Could this what John was talking about when he said, "Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea?"
FINALLY!!! Retribution for Satan's rebellion and deception. Fallen man has been waiting for this moment since the Garden. Since then Satan has constantly deceived the world and lured man to lust after money, the joys of the flesh, the pride of life and all earthly desires. Anything to distract men from God and attract them to the sinful desires upon which Babylon was (is for now) based.
In Chapter 18 we saw the destruction of the evil world empire that, as we have studied, has been here since the Flood and has continued to plague man ever since. 18:21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence ..."
Since Babylon is directly controlling the world economy, politics and military, the merchants "will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud," Those still on earth, mired in self-centered greed and lust, are mourning the loss of their luxuries, we see in the first verses of Chapter 19 a joyous celebration in heaven with a multitude of voices crying out, "“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
However, I believe the MOST important part is where God speaks directly to US. It is almost as if all the action stops, and God looks at US and says, "“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven."
Come out of what? Babylon! I may keep my body in Florida, but in truth I often find my self spiritually in Babylon. When you ask? When my focus is on my self and my stuff and my heart is in this world instead of keeping close to Jesus' Holy Spirit. We are called to be a light in a dark world but all too often I am dragged into Babylon by the inescapable desires (and needs) of the flesh. Praise God that He is always waiting with a fresh dose of mercy and grace. Jesus WANTS us in this world to be lights and examples for the unsaved. Remember what he prayed to the Father for at the Last Supper:
John 17 Jesus’ Priestly Prayer at Last Supper
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Sadly, the lesson did not get recorded, but here is the PowerPoint PDF