Learning from Rome
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We are continuing our journey through Revelation today. Last week in Chapter 15 & 16 we saw the final judgment of God. Chapter 16 ends with the final “smackdown” of Satan and ultimate victory of God.
One of the things I have emphasized throughout this study is to see the big picture of what is going on in the first century as well as today.
· The big picture of Revelation is that John is writing a message of encouragement to Christians who are being persecuted and put to death for their faith.
· He wants them to know that in the end – “We Win!”
At the same time God is giving him visions that not only relate to the first century but also is a message for all the Christians that follow.
· That message is that they too will face opposition from Satan and that one day Satan when be completely defeated.
· God will bring life as we know it to an end, judgment will come and heaven will be a place for all believers.
The challenge for us – learn from the past and look forward to the future.
The chapters we are looking at today, Revelation 17 & 18.
· It is a “zoom in” on Rome and its demise for the first century readers and teaches us some things about living in our world today.
· Satan is the evil force behind Rome, just as he is in the world today.
There are references to kingdoms and kings who were and ones to come.
· This is a picture of those throughout history who oppose God and Christianity.
· Before the final judgment Satan will manifest himself and his power in some form and God will deal the final blow to him.
Having said all of that, I want to read from chapter 17 and see if it makes a little more sense. I will make some commentary along the way.
Rev 17:1-5
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17 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries." (Most scholars believe this is a reference to Rome in the 1st century)
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3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast (beast is Satan) that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 This title was written on her forehead:
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MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (the wealth and sinfulness of Rom)
6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. (the persecution of Christians)
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When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. 7 Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction.
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The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life (non-believers) from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.
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9 "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. (Rome was built on 7 hills)10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. (There were 8 Roman emperors between the birth of Jesus and the time of John’s writing Revelation.)
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12 "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. (This can also represent all the rulers in history who oppose Christ, possibly one evil world ruler at the end of time). 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.
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14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."
Hopefully, with that context you can see the flow of the message.
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Chapter 18, which we are not going to read through, then gives the reaction of the forces of the world at the downfall of the Roman empire. Here is a summary of the passage:
· The Empire Collapses
o We have a prophecy of Rome falling, something which the people of that day could not even imagine. I believe it is also a projection of the final downfall of Satan
o Rev 18:2 - "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit
o Rev 18:8 - She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
· We see how those who were and are a part of Satan’s opposition react –
o Rev 18: 9 "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
o Rev 18:11 "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her
o Rev 18:17-19 - "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship . . . will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
· Chapter 18 shows that all those who are on the side of Satan will be surprised and devastated when all they put their trust in collaspes.
Transition
What I want to do today is take a look at the condition of Rome in the first century and its demise and see if there is anything we can learn from it as followers of Jesus. I will let you determine if there are any parallels to today.
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1. Being Religious doesn’t mean You have a Right Relationship with God
a. Rome was a very religious place, but not in a Christian way.
i. Rome had multiple gods that were exalted and worshipped. Zeus, Aphrodite, Hermes,
ii. The Roman gods did not demand strong moral behavior, it was more about rituals and self gratification.
iii. They had gods for everything. Rivers, trees, fields and buildings each had their own spirit. Worshipping more than one spirit was a part of the Roman culture.
iv. There was no sense of Right or Wrong Because Roman religion was not dualistic, there was not exactly a strict categorizing of ‘good and evil’, with one leading towards heaven and the other to hell. Anything was fine as long as you did the rituals to keep your gods happy.
b. Roman culture did not value the life of the unborn
i. We may think that abortion is just an issue of the last 50 or 60 years in America but that is not the case.
ii. Abortion was practiced on a regular basis among the poor, slave, merchant and royal classes. To ancient peoples and the Romans an abortion was not seen as wrong.
iii. Abortion was so widespread that in 9 AD Caesar Augustus enacted Lex Papia Poppaea to promote and reward marriage because the number of Roman men who were unmarried was greater than the number of married men. He blamed the low birth rate on abortion, homosexuals and on men who preferred the licentiousness of the single life to the responsibilities of married life and children.
c. Sexual Ethics did not reflect God’s heart
i. Homosexuality was rampant and widely accepted.
ii. Transgenderism was not unusual – Nero, emperor of Rome in 64 AD took a 16 year old boy and made him his wife
d. Materialism was dominant
i. Rome was a wealthy city but it also depended heavily on slaves to do all the work. When they stopped conquering nations and taking slaves their work force diminished and they had a hard time finding enough workers to keep things going.
ii. Government overspending led to high inflation and higher taxes. This widened the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
Transition - What is the application of all of this to our lives today?
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2. God calls His people out of the world to live a different type of life – He calls you and me to life different.
a. Rev 18:4-5 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
i. The early Christians did a good job heeding John’s words. There is an letter called “Letter to Diognetus”, dating around 130 AD. It is written to a guy named Diognetus who seems to have asked what was different about these people called Christians.
ii. Extraordinary People “For Christians are not differentiated from other people by country, language or customs; you see, they do not live in cities of their own, or speak some strange dialect, or have some peculiar lifestyle. This teaching of theirs has not been contrived by the invention and speculation of inquisitive men; nor are they propagating mere human teaching as some people do. They live in both Greek and foreign cities, wherever chance has put them. They follow local customs in clothing, food and other aspects of life. But at the same time, they demonstrate to us the wonderful and certainly unusual form of their own citizenship. They live in their own native lands, but as aliens; as citizens, they share all things with others; but like aliens, suffer all things. Every foreign country is to them as their native country, and every native land as a foreign country. They marry and have children just like everyone else; but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed. They are at present ‘in the flesh’ but they do not live ‘according to the flesh’. They are passing their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the appointed laws, and go beyond the laws in their own lives. They love everyone, but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and gain life. They are poor and yet make many rich. They are short of everything and yet have plenty of all things. They are dishonored and yet gain glory through dishonor. Their names are blackened and yet they are cleared. They are mocked and bless in return. They are treated outrageously and behave respectfully to others. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when punished, they rejoice as if being given new life. They are attacked by Jews as aliens, and are persecuted by Greeks; yet those who hate them cannot give any reason for their hostility. To put it simply-the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world. The soul is spread through all parts of the body and Christians through all the cities of the world. The soul is in the body but is not of the body; Christians are in the world but not of the world.”
b. Let’s be people that are the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus so that others can see a difference in us – and most importantly so that they can see Jesus.
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3. Stay close to God if you want to Win for Eternity
a. Rev 17:14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers."
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b. Stay close by first accepting His son as Lord and Savior of your life.
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c. Stay close by living a life worthy to be called a child of God.
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d. Stay close by growing in your prayer relationship with God.
i. When you communicate with someone your relationship grows
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e. Stay close by being faithful in your worship to Him.
i. Personal worship
ii. Corporate worship
Learning from Rome
Rev 17 & 18
One of the things I have emphasized throughout this study is to see the big picture of what is going on in the first century as well as today.
At the same time God is giving him visions that not only relate to the first century but also is a message for all the Christians that follow.
The challenge for us – learn from the past and look forward to the future.
The chapters we are looking at today, Revelation 17 & 18.
· It is a “zoom in” on Rome and its demise for the first century readers and teaches us some things about living in our world today.
· Satan is the evil force behind Rome, just as he is in the world today.
There are references to kingdoms and kings who were and ones to come.
· This is a picture of those throughout history who oppose God and Christianity.
· Before the final judgment Satan will manifest himself and his power in some form and God will deal the final blow to him.
Read Revelation 17:1-14
Chapter 18 gives the reaction of the forces of the world at the downfall of the Roman empire.
Read Revelation 18
Here is a summary of the passage:
· The Empire Collapses
o Rev 18:2 - "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit
o Rev 18:8 - She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
· We see how those who were and are a part of Satan’s opposition react –
o Rev 18: 9 "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
o Rev 18:11 "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her
o Rev 18:17-19 - "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship . . . will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
· Chapter 18 shows that all those who are on the side of Satan will be surprised and devastated when all they put their trust in collapses.
1. Being _______________ doesn’t mean You have a ____________ Relationship with God
a. Rome was a very religious place, but not in a Christian way.
b. Roman culture did not value the life of the unborn
c. Sexual Ethics did not reflect God’s heart
d. Materialism was dominant
2. God calls His people __________ of the world to live a ________________ type of life
a. Rev 18:4-5 Extraordinary People
b. Let’s be people that are the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus so that others can see a difference in us – and most importantly so that they can see Jesus.
3. Stay ____________ to God if you want to Win for ___________________
a. Rev 17:14
b. Stay close by first _______________His son as Lord and Savior of your life.
c. Stay close by living a life _____________ of being called a child of God.
d. Stay close by ____________in your ____________ relationship with God.
e. Stay close by being ______________in your ________________ to Him.