She Has Glorified Herself Revelation 18:7

After showing John the apostle the “great whore” who was sitting upon a “scarlet colored beast” and was “arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls”, he “heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.” In chapter eighteen and verse seven of Revelation another voice shouts “she has glorified herself” where we read:

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

The verse reads, “How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:” John began with the words, “how much” which means “as great as, as far as and greatly” “she has glorified herself” or “Babylon has praised, extolled, magnified and celebrated he own self”, “and lived deliciously” or “wantonly and luxuriously”, “so much torment” which means “great torture and testing by the touchstone which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal” “and sorrow” or “mourning and grief” “give her” which means “grant, bestow, furnish and supply to Babylon”. The “voice from heaven” shared how “Babylon” “magnified” herself and lived in a “luxurious” way, and the plea was for “Babylon” to be “tortured” and to suffer “grief”.

The verse goes on to say, “she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” John continued with the words, “she says” which refers to “Babylon utters, declares and proclaims” “in her heart” or “within Babylon's soul or mind as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes and endeavors ” “I sit” or “Babylon is seated, dwells, occupies and has a fixed abode” “as a queen” which means “like a royal queen” “and am no widow” or “and not as a city stripped of its inhabitants and riches like a woman lacking a husband”, “and shall see” which means “and will perceive, notice, discover, experience and discern” “no sorrow” or “not one bit of mourning or grief”. The overconfidence of “Babylon” makes her declare within her “heart” that she “powerful, not as a widow and knows she will see no grief”.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we see how because “Babylon” gave honor to herself and lived in a luxurious manner, she boasted about herself and believed she would face no “destruction” or “grief”. “Self” security always exhibits weakness and false appraisal, and many people are like the “city of Babylon” who fail to realize everything they have comes from God. God knows the works and arrogant attitudes of those within “Babylon”, and He knows when people are “self” reliant and boastful today. God has provided every good gift unto people as James the apostle wrote, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17), and His greatest gift is a relationship with Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. Those who are wise will receive God's gift, and those who are unwise shall continue to believe in their “self-sufficiency”.

Next time the “voice from heaven” declares, “therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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