people who were part of it, themselves turn against it. Now I'll just make one comment and then we'll take Sey's question. Now many people have tried to say, what is this mystery Babylon? Okay, we understand it's a religious system by looking at, you know, observing these things, but it's been there five empires before the Roman Empire. It continues on in this loosely held empire of iron and clay. It is there, being supported by the Eighth Empire, which is the Eighth Kingdom, which is headed up by the Antichrist. It is there. But it had its origins way back. It's being supported. What is this thing? Now some people have tried to speculate, oh this is, you know, in some books you'll find, oh this is the Roman Catholic Church. Some people will write, this is a new world religion, you know, when the new age movement was gaining momentum. Some people say, oh, this is the new age movement. But neither of these things, you know, really, you know, match these criteria that's described here in Revelation 17. So we're talking about a religious system that has its roots way back from Egypt because five empires prior to the Roman Empire, right? The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians and the Greeks, all of them, then came the Romans. Then comes this loosely held empire of iron and clay and then comes this Antichrist. All of them have been carrying this religious system, Mystery Babylon. Until finally it is proven, brought to nothing. God judges it. So we don't know for sure, right? We can't say, okay, it's this particular religion that some people even try to blame it on Islam or something. People, you know, you'll read different commentaries, different books and people have tried to say what it is. We don't know for sure because there's not one thing that actually fits all these criteria, but we know it is something, a religious system that has tried to destroy the way those who were of faith and in from a spiritual sense taken people away from God. Okay, say your question, please. I'm sorry, Pastor. I think I got the answer, but I just wanted to be sure. So are we ready to say that this Mystery Babylon right now is operational in our time today and that there are certain wall powers and codes that have allegiance to this prostitute, this hallowed right now in our time? Is that correct to say? Yes, yes. So like you see it described here, it has its origins way back in time, five empires before John, and is still sitting on the nations of the earth, right? So it has some sort of, it has the spiritual global influence and is everywhere, everywhere. So perhaps it is something beyond a particular religion. It's probably referring to a network of, I'm using a network because that's something, the language we understand, a cloud or a network of a demonic influence, global, because he says here in verse 15, it's over peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. I mean this harlot is sitting over the waters, it's covering the earth. So perhaps it is referring to this demonic system that is behind world religious systems expressed that has diverse expressions everywhere. Perhaps it's referring to that, which we don't have a single name for it, like we can't say it's this particular religion or this particular thing. No, no, no, it's global, it's everywhere. But she is sitting upon the waters, influencing people all over the world. And it has been there from five kingdoms before the Roman Empire. You see it here in verse 10. So it's continuing now, even during the time of the seventh, seventh, which is the iron and clay being mixed, which is during our days. And the eighth, which is Antichrist. So it's still continuing. So answer to your questions. Yeah, it's there. Thank you, Master. Christopher. Oh, yes. We're in the revelation 17. My understanding is that all this is happening in the future, right? And but yet there is a reference to there, you know, those those, you know, in John's time going back five, five, five, five generations of, you know, so I just want to understand how that sort of, you know, aligns with the what is happening in the future and yet going back to what the time of John. Yeah. So we, we have seen this already in example in Revelation 12. Right. So remember, there are some things. So the book of Revelation, in a sense, it's about things to come. But there are always references to something that have happened. Example, Revelation 12. Before it starts telling us about what the devil is going to do. It tells us a little bit of history. You know, it points us to the nation of Israel. It points us to when Satan fell. So that's history. It already happened. Okay. So that dragon now is going to be doing this. Right. There's a little background. Same thing you're seeing here in Revelation 17 verse nine. He says, look, 17, 9, 10, 11. This Babylon mystery Babylon has been around seven mountains. Five of them are already there. One now is, I mean, the sixth one is what you are in right now. That is John. John was there. Sixth one. What is it? You're Roman, the Roman Empire. Right. So that was, so five empires already come and gone. Sixth one, John, you're there is to John's time. Seventh and eight are going to come. So the five are historical. It's just pointing back. Yeah. So Revelation 17 talks about mystery Babylon. A religious system, which God judges. This is closely connected to something called the city of Babylon, which is in chapter 18, which will also be judged. So let's just read a little bit. How big is chapter 18 now? It's, we have a few more minutes before this. Okay. Yeah. And as much as we can, maybe from verses one to eight. Revelation 18 will read verse one to eight. Some take turns three verses each. Now look at the difference. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. And the angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth is made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice. Fallen fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place for demons. A hunt for every unclean spirit. A hunt for every unclean bird. A hunt for every unclean and testable. All nations have drunk and the wine of the passion of sexual morality and the kings of the earth have grown rich from the power of their luxurious living. So as we read through this, let's look at, now he's talking about something else. He's talking about merchants. He's talking about luxurious living. He's talking about becoming rich. So now the focus of this Babylon the great, or the city Babylon is different. It's about financials, financial system. Let's forward somebody. Then I heard another voice from heaven say, And I heard a lot of her, my people, so that you will not share in that sins, so that you will not receive any of our plagues. For our sins are piled up to heaven and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given. Pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she bows. I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow. I will never mourn. Therefore, in one day her plagues will overtake her. Death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire. For mighty is a lot of God who judges her. Thank you. Okay, let's just read. I think when you read the verse nine onwards, let's go on. You get a clear understanding of what mystery this Babylon the great is. Krivas is each place. The kings of the earth who committed fornication in the luxuries with her will weep and lament for her. When they see the smoke of burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying alas the great city Babylon, the mighty city. For in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her for no one vice. The merchant does any move. Next three verses, somebody please. Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble, and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you. And you shall find them no more at all. Okay, let's just read three more verses, please. Somebody. The merchants of these things who became rich by her will stand at a distance for fear of torment, weeping and veiling, and saying, alas, alas, the great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. For in one hour such great riches came to nothing. The heuristic master who all who travel by ship, trailers, and as many as trade on the sea to the distance and tried out, when they saw the smoke of the burning, saying, what is like this great city? So we will pause here and just before we go up break, but what I want to just bring to our attention is very clear as you read this chapter, Revelation 18, that this Babylon, the great city or Babylon the great or the Babylon the great city is different from mystery Babylon of Revelation 17, although both are closely interconnected. This great city Babylon is talking about an economic system. Of course, he's using the language of his day. He's talking about buying and selling and all of those kinds of things. The merchants, the traders on the sea and he says they all stand shocked because in one hour, verse 17 in one hour, such great riches came to nothing. So God's, so when Babylon is being judged at the end of the tribulation, there's a religious system that God judges and there is an economic system that God brings to nothing. And yeah, so we will pause here and go for a break, come back and we'll see how far we go. Okay. Thank you. Come back in a few minutes. Thanks.