Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #12 of Revelation, chapter 18, and we are continuing to look at Revelation 18:6:

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

This verse begins with the word “reward.”  It says, “Reward her even as she rewarded you,” and the word “reward” is also translated into English as “render” or “pay.”  Let us just look at a few verses where this word is found.  The first place is in Matthew 16:27:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

This is very similar to what we have in Revelation 18:6: “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works.”  When God mentions “works” what He has in mind is one of two things.  It is either the works of Jesus Christ on behalf of a person or it is the individual’s own works or his own attempt at righteousness in keeping the Law of God to whatever degree he can do that.  Of course, that will always fail because the works of man are not good enough because they are not perfect.  If you do not keep the whole Law, then you are guilty of all the Law.  Anyone attempting to get right with God in their own works must do so perfectly, in thought, word and deed.  There is no one that can do that and that is why the Bible says no man is justified in the sight of God based on performing the works of the Law.

When Christ comes with His messengers (and at this time He has come) to judge the world, our verse says, “Then he shall reward every man according to his works.”  He will “see” the works of the unsaved and He will mete out the proper punishment based on their sinful works.  It is language that indicates the wrath of God.

It says in Luke 12:59:

I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

This is that passage where God says to agree with your adversary quickly while you are in the way with Him (and God is that adversary) and, if not, you will be delivered into “prison” and in that prison, you will not depart until you have “paid the very last mite.”  The Greek word translated as “paid” is the same word translated as “reward” in our verse in Revelation, chapter 18.  It has to do with rendering payment for whatever is in view.  In some cases, it is translated as “tribute,” as it is in Matthew 22:21-22:

And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

The word “render” is the same Greek word.  So it is saying, “Pay Caesar his tax.  It is his superscription and image, so pay him the tax.”  Then you are to render “unto God the things that are God’s,” and that means to obey all His commandments.  That is where man fails, as they do not obey Him and that is why God comes in judgment to satisfy the Law.  The Law requires perfect obedience and perfect faithfulness to everything it says and man fails and falls short of the glory of God.  Every man has done this.  All have sinned.  God then says, “You have broken my Law and the penalty the Law demands is death.  That is the payment and that is what you must render to satisfy the Law’s demands for all your transgressions.”

That is what is going on at this time.  God is exacting payment from mankind.  Finally, when He destroys every unsaved individual with complete annihilation, payment will have been rendered to God.

It says in Revelation 22:11-12:

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Remember what we read of Christ coming in the first verse of Revelation 16:27:

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

When the Son of man comes, His reward is with Him, “to give every man according as his work shall be,” so Matthew 22, verse 12, is talking about Judgment Day.

Some people are so desperate to deny the wrath of God and to divert attention from the “shut door” upon all the earth, so they try to apply these verses to the churches only, but the language matches Judgment Day upon the world.  It is only at Judgment Day that the unjust and filthy are filthy still and the holy and righteous are righteous still.  As some people try to apply this to the churches, it is not the case.  When judgment was upon the churches, could someone that was filthy or unrighteous have a change wrought in them by God so they would not have remained permanently unjust or permanently filthy?  The answer is, “Yes.”  God was still saving people and there were dirty, rotten, filthy sinners in the churches, but God drew them out and saved them outside of the churches.  It is only at the end of the day of salvation (when the door is shut) that everyone’s spiritual condition is fixed.  So Revelation 22, verses 11 and 12, have to do with the Day of Judgment.  Verse 12 especially identifies with Christ coming with His “reward” to “give every man according as his work shall be.” 

Again, how are the righteous made righteous?  It is by the obedience of One that many were made righteous and that was the work of Jesus Christ.  So the reward of their work was actually the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  For the professed Christians that claimed to have “accepted Christ,” or that counted on their own works, it was not good enough – it was not perfect because they did not keep the whole Law.  Since they tried to get right with God through their works, but failed to maintain perfect works, they are guilty and “filthy still” and now that condition can never change because the door of heaven is shut.  Their “reward” is to be put into the condition of death and “hell” for a period of time (very likely 1,600 days) and then on the last day they will be utterly destroyed for evermore when the world is destroyed.  That is what these verses indicate.

Well, we see that God uses the word “reward” in Revelation 18:6 when He says, “Reward her even as she rewarded you,” and this is because Babylon, the kingdom of Satan, was responsible for bringing judgment upon the churches during the first part of the Great Tribulation.  It implies vengeance and, of course, God says, “Vengeance is mine.”  But let us just look at a few places where God ties “vengeance” with rendering payment for sin, beginning in Deuteronomy 32:41:

If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

So it is a similar usage of “reward” and “rendering vengeance” as it is in the New Testament.  God will render vengeance to His enemies.

Then it says in Psalm 94:1-2:

O JEHOVAH God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

This would be the wrath of God. 

In Jeremiah, chapter 50, Babylon is again in view in Jeremiah 50:14-15:

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against JEHOVAH. Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of JEHOVAH: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

This is a very similar statement to Revelation 18, verse 6, but God adds the word “vengeance.”  It is the vengeance of JEHOVAH.  Then He talks to His people and says, “Take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.” 

But we have to add a word of caution here; we are in the Day of Judgment and the Bible says the saints are judging the world with Him; however, the other Laws of God have not been superseded or done away with in that we are not to judge our fellow man.  There is one Judge and Lawgiver and that is Eternal God, and not us.  We are saved by the mercy and grace of God according to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we have much in common with our fellow man that are being judged; we are just as sinful and, in some cases, more sinful than they.  We do not deserve the tremendous blessing that God has blessed us with in salvation; it was nothing we had done and no work of any kind.  It is truly undeserved and unmerited grace that was bestowed upon us according to God’s good pleasure, so we never “point the finger” at any individual and say, “Well, you are under the wrath of God.  You are being judged.” 

On the other hand, Babylon is the kingdom of Satan and it is similar to the corporate church, in a way.  Maybe this is a better way to explain it.  When God revealed that judgment was upon the corporate body of the churches, then God’s people shared that information.  We let it be known that the Spirit of God had left the churches and Satan’s spirit had entered in.  Many people felt judged by that information, but we were not judging them personally.  We were not pointing the finger at any particular person.  It was simply information the Bible had revealed concerning what God had done to the corporate body, the churches and congregations of the world.  It was still possible at that time that any individual could have left the churches and God could have saved any one of them, from our perspective.  Even the Pope could have been saved if he had departed from that corporate entity and cried out to God for mercy.  Potentially, in the day of salvation any individual coming out of the churches could have received the grace of God, whether it were an elder, a deacon, a bishop or any member of the congregation.  It did not matter at that point, but they needed to be obedient to God in coming out of the churches.  From the vantage point of being outside of churches where the Latter Rain was falling, they could have approached unto God and, perhaps, He might save them because they were in an arena where salvation was still taking place. 

But, at this time, the judgment is upon the kingdom of Satan, typified by Babylon, which now includes the churches and all the nations of the world.   God had been saving outside of the churches during the second part of the Great Tribulation during the period of Latter Rain, but He is no longer saving anywhere in the world.  Now, in pronouncing judgment upon Babylon, the kingdom of Satan, God’s people are sharing the fact that the door of heaven is shut to the nations of the world, just as it shut to the churches.  God’s people are sharing information that God’s Spirit has departed from the world as far as salvation is concerned.  Salvation is no longer taking place and there is no more evangelization of the world because God has ended His salvation program.  So we declare it, but we are not pointing the finger at any individual.  Again, we are just saying what the Bible allows us to say concerning the judgment on the kingdom of Satan.  That is where the “vengeance” for God’s people is taking place. 

Satan had been used as a tool to bring judgment upon the churches and now God is taking vengeance upon him and his kingdom and the people of God are partaking by sharing what the Bible says.  In so doing, we are taking vengeance upon Babylon, the entity that represents all the unsaved, but we are not taking vengeance against any individual person.

Let us also look at another place in Jeremiah 50.  It says in Jeremiah 50:28-29:

The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of JEHOVAH our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against JEHOVAH, against the Holy One of Israel.

The word “recompense” is also a word that fits in with “render” and “pay” and “reward.”  It is a similar idea.  Yes, there is to be “vengeance.”  There is to be a “rendering” of a “reward” to Babylon “according to her work.”  This rendering that the people of God are involved in is the declaration that God has ended His salvation program and He is no longer saving sinners.  As we share that information, we are fulfilling what God has in mind with these commandments to take vengeance upon Babylon.

Let us look at one other verse in Jeremiah 51:6:

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the JEHOVAH'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

All of this language of vengeance against Babylon further helps to confirm the Biblical evidence that when Babylon falls and God turns His attention against Babylon to destroy it, it is the final judgment of the world and not the judgment upon the churches.  Actually, that should be obvious.  Why is God judging Babylon?  It is because Babylon destroyed His temple and what does the temple represent?  It represents the churches and, therefore, the judgment upon Babylon is a judgment against them because they destroyed the churches.  It is not a judgment upon the churches – that does not make any sense.  As God says in Jeremiah 51:49:

As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

Here, again, it is laid out for us.  It is God’s end time judgment program on the entire world.  First, God says, “I will use my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to destroy Judah.  Then when they have accomplished that, I will turn my attention to the king of Babylon and the Babylonians and I will destroy them.” 

But notice it does not say, “So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all Babylon.”  It does not say that.  It says, “So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.”  It is stated very clearly for us.  Isaiah, chapter 13, speaks of the burden of Babylon and then it speaks of the day of JEHOVAH’S wrath and punishing the world for their iniquity.  That is when God is causing the slain of all the earth to fall at Babylon.