Judgment is a Biblical Truth - Revelation 18-22

Revelation 18:5-8 (ESV)

for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities.

Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,

and repay her double for her deeds;

mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.

As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,

so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,

since in her heart she says,

‘I sit as a queen,

I am no widow,

and mourning I shall never see.’

For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,

death and mourning and famine,

and she will be burned up with fire;

for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”

One of the great principles of Scripture is that God is just and will bring justice to the unjust.  This is a truth taught throughout the Bible.   If you read the prophets you will read something similar to what we read in the above passage.   John, in Revelation, is giving us a look into the future where God, through His Son, will judge the kingdoms of this world and set up His eternal Kingdom for those He purchased by His blood.   In the above passage we read the “why” Jesus is going to judge the great “Babylon.”    The term “Babylon” is used through the Bible to indicate both a place and a life style.   It can have several types of applications and carry several meanings.  Suffice to say here that what we read in the above is at the core of many nations, organizations, institutions and peoples.    This was how Nebuchadnezzar acted at the height of his kingdom:

Daniel 4:29-30 (ESV Strong's)

At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”

John tells that our sins are “heaped high as the heaven.”   God “remembered” all the iniquities.    What great grievous sins did we do to deserve judgement?   We said that we sit as the ruler of our own lives.   Our arrogance and self-promotion are the reason for God’s judgment.  For those who humble themselves and come to Christ and ask for forgiveness, this judgment is still true.  BUT it is paid for by Christ and we have no more condemnation (Romans 8:1).    BUT for those who reject Christ the above passage paints their future.   As Babylon the great (the picture of self promotion) is destroyed with fire because the mighty hand of god will judge her, so, too, all those who reject God’s Son who came to redeem them and pay for their sin.  This is the story of the Bible from front to back.   In the above passage we have one more version of the great story of God’s wrath poured out on mankind who reject Christ.