We will continue our study of Importunity in prayer with two more holy men, Elijah and Daniel.
Elijah’s Prayer, 1 Kings 18:41- 45
Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times. 44 And it came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot…
Paul had what he called “a thorn in his flesh.” He said that it was a messenger of Satan to keep him from exalting himself. We don’t know what it was. Some say it was his poor eye sight.
I’m sure you know your weakness. That thing that torments you, that keeps you from doing your best. But that weakness can be the very thing you can be glad about, because Christ will perfect His power through that weakness—so that we can be content with our weakness.
2 Cor 12:9-10
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
The fall of Babylon, very simply, is the destruction by God of the Antichrist and his domain of evil in the world. It will be a display of God’s authority and dominion. It will be the toppling of an evil kingdom so that a new righteous kingdom can be put it its place.
In tackling this great subject, we will first deal with the fact that there are two Babylon’s: a religious Babylon and a commercial Babylon. In this section we will look at religious Babylon, from Revelation 17; then, in a second blog we will look at commercial Babylon, from chapter 18. Also, along the way, we will show how the two are linked and how we really can’t speak of either of them without there being a connection to the other.
I think there is no better way to study this subject than to work our way through chapter 17, one verse at a time. So, from the first two verses we see that there is a “great harlot who sits on many waters,” and the kings of the earth are allied with her in her evil doings, and all who dwell on the earth are “made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” The great harlot symbolizes the false religious system of this religious Babylon; and it is termed a harlot because of its deceptive, sinful nature—as a prostitute. The term “sits on many waters” is explained in verse fifteen—that she has a ruling power over all the nations of the world; and it seems that they are glad allies with her; moreover, all the worlds people are intoxicated with her teaching.
In verses three and four we read that the woman (the harlot) is sitting on a scarlet beast. This is the first place we see that the woman (religious Babylon) is linked to the beast. And we also read that she is scarlet (v. 4). I have two observations. First, the riding of the beast indicates that she has some control over him. Second, the fact that they both are dressed in scarlet shows us that they both are of royalty and powerful, and they also are tied to the Roman Catholic church (more on that later).
In verse four we are given a picture of this harlot: she is clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones, and has in her hand a gold cup full of abominations; then also, in verse five we see that on her forehead is a name written, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIOINS OF THE EARTH.” So, what can we make of this?
First of all, her clothing and expensive jewelry tell us of her great wealth, and also that she is of the Catholic Church. We see this in the colors of purple and scarlet, and also in the precious stores that are worn by priests. The gold cup full of abominations is, I think, the wine of immorality and sin that she partakes of and also offers to all others in the world (v. 2). Then in verse five, the name on her forehead tells us that she (this false religious system out of the Catholic Church) does not hide its abominations, rather, she parades them to the world as something she is proud of.
What we see in verse six, that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus, is a further proof that this religious Babylon is of the Catholic Church of Rome; for it has a long history of persecuting and killing Christians in the most barbaric way. And when Rome is established in power, we will see the same practice and with the hearty approval of the Antichrist.
Now there are two more things in this seventeenth chapter that we will mention, which pertains to this harlot—the religious Babylon. First, from verse nine, where John says, “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads [of the beast] are seven mountains on which the woman sits…” Besides the seven great world empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the Antichrist kingdom), the seven mountains (or hills) also means Rome—which sits on seven hills. I may be wrong, but I can’t help feeling that God wants us to know that the woman sits on and rules from Rome.
Also, from verse sixteen, we should know that at the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist, with his ten kings, will destroy the harlot (or make her desolate)—and they will do it by the inspiration of God (He will put it in their hearts to do it).
It is also important to know that from this point on, her wealth and the power of her control will be transferred to the beast. Hence, he will now hold all worship for himself. Thus, looking ahead, we must realize that when God destroys Babylon, it destroys not only commercial Babylon but also religious Babylon; for during the last half of the Tribulation, until the end, Babylon is not completely secular but is full of idolatry in its nature—just as it was earlier with the harlot. Hence, at the end all evil is destroyed.
In this blog post we will take a look at the importune prayers of two holy men—Abraham and Moses.
Abraham’s prayer, from Genesis 18:22-33
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 23 And Abraham came near and said, “Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 “Far be it from Thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” 26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city…
1. He will come on a day that is dark and when the power of the heavens are shaking (Matt. 24:29).
2. Heaven opens (Rev. 19:11).
3. Suddenly, He appears in the sky and sitting on a white horse; and is coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Rev. 1:7; 19:11).
4. And the armies in heaven (the angels) and the holy ones (the redeemed) will be following Him on white horses (Rev. 19:14; Zech. 14:5-6).
5. Every eye will see Him (Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7).
6. All the tribes of the earth will mourn Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7).
7. Those who are of the house of David will mourn (Zach. 12:10).
I will write now on the last five events.
8. Jesus will fight for Israel and bring them to safety (Zech. 12:9-9; 14:3-4; Rev. 12:16).Because a remnant of Israel will choose to believe in Him, He will fight for them and bring them to safely. There are two groups of Jews that He will appear to and fight for. First, there are those who earlier fled into the wilderness. And when the Antichrist comes against them, he and his armies will easily be defeated (Rev. 12:16).
A second group will be those who are trapped in Jerusalem after the city is sieged. Jesus saves them by stepping down on the Mount of Olives, causing it to split in the middle, and produces a large valley from east to west. Hence, Jesus will give them this way to escape to safety.
9. Jesus will cast the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20).
10. Jesus goes out to judge (to kill) all unbelievers.According to Revelation 19:20-21, after He casts the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire, He then goes to kill the rest with the sword. There are five different references on this point.
Revelation 19:15. “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations…”
I like what John MacArthur says on this: “That the sword comes out of His mouth indicates that He wins the battle with the power of His word.”4
Revelation 19:15. “He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
This is a vivid picture of judgment. And notice that Jesus is the one who is stomping on the grapes in the great wine press of God.
Revelation 19:17-18, 21. Here an angel summons birds to come to the great supper of God. Many thousands of birds will come and feast on all the dead bodies lying on the battle field.
Revelation 14:14-19. Here is a picture of Christ along with certain angels harvesting the ungodly people of the world with a sharp sickle. The harvest is illustrated first by grain and then by grapes. In both cases the harvest is ripe for judgment and ready to be reaped.
Revelation 14:20. “The wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press, up to the horses bridle, for a distance of two hundred miles.” John MacArthur comments:
God will determine that this bloodbath will occur outside Jerusalem, as if God wants to protect the city from the carnage all around. Zechariah 14:1-5 makes clear that Jerusalem will be attacked, but will not be destroyed in the end, but spared for the glory of the kingdom, and the believing remnant will be saved…5
11. A description of what happens to those who will go to war against Jerusalem (from Zechariah 14:12-15).From this passage we see three things that will happen to all people that go to war against Jerusalem. These things we may recognize as curses that were promised by God to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.’
The first curse we see is a plague on all the people as well as their animals (vv. 12, 15): “…their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.”
The second thing that will happen is this: “It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another” (v. 13).
Thirdly, God will energize the Jews who remain in Jerusalem to fight; and they will capture the wealth of the surrounding nations (gold, silver and garments). I take it that this will happen right before they escape to safety through the valley (Zech. 14:4-5).
12. A description of the positive changes made after the Tribulation (Zech. 14:6-11).In these verses God reveals to us that there will be some differences in the earth and in the people—positive differences (We don’t know how wide spread these differences will be, whether it will be only to Israel, or to the entire world. It is my guess that we will see the differences mainly in Israel, but in some cases to the entire world.) Here are five things that will be different.
The lights (vv. 6-7). “In that day there will be no light, the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.”
From these verses it seems that after the Tribulation the Lord will create something new for the earth (for all the earth)—which will endure throughout the millennial kingdom. Here we see that there will be a change in the light. It seems that out present light source, from the sun and moon, will be changed. According to Isaiah 60:19-20, we will see by the light of Christ’s glory; and only He knows the full extent of what it will be like (read Isa. 30:26).
The water (v. 8). “And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter” (Read also Ezek. 47:1-2; Joel 3:18; Jn. 7:38; and Rev. 2 2 :1-2). It will be glorious to drink of the “living water” in that day. The source of it will be from the temple of God in Jerusalem. It will flow all over the land of Israel, and possibly also in all other lands of the world. There will be no more pollution and sickness caused by water. Instead, the water will bring health to all the fish of the sea and to all the plants and fruit trees for a healing. It will be wonderful.
One religion (v. 9). “And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.” John MacArthur comments:
There will be only one religion in the entire world during the millennial reign of Christ. Ruling with a rod of iron, Christ will have done away with all false religions spawned by Satan. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant providing a Jewish people, the nation of Israel, and the land given to Abraham; the Davidic Covenant which promised a king from the tribe of Judah and the line of David; and the New Covenant which held out the hope of spiritual redemption for Jew and Gentile. All of this will be fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.6
The land (v. 10). “All of the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gates far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.”
The great earthquake (from the seventh bowl) will change not only the land of Israel, but all the earth’s land in preparation for the coming millennial kingdom (Rev. 16:20; Isa 40:4-5).
Security (v. 11). “People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.”
After the Tribulation is over, and because Jesus has come and is king over all the earth, all people will dwell in security.
4 John MacArthur, John MacArthur’s notes on Revelation 19:15.
Though it might seem that all the events of His return (twelve events) will take a good bit of time, I have an idea that it will take a very short time. Armageddon itself, from the gathering of the armies of the world (in the sixth seal), to the great earthquake, the fall of Babylon, and of Jerusalem (the seventh seal), I think will take up to a year. But I really don’t think that the events of His coming will take much more than three or four days.
So let us set it up. For some time before His coming (for many months) the armies of the world, and primarily the armies of the beast, have been battling against each other for power. And their main goal will be to capture and plunder Jerusalem. I am sure that seeing Christ will be the last thing on their minds; and His appearing will change everything.
We will take a look now at all the events of His return in chronological order as I see it.
The First Seven Chronological Events of Christ’s Return
1. He will come on a day that is dark and when the power of the heavens are shaking (Matt. 24:29). It will be at a time when there is little hope for the world and for Israel.
2. Heaven opens (Rev. 19:11). All at once there will be a parting of the dark clouds and the darkness, so that all the world will see Him and His glorious light.
3. Suddenly, He appears in the sky and sitting on a white horse; and is coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Rev. 1:7; 19:11).
4. And the armies in heaven (the angels) and the holy ones (the redeemed) will be following Him on white horses (Rev. 19:14; Zech. 14:5-6).
5. Every eye will see Him (Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7). Everyone in the world will see Him. How this is possible I don’t know. It will either be by some miracle or through the internet or TV cameras.
6. All the tribes of the earth will mourn Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7). All the tribes of the earth means every person on earth. Apparently, they will feel the guilt of their sins and fear of punishment, but they all will not genuinely repent of their sins. Some, I think, will even blaspheme God as they did previously because of the severity of the plagues (Rev. 16:21).
7. Those who are of the house of David will mourn (Zach. 12:10). This mourning is a genuine mourning of repentance, which is poured out by God as a gift to them. It will come to them because they will look to Jesus, the One whom they rejected and crucified; and they will be truly sorry. Zechariah 12:10-14 prophecies this mourning, which will result in their salvation.
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. 11 “In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 “The land will mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves; the family of the Shimeites by itself and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself and their wives by themselves.
True prayer is prayer with importunity. The word “importunity” is a King James word used in Luke 11:8. It is translatednow in most other versionsas “persistence,”however I think importunity is really a fuller and betterword.Well, here infive points, is what importune prayer means.
1. Importune prayer is prayer made in faith, which is continual and persistent, with a goal of receiving what we desire. This first definition is proved well in Luke 11:5-10 and in Luke 18:1-8; however, I like the stories in Matthew 15:21-28 and Luke 18:35-42 better, because the aspect of faith is included. In both stories (if you will read them for yourself), the Canaanite woman and the blind man cry out persistently and continually for mercy; and in both cases Jesus commends them for their faith, and He heals the woman’s daughter and the blind man.
Here we see that these characters, by their continual persistence…
In general terms, the purpose of Christ’s return is to judge the evil world and to set up His new kingdom. More specifically, I will lay it out in ten points—with Scripture references.
1. To fulfill the prophecies of His coming. Here are a few of those prophecies.
Acts 1:10-11
And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.
Zechariah 14:4
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.
2 Thessalonians 1:7b-8
…when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
Matthew 24:30
“And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Revelation 1:7
BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
2. To destroy the Antichrist and Satan’s power (2 Thess. 2:8-9).
3. To judge all nations (Matt. 25:31-46).
4. To have the throne of David (Isa. 9:6-7; Lu. 1:32) and to sit on that throne (Matt. 25:31; Rev. 5:13).
5. To have a kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14).
6. To rule over His kingdom with His saints (Dan. 7:18; Rev. 5:10).
7. That the kingdom of the world would become His kingdom (Zech. 9:10; Rev. 11:15).
8. That all kingdoms would serve Him (Ps. 72:11; Isa. 49:6-7; Rev. 15:4).
9. That every knee would bow to Him (Isa. 45:23; Phil. 2:10).
10. That the entire covenant program with Israel would be fulfilled, and they would forever be blessed with physical and spiritual blessings (Gen. 12:2; 22:17).
Importune prayer is prayer that is aroused and energized by the Holy Spirit. According to E. M. Bounds,
It [importune prayer] is not an impulse of energy, not a mere earnestness of soul; it is an inwrought force, a faculty implanted and aroused by the Holy Spirit. Virtually, it is the intercession of the Spirit of God, in us; it is, moreover, “the effectual, fervent prayer, which availeth much.” The Divine Spirit informing every element within us, with the energy of His own striving, is the essence of the importunity which urges our praying at the mercy-seat, to continue until the fire falls and the blessing descends.
I think this is right on. When we pray with importunity it is really the Holy Spirit praying in us. He moves us and motivates us in our prayers. Here are four ways the Holy Spirit motivates us to pray with importunity:
Stephen Nielsen 