Chrysostom Meme

 

Lets examine the opinions of this man in 395 A.D. as it pertains to obedience to God and His commandments. 
What are the objections being stated here? 

1. Sabbath observance 
2. Circumcision
3. Sacrifices 
4. Obedience to Gods law 

Should we hold to this man's opinions?  First we must ask are they of Christ, or are they anti-christ in nature. 

1 John 2 says this:

17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us

What does it mean to be anti-christ as 1 John is warning, as he states that many of these bad doctrined people present as being part of the Church but are "not really of us"



Lets look  the first objection:
 The Sabbath. 

Who instituted the Sabbath? 

Genesis 2

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 

The Sabbath is made by Christ as Hebrews 1 shows us that it is Christ who made heaven and earth. 
Hebrews 1

But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.” 10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands

Christ is the one that created the Sabbath. He is the Lord of it. He set the example of resting on it.   As Christ led them out of Egypt He reminded them to keep the Sabbath, even before Moses went up on Sinai and received the writing of the 10 commandments. 

Exodus 16:24-26

24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.”

This was to the mixed multitude that left Egypt, the reminder that they are to be observing the Lords Sabbath. They didn't keep the Sabbath of God and it was an example of grief and rebellion. Hebrews 3 and 4 use this SAME example to tell us that there remains a Sabbath of God and that we are to rest as Christ did. 

Hebrews 4

 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 

The people in the wilderness were examples of disobedience by NOT observing the command of God and resting on HIS Sabbath day. We have the Command issued in writing at Sinai 

Exodus 20:8-11

8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

We're told 

• Remember the Sabbath day 
• Keep it holy 
• Its God's Sabbath 
• Its the remembrance that God worked for 6 days and rested on the 7th. 
• He blessed it and made it Holy

Is there any indication like Mr. Chrysostom is suggesting that the Sabbath was a temporary thing ?

Exodus 31

13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”

• A sign throughout all the generations
• We are to observe the Sabbath 
• Everyone that prophanes it / Is disobedient like Hebrews 4 mention- is to be cut off from the people
• It's a perpetual/ Forever covenant with us and God. 

This is in contrast to the opinions of the man implying that we should not be observing the 4th commandment. 

Leviticus 23:1-3 shows that the Sabbath is an appointed time of God- not a something that men can change at a whim or dismiss. 

The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:

3 ‘For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the Lord in all your dwellings.

Is this something that has been dismissed or rendered not to be observed? Not according to what Heaven is going to be like as Isaiah 66 states

Isaiah 66:22-24

22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. 23 “And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from sabbath to sabbath,  All mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. 24“Then they will go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me.  For their worm will not die And their fire will not be quenched; And they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

Seems like those that reject the sabbath wouldn't have liked heaven anyway. Sounds a lot like what our unchanging God tells us in Jeremiah 

Jeremiah 17:22-27

22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction. 24 “But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”’”

Think critically for a moment here. Christ, the one who made the Sabbath, Who is God who commanded the Sabbath,  says that we are to have it be a perpetual statute forever. He is the Lord of the Sabbath- why would He render it not to be followed or abolished. 

Matthew 12:8

 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

This is not a statement of disregard, but Christs Divinity. When Pharisees tried to accuse Him according to Rabbinical law NOT GODS LAW ...

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” 

...Christ had been doing something that was permitted in the Law of God itself. 
Deuteronomy 23

“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. 25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.

None of this is a violation of the Sabbath or a nullification of its observance As Chrysostom might have insisted.  In that Same Matthew12  passage 

10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.

IF you scroll back up Christ when He commanded us to observe the 4th commandment did it not say that we are to have servants and cattle and livestock also observe the Sabbath of rest of God? 
Then by that standard that Christ cites here in reference to sheep- it would have likely been a violation of the Sabbath to just let the man suffer when Christ had the ability to heal His servant. This is keeping the Sabbath, not breaking it.Its the same matter in John-5:8-10.  Lets look toward the end times that Christ warns us against...

Matthew 24:20-21

20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

If we are to take the implication of Chrysostom to heart and disregard the Sabbath's observance then these words of Christ are foolishness. They have no meaning because we don't keep the Sabbath like he's implied.  Why would we pray like Christ commands, that the tribulation not be in winter or the Sabbath- if we are not to observe the Sabbath? We wouldn't. 

Are we to be like Christ? Yes.  What is Christ's custom? Sabbath observance.
Luke 4:16

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

Was the Sabbath still kept after the Cross? Yes. Nobody had any inclination that such an absurd notion that the Sabbath shouldn't be kept until the Catholic church decided that they wanted to make Sabbath observance illegal. 

Acts 13:42 -44

42 As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God.44 The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord.

This wasn't a mistake. Everyone knew that obedience to God meant keeping the Sabbath. Paul post conversion still kept the Sabbath 

Acts 17:2

 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures

...Also of note is that Paul, who had a direct encounter with God- appeals to people through the authority of the scriptures. 
Acts 18:4

4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Lets move on to the second point. 
Circumcision.

Did Paul preach against Circumcision or only against its means as conversion to rabbinical judaism?  If you're interested in the answer to that and the entire reason that the Book of Galatians is written, I do a breakdown of the entire Judaizer controversy in my book "The Dominion of God vs the Dominance of Man" or, if you're poor and don't want to buy the book- just read that chapter Here 

( I hope you either clicked and came back or bought the book) 
 Did Paul have any issue standing up to people and rebuking them to their faces on things that are wrong ? No. Did He conform to heretical practices just to win converts? No, as friendship with the world is hostility to God.
Acts 16 :3

 3 Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 

 DID PAUL DOOM TIMOTHY TO HELL BY TIMOTHY UNDERGOING CIRCUMCISION??? 

Galatians 5:2

2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

No.  Timothy didn't undergo it for ritual conversion or trying to earn his salvation. Circumcision is something that is commanded on the 8th day.  Paul isn't speaking against the act, but the motives behind the act.  He even says himself 

1 Corinthians 7:19

 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.

That includes the command from God to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy. 

Lets look at the third objection 

Sacrifices

I'm going to start slow here and tell you outright that sacrifices are one of the most widely misunderstood matters in all of scripture and there are many reasons that they were performed. In some matters they are for thanksgiving. In other matters they are to render the heart in recognition that we are the ones that should be dying and instead something else was dying in our place. Paul for example, POST CONVERSION, did some sacrifices to show the opposite of what Chrysostom was implying.  Paul did it to show there wasn't any truth to the false rumors that people still to this day spread- that Paul was teaching us to disregard God's commands and observance. 
Acts 21

17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

Paul is preaching to gentiles, and people are remarking that there are believers who are zealous for the Law... 

and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs

The lie here is that Paul was telling people to NOT circumcise their kids and to NOT obey God's commands. 

 22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law

THey are telling Paul to perform sacrifices to show that HE not only is keeping the Law, but teaching Jews and Gentiles to keep the Law of God also. Chrysostom's objections seem to be in agreement with the people saying false things about Paul rather than the truth about Paul. Lets see what Paul does:

 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul is doing sacrifices after the death and resurrection of Christ. he is doing this while there is a standing temple with ordained priests in full obedience to how these things are to be done. These are not the actions of a man who is trying to show that we ARENT to keep the sabbath or obey God's commands. Lets look at Sabbaths and sacrifices and offerings according to this event spoken of in Isaiah 56

Isaiah 56

2 “How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. 6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; 7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

You read that right, Gentiles who keep the Sabbath and hold to God's covenant will be brought to His holy mountain and their burn offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable. That means that they're not just for the jews. That means that all of that isn't only for some old and forgotten people. This is prophesy. Which brings us to the last point 

Obedience to God's Law 

2 Thessalonians 2 

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Did Christ obey God's Law perfectly? Yes.  Is the anti-Christ the one that wants us to ignore God's Law? Yes.  
 . 

• A:We are to follow, obey and teach living and being like Christ
• B:Christ followed and obeyed and taught the Law of God ( If He didn't He's not the sinless perfect Lamb without blemish) 

How do we do A without doing B?

• A: We are to obey the Holy Spirit
• B: The Holy Spirit writes the Law of God on our hearts and minds that we may obey it 

How do we do A without doing B

• A: We are to crucify the flesh and obey the Spirit 
• B: The flesh is hostile to God's law, and the Law of God is Spiritual. 

How do we do A without B?

Look at Christs own commands in Matthew 5:18-19

Matthew 5:18-19

18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Have heaven and earth passed way? No.  Christ tells us to do and teach others to do the same. 

Matthew 7:21-23 21

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

 Matthew 13:41 -42 41

 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

Whose being gathered? Out of where? To where?

The stumbling blocks and those that do lawlessness,
are gathered OUT of the Kingdom of God ,
and thrown into the fire.


So in conclusion, based on this meme and this quote alone... it would appear that the doctrine being espoused is not of Christ but is the opinion of a man that is in line of the men that appeared to be one of us, but was not one of us. When we see these traditions of men that say things in their councils and canonns that are not in line with Scriptural authority as Paul used and presented, and that say things like 

The Church of Rome ( Catholics) made the following declarations in the city of Laodicea:  Council of Laodicea in 363 A.D....

Canon 29: Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day [Sunday]; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found judaizers, let them be anathema (detestable) from Christ.

Canon 37-39: It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feasts of Jews or heretics, nor to feast together with them. (God’s Holy Days) 

It is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews, nor to be partakers of their impiety.Thou shalt not keep feasts with Hebrews or heretics, nor receive festival offerings from them. Light hath no communion with darkness. Therefore no Christian should celebrate a feast with heretics or Jews, neither should he receive anything connected with these feasts such unleavened bread and the like."

Then the only thing that they prove true is the prophecy concerning them which states:

Jeremiah 16:19

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,

And my refuge in the day of distress,

To You the nations will come

From the ends of the earth and say,

“Our fathers have inherited nothing but falsehood,

Futility and things of no profit.”

Babylon

Isaiah 14:22-23

22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and will cut off from Babylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity,” declares the Lord. 23 “I will also make it a possession for the hedgehog and swamps of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

 Jeremiah 51:37-39

37 “Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, 
An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38 “They will roar together like young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39 “When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant
And may sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 13:19-22

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation;Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there.21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.22 Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come And her days will not be prolonged.

Revelation 18:1-3

18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

Ezekiel 23

13 I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way. 14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 18 She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth. 22 “Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. 25 I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. 29 They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’ 32 Thus says the Lord God, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much. 33 ‘You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria. 34 ‘You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

Revelation 14:8

8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Isaiah 21:9-10

9 “Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.”And one said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground.” 10 O my threshed people, and my afflicted of the threshing floor!What I have heard from the Lord of hosts,The God of Israel, I make known to you.

Jeremiah 25

12 ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 (For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’” 15 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” 17 Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people; 20 and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab and the sons of Ammon; 22 and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea; 23 and Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert; 25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “You shall surely drink! 29 For behold, I am beginning to work calamity in this city which is called by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’ 30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, ‘The Lord will roar from on high And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 ‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth, Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.” 32 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, evil is going forth From nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth. 33 “Those slain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. 34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry; And wallow in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions have come, And you will fall like a choice vessel. 35 “Flight will perish from the shepherds, And escape from the masters of the flock. 36 “Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the masters of the flock! For the Lord is destroying their pasture, 37 “And the peaceful folds are made silent Because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 38 “He has left His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become a horror Because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword And because of His fierce anger.”

Ezekiel 17:16-20

16 As I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Surely in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in Babylon he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives. 18 Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he pledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’” 19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will inflict on his head. 20 I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. 21 All the choice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Isaiah 43:14-21

14 Thus says the Lord your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring them all down as fugitives, Even the Chaldeans, into the ships in which they rejoice. 15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick): 18 “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. 19 “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. 20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. 21 “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise

Isaiah 48:14-22

“Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The Lord loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans. 15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him, I have brought him, and He will make his ways successful. 16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His Spirit.” 17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go. 18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. 19 “Your descendants would have been like the sand, And your offspring like its grains; Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.” 20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth; Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.” 21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock and the water gushed forth. 22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.

Jeremiah 51:36 

36 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am going to plead your case And exact full vengeance for you;And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry.

Revelation 21:1

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

Jeremiah 51:45

“Come forth from her midst, My people,  And each of you save yourselves  From the fierce anger of the Lord.

Revelation 18:4

I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;

Revelation 16:19-21

 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.

Jeremiah 51:24-26

 24 “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord. 25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord, “And I will stretch out My hand against you,  And roll you down from the crags,  And I will make you a burnt out mountain. 26 “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:1-10

 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.”’” 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, 5 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. 

Revelation 17:5-9

5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. 9 Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, 

Revelation 18:9-24

 9 “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’11 “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, 13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. 14 The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, 18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. 22 And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; 23 and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”