Future Mourning

Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine. She will be completely consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty." Revelation 18:8

This scripture is foretelling the judgment of Babylon. In the previous verses of this chapter it describes what will happen to this Babylon.

Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, "Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds. Do to her as she has done to others. Double her penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so brew twice as much for her. She glorified herself and lived in luxury, so match it now with torment and sorrow. She boasted in her heart, 'I am queen on my throne. I am no helpless widow, and I have no reason to mourn.' Revelation 18:4-7

Come Out of Babylon before the Judgment.

Mourning continues in the verses that follow and according to Matthew Henry’s insights that mourning is not due to their sin, but to their punishment. There is a great fire, and no one buys their products anymore. Whoa. Money is speaking to the kings of the earth and people of Babylon louder than righteousness. The wrath of God will prevail. Note that God called His people to come out of Babylon. Listen to God’s words…and respond. It is good to evangelize, but it is necessary to separate oneself from sins of others. Be careful where you find yourself. Do you identify yourself with a sinful people—do you want to follow their ways?

Prayer ~ Lord, help us to see ourselves as You see us. Create in us a clean heart…and renew a right spirit within us that we would seek to please You in everything we think, say and do.

Friday’s Feast at the King’s Table

As usual every Friday is Feast Day at the King’s Table. We can’t live on just spiritual food …nor can we live on bread alone. We’ve got to have some meat, veggies and fruit. Having just returned from a few weeks in the south, I am still craving good Southern Food. Here’s a quick and easy gumbo dish.

Shrimp Gumbo Casserole

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped celery

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 tsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme

1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning

1 tsp freshly ground salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 cup chicken or fish stock

1 (14½ -ounce) can diced tomatoes

1½ cups fresh sliced okra or 10-ounce package frozen cut okra

2 cups shrimp, cleaned, peeled, and deveined

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup milk

12-ounce package corn muffin mix

In an iron skillet, saute onion and celery in oil. Add bay leaves, thyme, lemon-pepper seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour in stock and add tomatoes and okra. Cover pot and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in shrimp.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together egg and milk, add to muffin mix, and combine until just well-blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls on top of hot shrimp mixture, leaving the center uncovered. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

© 2020 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - https://www.blb.org 

Follow And Like "Banquet With The King" on Facebook. 👍