17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in Temple, saying, “It is finished!”
18 Then the thunder crashed, and lightning flashed. And a great earthquake struck – the worst since people were placed on the earth.
19 The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with wine of his fierce wrath.
20 And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled.
21 There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell into the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.
The destruction of Babylon signified the finality of God’s judgment. I’m actually talking about the fall of Babylon in our next Bible Study series. Babylon, in his John’s writing here, is the representation of all the evil world powers and everything they represent. They received the worst storm of all time – with an earthquake, thunder, and lightning.
Lightning represents the suddenness, power and visibility of an event. It shows God’s amazing power in destroying the evil in the world and how it can happen in an in moment. Thunder represents the power and majesty of God. We see God’s power overcome the intensity of this storm, knocking the community of evil down to rubble. Earthquakes represent upheavals or disturbances. The reign of evil has been finished has been taken down and God’s greatness has lived.
God remember the sin all of the evil powers endured. God made them pay the price of their evil deeds. God wanted them to own up to their evil behavior and face the consequences of their sinful behavior. How? All the islands disappeared. All the mountains crumbled. Hail came down in massive size, crushing the people down below. They were crushed by the weight of their sinful behavior and have fully received the consequences of God. What’s next for Babylon in this context? Stay tuned.
Next study: The Fall of Evil – Part 1
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