Revelation Chapter 19 Verse 3

3 Once more they cried, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”

Rome is depicted in verse 3 as a city set on fire by God that burns forever. In 18:9-10 the kings of the earth stood far off and watched the city burn. The shipmasters in 18:18 also watched the great city burn.

Fire is a common symbol for the judgment of God. Sodom and Gomorrah were literally destroyed by fire, yet eventually the fire went out. Nevertheless, Jude 7 says that Sodom and Gomorrah are presently undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Those two cities fell never to rise again, and their fall serves as an eternal example. Edom is likewise described in Isaiah 34 as burning forever. That they burn forever simply means that they serve as an example forever. We are seeing the smoke from those cities as we study about their judgment and heed their example.

Rome provides an eternal illustration of the power of God and of his ability to deal with anyone or anything that opposes his will and harms his people. In that sense, Rome burns forever and the smoke that rises from it is always visible.

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