Insight from Revelation 17:<\/p>\n
The enemies of God\u2019s people are carefully described in Revelation. It is very important for the people of God to know: (1) who these enemies are, (2) what these enemies do to the people of God, and (3) how these enemies will be defeated. Satan is the first and the most powerful enemy of God\u2019s people. Satan desires to destroy the people of God. But Satan is not the only enemy of God\u2019s people. He has two beasts who work for him. And Satan has many, many people who love him and follow him and obey him. Even though they do not know it, these people worship and obey the dragon and his beasts. So many people do this, in fact, that the worshipers of this \u201cfalse trinity\u201d have a \u201ccity\u201d. The city is called Babylon. This city is compared to a prostitute, because all those who live in this place are guilty of having \u201csexual relations\u201d with false gods. This means they worship false gods.<\/p>\n
In Revelation 17 and 18, the destruction of Babylon is described. In Revelation 19, the destruction of the beasts is described. And in Revelation 20, the destruction of Satan is described. It is important for the people of God to see that all of their enemies will be completely destroyed. The destruction of these enemies could have been described in one vision. However, by describing the defeat of God\u2019s enemies one at a time, the people of God are able to better see the weakness of each of these enemies when compared to the power of God. And the people of God are able to rejoice in God\u2019s victories over those who hate his name.<\/p>\n
Revelation 17 and 18 describe the destruction of Babylon. Revelation 21 and 22 describe the everlasting beauty of the new Jerusalem. It is clear that John wants his readers to compare the destinies of these two cities. This is evident because the description of Babylon\u2019s destruction and the description of the new Jerusalem\u2019s beauty both begin in the exact same way (see 17:1-2 to 21:9)!<\/p>\n
Why does John want his readers to compare Babylon with the new Jerusalem? He does this because he wants his readers to choose where they will live! The chapters about the destruction of Babylon (17-18) and the chapters about the beauty of the new Jerusalem (21-22) are, like the rest of the chapters in Revelation, grace from God. The chapters about the destruction of Babylon are warnings intended to keep the people of God from falling in love with this city. Even though Babylon may appear powerful at the present time, it will be destroyed. All those who identify with Babylon will be judged. This is similar to Jericho at the time of Joshua. Jericho appeared to be powerful. God\u2019s people appeared to be weak. However, Rahab the prostitute (ironically) knew that Jericho was weak and that it would be destroyed. She did not want to be destroyed with Jericho. Rahab provides an example for all people. Only those who think like Rahab will be saved from the destruction that is coming upon Babylon. Only those who hate Babylon and love the new Jerusalem will be saved! See Hebrews 11:10, 14-16, and 24-26.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4754","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/am\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}