Everything Can Change in a Minute | Daily Devotion
Revelation 17 NLT
“Sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death”—James 1:15 NKJV. So don’t play with it! Eternal death is no joke.
In 1 John, the apostle John says in 1 John 5:16-17 NLT, “If you see a Christian brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.”
Here the apostle John speaks of hardening one’s heart to the voice of the Lord. God knows His creation; He knows the hearts of every individual walking this earth – God knows when people choose to defy Him. He knows there is a sin they will commit, that will completely turn them away from Him. It is not a specific sin; it’s the individual in sin and their heart and mind. There is a reason why God says to be innocent of evil, and to repent of sin. When people justify sin in their heart and mind it directly negatively impacts their soul – therefore, there is a sin that people will justify, either a planned sinful event or something they refuse to confess and repent of and God will then remove this person from earth by way of death. No prayer has power over that. Now, we will never know the complete details of a heart and mind, so we pray for repentance. What the apostle John is saying here is people have a freewill and if they choose to sin defiantly, there is a sin they will commit that will lead to God removing them from earth. He removes wicked people to protect innocent people. He does not allow every injustice to destroy every Christian. Thus, the apostle John says, “all wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death,” meaning not every sin committed leads to God removing the person from earth, but every sin is evil and needs to be repented of.
It's not something to play with. God remains all powerful, and what we see in the Tribulation through these severe judgments is God dealing with defiant mankind. He removes people from earth. That sin they committed completely hardened them to His voice, thus, He allows them to go to hell. There are not endless chances to repent.
Thus, we see here in Revelation 17, one of the seven angels who poured out the bowl judgments call to the apostle John to come with him and he will show the apostle John the judgment that is going to take place on Babylon and the angel took John in the Spirit into the wilderness to see. Here John relays prosperous Babylon, symbolic of the world system, openly mocking God, worshipping idols, drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses of Jesus, and then soon in Revelation 18, we see Babylon’s destruction.
God is Sovereign and will not be mocked—Galatians 6:7. Everything can change in a minute—Revelation 18:17. People will reap what they sow—Galatians 6:7, so listen when God says: You shall have no other gods before Me, you shall not make for yourself a carved image, and you shall not take the Lord’s name in vain—Exodus 20:3-7.
There is something blinding about sin, for some reason people think they will get away with it. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 8:11 NLT, “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.” There is something about the mind attributing consequential circumstances to crimes being committed because it does happen, however, sometimes there is no immediate consequence – leading to the question, if there is not an immediate consequence, is the act of sin fine to commit? Many Christians know the answer is no, for every sin is committed first and foremost against God, and we do not always see the deterioration of our soul when we commit sin, but it is present and witnessed after a time. The deterioration of our soul is found in a hardened heart and a stubborn mind, resisting repentance, turning a soul away from the living God.
As the apostle John relays what he sees, he says he is amazed. The angel then questions his amazement and tells him the mystery of what he is witnessing –it’s the story of the harlot, Babylon. This tells us, the visual is mind blowing – that surreal moment where one is asking, "What am I seeing?"
The harlot—Revelation 17:1 represents Babylon, a powerful world system of false religion. The non-believers are intoxicated with her—Revelation 17:2, idolizing her and the false religious system. She is seen sitting on a scarlet beast, which is the Antichrist—Revelation 17:3. The apostle John then tells us about the ten-nation confederacy and the Antichrist trying to make war with the Lamb, Jesus Christ, referencing Armageddon from Revelation 16:14-16—Revelation 17:14. Of course this is a futile effort as the Lamb destroys the kings later in Revelation 19:17-21. Jesus Christ is Sovereign and in control over all rulers, not one attempt to fight Him will win—Revelation 19:16.
Now Antichrist, who is the scarlet beast, supports the harlot and the false religious system for a time, to promote unity amongst the people, but it’s a manipulative deceptive tactic as he hates the harlot, and plans to strip her naked, eat her flesh, and burn her remains with fire – in other words – he overthrows Babylon and takes control—Revelation 17:16. Antichrist wants all of the power and the worship for himself. But this is all a part of God’s plan, for God put the plan in the mind of the Antichrist to fulfill His will—Revelation 17:17.
God is the One who remains in control at all times – He alone turns the hearts of kings whichever way He desires to fulfill His will – Proverbs.
Will you pray with me?
Abba, you see every individual hardening their heart to Your voice, today, we ask Lord for You to do what only You can do to draw them to repentance and a right relationship with You through Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.