Study Audio Download

Rev 18:5-9 – God Has Remembered Her Iniquities, Part 1

[Study Aired May 2, 2025]

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 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.
Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

Introduction

These are words we are to “read, hear, and keep”:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

They are not addressed to physical Babylon in Iraq. Neither are they addressed to spiritual Babylon in physical Rome or Jerusalem. These words are all addressed to “He that hath an ear”:

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

If we are granted “ears to hear and eyes that see”, then we will want only to know ‘How do I “keep the things written therein”?’ As we are about to see, ‘Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots is first within each of us as God’s own backslidden wife. We must first be in Babylon before we can “come out of  her My people” (Rev 18:4). As King Solomon demonstrated for us in 1 Kings 10, it took time for us to become the slave of all that Babylon has to offer. King Solomon, a type of us having lost our first love (Rev 2:4), had 700 wives and 300 concubines, who were all daughters of the nations surrounding Israel. That is one thousand women, signifying churches, each with its own false doctrines.  The number 1,000, is ten to the third power, signifying the church in bondage to the carnal mind, and “the traditions of men” (Col 2:20) to the third power, signifying the process of our judgment. Solomon’s one thousand wives signify “the mother of harlots” riding our beast. This ‘beast’ signifies “the son of David, the king of Israel, a type of you and me, in the process of being judged. It was the traditions of his wives which were a snare to King Solomon.

1Ki 11:1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
1Ki 11:2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
1Ki 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Christ had twice appeared to King Solomon and had made him both rich and wise. Nevertheless, our Lord had somewhat against King Solomon because he had “left his first love”, his own God, and “His wives [had] turned away his heart after other gods.” Solomon’s wives signify this “great whore… sitting upon a scarlet colored beast.” She is “the mother of harlots, and abominations of the world”, and she who “sits upon [the] many waters” of the many false doctrines and ungodly traditions which are typified by the 1000 wives and concubines of King Solomon. The apostasy of King Solomon is the Old Testament type of the seven churches who had apostatized while the apostles were still alive. The apostasy of King Solomon, in attempting to please his many pagan wives, demonstrates how this world rules over us when we ought to be ruling over the land of Israel. Instead of being rulers over the land of Israel, we have placed the gods of outsiders above our God, and we are ruled by these 1000 wives, “Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots, and Abominations of the Earth.”

This 18^th chapter tells us how our Lord judges this harlot within us to save us from her bondage. This harlot has the same mind as the church of Laodicea which we all read, hear and keep at our own time.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

The seals, trumpets and vials are our judgment. The seven last vials of God’s wrath, are called the “great and marvelous” work of God in our redeeming judgment. This 18^th chapter of Revelation gives us the details of the seventh vial of God’s wrath, which is poured out upon us ‘day and night’ (Rev 14:11) for the express purpose of destroying the “man of sin” (2Th 2:8), the beast we are, and the influence of this harlot over that beast within us.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This last vial is poured out into “the air”, signifying the realm of the spirit, in which “the four winds” blow. So let us take on the spiritual mind of Christ, and view all seven vials as the “great and marvelous… wonderful works of God to the children of men” which they are. That is how God sees His work of our judgment which He is performing for us. Here is how Christ is judging the business of this harlot who is “sitting on many waters” within us:

Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The Hebrew word translated ‘great’ in verse 23 is the word ‘rab’. It is most often translated as ‘many’, as in this verse in which it first appears.

Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many  [Hebrew: rab]days.

Psalm 107:23 can also be translated ‘They that… do business in [the] many waters… on which the whore sits.’

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This harlot within us is being judged and is being destroyed. What is the outcome of it all?

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

It is through “receiving double for all of our sins”, that “our warfare is accomplished and our iniquity is pardoned.” Here is the “double for all her sins” of Isaiah 40:2 in this book of Revelation:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Truly these seven last plagues of God’s wrath are “great and marvelous… wonderful works to the children of men” by our God within our lives, because “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure [Christ] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

The Lord has revealed that our sins are His work via evil spirits to give Him the “occasion He is seeking” to destroy our worst enemies just as He did with Samson:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Samson typifies us. He knew very well the Lord had forbidden Israel marrying the daughters of the nations :

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
Deu 7:5  But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

Samson’s story signifies our time being dominated by this great harlot:

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Our judgment via the pain we endure “in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb” is a wonderful work in our lives. This is what we were told at the introduction of the pouring out of the seventh vial into the air of our heavens.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This, our judgment, is the greatest work God will ever do in “the earth” which signifies our lives. It is a work “such as was not since men were upon the earth”, and here is why that is so.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rev 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.

The power of this verse comes from the book of Isaiah which gives us the glorious outcome of having the cup which we have filled, filled to us double.

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Let us acknowledge that it is through “receiving double for all of our sins” that “our warfare is accomplished and our sins are forgiven and our iniquity is pardoned.

Here is Isaiah 40:2 in this book of revelation.

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

When “it is done”, we have fulfilled the seven plagues of the seven angels, have gotten the victory over the beast, and we are now worthy to stand with the overcomers upon the sea of glass mingled with fire.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Let us never deny the justice of our God. He will indeed “double to us all double what injustices we have fulfilled:

Rev 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 is the seventh of the seven last plagues of our judgment.

As we have glorified ourselves and pleased ourselves and our families and our communities at the expense of our Lord and at the expense of our brothers, our own flesh, so much torment and sorrow we will receive. The very idea that Christ died for us so we need not die daily (1Co 15:31), be crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) and present our own bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1) and fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of our Lord (Col 1:24) and suffer with Him (Rom 8:17) as the damnable false doctrine of “substitutionary atonement” teaches, is a lie which flies in the face of all those scriptures. It is the Truth which will destroy all the  lies of Babylon with the brightness of the coming of our understanding these words:

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

It is a false and an insidious and damnable doctrine which teaches that the teaching that “mercy rejoices against judgment” contradicts “whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”. God’s enduring mercy in no way impedes His justice in judging our sins:

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

What this verse is telling us is that we will be judged with the judgment with which we judge, and therefore we will do ourselves a great favor to be merciful in our judgment of others. That is a far cry from thinking we are not to judge anyone’s actions at all as Matthew 7:1 is twisted to say:

Mat 7:1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

King David had no mercy at all on the rich man who stole his poor neighbor’s sheep to feed his guest:

2Sa 12:1  And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
2Sa 12:4  And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
2Sa 12:5  And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6  And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.

King David typifies each of us. We self-righteously cannot imagine anyone being so cruel as to steal from the poor to give to others, while we ourselves are in the process of doing just that when we steal the Lord’s glory, and as an adulterous wife we give that glory to others who we want to please more than we want to please our Lord who we claim as our spiritual husband:

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women [seven churches of Asia] shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread [believe our own doctrines], and wear our own apparel [live in sin]: only let us be called by thy name [claim we are Christians], to take away our reproach.

Upon learning that that callous and self-centered rich man was King David himself, who had committed adultery with the wife of one of his captains, Uruiah, and then had Uriah killed by the Ammonites, again, as a type of who we are, threw himself upon the Lord’s mercy and the Lord was merciful where the law of Moses was not:

Deu 22:22  If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.
Deu 22:23  If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
Deu 22:24  Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

In time we all come to see that “[We] are the man” who is worthy of death for our spiritually adulterous ways. The Lord spares us but only on the condition that His spiritual ‘sword’ will never again part from our house:

2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
2Sa 12:8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

We are so quick to say “He shall have judgment without mercy, that showed no mercy” while we are thinking of some other man who “had no pity.” Like King David, we are so quick to forget that it is we who are “chief of sinners” and who must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and we forget that it is our own house from which “the sword [of God’s Word] will never depart” if we are blessed to that degree in this life.

So “mercy rejoices against judgment” is true, but that Truth in no way denies the justice or the judgment of God in our lives. Our Lord, who is the Truth, gives us His mind concerning His judgments in these words:

Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

“All things come alike to all men” (Ecc 9:2) does not mean that the details of our experiences are all the same. What it does mean is that Christ has just one way of doing the work of His Father upon this carnal earth, and that one way is “the… fiery sword… way of the Tree of Life.” The way of Christ is the way of His Father. That being so, it is a fiery way, because ‘our God is a consuming fire’:

Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 You and I are “the earth” on which Christ has come to send the fire of His Word to purify us and to make us worthy to stand with Him on that sea of glass mingled with fire, and to make us worthy to enter into the temple in heaven.

We will pause at this point, and we will resume our study with the realization that this 7^th verse is the  perfect description of our self-righteousness while we live with confidence in all the lies of this great harlot.

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.