Revelation 18: 1- 24
Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?
1After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” 4And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. 9“The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ 11“And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. 15The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ 19“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ 20“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” 21Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. 22The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. 23The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
One of my favorite musical groups is ‘CHICAGO’. As I was studying chapter 18 of the book of Revelation this song kept coming to my mind –‘Does anybody know what time it is?’ In truth going around my home area and doing funerals or such, it is clear to me that people do not know what time it is.
If you have been going through the book of Revelation with us let me ask you if you have taken notice of the ‘one hour’. In chapter 17 we see how the 10 horns share the Antichrist’s power for one hour. Now we see in this chapter the ‘one hour’ showing up again. So, as we go through this chapter we will zero in on what the ‘one hour’ means.
We have mentioned that the ‘two little horns’ of the ‘False Prophet’ refers to a combination of secular power and religious power. We see in chapters 17 and 18 the destruction of the commercial and governmental systems.
The focus of the previous chapter was about the judgment of the harlot religious system that rode the Beast. The main focus of this chapter will be about the judgment of the Babylonian counterfeit kingdom of God called “Babylon the Great”. Babylon represents all world government and religious systems under Satan. They have been in organized rebellion against God since their conception at the tower of Babel under Nimrod. This rebellion will climax with the end time world government and religion that will have its headquarters located at Babylon - Rome, Italy. The supernatural being behind this rebellion against God is the counterfeit god of this world system (2 Corinthians 4:4). This chapter tells us about the world kingdom Satan fully establishes when he is allowed total control over the earth for 3 ½ years. The chapter also tells us about the judgment upon this satanic kingdom and religion from the real God in heaven.
We will clearly see, the Babylon of Chapter 18 is exactly the same as the Babylon of Chapter 17. The only difference is that chapter 18 focuses on the material, secular aspect of Babylon whereas Chapter 17 focuses on the spiritual, religious aspect of Babylon. But, in actuality, although Babylonian spirituality is universal, religious and secular Babylon cannot be separated; they are indissolubly married, just as was religion and state in ancient Babylon. In fact, modern physical Babylon (the city-state/nation/empire) is the center and main purveyor of Babylonian spirituality/religion throughout the world. Exactly the same name, “Babylon the Great,” is used here as in 17:5. Chapter 18 just takes up where Chapter 17 left off, with the fall (burning) of “that great city,” Babylon the Great.
18.1 ‘After these things I saw another angel coming down out of Heaven, having great authority, and the earth was lightened with his glory.’
Another great angel is seen as involved with the fulfilling of God’s final purposes. Note that none of these angels are ever named apart from Michael, who is named because he is the angel prince of Israel (12.7). While prominent, they maintain an anonymous position for they seek no glory for themselves. They are all equally God’s servants and none will seek to obtain prominence over another. (How different we are today). So effective is the presence of this angel that earth itself indirectly perceives his presence by‘lighting up’ with his glory.
In the last lesson we saw that the beast, and his system, and the great harlot were revealed. Here in chapter 18, we will see the judgment that comes from God poured out on them. This "angel" in verse one was sent from heaven. This "power" spoken of here is power that God has endowed on this angel for the execution of this punishment. This "angel" has been in close association with the Light. We see here that this powerful Light of our Lord Jesus, even though second hand through the angel, still lightens the earth.
18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
The angel declares that Babylon the Great is fallen. Becoming a haunt of birds is a favorite indication of dreadful judgment like it is indicated by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 34 of his book, “1 Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. 2 For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3Also their slain shall be thrown out; Their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 4All the host of heaven shall be dissolved and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. 6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood; it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 7The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness.” 8For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. 9Its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become burning pitch. 10It shall not be quenched night or day; its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; No one shall pass through it forever and ever. 11But the pelican and the porcupine shall possess it, also the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. And He shall stretch out over it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. 12They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all its princes shall be nothing. 13And thorns shall come up in its palaces, nettles and brambles in its fortresses; It shall be a habitation of jackals, a courtyard for ostriches. 14The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall bleat to its companion; also the night creature shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. 15There the arrow snake shall make her nest and lay eggs and hatch, and gather them under her shadow; There also shall the hawks be gathered, everyone with her mate. 16“Search from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these shall fail; Not one shall lack her mate. For My mouth has commanded it, and His Spirit has gathered them. 17He has cast the lot for them, and His hand has divided it among them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever; from generation to generation they shall dwell in it.”
‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen’ comes from Isaiah 21.9, “And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!”. Then he answered and said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen! and all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.” Here emphasis is laid on the destruction of its idols and images.
The future desolation of Babylon is described in Isaiah 13.19-22, “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation; nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there. The hyenas will howl in their citadels, and jackals in their pleasant palaces. Her time is near to come, and her days will not be prolonged.”
So Babylon was not only a symbol of overweening pride and idolatry, but also of destruction and emptiness. In this chapter it is as a symbol of world cities and what they signify (commercialism and worldly control), that she is described. In John’s day Rome was the commercial centre of the world. All things poured into Rome. But she received rather than gave. Today commercialism is more widespread, but it is still basically the enemy of God and His ways.
18.3 ‘For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen, and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wanton luxurious living.’
The harlot/city aggressively convinces the world to put their trust in the dragon-beast. She does it with a commitment unparalleled. These are her acts of immorality. "The power of her sensuality" is her zeal to convince the world to commit to the beast. She is most persuasive.
Her love of idolatry, sexual deviancy and the occult have brought on her the wrath of God and their participation in this, with its consequences, is depicted as wine drunk by the nations. The rulers of the earth sought to please her and gain her favors and the merchants of the earth prospered by reason of her propensities. All sought to benefit from her evil ways. This applied to Rome in John’s day and it applies to many other centers of ‘civilization’ today. The people to whom John wrote would see the woman as Rome. We may see it as many cities, centers of great empires, for men always tend to establish their own empires. Then it was done by blatant conquest, now it is done by assimilation. They may pay lip service to God but at heart they oppose all He stands for.
All the nations on earth bought into the lies that God’s representative was in Babylon and His kingdom had come. The government of the Beast implemented a plan of world trade that made the merchants of the earth very rich. Remember that no one could buy or sell without the Beast’s control.
18.4-5 ‘And I heard another voice from Heaven saying, “Come forth, my people, out of her so that you have no fellowship with her sins and so that you do not receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached even unto Heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities”.’
One of the most important verses in our Holy Bibles is this, “Come forth, my people, out of her so that you have no fellowship with her sins and so that you do not receive of her plagues.
The prophet Jeremiah three times warned the people to ‘flee out of the midst of Babylon’ because of the judgments coming on her. We find this out beginning in chapter 50.8-9, “Move from the midst of Babylon, go out of the land of the Chaldeans; and be like the rams before the flocks For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; none shall return in vain.
It is not wise to stay in a place where sin is ripe. The Christian is to be ‘in the world but not of the world’, but there are times when they must learn the art of fleeing when the desires of the flesh are in mind, otherwise they may well find themselves drawn in.
That God’s people are there emphasizes again that Great Babylon’s demise comes a short time before the resurrection and therefore before the final judgment. John may well have had in mind here how the Christians fled from Jerusalem when the wrath of God was to be visited on it. In the same way this is suggesting they flee from any ‘great city’ that behaves in this way, when they see the ominous signs of the end approaching. Christians are to be awake to the signs of the times.
‘For her sins have reached even unto Heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities’. This has in mind the tower of Babel which was intended to ‘reach to Heaven’ (Genesis 11.4). While the tower never did reach to Heaven, the iniquities of Babel represented by it have.
‘God has remembered her iniquities’. He has a long memory when men refuse to repent, a memory that goes back even to the tower of Babel. For us though our Holy and Merciful God says this in Psalm 103 verse 12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
18.6-7 ‘Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works. In the cup which she mingled, mingle to her double. To the same extent as she glorified herself, and bathed in luxury (waxed luxuriously or behaved wantonly), so much give her of torment and mourning, for she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen and am no widow, and shall under no circumstances see mourning”.’
These are not the words of John but are the words of the One Who has been speaking of ‘My people’, the words of the Lamb. No one but He Who is the Judge of all would have the right to speak them. From the lips of Christians they would be unacceptable, but from the lips of Him Who has been ordained to judge the world there can be no complaint. The time of final judgment is fast approaching and this is the preliminary skirmish. He is passing His verdict on Godless civilization.
It is the Lord, and the Lord alone Who can reward double for sin as taught in our Bibles. We read this in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 2 2” Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” The cup she mingled was the cup of idolatry and what goes with it, which deserves double punishment as the prophet Jeremiah lists in his writing of chapter 16 verse 18, “And first I will repay double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.”As a result she will become a widow in mourning, bemoaning her own fate.
Look at her response -‘For she says in her heart, I sit as a queen and am no widow.’ Had she been a widow she would have had to go in mourning and deny herself the pleasures she longed for, but she rejects such a position and justifies her search for luxurious living by claiming royal rights. Compare what Isaiah said of Babylon in chapter 47, ‘you said, I shall be a lady forever; so that you did not lay these things to heart, nor did you remember their latter end’. In both cases they failed to recognize what their true position was.
18.8 ‘Therefore in one day will her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judged her.’
This came upon Rome even though by that time it called itself a ‘Christian’ city. But it was still a cesspool of sin and its nature essentially Godless. It was only changed outwardly, not inwardly. Sin, whether in individuals or in great cities, will receive its inevitable consequence, and that consequence often comes suddenly.
Isaiah also declared in chapter 47 that Babylon’s destruction would come ‘in one day’ “But these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness because of the multitude of your sorceries, for the great abundance of your enchantments.
The description is typical of a besieged city, and the fate typical of ‘great cities’ through the ages - death, mourning, famine, then utterly burned with fire .
We have witnessed the fall of Babylon the Great, now we witness the ‘grief’ of her ‘friends’. The kings, the merchants and the ship-owners all weep over her, but their main concern is how it will affect them. The reader is aware of the irony.
18.9-10 ‘And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her when they look on the smoke of her burning, standing far off for fear of her torment, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city Babylon, the strong city. For in one hour is your judgment come”.’
The picture is of men who have made use of a harlot. But when she is in trouble they do not want to know. In mind, however, as subsequent verses also reveal, is what they have gained from her. They have benefited greatly at her hands, but they will not intervene to help her. Their regret is not in what has happened to Babylon but in what they have lost through her demise. They had received much at her hands, but now they stand afar off and watch her burn. They do not want to be involved.
I find the mention of ‘one hour’ very interesting. Remember we read in this chapter from our Holy Master that believers were to come out of this marriage of false religion and the empire who promotes it. Let us take a look at 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, “11O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. 14Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, end I will receive you.”“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
Within the calendar day there are two 12 hours periods, 12 hours of darkness, called night, and 12 hours of daylight, called day. The apostle Paul reminds believers ‘For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
Believers are in a separate group. You see, even though you are not committing sin, as such. You are committing sin by association. The Bible tells us over and over not to be unequally yoked with those of unbelief. If you do not remove yourself, you are guilty of her sin. In this verse, we read that her plagues will come to those people as well.
For Paul points this out, “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, end I will receive you.”“I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”
We have seen in the Gospel of Luke and Revelation for people to flee as God’s warning that punishment is about to be dealt.
According to the historian Eusebius the Jerusalem church fled to Petra beyond the Jordan, and many Jewish Christians in Judea and Galilee no doubt fled into the surrounding wilderness for safety under persecution from the local would be ‘Messiahs’ who sprang up and demanded a following, as well as seeking safety in the light of the Roman response to those Messiahs.
The one hour simply means the judgment will happen rapidly just as verse 8 predicted.
18.11-13. ‘And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buys their merchandise any more.’
They weep not for her but for themselves. Their means of profit has gone. Look at what they were peddling.
12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
"Gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls" are the first four items on the list and involve expensive metals and stones. The next four items (fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet) are expensive fabrics. "Wood and ivory" constitute the list of items. "Expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble" make up the next list of items sold. "Cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume and frankincense" are unto themselves a group. "Wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat" naturally are grouped together. "Cattle, sheep, horses and chariots" have a natural relationship. "Slaves and human lives" is the last mentioned list of items sold.
This "souls of men", is one of the more interesting. In the days of the old Roman Empire, they sold people as you would animals. Perhaps that is what is meant there. They thought no more about selling a person than they did a pair of shoes.
At first they seem fairly innocent, but they are luxuries traded in a world of poverty, and significantly the list ends with trade in armaments, and trade in slaves and the lives of men. These merchants are not too particular in what they trade. Many great companies today are equally not particular. Yet they should remember that these merchants will shortly themselves face the judgment day of God, and that these merchants could be themselves.
18.14 ‘And the fruits which your soul lusted after are gone from you, and all things that are dainty and sumptuous are perished from you, and men shall find them no more at all.’
And the merchandise that was available before are now gone and will never ever be available again. The commercial system is completely shut down and that reality is about to be made manifest.
It will probably be a time when it will be next to impossible to even find enough to feed your family. Even if you did find enough for them to eat, it would probably take all you could possibly make just to have even bread for your family.
This is probably the time when a loaf of bread would cost a whole day's wages. There will be no money at all left for niceties.
Even if you have a tremendous amount of money, there will be great shortages of real items necessary to live on not to mention the things the rich consume will be entirely unavailable.
As our Lord Jesus said and recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 6, ‘do not labor for the food that perishes but for that which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.’
18.15-17a ‘The merchants of these things who were made rich by her will stand far off for fear of her torments, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city. She who was arrayed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl. For in one hour so great riches are made desolate.’
These merchants weep because their materialistic passions can no longer be fulfilled. The weeping that begins then will last for eternity in hell.
These greedy merchants are a classic illustration of those in all times who gain the whole world only to end up forfeiting their own souls.
18.17b-19 ‘And every ship’s captain, and everyone who sails anywhere, and seamen, and as many as gain their living by the sea, stood afar off, and cried out as they looked on the smoke of her burning, saying, “What city is like the great city?” And they threw dust on their heads and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city by means of whom were made rich all who had their ships in the sea as a result of her extravagance, for in one hour is she made desolate”.’
Please note that there was no hint by the seafarers of criticism for the extravagance and behavior of the city. Their concern is that it will affect the wealth of ship-owners. The world is ever concerned about its wealth, not for what good they can do with it, but so that they may satisfy their own greed.
An interesting feature of these verses is in the tenses. The kings ‘will weep and wail over her’ (future tense - v.9), the merchants ‘are weeping and wailing over her’ (present tense - v.11) and the seafarers ‘cried, weeping and wailing’ (past tense) . It is as though we see the scene being enacted and moving on before our eyes as it was for John.
18.20 ‘Rejoice over her, you Heaven, and you people of God (saints) and you Apostles and you prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her.’
The judgment is not that of the people of God but by the Judge Himself (v.11). Here the heavenly beings and the Old Testament prophets and the apostles and all the people of God join together in rejoicing. They accept His judgment as righteous for she has been guilty of wholesale murder, especially of God’s people (v.24). There comes a time when mercy rejected is superseded by judgment, something that He alone can decide, and recognizing that this is the case here they are told to rejoice that the murderers of the people of God are no more, and that justice has been done. It would have been wrong for Christians to seek to exact vengeance themselves, but Satan did the work for them, and it is always right that Christians rejoice in what God allows (17.17), whatever it may be, for they know that what He does is right.
18.21 ‘And a strong angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon the great city be cast down and shall be found no more at all”.’
This is a further interesting example of how quickly the scene can move forwards and then backwards. We have seen the great city destroyed; now we see an angel forecasting its future destruction. We might have expected this to come earlier but John is not so much concerned with chronology as in painting each picture fully. The picture of the great stone crashing into the water symbolizes the speed of Babylon’s destruction.
We see a similarity in Jeremiah 51.60-63, “59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon and see it, and read all these words, 62 then you shall say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’ 63 Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates. 64 Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’ ”
Jeremiah wrote about all the evil that would come on Babylon, and then gave it to Seraiah who was taken captive to Babylon with Zedekiah the king, and told him that when he had read it he should ‘bind a stone to it and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates, and you shall say, “Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her”.’
So Babylon the Great is destroyed, none shall ever rise like her again. The earth is freed from her idolatry, uncleanness and occult practices. No great city will ever again dominate an empire. But only because the scarlet beast from the abyss has destroyed her in order to replace her with his own monotheistic religion inspired by Satan. The end will not be long.
Thus the building of a city (Genesis 4.17) and of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) has been reversed, and as in the Garden of Eden we come back to a face to face confrontation between God and Satan with man caught in the middle.
18.22-23 ‘And the sound (voice) of harpists and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters will no more at all be heard in you, and no craftsman of whatever craft will be found any more at all in you, and the sound of the millstone will be heard no more at all in you, and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in you, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you, for your merchants were the princes of the earth, for with your sorcery were all the nations deceived.’
The idea is that normal life will have ceased. Instead of the joy of music there will be silence. Instead of the intricacies of the designer and craftsman there will be emptiness. Instead of honest toil there will be a void. Instead of light there will be darkness. Instead of the happy voices of bridegroom and bride there will be misery. It is possible that we are to see in the mention of bridegroom and bride a gentle pointer to the heavenly Bridegroom and His bride of the next chapter. In contrast with that joy, here there is only judgment. And why should all this be? Because she led astray the princes of the earth with her false religion and she deceived the nations with her occult practices.
18.24 ‘And in her was found the blood of prophets and of the people of God (saints) and of all who have been slain on the earth.’
But she was also responsible for the martyrdom and murder of the countless millions who have died by violence through the ages.
We see here a reversal of Genesis 1-11. In Genesis 1-11 we have creation, Paradise, the intervention and success of Satan, the building of a city and the establishment of Babel, in Revelation we have the destruction of Babel, the intervention and defeat of Satan, the heavenly Paradise and the new creation.
Selah – which means ‘think on that?’
