Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
So let’s get a running start as the end of the previous chapter connects to the beginning of this one:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. – Heb 5:12-14
And now our verse: “Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God”
So the writer is wanting to get into some serious theological discussions with them about their problems, and he is frustrated that they really are not even ready to hear it. But nevertheless he is going to tell them what they need to hear anyway.
He says that two foundations of the Christian faith here are repentance of dead works and faith toward god. This is basically the gospel message: (Acts_2:38, Acts_3:19, Heb_9:14, Heb_11:6)
The same writer of Hebrews preaches the gospel of salvation using the same words three chapters later:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. - Heb 9:14-14
There are really only two religions in the world. There are those that are trying to account for their moral imperfections by their various works and are therefore putting their faith in themselves and how good they can be. And then there are those that have faith in God, who trust not in their works and appeal to God, not on the basis on the things they have done but rather on the merit on the sinless life of another, that is Jesus Christ.
Many people need to repent of their dead works, their appealing to god on the things that they do, or do not do, and seek to understand the gospel, which is that Christ took the wrath of God for your sins so that you could be justified before a holy god.
Perfection
The writer to the Hebrews says that his people must be going on to what he calls teleiotes. The King James Version translates this word perfection. But teleios, the adjective, and its kindred words have a technical meaning. Pythagoras divided his students into hoi manthanontes, the learners, and hoi teleioi , the mature. Philo divided his students into three different classes—hoi archomenoi, those just beginning, hoi prokoptontes, those making progress, and hoi teleiomenoi, those beginning to reach maturity. Teleiotes does not imply complete knowledge but a certain maturity in the Christian faith. – William Barclay
let us go on unto perfection:
No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, it is their great desire that the baby grow up and enjoy a full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for His children. That is why He calls to us, “Go on to perfection!”
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Two of my favorite commentators spend this section trying to convince people that these things are Jewish, not Christian in nature. This is a very difficult position, and it is my opinion that they do this because of the difficult verse that is coming up later.
After really trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, also because I would much prefer that this is talking about Jews because it would make this section so much easier I don’t see any reason to suggest that to you, But rather that the writer is simply naming some things that are the basics of Christianity, just as I think the plain understanding of the text implies.
The doctrine of baptisms and the laying on of hands:
There are two baptisms spoken of in scripture. One is the standard water baptism that is symbolic of your repentance and death to the old life and resurrection to a new life in Christ. Then there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit for service where one is empowered to do various things in the service of Christ.
Those who try to make the point that this is not talking about Christian baptism say that the word baptismos here is in a slightly odd construction is not used to talk of Christian baptisms, but according to Vincent word studies there is no problem whatsoever with this:
“The meaning here is lustral rites in general, and may include the baptism of John and Christian baptism. The teaching would cover all such rites, their relations and comparative significance.” -VWS
The reason for the odd construction of the phrase is because of the odd way the writer is applying it he, in talking of the doctrine of baptisms is speaking of the teaching of baptisms, this teaching like all other Christian teaching are from Christ:
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. – Joh 3:5
The fundamental Christian teaching of a two part baptism is based off the old testament prophecies of the New covenant described Eze_36:25-27
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. – Eze 36:25-26
So this “doctrine of baptisms” is about as fundamental Christian teaching as you can get from a theological standpoint.
The laying on of hands that is mentioned in the verse is usually tied to the baptism of the Holy Spirit for service, and is also considered a fundamental part of Christian doctrine and is often done at salvation for the receiving of gifts. Like with timothy:
1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
Next the resurrection of the dead is mentioned, and in response to those who try to make this an elementary Jewish teaching as opposed to an elementary Christian teaching I would say that although the resurrection of the dead may be an important aspect of Judaism, it is not a fundamental doctrine, which is evidenced by the fact that the Pharisees and Sadducees differed on the existence of the resurrection of the dead but were considered in fellowship and were on the Sanhedrin council together, so it must not have been that fundamental, no compare that with the fundamental nature of the resurrection in Christianity. For example the Apostle Paul writes:
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. – 1Co 15:13-15
And in keeping perfectly in line with this is the next one that is mentioned: “eternal judgment” which is also a fundamental doctrine of the gospel.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. – Act 17:30-31
So the writer here is clearly expanding here on the same “doctrines of Christ” that he mentioned in the previous verse:
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
It may seem obvious to make this point, but some good teachers turn into bad ones during this section of scripture, we will see why they do in just a moment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permits.
So he is going to continue on to the harder questions in Christianity despite them not really being ready to handle it
If God permits:
if: Act_18:21; Rom_15:32; 1Co_4:19, 1Co_16:7; Jam_4:15
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost
I think it would be helpful for you to know some of the theological conflicts that are going to be at play here before we get started.
The main issue is about the doctrine of eternal security, or once saved always saved. A doctrine that I believe in firmly and think that the book that we are reading the book of Hebrews will do a fantastic job of explaining in detail later on, but there does seem to be a kind of caveat to that doctrine, one that doesn’t not necessarily undermine the doctrine of eternal security as we will see but that nevertheless is there and I as hope to show you is all over scripture and taught expressly by the Lord many times.
The problem with this though is that certain theological positions notably Calvinism has a dogmatic stance that no exceptions to this rule exist, and therefore must make these following verse be speaking of something other than Christians. Some commentators will say that these folks in view in this passage only tasted of the heavenly gifts, the idea being that these people were never actually Christians and therefore these is no conflict with the doctrine of eternal security, but the problem is that the passage coming up as well as the other difficult passages in Hebrews chapter 10 seem to go out of the way to make sure we know without doubt that these were actually saved people.
We will look at all of this in detail but first here are some good quotes from Spurgeon on the issue. These quotes are all the more interesting when you realize that Spurgeon was a Calvinist and realized the problems that the passages in Hebrews here posed.
“We come to this passage ourselves with the intention to read it with the simplicity of a child, and whatever we find therein to state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we have hitherto held, we are prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one passage of Scripture.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “We had better far be inconsistent with ourselves than with the inspired Word. I have been called an Arminian Calvinist or a Calvinistic Arminian, and I am quite content so long as I can keep close to my Bible.” (Spurgeon)
For it is impossible
It will take two more verses for the writer to get to what is impossible to do but this is the phrase that causes all the difficulty.
The “impossible” here means just that in the Greek…”impossible” so there is no way around it, belive me I have tried.
3 things are mentioned about the group that he is talking about:
Those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
I wont spend too much time as some do in proving that these things are talking about Christians because I think that is the plain meaning of this text. If you have once been enlightened and were a partaker of the Holy Ghost, my understanding presupposes that they must have been genuine Christians at one point, the argument that they simply tasted the heavenly gift is often refuted by affirming that the same word for taste is used of Christ in his having tasted death for all (Hebrews 2:9.) And we know that he did die.
partakers of the Holy Ghost
Is a much more difficult thing to explain away, it seems almost unthinkable that the writer would use such language if his intention was not to make clear that these people were in fact saved.
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Here again the word taste is important, It is probably true that one could taste of the word of God and not be saved, but more difficult to explain the tasting of the powers of the world to come. I think that either way you look at this these people were more than just casual non-believers.
Again I dont want you to get twitchy that I am going to be speaking against eternal security, I am not, but I do feel that, simply explaining away this verse as not intended for us can be equally detrimental.
There is application here for us and I will explain what I mean by that in full detail in the next verse:
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Ok here it is the big verse in question. Let’s back up and read from verse 4 so we can get the flavor if it:
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
On one end of the spectrum there are the false teachers saying that this verse and the other like in in Hebrews 10 means that if you slip up and simply sin then you can’t be “renewed to repentance.”
On the other end of the spectrum groups, in an attempt to preserve the doctrine of once saved always saved, will find some way to teach that these verses are not applicable to Christians.
I think the answer is somewhere in between, and that it is firmly testified to in scripture.
Again, I want to say that Im all about the doctrine of once saved always saved, and I think the writer of this letter is too, he sure spends a lot of time explaining it later on, but at the same time, there is a notable exception to this rule it would seem and we would be unwise to ignore the clear teaching of scripture on this point.
So it’s impossible If they shall “fall away”, to “renew them again unto repentance;” We need to know what “fall away” means here and we definitely need to know what “renew again to repentance” means.
Fall away here is talking about a specific type of apostasy. Although the specific word “apostacia” is not used here it is clear that the writer has been referring to it, in various ways all throughout the letter, In Hebrews 3:12 it says:
“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”
This line where the writer basically declares the intention of his letter, this is the main reason he writes to them, telling them not to depart from Christ during the persecution they were undergoing, a temptation that some of them were succumbing to.
The same word there departing in the Greek is used by the apostle Paul in this way:
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; – 1 Timothy 4:1
Paul was referring to what he in another place clearly calls apostacia
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [apostacia] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; – 2Th 2:3
And of course I believe he in 2 Thessalonians is only referencing the Lords teaching in Matthew 24 when he says of the last days:
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. – Mat 24:9-1
So the “falling away” used in our verse back in Hebrews is referring to apostasy.
This apostasy is almost always tied to persecution in scripture, In fact I believe that the writer uses the words fall away here harkening back to the parable of the sower, when the lord said
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. – Mar 4:16-17
Again it is crucial to what I am about to say to understand the context here, these people he is writing were not simply duped by a false teacher, they were that too, but they were also being physically threatened with death if they did not reject Christ and return to Judaism The first few chapters are about the reasons why this cannot be done theologically.
This is a very common theme in the NT in general, (encouragement about ongoing persecutions) in fact it doesn’t seem like there is a letter that Paul writes that does not include something like this line from 2 Thessalonians 2:
So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 2 Thess 1: 4-7
There are so many sections in scripture of Paul or Peter saying “hey good job guys, you are suffering persecutions well.”
In the book of Hebrews however, it is basically a letter to those not suffering and dying well.
There are some other important details about this type of apostasy that seems to always be mentioned in the form of persecution.
But before we look at that we need to move on to the idea of if you fall away in this way it is impossible to be renewed again to repentance.
What in the world does that phrase “renewed again to repentance” mean? it’s kind of an odd phrase.
I have read a lot of commentaries on this and there are so many different opinions that I had literally given up, and instead I simply prayed and re-read the entire book and was like “OK Lord, I will just forget everything I think I know about this, just show me what’s going on here.”
I know bible teachers are supposed to do that all the time, but I guess I don’t do it enough. and I am certainly hesitant to say the “lord showed me this or showed me that” because if I’m wrong It’s my fault, but I gotta say I think the answer as to what this means is explained to us later on in this same letter and it really opens the door to a flood of other relevant scriptures on this issue.
Now before I read this you have to know that in between our verse and the one I’m about to quote 6 chapters later, I think the heart of the writer becomes even clearer. He is trying to show them the steadfastness of the new covenant, and why it should not be abandoned in the face of persecution. He says thing like:
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin…
So he is saying Christ suffered such hostility from sinners and you guys are discouraged and you haven’t even had any blood shed from them yet…he continues and talks about this persecution as if it is from God for their purification.
..and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM; FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” – Heb 12:3-6
The whole theme of the book of Hebrews is about this, these people are openly rejecting Christ to avoid being persecuted and killed
A few verses later he uses Esau in the old testament for an illustration of this and this is where I think the answer to the question “what does the writer of the book of Hebrews mean by “renewed again to repentance” is found:
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. – Heb 12:16-17
There it is! Esau found no place for repentance although he sought it with tears. This is a perfect picture of the situation we are looking into.
If you don’t know the story of Esau. Basically he had twin brother Jacob, one day Esau sold his birthright to his brother for a bowl of stew. Later when he wanted his inheritance he begged his dad who had already given it to the other brother, and nothing was left for him.
A notable thing that my wife brought to my attention is the reason that Esau sold his birthright in the first place:
And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. – Gen 25:30-33
Esau sells his birthright because he is afraid for his life!
Now the repentance he seeks from his father is shown here to be a typological picture. The birthright being symbolic of salvation, and if you look at what the birthright was, it was to be a part of bringing forth the messiah, a birthright that it says Esau despised, but after he sold it when he thought he would starve to death He weeps or repents to his father a type of the heavenly father in this type, but he does not give him back the birthright which he sold.
Now here is where it gets interesting. There are lots of verses that seem to come up in scripture that seem to be talking about this exact scenario, and they are all very challenging to those trying to fit them in a theological “once saved always saved” box, but notice that they all are centered on the same thing! It’s not sin that will make you lose it, but rather rejecting Christ in order to save your life that will.
Matthew chapter 10 is basically instruction for people that are being put to death and tortured for His sake, this is also where you find almost all the difficult verses about eternal security from Jesus, and they are all firmly in the same context. If I were to name this section of scripture I would call it: “Jesus teaches us how to die well, and warns us of the consequences of not doing so.” It starts in Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved…And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. – Mat 10:16-22, 28-39
Luke seems to understand the Lords teaching here in the book of Matthew the same way I have been explaining it .
Luke basically takes relevant saying of the lord here in Matthew and makes sort of topical section about it in His gospel, as the Gospel of Luke often does, Basically Luke categorizes a lot of the Lords teaching whereas Matthew tends to write the entire teaching in context,
Anyway Luke included the so called “unforgivable sin” about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which is another subject altogether sandwiched right in the middle of the lords instruction about apostasy under persecution that we just read, in other words Luke thought these ideas went together categorically in the same place, it says:
“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” – Luk 12:8-12
Now again I am all about once saved always saved but there appears to be an exception to this, but thankfully we will see even this exception is not a hard and fast rule..
The following is an example of being renewed to repentance after a denial of the Lord because of fear of death.
This is such an amazing confirmation of all of this I feel because its like this perfect picture of everything we have been talking about, but something unexpected happens that I think should give those of us a little scared about this idea some comfort. Its found in Luke 22 31
And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren. – Luk 22:31-32
Now look how peter understood this:
But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.” Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.” Luk 22:33-34
So Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him to save his skin, Peter say that he would never do such a thing.
Jesus says he prays for him though, His prayer is so important here, what is his prayer for Peter?:
“But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have converted (KJV) (or returned to Me), strengthen your brethren.”
The word returned or converted as the KJV has it
means to revert (literally, figuratively or morally): – come (go) again, convert, (re-) turn (about, again).
So the lord thought it necessary to pray for Peter so that his faith should not fail, and it is this prayer that apparently made it possible for the repentance of Peter to occur. I think this is an important point. That it is ones “faith not failing” in the context of an apostasy that somehow affects ones ability to turn again or repent. Jesus makes the point that although Peter will commit the very same sin that He warned against in Matthew 10, He has prayed for him ahead of time so that he will be able to return, and in fact adds “when you does return to strengthen his brethren” This must have been a great encouragement to Peter, later on in life remembering that the lord foresaw this and forgave him ahead of time, because we know that Peter wept bitterly after the he heard the roster crow and realized he had in fact denied Christ for fear of his own life.
So my conclusion about this issue is that yes there is a willful sin of denying Christ in the midst of persecution and it seems to be what we call an “unforgivable sin”, but it is very rare and I dont believe even those that do deny him in those circumstance will necessarily be lost because His interceding (praying) for us as He did for Peter in heaven, even today ( Hebrews 9:24 )That being said this is one of the most consistent themes in scripture, a coming last days apostasy in the midst of persecution which will happen on a mass scale.
I believe that many of the mainstream churches will be offered and an alternative to so called fundamentalist version of Christianity will be offered.
This will be in the context of a time of great hatred, even to the point of killing.
I think that we need to be aware of this there needs to be more sermons on this, when is the last time you heard a sermon about preparing a congregation for standing strong under persecution. Like Christ preached in the last half of Matthew 10.
(Rev 18:17-18) For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.
The suddenness of the cities destruction is expressed, here it is described as having occurred in one hour, although it is expressed as “one day” in other places in this chapter.
And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea,
A third group of onlookers, is here introduced, they are people who were on the sea for various reasons. We have already seen the kings and merchants doing basically this same thing, that is lamenting the cities destruction.
stood afar off,
This is mentioned several times, back In Rev 18:10 is seems to suggest that the reason they were standing far off is that they somehow feared they would be affected by the aftermath of the cities destruction.
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning,
This is the part that leads some to suggest that Mystery Babylon must be a port city. But this is not necessary; all that is said is that the smoke of its burning can be seen by the ships at sea.
I would say that it is however necessary that the smoke from the burning of Mystery Babylon must be able to be seen from the sea in order to be consistent with this face value hermeneutic.
Jerusalem is only 34 miles from the Mediterranean coast, and its smoke could easily be seen from the sea. An example from modern times is that people reported being able to see the smoke and debris from the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center from 70 or more miles away.
This is a problem for those that insist that actual city of Babylon is Mystery Babylon because it is 300 miles from the nearest sea (the Persian Gulf), and a whopping 500 miles from the nearest coast of the Mediterranean. It would be impossible for this to be applied to the literal city of Babylon.
Rome, by the way is also not a port city, being about 15 miles from the coast. This does not conflict with the fact that sea merchants bring goods to it, we see sea merchants bringing goods to Jerusalem in several places, notably the 1 kings 10 passages referring to King Solomon which we have already covered in depth.
saying, What city is like unto this great city!
The sailors say this phrase that hearkens us back to the prophecies regarding the city of Tyrus or Tyre we will be talking about in depth in the next verse.
(Rev 18:19) And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
This verse has some striking parallels to a passage in the Old Testament which is referring to the destruction of the merchant city of Tyrus. It says in Ezekiel 27:30-31:
And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes: And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing. – Eze 27:30-31
This is especially interesting in light of the other parallels between the language of the fall of Tyrus or Tyre and Mystery Babylon, Some of which we covered in previous verses.
I have found it interesting that the bible seems to go out of its way at times to refer to the destruction of Tyrus, and to the destruction of Babylon in the passages about Mystery Babylon.
For instance in the passages about the destruction of literal Babylon in Jeremiah 51 there are phrases like
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. - Jer 51:13
This is a clear connection to Mystery Babylon, which is said to “sit on many waters” in Revelation 17, the angel later gives us an interpretation as to what the water represent:
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. - Rev 17:15
As I was reflecting on the significance of these cities as they relate to one another, I remembered a very interesting fact. Satan is referred to as the “King of Tyre” and the “King of Babylon” in different places in scripture. When we look at those Old Testament prophecies we will see that they would start out talking about the kings of these places, but before it’s over its clear the scope of the prophecy is far too big to simply be referring to these earthly kings. Let’s look first at a prophecy concerning The King of Tyrus:
Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 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. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. – Eze 28:12-17
So while this prophecy may have applied in some way to the king of Tyrus, this is clearly bigger than any earthly king, and is of course widely considered to be referring to Satan.
If you look a few verses before this Ezekiel is told to prophecy against the Prince (not the King) of Tyre. Scholars really don’t know what to do with what I am about to show you. But notice how in the passage we just looked at the King was obviously not human, it says it is a cherub, it was in the Garden of Eden, it was cast out of mountain of God, but notice how the prince ( the son of this king presumably) is described clearly as being a man. I think we will see that the prince of Tyre is a description in some ways of the Antichrist.
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. - Eze 28:1-10
The prince the son of the King of Tyrus is a human, (unlike his cherub father) that sits in the seat of God and declares himself to be God who ultimately goes into the pit…does this ring any bells? It should it is the very essence of the antichrists career. I think it’s pretty interesting that it says he will “die the deaths of the uncircumcised “ “by the hand of strangers “ The plural “deaths” could mean that he dies twice, but I would not sell this too strongly as other versions to not carry this plural “deaths” over, either way it suggest that he will be a Jew because it threatens him with the death of the uncircumcised. (Author Pink agree with me on this point) Notice also that if this is true this would take this outside of the context of the city of Tyrus because we are told in Daniel this exact same information about the antichrist, and there is says quite explicitly (in Daniel 11:45) that his capital will be Jerusalem, a point that is reiterated in Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2. For further study I would recommend comparing Daniel 11:36-45 with this passage in Ezekiel 28: 1-10 you will find many interesting similarities.
The same basic pattern we see here is seen in other places in scripture, but instead of the king of Tyre, it uses the king of Babylon.
Isaiah starts off by saying:
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! – Isa 14:4
But pretty soon the scope gets much wider than the king of Babylon;
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. – Isa 14:12-15
There is also an antichrist connection here, not just a Satan connection, often people talk about references to the “Assyrian” as a type of antichrist, they rightly point out that the Assyrian is associated with Babylon.
The bible has messages about the end times sprinkled in all kinds of places, and using all kinds of types to give us more information whether its Solomon, or the King of Tyre, or Antiochus. But it is dangerous to build doctrine on types. Especially when we have very unambiguous prophecies about the antichrist from Jesus, Paul, John in Revelation, and Daniel that are meant to be the standards to which the types are balanced.
I think that the chapter we have been looking is full of words and phrases that when compared with other scripture reveal more about the end times scenario.
(Rev 18:20) Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
thou heaven
We see a picture of those in heave asking to be avenged back in Revelation 6.
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? – Rev 6:9-10
And in Revelation 19 we see a picture of their rejoicing.
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. – Rev 19:1-2
and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
We will study this idea in depth when we look at the last verse in this chapter about the “prophets and apostles and all those slain on the earth”, and we will see that Jesus puts the blame for all of them on the city of Jerusalem in many places but among them in Matthew 23:35 where He says:
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. – Mat 23:35
Notice he said all the righteous blood is on them, Abel was not a Jew nor a prophet, nor was he killed in Jerusalem, but his blood was on Jerusalem’s head. We will look more at the context of this verse later on. We will also see that the OT prophets were indeed killed in Jerusalem according to scripture.
(Rev 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 is the verse that is the best argument against Mystery Babylon being the eschatological city of Jerusalem. I discussed it in detail in Part 4 which was all about objections to this theory.
In question is, if Jerusalem is found no more, how then do we explain the fact that Jerusalem is very much a part of the millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom?
The short answer to this question is that in the detailed layouts of the millennial kingdom given to us by Ezekiel in the last 9 chapter of his book, we are told, among other details, the physical location of the city of Jerusalem during that time. Those that attempt to map all Ezekiel’s specifications out come to various conclusions, but almost all of them agree the Jerusalem in the future, is not in the exact location of the present city. In addition the millennial Jerusalem is 9 times bigger than the current city. Also The temple is located outside the city and it alone is bigger than the current city of Jerusalem. The millennial Jerusalem sits on a high plateau, and has two rivers flowing out of its east and west sides. Basically is a different place altogether.
Some proposals for the location have been Bethlehem and Shiloh. Cameron in his paper “Zechariah in relation to Ezekiel 40-48” makes a very compelling case that the new temple complex will be located at Shechem, a theory that I think is worth serious investigation. The point is that many put the Jerusalem of the future in a different physical location, not for any theological reasons but because of careful study of Ezekiel’s millennial blueprints.
For a more detailed discussion see the section on objections.
We will take these next two verses as a set.
(Rev 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 is an exact match with several verses in the book of Jeremiah. All of them together are a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem. One example is found in Jer 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. – Jer 25:10
Even more interesting to me is the reason that this particular judgment would come.
About five chapters later the same prediction is made again, and it says:
For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it……Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. - Jer 7:30, 34
Jeremiah makes it clear what he means by this phrase “house called by my name” many times. One notable example, which was later quoted by Jesus is when it says
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. – Jer 7:11
Now consider this, we have here the meaning of the abomination which causes desolation spoken of by Daniel. We see that the land will be made desolate because they set an abomination in the temple.
This is pretty amazing
Especially when you consider our verse in Revelation 18:22-23 is referring to the aftermath of a city that does the same thing, worships the antichrist in the temple as if he was God (an abomination.)
You have the exact same punishment described here, and for the exact same crime!
(Rev 18:24) And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
the blood of prophets
The killing of Old Testament prophets are many times blamed on the city of Jerusalem. There are many sayings from Jesus on this point.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! - Mat 23:37
But just before this statement Jesus explains this more in depth.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 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. – Mat 23:29-35
Jeremiah tried to warn them not to kill him for this reason.
But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears. – Jer 26:15
In the book of Acts an 1 Thessalonians we see this same idea being taught:
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: - Act 7:52
Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: – 1Th 2:15
Jesus also tells a parable about this:
And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. - Mat 21:35-38
We also are told that the last prophets sent to Jerusalem (the two witnesses) will be killed in it’s streets
And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.- Rev 11:8
and of saints
There have been many persecutions in history of Christians, but the worst one of all time, one that is yet to come will have its epicenter in the city of Jerusalem according to Jesus.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. – Mat 24:15-22
Apparently when the antichrist declares himself to be God it will coincide with the order to kill saints, and considering that order will first be given in Jerusalem, it will require those who wish to escape the initial wave to flee very quickly from the area.
The saints being killed by antichrist during this persecution is referenced again and again in scripture. Here are just a few instances:
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; – Dan 7:21
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. – Rev 13:7
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. – Rev 12:17
all that were slain upon the earth.
This is an interesting phrase, this temps some to make everything in these two chapters allegorical, because obviously not everyone that was ever slain was slain in a particular city.
And that is true, but nevertheless Jesus says that Jerusalem is responsible for all the blood of the righteous.
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. – Mat 23:35
Again notice the names he gives Able the son of Adam, the first person ever slain in history! This is clearly used to emphasize that indeed he means ALL the righteous blood would be put on Jerusalem’s hands.
An interesting section of the law in Deuteronomy describes how Israel should absolve itself from innocent blood if they see it happen. After a lengthy discussion about it It concludes this way:
And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. – Deu 21:7-9
This practice that would absolve them of innocent blood was obviously not kept.
Another interesting section is when it is described why God destroyed Jerusalem in 2kings
And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. – 2Ki 24:2-4
This concludes our verse by verse study on Mystery Babylon. I want to take this time to say that I know that not everything I said here is correct. I am sure there are mistakes and false assumptions I have made along the way. This is a complicated study and I’m sure my views will change slightly as people critique this. Again if you would like to see the entire study in various formats, all for free go to verse by verse bible teaching .com
(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.
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day:
This therefore is here to connect this verse to the (more…)
(Rev 18:1) And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
And after these things:
“After these things” basically refers to the (more…)
See the bottom of this post for notes and appendixes.
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Let’s first back and read up to this point so we can (more…)
Mystery Babylon Study – Part 4 – Answers to Critical Questions from Chris White on Vimeo.
In part four of this study I wanted to take a break from the verse by verse format and discuss some of the common objections to the interpretation of Mystery Babylon being the eschatological city of Jerusalem, in other words, (more…)
Mystery Babylon Study – Part 3 – Rev 17:7-11 from Chris White on Vimeo.
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. Rev 17:7
And the angel said unto me
The angel is going to tell John what it is he has been seeing so far. There are (more…)
