Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #26 of Revelation, chapter 11, and we are continuing to read in Revelation 11:13:

And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Now this is a very full verse.  There is a lot of information here and we have to be careful with it.  For instance, it mentions that in the “same hour” great fear fell upon the great multitude and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud.  We know that is the “hour” of judgment; it is the completion of the twelve-hour workday and the end of the Great Tribulation.  The one “hour” that identified with the Great Tribulation expired and God, in a figure, brought up the great multitude, spiritually – they did not physically go anywhere.  No one was raptured and no one left the earth, but since they were saved they were all now seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

The Lord views Judgment Day as a “great earthquake:”  “And the same hour was there a great earthquake.”  No one could see it, just like no one could see the door of heaven shut.  It was not something visible and not something that people could perceive with their senses.  They could not feel the ground shake.  It was a spiritual earthquake, the end of God’s salvation program, and we saw that the earthquake accomplished the purpose of finally freeing all the prisoners.  This is the whole point of Acts 16, where it says “at midnight” there was a “great earthquake” and it somehow managed to just open the prison doors and set all the captives free.  Can you imagine how impossible that seems?  It not only released one prisoner, but all the prisoners in that prison.  We do not know how many there were, but let us say there were fifty prisoners and included with them were Paul and Silas.  They are in different prison cells, as far as we know.  

Imagine you are one of these prisoners long ago in that dark dungeon in a cell and your prison cell is locked.  Not only that, but within your cell, you have “bands” that are binding you – maybe they are around your ankles or tied to your wrists.  Then, suddenly, there was a “great earthquake” at the same time they heard Paul and Silas, the two witnesses of God, singing and praising God at midnight.  There is a “megas seismos,” a huge shaking of the prison and you probably would expect that this is it and you are going to die.  But all the earthquake accomplishes is that it opens the bars of the prison and your shackles fall off.  What a miracle that is.  You would have to acknowledge that is all it could be.  Nothing else happened.  The ceiling did not collapse and the stones did not fall on you.  Then you poke your head out the prison door and you see that the same thing happened to your neighbor’s cell and all the prisoners beyond him.  All the men in the prison had their prison doors opened and their bands fell off.  They were free. 

It was a “targeted” earthquake.  It was a “great earthquake” which accomplished precisely what God wanted to accomplish and that describes, perfectly, what happened on May 21, 2011.  God released all His elect that were held captive in Satan’s dark dungeon of sin.  They were all set free.  Of course, that is a spiritual prison, is it not?  No one could ever see you, or see me, being held fast by the cords of iniquity that were wrapped about us.  They could not see our captivity to sin and to Satan.  No one could see that – it was a spiritual prison.  It took a spiritual earthquake to release the prisoners that were held fast in that spiritual dungeon.  That is what God did on May 21, 2011.  He has freed all the elect.  Every one to be saved was saved by the point of the “great earthquake,” or by the point of Judgment Day.  That is what we are reading about here in Revelation 11:13:

And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Here, we have three terms that can identify with true believers: 1) the “tenth part” (or you can look at it as a “tithe” in the Bible); 2) the “seven thousand” (where God speaks in one place of 7,000 that did not bow the knee to Baal; 3) the “remnant” (a word that often applies to the elect).

But we are going to see that none of the people in view in Revelation 11:13 are the elect.  When God says “the tenth part of the city fell,” that is not a good thing.  It is Judgment Day and in the earthquake, the city fell.  It also says “in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand,” and, again, this is not a good thing to be killed by the earthquake.  Then it says, “The remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven,” and this sounds like true believers, but we will see that God reveals in the Bible that at points of judgment, the unsaved give glory to Him (like Aiken in the Book of Joshua). 

Let us first look at the term “the city” that fell.  What city was that?  If we go to chapter 14, it says in Revelation 14:8:

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

In our verse in Revelation 13, it says “the tenth part of the city fell,” and it does not specify which city, but we do know that at the point of Judgment Day God views the judgment He brings on the world as though He is judging a city – Babylon – and Babylon falls at that point.  We also read in Revelation 16:18:

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake…

This is the same “great earthquake” that is in view.  Then it goes on to say in Revelation 16:18-19:

…and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell…

Here, we have the “great earthquake” and the “cities of the nations fell.”  It is similar language to our verse.  But then notice what it goes on to say in Revelation 18:19:

… and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

This is the same thing we read in Revelation 14:8, where it said that “Babylon is fallen, is fallen” and God was bringing her under His wrath.  Here, there is an association made with the cities of the nations falling and “great Babylon” coming into remembrance.  Remember, at one time, we thought Babylon only represented the churches, yet here in Revelation 16:19, when the great city is divided into three parts, the “cities of the nations fell and great Babylon came in remembrance before God.”  This means that the cities of the nations are “great Babylon,” or the cities of the nations of this world.  Babylon is the kingdom of Satan and all that Satan had conquered was part of Babylon, so when God gave up the churches and they came under the rule of Satan, then the churches became “part” of Babylon, but Babylon is greater in scope than just the churches; it includes the cities of the nations – it is the great kingdom of this world that is set in opposition against the kingdom of God. 

It says, “The tenth part of the city fell,” and God very purposefully says that the tenth fell because the “tenth part” relates to the true believers.  Let us look at a few verses that speak of a “tenth” or of a “tithe,” beginning with Leviticus 27:30:

And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is JEHOVAH’S: it is holy unto JEHOVAH.

The “tenth” or the “tithe” is holy and it belongs to God.  It is His.  Of course, God has laid out some other laws concerning tithes in Israel.  The tithes were to be given to the Levites to support them.  We are not going to look at those verses, but we just want to get this understanding that the “tithe” or the “tenth” belongs to the Lord.

We also learn more about the “tenth” in Isaiah 6:11-13:

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And JEHOVAH have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.

Remember, we read in Leviticus 27 that the “tithe” is JEHOVAH’S and it is holy.  And, here, we read in Isaiah 6:13, which is set in this time of desolation, in it is a “tenth” and then God speaks of it as a “holy seed.”  It is pointing to God’s elect.  I am a little unclear whether this is referring to the time of the Great Tribulation when there was that terrible desolation in the churches or whether it is referring to the time of Judgment Day itself.  But, in either case, what this shows is that the “tenth” points to the “holy seed” or God’s people.

Also, it says in Malachi 3:8-10:

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Here, God is faulting Israel because they did not bring forth the “tenth” He had stipulated for the Levites, and this was a Law of God.  As usual, Israel was not obeying the Law of God, so God says that they have robbed Him.  Spiritually, since the “tenth” relates to the elect, this would relate to churches or to ministries that have been turned into “another gospel,” and when they preach their message of another gospel, there is no fruitfulness – there was no salvation taking place, even though it was the day of salvation.  Therefore, there were no “tithes” being brought in.  Nothing is being brought into the storehouse, so there is a robbery, spiritually speaking, because God ought to receive the “tenth,” and that would point to individuals becoming saved and part of the holy seed that belonged to Him. 

But when it is a false gospel, there is no “tithe” and there is no “one out of ten” being given to God.  Now that term “one out of ten” is an historical statement.  In the Book of Nehemiah, after they had returned to Jerusalem and they built up the wall and the city was to be inhabited once again, many of the Jews did not want to live there – they wanted to live elsewhere.  We read in Nehemiah 11:1-2:

And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.  And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.

Here, we see that lots were cast and when a lot was cast the whole disposing thereof was of the Lord.  This meant that God was selecting one out of ten: this person and that person and the other person and He would bypass the other nine in each group of ten.  The “tenth part” would dwell in the holy city, Jerusalem.

This is a clear picture of what God did in salvation when He elected a people to become saved.  He predestinated them and the whole disposing of it was of the Lord, just like the casting of the lot.  God chose which ones to save (like Jacob) and which ones not to save (like Esau).  Then God, after saving the elect, brought them into the Holy City – Jerusalem above.  They became citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem.  So we can definitely see that a “tenth” relates to the elect or true believers.

Why then did the “tenth part” of the city fall?   Let me read this again in Revelation 11:13:

And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell…

The “tenth” fell.  Why is God using a figure that typically relates to the elect at this point in time, which is Judgment Day, to indicate that wrath has come down?  It is like saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen.”  There is nothing good about “falling,” because it is coming under the wrath of God.  I think we can find the answer, just like we did earlier in Revelation, chapter 8, in regard to the “third part.”  God brought judgment on the “third part” and He said it again, and again, to indicate that He was bringing judgment on the churches.  But the “third part” also typically is used to describe the true believers.  In Zechariah, chapter 13, and in other places, the “third part” identifies with the elect and, yet, God still used that phrase to describe His wrath upon the churches and congregations of the world.  The reason is that the true believers were in the churches for hundreds and hundreds of years and, therefore, the church began to take upon itself that identification.  The true believers were so closely identified with the church that when God ended the church age and began to judge them He spoke of judgment on the “third part.” 

Also, in Revelation 9, at the point of Judgment Day on May 21, 2011, the Lord describes the slaying of the “third part of men.”  Something different had happened.  There was the judgment on the “third part” during the 23-year Great Tribulation period, as judgment began at the house of God.  But then on the day of transition, the “third part” was slain because there was no hope for them while they were in the churches to become saved as the Word of God was being poured out outside of the churches during the Latter Rain; they were not in a place where they could become saved.  Then when judgment transitioned to the entire world, this sealed their fate.  It spiritually killed the “third part of men.”

We are reading a similar thing in Revelation 11:13 when the earthquake happened and the “tenth part of the city fell.”  The “tenth part” normally identifies with God’s elect, but since the elect were in the churches for almost 2,000 years, the church took upon itself that association with the “tenth part.”  Now the “tenth part of the city” of Babylon (the churches and congregations) has fallen and they are spiritually killed.  Actually, this is reinforced as God continues in this verse in the very next phrase in Revelation 11:13:

…and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand.

Again, just like the “third part of men” was slain, the “seven thousand” are slain.  We will take a closer look at the “seven thousand” when we get together in our next Bible study.