However, a text taken out of context is a pretext. If one considers the whole passage in Revelation 16:
19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,a fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
I don't think the cities of the nations collapsed, or every island fled away, and every mountain was lost, but maybe I'm missing some history. And a few catapult stones are not a plague, and they were not even decisive in the battle.
>>>I don’t think the cities of the nations collapsed, or every island fled away, and every mountain was lost, but maybe I’m missing some history. And a few catapult stones are not a plague, and they were not even decisive in the battle.<<<
From what I have read the destruction was more narrow in scope that most modern interpretations; but other cities besides Jerusalem were destroyed. And Jerusalem was a very beautiful and prosperous city: it was considered the showcase of the middle east.
There were more than a few catapult stones. There were lots of them. And they were huge, and very deadly. From Josephus’ account, they were also “white” stones, at least during the first part of the siege. Remember this was a vision John saw; and 100 pound “hailstones” could mean anything, even 100 pound stones from military catapults. LOL!
Anyway, visions are like dreams. I would not take things too literally. A beast rising up out of the sea should at least beg for cautious interpretation. Besides, this book was only written for the seven churches in Asia, and the servants of Jesus Christ, of which John was one. Peter’s comment about the “church at Babylon” (1 Pet 5:13) leads me to believe the early Christians had already worked out some sort of code amongst themselves. It would have been extremely dangerous, in the days of Nero and an intact Jerusalem leadership, to have a book that spelled out in detail their violent destinies.
By the way, Josephus explained the “three parts” as three factions fighting for control of the city; and they were vicious: ruthless. During the civil war, they destroyed (burnt up) each other’s food supplies, which led to massive starvation and eventually cannibalism within the city during the siege.
Philip
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem hardly “cursed God” as they probably cursed the Romans.