INTRODUCTION
The coming Feast of Trumpets pictures, among other things, the
judgment of God against evil and against this evil system.
Among the Bible's numerous records of God's judgment of people
and nations are His recorded punishment of the city of Jericho
at the hands of Joshua and the Israelites and of ancient Babylon
by the Medes and Persians. I would like to look at some of the
symbolism found in the description of the destruction of Jericho
and Babylon and show how they slot into the biblical accounts
in the panorama of end-time events as depicted by the trumpet
blasts of the Book of Revelation. In addition, I'd like to consider
the lessons for us in these accounts.
But let's refresh our memories about Jericho and Babylon of old.
JERICHO
As we recall, this ancient stronghold found itself directly in
the path of the advancing armies of Israel who, under the leadership
of Joshua, had just crossed the Jordan River (Jos 3:1-17). Its
fall and its destruction by the Israelites was an act of judgment
at the hands of God and afforded the Israelites access to the
entire Promised Land. Let's briefly call to mind the sequence
of events.
The city of Jericho was encircled six times in the first six days,
with trumpets blowing:
BABYLON
THE JUDGMENT OF BABYLON
The trumpet blasts which culminated in the fall and destruction
of the Canaanite city of Jericho may be seen as a type of the
trumpets of the seventh seal of the Book of Revelation which enact
God's judgment against Babylon. Incidentally, Jericho was judged
and destroyed during the Days of Unleavened Bread, picturing the
putting out of sin; could the destruction, at the hands of the
heavenly armies of Christ, of the satanic world civilisation represented
by Babylon take place at the same period?
The first four angels blow their trumpets and to John is revealed
a terrifying picture of the divine wrath unleashed upon rebellious
mankind (Rev 8:6-12). Yet worse is to come:
SATAN'S ARMY….
Similarly, it would appear that the army released at the sixth
trumpet—the second "woe"—is an army of demon horsemen
now let loose upon mankind:
…. AND THE ARMY OF GOD
Let's now return to the Book of Revelation to consider this seventh
trumpet in more detail.
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET
Yet this trumpet also foreshadows the trumpet call that signals
the return of Christ, and the resurrection of the elect saints
of God.
THE "LAST TRUMP"
The nations—the system—have deliberately set themselves up in
opposition to God and His Son!
God's judgment of end-time Babylon in this manner is perfectly
just, for several reasons. The system is accountable for the blood
it has spilt, and will likewise have its blood shed.
As the saints of God, we need to mentally prepare for our participation
in the punishment of this godless civilisation. Christ will make
war upon Babylon in righteousness (Rev 19:11), and so will
we. Do we also feel God's loathing and hatred for this
system and the evil that it constantly spawns out—evil that so
often rears its ugly head in us, and in our midst? Do we deal
with it according to the mind of God—and so purge it from us,
and from our midst—or do we continue to accommodate it? It's all
a matter of correct, godly judgment. How will we ever be ready
to take part in the destruction of Babylon if we still feel an
allegiance of sorts to it, if in our hearts and minds it still
takes priority over God in any area of our lives?
THE AFTERMATH
And Joshua's instructions were carried out accordingly:
Yet not everything in the city of Jericho was to be destroyed:
What was 'devoted' or 'consecrated' to God was irrevocably so,
for holy use or, as in the case of the city here, for destruction
(see also Dt 13:12-18). It could not be redeemed (see Lev 27:28),
or ransomed (Lev 17:29). Babylon—this devilish, man-made civilisation
so opposed to God—is accursed and doomed to destruction. It will
never be repaired or rebuilt. This is what the imagery of Revelation
is meant to depict: the end of the Devil's system, the expunging
of the culture of the world infested by Satan.
The usable wealth of Jericho was consecrated to God as
a firstfruit offering and, similarly, the legacy of Babylon will
be the inheritance of the first-fruits of God who have come out
of her. The Israel of God will inherit the wealth of the world—of
Babylon—to dedicate it to the service of God. As Joshua and the
Israelites were "given" the city of Jericho (Jos 6:16:
"Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!"), so are
the saints "given" Babylon, the world, at the shout
that accompanies the final trumpet call.
WARNINGS AND LESSONS FROM JERICHO & BABYLON
Joshua had warned the Israelites to take nothing of Jericho's
riches that God had reserved for himself. To fail to do so would
defile the whole camp:
Let's conclude with the warning at the end of the Book of Revelation.
John has had revealed to him the totality of the visions depicting
the judgment of Babylon as well as the contrasting visions of
God's promise of the New Jerusalem to the faithful. Among the
final words of the angel to him were these:
Everywhere around us, and more and more graphically, we are witnessing
the rising casualty list of this present evil age. Hopefully we
are 'sighing and crying' and yearning for the removal of the system.
Yet how committed are we really to its overthrow?
The original Jericho, the most important Canaanite fortress city
in the Jordan valley and one of the oldest cities of antiquity,
was located about eight kilometres west of the Jordan river, about
a kilometre and a half northwest of the modern-day city of Jericho.
Its walls were so considerable that houses were built upon them
(Jos 2:15). It was rich in natural resources, an oasis of sorts
supplied by strong springs, and naturally defended by mountains
to her east and west, which also isolated her from her neighbours.
Situated roughly in central-east Palestine, control of Jericho
also provided access to the neighbouring Canaanite city-states,
and for this reason invaders had long seen the city as a key to
controlling Palestine.
Jos 6:2-4,8-9,13-14 (NIV) Then the LORD said to Joshua,
"See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with
its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with
all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests
carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark."
On the seventh day, the city was encircled seven times, trumpets
again blowing. At the conclusion of the seventh encirclement of
the city, a long blast of the trumpet (the seventh sounding)—the
signal for attack—was given, along with the loud shout of the
people. The city collapsed:
8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying
the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their
trumpets, and the ark of the Lord's covenant followed them. 9
The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets,
and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets
were sounding.
13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward,
marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets.
The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the
ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the
second day they marched around the city once and returned to the
camp. They did this for six days.
Jos 6:4-5,15 "On the seventh day, march around the
city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When
you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have
all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will
collapse [lit: 'upon itself'] and the people will go up,
every man straight in."
There was to be no shouting until the "trumpets" of
the seventh encirclement, and after the longer, special trumpet
blast (perhaps two lots of shouting, one preceding and one following
the special trumpet blast, but connected with the trumpet blast
nonetheless):
15 (NIV) On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched
around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on
that day they circled the city seven times.
Jos 6:10 (NIV) But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do
not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word
until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!"
The trumpets sounded and at the sound of this special trumpet
blast the people shouted:
Jos 6:16,20 (NIV) The seventh time around, when the priests
sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout!
For the LORD has given you the city!"
This last trumpet was sounded differently: it was the trumpet
to sound attack, to proclaim victory. It was the trumpet of judgment.
We'll return to this trumpet shortly.
20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound
of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed;
so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.
Babylon was a country, sometimes called Babylonia, and the major
city within that country. It dominated the Near Eastern political
scene at several points between 3000 and 539 B.C., beginning with
the Semitic civilisation developed from ancient Sumer—the biblical
account of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel (Ge 10:10; 11:1-9)—and
which was reborn in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C. as the
Neo-Babylonian empire of 626 to 539 B.C. It is this empire, which
king Nebuchadnezzar 11 brought to its greatest glory, and its
city, situated on both sides of the river Euphrates, that are
the focus of the Scriptures, which inform us that the spirit of
Babylon permeated all nations:
Jer 51:7 (NRSV) Babylon was a golden cup [splendid on
the outside, full of idolatries within] in the Lord's hand [because
God had used her to judge others, such as Judah; now she, too,
was judged], making all the earth drunken; the nations
drank of her wine, and so the nations went mad.
Like Jericho, Babylon was judged by God, and was destroyed at
the hands of the armies of Persia. But unlike Jericho, Babylon
still infects the nations today. The apostle John sees, in a vision,
the judgment of the future Babylon:
Rev 18:1-3 (NIV) After this I saw another angel coming
down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated
by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen!
Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and
detestable bird [what is the meaning of this imagery?]. 3 For
all the nations [once again] have drunk the maddening wine
of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with
her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive
luxuries."
DEFINING BABYLON
So among all the other visions recorded in the Book of Revelation,
the apostle John is shown the vision of the fall of the symbolic
city of Babylon—suddenly, "in one hour" (the city of
Babylon, historically, was also taken by surprise by the armies
of Cyrus). Those who have profitted from the system lament its
loss:
Rev 18:10, 17-19 (NIV) 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon,
that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.
The fall of ancient Babylon had a similar impact upon the earth:
17 In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' Every
sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all
who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. 18 When
they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there
ever a city like this great city?' 19 They will throw dust on
their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: 'Woe! Woe,
O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through
her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!'
Jer 50:46 (NIV) At the sound of Babylon's capture the earth
will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.
Just who or what is this "Babylon", depicted as a city,
which is to collapse in "one hour", and what is the
nature of her judgment by God? Note what was explained to the
apostle John in his vision:
Rev 17:18 (NIV) "The woman [who bore the title "Babylon
the Great" (v 4)] you saw is the great city that rules over
the kings of the earth."
—a city, yet a city that rules the entire earth, through the leaders
of the earth.
Just as ancient Babylon prophetically symbolised a world power,
as we will go on to show, so is this city symbolic of this world's
end-time civilisation and culture, the product of Satan the Devil,
that has permeated and contaminated the entire earth. Let us examine
the nature of the judgment of the end-time Babylon more fully,
and our role in it. The chronology and symbolism of the fall of
Jericho will help us to establish the time-line of prophetic events
a little more definitively.
The historical account of the destruction of Babylon at the hands
of the Persian armies is also prophetic of the destruction of
the end-of-the-age Babylon. The entire system, along with its
memory, is to be swept away:
Isa 14:22-23 (NIV) "I will rise up against them,"
declares the LORD Almighty. "I will cut off from Babylon
her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares
the LORD. 23 "I will turn her into a place for owls and
into swampland [again, how do we interpret this imagery?]; I will
sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD
Almighty."
There are no considerations of repatriation, of repair, of working
with the system:
Jer 51:9,29,37 (NIV) [The friends and confederates of Babylon
declare] 'We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment
reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the clouds.'
What we read here can be linked back to the prophetic visions
of the apostle John recorded in the Book of Revelation. In examining
the stages of God's judgment of the civilisation of mankind, we
can begin by recalling the sequence of his visions:
29 The land trembles and writhes, for the Lord's purposes against
Babylon stand—to lay waste the land of Babylon so that no one
will live there.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object
of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.
The seven trumpets of Revelation signify a period of time during
which the wrath of God is unleashed in His judgment upon Babylon,
these symbolic trumpet blasts picturing different aspects of this
wrath. Now John sees this outpouring in a vision; what is therefore
imagery and what will literally happen as he foresees it? Furthermore,
the seals, trumpets and vials are not necessarily consecutive,
but may well overlap in terms of the sequence of time. As an instance
of this, we can note that the sixth of the seven last plagues
(Rev 16:12) dries up the Euphrates river to allow passage for
"the kings from the East" who are to also fight the
returning Christ. This, along with the gathering of all the world's
armies at Jerusalem (v 14, 18) is going to take some time. Yet
this is all pictured by the symbolic seventh trumpet blast.
Rev 8:1-2 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence
in heaven for about half an hour [as it appears to John's consciousness
in the vision]. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before
God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
There is no "shouting" before the seven trumpets of
the seventh seal are to be blown (as there is shouting and rejoicing
by the angelic host as the first seal is about to be opened—Rev
5:8-14). It is as though the angels are breathlessly awaiting
this final act of God's judgment—the calm before the storm that
announces the verdict of the divine Court!
Rev 8:13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying
in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the
inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about
to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Let us then consider these three "woes" that complete
the judgment of God upon Babylon.
The final trumpet blasts see a ferocious wave of unrestrained
spiritual activity unleashed against Babylon. It is probable that
the locust army of the fifth trumpet—the first "woe"—is
a demon army released from the "abyss"—no doubt a reference
to the fact that, until now, it has been restrained:
Rev 9:3-4 (NIV) And out of the smoke locusts came down
upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of
the earth. 4 They were told [presumably by Satan who commands
them] not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,
but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their
foreheads.
They "torment"—plague, torture—and cause untold suffering,
misery and distress among the nations for "five months"
(perhaps referring to an allotted period of time, even as certain
species of natural locust have a five-month life cycle). To John,
this demonic army appears like horses. Many observers have remarked
upon the resemblance, especially with regard to the head, between
the locust and the horse, dissimilar as they are in most respects.
The word for locust in several languages is identified with horses.
Rev 9:7 (NIV) The locusts looked like horses prepared for
battle. On their heads [so it seemed to John in his vision] they
wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled
human faces.
Please note the comparison of the noise made by these demonic
warriors with horses and chariots:
Rev 9:9 (NIV) They had breastplates like breastplates of
iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of
many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
Their leader is none other than Satan the Devil:
Rev 9:11 (NIV) They had as king over them the angel of
the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon
["the Destroyer"].
Indeed, it would seem that Satan, the "angel of the Abyss"
is the "star… fallen from heaven" (Rev 9:1) who
is symbolically allowed to open the abyss to directly unleash
these armies of evil. He is now unrestrained!
Rev 9:17 (NIV) The horses and riders I saw in my vision
looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue,
and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads
of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur.
The colours of the riders' breastplates correspond respectively
to the fire (fiery red), smoke (dark blue) and sulfur (yellow)
which issue from the horses' mouths. In Revelation, sulfur is
connected with evil and the punishment of evil-doers (cf. 14:10;
19:20; 20:10; 21:8). The earth will experience a horrible blast
of unfettered, frenzied demonic activity!
Also using the imagery of a great locust plague, of horsemen and
chariots, it appears that the prophet Joel then describes what
is to take place at the "third woe": the heavenly armies
of God are finally called upon to complete the judgment of the
"Day of the LORD" upon the earth and upon "the
destroyers of the earth" as a part of the blasting of this
final symbolic trumpet. They are a type of the armies of Medo-Persia,
the instrument of God's punishment of Babylon of old:
Jer 51:14,27 (NIV) The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts, and
they will shout in triumph over you.
Let us notice carefully the similarity in the imagery we have
just noted in Revelation:
27 Lift up a banner in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her; summon against her
these kingdoms: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander
against her; send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
Joel 2:1-11 (NRSV) Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the
alarm on my holy mountain!
The sounding of this trumpet is an alarm, a warning! There is
good reason for an alarm to be sounded to the people of God: this
may well initiate the literal fulfillment of 1Pe 4:17: the divine
judgment of God upon His people:
1Pe 4:17 (NRSV) For the time has come for judgment to begin
with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be
the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
As will be shown, this symbolic trumpet call combines most if
not all of the functions of the blowing of the ram's horn, the
shofar: it sounds the alarm of warning to the people of God; it
announces an impending important event (cf. 1Kg 1:34), the fiercesome
battle to come, the war against evil; it announces the coming
of Christ (cf. Ex 19:16); and it calls the saints to arms (cf.
Jdg 6:34), just as it did the armies of Israel once the walls
of Jericho had collapsed!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the
LORD is coming, it is near—2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day
of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from
of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.
Like locusts swooping upon the land in thick, dark clouds, the
army of the Lord descends, darkening the sun.
3 Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them
a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.
As a plague of locusts which ravage the land, stripping it of
all its vegetation and leaving it scorched as if by fire, it is
a grim picture of destruction and devastation. Nothing destroys
the face of nature as completely and in the shortest period of
time as does the locust. The imagery is one of total and speedy
judgment. Joel also likens these locusts to horses of war:
4 They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they
charge. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots [like the rushing
sounds of swarming locusts in plague proportions], they leap on
the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble [the sharp noises of the devouring locusts],
like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples
are in anguish, all faces grow pale. 7 Like warriors they charge,
like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course,
they do not swerve from their paths [the well-ordered flight of
these winged locusts symbolises the resoluteness and ordered formation
of these armies from God Himself; His judgment against Babylon
is irreversible]. 8 They do not jostle one another, each keeps
to its own track [what human army could be so described?]; they
burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon
the city, they run upon the walls [the very security of Babylon
is breached]; they climb up into the houses, they enter through
the windows like a thief [because this heavenly assault has been
unforeseen by mankind; like its historical counterpart, Babylon
is caught by surprise].
Then the supernatural signs that accompany the return of Christ
at the head of His army are again inserted into the account (cf.
v 2):
10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun
and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining
[not because of the 'locusts', but because of the presence of
the Son of God!]. 11 The LORD utters his voice at the head of
his army [cf: the "loud command" of 1Th 4:16];
how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command.
Truly the day of the LORD is great; terrible indeed—who can endure
it?
This is the same language as is used in Joel 3:12-16 describing
the destruction of the armies gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat:
Joel 3:14-16 (NIV) Multitudes, multitudes in the valley
of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of
decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars
no longer shine. 16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder
from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD
will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of
Israel.
Such are the fire and the heavenly chariots of the armies of God,
executing His irrevocable judgment upon Babylon:
Isa 66:15 (NRSV) For the LORD will come in fire, and his
chariots like the whirlwind, to pay back his anger in fury, and
his rebuke in flames of fire. 16 For by fire will the LORD execute
judgment, and by his sword, on all flesh; and those slain by the
LORD shall be many.
We again note that the punishment of ancient Babylon—likewise
symbolising the world's system of governments—was similarly depicted:
Jer 25:32-33 (NIV) "[in the context of God's judgment
of the Babylonian armies of King Nebuchadnezzar] Look! Disaster
is spreading from nation to nation; a mighty storm is rising from
the ends of the earth." 33 At that time those slain
by the LORD will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the
other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but
will be like refuse lying on the ground.
It is indeed a time of vengeance—the vengeance of God upon Babylon!
Jer 50:41-43 (NIV) "Look! An army is coming from
the north [what else do we know that is described as being located
in the 'north' (Isa 14:13)?]; a great nation and many kings are
being stirred up from the ends of the earth. 42 They are armed
with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound
like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like
men in battle formation to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his
hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a
woman in labor."
When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, loud voices in heaven
proclaim the rulership of Christ on earth:
Rev 11:15 (NIV) The seventh angel sounded his trumpet,
and there were loud voices in heaven [as opposed to the silence
in heaven prior to the blowing of the first of the seven trumpets
(Rev 8:2)], which said: "The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for
ever and ever."
Let us compare Rev 11:19, after the blowing of the seventh trumpet,
with Rev 16:17-21, where the seventh angel pours out the seventh
vial—the final of the seven last plagues—which completes the wrath
of God.
Rev 11:19 (NIV) [the trumpet is blown in verse 15] Then
God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen
the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Rev 16:17-21 (NIV) The seventh angel poured out his bowl
into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the
throne, saying, "It is done!" 18 Then there came flashes
of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake.
No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on
earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into
three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered
Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of
the fury of his wrath. 20 [In John' vision] Every island fled
away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge
hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they
cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague
was so terrible [such is the depth of the spiritual blindness
and the nature of the reprobate heart of this evil generation!].
Again, we note:
—as well as the destruction of Babylon.
The imagery is the same. The sounding of the symbolic seventh
trumpet is therefore completed at the seventh last plague, in
which Babylon is destroyed in "one hour". Like the long
trumpet blast which brought down the city of Jericho, it proclaims
victory over the enemies of God.
1Th 4:16 (NIV) For the Lord himself will come down from
heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise
first.
Just as Joshua commanded the people to shout after the seventh
trumpet was blown (Jos 6:16), so will Christ issue the command
at the blowing of this trumpet. The voice of the archangel can
correspond to the victory shout of the Israelites (Jos 6:20).
The "trumpet call of God" would appear to be a literal
trumpet blast, as part of the symbolic seventh trumpet, at the
outpouring of the seventh last plague.
1Co 15:51-52 (NRSV) Listen, I will tell you a mystery!
We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will
be changed.
It is very much a call to assembly of the resurrected saints,
in line with one of the purposes for the trumpet call of old.
Similarly:
Mt 24:30-31 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven [cf. Rev 11:19: the temple in heaven is opened],
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will
see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Notice how the gathering and redemption of the elect of God at
this final trumpet call are also depicted:
Isa 27:13 (NRSV) And on that day a great trumpet will be
blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those
who were driven out to the land of Egypt [who were scattered in
exile in the world] will come and worship the LORD on the holy
mountain at Jerusalem.
PARTICIPATING IN THE JUDGMENT OF BABYLON
Zec 9:14,16 (NRSV) Then the LORD will appear over them
[over Zion], and [as a Warrior] his arrow [will] go forth like
lightning; the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet and march forth
in the whirlwinds of the south.
16 On that day the LORD their God will save them for they are
the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall
shine on his land.
Christ is a Warrior at the head of His army. Yet we too are to
be a part of this army. Just as the Israelites inflicted the punishment
of God upon Jericho, so will the resurrected saints play a role
in the judgment of the end-time civilisation represented by Babylon.
And since this is the reality to come, what does it mean for us
now in terms of mind preparation for what God expect
of us: to participate in the judgment of Babylon? Let us consider
this from God's perspective.
Rev 11:16-18 (NIV) And the twenty-four elders, who were
seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped
God, 17 saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great
power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry [but
it's an unrighteous anger, or wrath]; and your [righteous, just]
wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for
rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those
who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying
those who destroy [the Greek can also mean "corrupt"]
the earth."
Babylon is typified in Jer 51:25 as a "destroying mountain…
that destroys the whole earth". This civilisation that lives
by violence will perish with violence at the hands of Jesus Christ:
Rev 18:21 (NIV) Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder
the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
"With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown
down, never to be found again."
Yet who is the chief destroyer of the earth, the Abaddon
and Apollyon of Rev 9:11?
Ps 2:1-3(NIV) Why do the nations conspire [or "rage"
(NKJV)] and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth
take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD
and against his Anointed One. 3 "Let us break their chains,"
they say, "and throw off their fetters."
How angry is God? He pronounces his judgment upon all the nations
arrayed against Him, typified, in this instance, by Edom:
Isa 34:2-3 (NIV) The LORD is angry with all nations
[for all nations are infected with the evil spirit of Babylon];
his wrath is upon all their armies. He will totally destroy them
[the Hebrew sense is that they are "destined irrevocably
to destruction, by the decree of God"—just as was the city
of Jericho and its inhabitants, as we will shortly note], he will
give them over to slaughter. 3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will send up a stench; the mountains will be
soaked with their blood.
The armies of mankind seeking to resist the Son of God shall be
destroyed, just as were the glories of Jericho and ancient Babylon.
Rev 16:4-7 (NIV) The third angel poured out his bowl on
the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then
I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just
in these judgments [as horrendous as they are], you who are and
who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they
have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have
given them blood to drink as they deserve." 7 And I heard
the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just
are your judgments."
This world has taken its toll on the people of God!
Rev 17:6 (NIV) I saw that the woman was drunk with the
blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to
Jesus…
Rev 18:6,20,24 (NIV) [Note this pronouncement from heaven]
"Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double [or
"pay her back fully"] for what she has done. Mix her
a double portion from her own cup."
Once again, let us note the similar overtones in Jeremiah's denunciation
of both the historical and the prophetic Babylon:
20 "Rejoice over her [that is, over her fall], O heaven!
Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her
for the way she treated you."
24 (NRSV) "And in you was found the blood of prophets
and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on earth."
Jer 51:24,35,48-49 (NIV) "Before your eyes [so the
saints will witness—and participate in—God's vengeance upon the
system] I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for
all the wrong they have done in Zion," declares the LORD.
Do we concur with God's verdict and judgment of this civilisation?
The godly principle of just retribution—of divine vengeance—for
evil committed again applies, just as ancient Babylon was repaid
"according to her deeds" (Jer 50:29).
35 (NIV) "May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon,"
say the inhabitants of Zion. "May our blood be on those who
live in Babylonia," says Jerusalem.
48 "Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout
for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack
her," declares the LORD. 49 "Babylon must fall because
of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen
because of Babylon."
Ps 137:8 (NIV) O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us.
The administration of the justice of God is a blessing!
You know, the seventh trumpet sounds in part as a response to
the prayers of God's people:
Rev 8:3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and
stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the
prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne
[after which the seven trumpets of the seventh seal are blown
(v 6)].
Are our prayers being answered here?
1Jn 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. 16 For all that is in the world, [characterised
by] the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the
will of God abides forever.
It's either of God, or it is of Babylon—no matter how plausible,
justifiable, palatable or acceptable it seems to us. So often
we want to hold on to what God tells us to let go!
We need to abhor the evil of the system, and in our minds be warring
against it already on a day-to-day basis. How much do we hate
this present evil age that has set itself up for destruction?
How fervently do we pray for its overthrow?
Before the fall of Jericho, Joshua had reminded the Israelites:
Jos 6:17 (NRSV) "The city and all that is in it shall
be devoted to the LORD for destruction."
The survivors of the city's destruction were already foreknown:
"Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her
house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent."
The cord was spun of threads dyed with cochineal, a red dyestuff.
It is symbolic of the blood of the sin-offering, and functioned
in this case as did the blood of the Passover Lamb that spared
the Israelites while the first-born of Egypt were destroyed (Ex
12:7,13). The scarlet yarn featured in the Levitical rites to
do with the putting away of sin (Lev 14:4,6,51; Nu 19:6). The
early Church fathers, from Clement of Rome onward, considered
this scarlet thread to indeed symbolise the blood of the Passover.
Jos 2:17-19 (NIV) The men said to her [Rahab], "This
oath you made us swear will not be binding on us 18 unless, when
we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window
through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your
father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your
house. 19 If anyone goes outside your house into the street,
his blood will be on his own head; we will not be responsible.
As for anyone who is in the house with you, his blood will be
on our head if a hand is laid on him."
Jos 6:21,23 (NRSV) Then they devoted to destruction by
the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young
and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
But Rahab and her family, "sealed" through the function
of the scarlet cord, were spared while the rest of the city perished.
23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought Rahab
out, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all
who belonged to her—they brought all her kindred out—and set them
outside the camp of Israel.
Who is it that is similarly "sealed" and thus spared
the wrath of God unleashed upon Babylon at the return of Jesus
Christ? Is it not the elect of God, the "144,000" of
the Israel of God (2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30; Rev 7:3-8)? They
are sealed by His Spirit as His own, just as those of Babylon
have their seal or "mark" (Rev 13:16-17; 14:9,11; 16:2;
19:20; 20:4). When God executes, at the hand of His Son, His judgment
upon Babylon, those who spiritually typify Rahab and her family,
who alone survived the destruction of Jericho, will be spared.
The Church, the elect of God, is delivered at the same time the
world is judged and punished. They and theirs are sealed from
the coming wrath of God.
Jos 6:19,24 (NRSV) "But all silver and gold, and vessels
of bronze and iron, are sacred to the LORD; they shall go into
the treasury of the LORD."
The ruins of Jericho were to serve as a perpetual reminder of
an accursed city:
24 They burned down the city, and everything in it; only the
silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put
into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
Jos 6:26 (NIV) At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn
oath: "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to
rebuild this city, Jericho [as the walled or fortified city it
once was]: At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations;
at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates."
This ban was observed for some four centuries, till Hiel of Bethel
broke it and fulfilled the curse (1Kg 16:34). The allusion in
Jos 6:26 is perhaps to the fact that the rebuilding occurred at
the cost of his son as a foundation sacrifice. In similar manner,
accursed be anyone who wants to perpetuate, to hold on to, or
to restore any elements of this evil Babylonian system—it will
cost them their birthright, their inheritance in the Kingdom of
God!
Isa 60:5,11-12 (NRSV) Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of
the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall
come to you.
With the fall and destruction of Babylon also comes the purification
and gathering of the remnant of God:
11 Your gates shall always be open; day and night they shall
not be shut, so that nations shall bring you their wealth, with
their kings led in procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom
that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly
laid waste.
Jer 50:4,20 (NIV) "In those days, at that time [the
time of God's judgment of Babylon]," declares the LORD, "the
people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears
to seek the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion and
turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves
to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten."
Why? Because there has been repentance, forgiveness, deliverance
and redemption.
20 In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "search
will be made for Israel's guilt, but there will be none, and for
the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive
the remnant I spare."
This false civilisation and culture of the Devil is soon to be
no more. We have a responsibility—now and in the future—to help
bring it to an end. Are we mentally, spiritually preparing ourselves
for this, or are we yet entangled in the system? The warning given
us is to flee Babylon (Isa 48:20; Jer 50:8; 51:6,45):
Rev 18:4-5 (NRSV) Then I heard another voice from heaven
saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take
part in her sins [there's no safety in being selective either:
the system comes as a package! Or dare we imagine that we can
co-exist with Babylon and not be defiled?], and so that you do
not share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities."
God's coming judgment of Babylon is irrevocable and complete,
with no discrimination for those who would still stay in Babylon,
to risk contamination! The only guarantee of preservation from
God's wrath is to get out!
Jos 6:18 (NIV) "But keep away from the devoted things,
so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking
any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable
to destruction and bring trouble on it."
What happens to us, individually and collectively, to our minds,
if we allow ourselves to be defiled by this civilisation and culture
that God has doomed to destruction? Not only must we keep away,
but we need to be constantly purging ourselves of any contamination
we have undergone (Rev 18:4: come out of her, My people, lest
you share in her sins and plagues).
Jer 51:6 (NIV) "Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord's
vengeance; he will pay her what she deserves."
God gives us opportunities every day to go to war against
Babylon. Do we avail ourselves of them, or are we content to co-exist
with the evil city?
Rev 22:10-12 (NRSV) And he said to me, "Do not seal
up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time [of the
judgment of Babylon, of the world, at the end of the age] is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy,
and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.
12 See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according
to everyone's work."
For some it will be too late to change, and they will go down
with the system from which they have failed to separate. Yet the
righteous will continue to do what is godly, be further purified,
and will receive the promised reward. So where will each one of
us be when the Great City is judged by Almighty God?