THE FALL OF BABYLON

REVELATION 18

Rev 18:1-3

"After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And 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! For 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.

18:1

Here in chapter 18, we come to the actual description of the destroyed Babylon. The chapter begins with the words, after these things, mets tauta (Meta touta). These words tell us this is a distinct new vision from chapter 17. Chapter 17 dealt with the origin and development of false religion in the world and how it will reach its peak in Antichrist's kingdom. Here, in chapter 18, we come to the end of that kingdom and the complete annihilation of Antichrist’s capital city and center of worship, Babylon (Jerusalem).

John says, "I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory." Notice this angel comes to illuminate as well as to proclaim. By this time, Earth's atmosphere will doubtless be filled with megatons of pollutants from the devastating effects of the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl judgments. After these twenty-one judgments, it would be surprising if those who survive are able to see much beyond the end of their noses! Not too long ago, there was a major forest fire in southern Mexico that resulted in a substantial reduction of visibility over the entire eastern half of the United States. That was nothing compared to the conditions that will exist by the end of the Great Tribulation. The seventh Bowl alone will cause major fires in every town and city on Earth. It is likely that this angel of great glory was sent just in order for John to be able to see what exactly had become of Babylon.

18:2-3

Having illumined the Earth, the mighty angel proceeded to announce, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hated bird". His words parallel the words of the proclaiming angel back in 14:8. Now they are no longer prophesy however, they are reality. Nothing is left of Babylon but debris, birds of prey and a hornet's nest of demons! What a picture is set before us here. He continues, "All nations have drunk of the wrath of her fornication". The wrath of God by the seventh Bowl toppled Babylon and all the other cities of the Earth as well.

Like a prosecuting attorney at a murder trial, the angel begins his indictment. He says, "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." All had greedily shared in her immorality and materialism. They had all prospered and waxed rich because of her. From the kings to the street venders, they were all in it together.

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Rev 18:4-8

"And 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. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render 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. In 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. ' Therefore 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 [NU changes "judges"] has judged her."

18:4

John 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’. There is much in Revelation that is directed at the people who will actually live during the dark days of the Tribulation. This is a warning to them. It is warning the Jew of that day not to make their home in Babylon. This is very good advice. For a child of God to reside in Babylon during the days of the Great Tribulation would be foolish indeed. They would be subjecting themselves to great pressure to share in her sins as well as great peril when she is judged. I would dearly love to visit Jerusalem, but I have to confess, I don't think I would want to live there, even today. It is a place marked for misery and destruction and Gentile domination (as her present woes with the Arabs and Palestinians so clearly attest) until her true King returns to Earth.

May we step aside for a moment? There is a very important spiritual application that could be made here. Child of God, take care not to allow yourself to be entangled in this world's system. We live in the kingdom of darkness down here where the essence of the Babylon system already thrives. As you have it in First John. 2:15-16...

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; is not of the Father but is of the world."

Far too often, we believers become entangled in the world. Like Antichrist's kings, we can easily become consumed with money and materialism, immorality and the flesh, pride and selfishness, position and advancement, and even cults and false religion. Walking hand in hand with the world is dancing with the beast. Someone has said, "Sin will take you where you don't want to go. Sin will keep you longer than you wanted to stay. Sin will make you pay more than you wanted to pay." Guard yourself against the lures of the dark kingdom, dear saint. God hates it and we need to hate it as well. It brings nothing but misery and bondage and death to all those who succumb to its enticements.

18:5-8

Now, let’s look closely at the illuminating angel's indictment of Babylon. He says:

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

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Rev 18:9 -10

"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, standing 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.'"

18:9-10

What a vivid picture of Babylon’s ruin is prophesied here. Frightened and standing at a distance, the remaining kings of Earth will weep and wail as they look upon their once magnificent but now decimated, Babylon. The greatest Gentile political, religious and commercial center the world will ever know, will lie before them in smoldering ruins, destroyed by the omnipotent hand of Almighty God. They cry, "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!" The fact that they refer to Jerusalem here by the name of Babylon is proof of her change of name in that day.

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Rev 18:11-17a

"And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 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; 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. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have [NU changes "gone from you"] been lost to you and you shall find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing...."

18:11-17a

The word merchants here literally means one who travels. The salesmen in that day will also look on the devastated city and mourn for her. The huge and highly organized economy of Babylon will be irretrievably shattered after the Lord lowers the boom on her with his final Bowl judgment. Her crass commercialism will come to an immediate and violent halt. Her merchants weep for Babylon's lost commerce. No longer will she traffic in:

"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,"

Let me apply this for a moment. The Babylon system will do anything for a buck. That is one of the hallmarks of Satan's dark kingdom and his ministers are always busy with their greedy, moneymaking schemes. As you have it in Second Peter 2:3...

"By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber."

We believers should be wary of religious promoters whose every effort is to make money. There are a lot of them around. God will judge this crass religious commercialism one-day and those who have built their lives on it are going to lose big-time. Proverbs 11:4 says...

"Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death."

The only real riches worth having in this whole wide world are riches in Christ, my friend. Would it break your heart, like its breaking these fellows' hearts, if all of your material things went up in smoke? Or, is your treasure safe and sound in heaven with Christ? Jesus said...

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19 -21

Don’t let it be said of you what will be said of Babylon some day, "For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.."

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Rev 18:17b-19

"'... Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?' 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.'"

18:17b-19

What a sight this will be when the ship merchants cry and mourn over Babylon in that day. Notice it was all about being rich to them. When Christ gets through with Babylon, there won't be anything left to ship.

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Rev 18:20 -23

"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you [NU changes, "holy apostles and prophets"] saints and apostles, for God has avenged you on her! Then 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. The 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. The 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."

18:20

The angel's words bring us to another great contrast between the realities of Heaven and the realities of Earth. As mourning for Babylon occupies earth-dwellers down below, rejoicing will be the mood of the day in Heaven. Have you noticed there seems to be a lot of that up there? I see the scene as follows:

• When the call went forth, "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles", the apostles just started dancing! They all suffered greatly at the hands of the Babylon system in their day. Stephen was stoned to death by Babylon's forerunners (Acts 7); the Apostle James was put to the sword by her (Acts 12); tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside down and all the rest of the apostles were put to death in one gruesome way or another.

• Then, all the rest of the saints will join in the celebration. Saints like Jim Elliot, the twentieth century missionary, was hacked to death by her in the jungles of South America; the list is endless. Heaven is really going to "rock" when Babylon gets hers!

18:21-23

What a graphic illustration when the angel picked up a great millstone and cast it into the sea saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore! In one fell swoop...

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Rev 18:24

"And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth."

18:24

The question arises, "Does she deserve this severe a judgment?" Dr. McGee says, "like searching the pockets of a dead murderer, the evidence of who Babylon really is discovered ...". It is found that her wicked influence dated all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Every murder of God’s prophets and saints is attributed here to Babylon. An amazing and yet unfulfilled prophecy in this regard is found in Jeremiah 51:49-50. It reads...

"As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall. You who have escaped the sword, Get away! Do not stand still! Remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come to your mind."

Beloved, this matter of God's future dealing with Babylon is a done deal. When it occurs in history, it will take place at Jerusalem. Satan and his Antichrist will have their day but it will be a brief one and come to a devastating end. When the Judge of the whole Earth, our Lord and Savior steps in, Antichrist and his precious Babylon will be history.

This brings us to the end of the section that takes up the lion's share of the book of Revelation. THE VISION OF JESUS CHRIST IN JUDGMENT. It has taken up all of chapters 4 through 18. Now we will take up, THE VISION OF JESUS CHRIST IN RETURN (Chapters 19-20). The event of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ has been long awaited and much anticipated. Here at last, we shall see him descend from Heaven to Earth, destroy his enemies and set his precious feet once again upon the Mount of Olives. Then he will begin his amazing and long anticipated reign on Earth.

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