Cast Millstone into The Sea

 

Revelation 18:21:  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

 

This verse is reminiscent of Ezekiel 28:16:

By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

            Second Esdras 1:24-32 shows that author’s prophecy that the destruction of Jerusalem is in fulfillment of the Lord’s promises to cast off the wicked of Israel because of their sins.  See Isaiah 1:15; 59:7; Matthew 23:34-37; Luke 13:34.  Only those who repent and accept the true Messiah will be saved: Jeremiah 24:7; Hebrew 8:10.  Israel‘s heritage will be taken from them and given to others who are chosen of God: Romans 10:14-21.

 

Millstone

 

Revelation 18:22-23:  “And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”

 

This verse is almost a direct quote of Jeremiah 25:10:

Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

            The millstone, (see also verse 21), represented the grinding for the daily bread.  It, therefore, was most symbolic of normal daily life.  It was forbidden God’s people to take a man’s millstone as pledge for a debt because it was essential to his life, (Deut. 24:6).  When the sound of the millstone ceased, life ceased.

 

Sorceries

 

Revelation 18:23b:  “For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”

 

            Not only were the merchants trafficking in worldly goods, but they were also merchants of religion, its icons, sanctions, and privileges.  This was a grievous offense to the God of Israel, (Acts 19:24; Acts 8:9).  This merchandising of religion was evident in Jesus‘ day when He drove out the moneychangers and those who bought and sold in the Temple precincts, (Matt. 21:13).  Such merchandising of religion is a form of sorcery.  We read in the book of Acts, (8:9-13), of one Simon who had practiced magic and so considered the gifts of the Holy Spirit as merely another form of magic.  Again in Acts 13:5-12 we read of another magician who is specifically called “a Jewish false prophet.”

            The religion of the Pharisees, from which modern “Judaism” has descended, was one which practiced certain forms of magic and witchcraft and thereby opened the floodgates for many forms of demonic activity.  From many New Testament references we know that Christ came into contact with “unclean spirits,” and cast them out and healed the victims, and in turn gave his disciples power over those evil spirits.  One example of the “unclean spirits” is that of the Gadarene demoniac who lived amongst the tombs.  Lightfoot shows that the Talmudists discussed this kind of unclean spirit.  It seems that there were those who sought to embody the spirits of the dead so that they could be more effective in their sorceries.  Thus, they dwelt among the tombs and so were considered “unclean” by ceremonial law.  This kind of sorcery is called “necromancy,” and is condemned by Deuteronomy 18:11 (CNT, vol. 2, pp.176-177).

            We also have evidence of Jewish magical incantations which used the Hebrew alphabet as amulets and charms.  Six clay bowls from an ancient Jewish cemetery in Babylon contain these alphabetic incantations.  Although these are undated, certain other evidences point to their use in the fourth or fifth centuries AD.  It appears that the ink of the alphabets was intended to be dissolved in liquid and drank to protect against evil spirits.[1]  Indeed, there arose a prominent movement amongst the “Jews” of the Middle Ages called “Cabalism,” which dealt in magic practices and witchcraft.

            These practices have been accepted by “Jewish” religious thought up to this present day.  In November, 1995, one of the leaders of the “Jewish” state, Izaak Rabin, was shot down.  Television news coverage showed a “Jewish” Rabbi telling of their demonstration in front of Izaak Rabin’s home in which they invoked a curse upon his life.  The Rabbi boasted that their curse was very effective, for it had only taken about a month for him to be killed.  This is not an isolated case of witchcraft but only a recent and most prominent one.

 

Blood Guilt

 

Revelation 18:24 RSV:  “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

 

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.  (Matt. 23:35 RSV)

            Jesus gave this prophecy in the context of His lament over Jerusalem, (23:37-39), and the prophecy which describes the then future destruction of that city in chapter 24.  He clearly meant that it was Jerusalem itself that was guilty of the blood of the prophets and all of the innocent blood shed upon the earth from Abel to Zacharias.

            It is clear that ‘Abel’ refers to the first murder of an innocent person, as found in Genesis 4:8.  It is also quite clear that all of the innocent blood had not yet been shed when Jesus gave His prophecy:

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute [you], delivering [you] up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.  (Luke 21:12)

 

They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. (John 16:2)

            Therefore the murder of “Zacharias, son of Barachias,” the last of the murders to be laid to the charge of Jerusalem had not happened yet.  The translation should read: “From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you will have slain between the temple and the altar.”  Josephus records the murder of “Zacharias, the son of Baruch”:

They intended to have Zacharias, the son of Baruch, one of the most eminent of the citizens, slain, – so what provoked them against him was that hatred of wickedness and love of liberty which were so eminent in him….So two of the boldest of them fell upon Zacharias in the middle of the temple, and slew him (Wars, Book 4.5.4).

            The name ‘Zacharias’ is the Greek form of Zachariah and the name ‘Barachias’ is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Baruch.  So the difference in spelling of the names in the two languages does not indicate that they were different people; it is simply a change in the form in the translation from one language to another.  Jesus said Zacharias, son of Barachias, would be murdered “between the temple and the altar.”  The murder recorded by Josephus is said to have happened “in the middle of the temple.”  There is no reason for questioning that this is one and the same place.  The innermost shrine or “Holy of Holies” is sometimes called ‘the Temple,’ whereas sometimes the term ‘the temple’ refers to the entire temple precincts including both the ‘Holy of Holies’ and the outer courts.  The term ‘between the temple and the altar’ would refer to the court of the priests, which was considered so sacred that only the priests could enter this area.  It was between the court where the male worshipers could gather and the ‘Holy of Holies,’ where only the High Priest could go once a year.  It was therefore “the middle of the Temple.”

            Shedding innocent blood was strictly prohibited from the beginning: Genesis 4:8-16.  It was reiterated to Noah: Genesis 9:5-6.  It was prohibited by the Law:  Leviticus 17:4b; Deuteronomy 19:10-13; 21:1-9.  The Prophets also: Jeremiah 7:6; 22:17; 26:15; Joel 3:19; Lamentations 4:13.  The New Testament prophets charged the Jews with this crime:  Acts 3:14-15; 7:52, (see also Matthew 27:25), but also showed that Christ had provided atonement for all who would accept Him:  (Hebrews 9:11-28).

            Vengeance and the wrath of God were promised to those who shed innocent blood.  The nation also would be guilty if they did not make atonement:  Leviticus 18:25; Numbers 35:33-34; Deuteronomy 19: 4-13; 32:35, 43; Psalms 79:10.

            The New Testament prophets predicted God’s wrath to avenge innocent blood:  Matthew 23:31-36; Luke 18:7-8; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; 13:13-14; Revelation 6:10, 16-17; 17:6; 18:20; 19:2.

            This wrath of God was to come upon the fleshly lineage of the Jews who rejected Christ:  Romans 1:18, 32; 2:5, 8, 9; 3:5; 5:9; 9:22, 28-9; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:5-6; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8; 2:11-12; Hebrews 2:2-3; 12:25-29; James 5:5-9; 1 Pet. 4:7.

            “His blood be on us and on our children!”  (Matt. 27:24-25.) 

Even Judas realized that he must pay the penalty: 

            “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.”  (Matt. 27:4.) 

Peter and the other apostles were very bold to accuse the Jews of bloodguilt.  This bothered the High Priest:

You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.  But Peter answered…The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  (Acts 5:28-30 RSV.  See also Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:27.)

Stephen was very bold in his accusation before the Council: 

Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute?  And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. (Acts 7:52 RSV.)

For this witness, they added yet another crime, the slaying of innocent Stephen.

            Even Josephus knew that there was a penalty to pay for shedding innocent blood.  He describes the murder of one high priest named Jonathan who dared to oppose the Roman appointed Felix:

They slew Jonathan, and as his murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men for money; and slew others not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty.  And this seems to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred to these men’s wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, – as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities (Ant. 20.8.5).

 

            He notes also the taking of James, the brother of Christ, and some others who were falsely accused and stoned (ibid., 20.9.1).

Again he says:  ‘And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them, – and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? – for they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen! and are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen?  It is God therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge the city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions’ (Wars, VI.II.1).

 

Matthew 23 Proven

 

            Revelation 18:24 alone would be sufficient to prove the identity of Mystery Babylon.  It is a direct allusion to the words of Christ in Matthew 23:34-39.  It is the fallen Jerusalem against whom the Lord takes vengeance for the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

            This verse also proves that Christ was a true prophet for He had said to the scribes and Pharisees, as the representatives of the doctrines of Judaism, and to Jerusalem as the seat and capitol of their power that:

Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 

This latter act was an act of blasphemy even exceeding that of Antiochus Epiphanes for he had offered swine’s blood but these had offered the blood of one of their own countrymen and probably a holy priest at that.  The writer of 2 Esdras also saw this clearly:

Thus says the Lord Almighty:…‘I gathered you as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.  But now, what shall I do to you?  I will cast you out from my presence.  When you offer oblations to me, I will turn my face from you; for I have rejected your feast days, and new moons, and circumcisions of the flesh.  I sent to you my servants the prophets, but you have taken and slain them and torn their bodies in pieces; their blood I will require of you, says the Lord.’  ‘Thus says the Lord Almighty: ‘Your house is desolate; I will drive you out as the wind drives straw’ (1.28-33).

            It is obvious that Christ had this passage from 2 Esdras in mind when He quoted it in Matthew 23:37-8.  And again in 2 Esdras 2:5-7:

I call upon you, father, as a witness in addition to the mother of the children, because they would not keep my covenant, that you may bring confusion upon them and bring their mother to ruin, so that they may have no offspring.  Let them be scattered among the nations, let their names be blotted out from the earth, because they have despised my covenant.

            This is clearly what had happened in the destruction of the earthly city called Jerusalem.  The removal of the wicked city and nation does not negate the covenants and promises of God, however.  The writer of 2 Esdras goes on to say:

Thus says the Lord to Ezra: ‘Tell my people that I will give them the kingdom of Jerusalem, which I was going to give to Israel.  Moreover, I will take back to myself their glory, and will give to these others the everlasting habitations, which I had prepared for Israel.  The tree of life shall give them fragrant perfume, and they shall neither toil nor become weary.  Ask and you will receive; pray that your days may be few, that they may be shortened.  The kingdom is already prepared for you; watch!  Call, O call heaven and earth to witness, for I left out evil and created good, because I live, says the Lord.’  (2 Esdras 2:10-14).

Clearly, the term “my people” means the Church, the Body of Christ, and we see these promises recalled in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22.