"THE BOOK OF REVELATION"
The Fall Of Babylon The Great (18:1-24)
INTRODUCTION
- In chapter seventeen, the mystery of the great harlot and the beast was
explained...
- Wherein I viewed the "beast" to represent the persecuting emperors of
Rome (e.g., Nero, Domitian)
- And that "Babylon the harlot" who sits on the beast represented the
commercial and pagan spirit of Rome where many Christians died for the
faith in Christ
- Now in chapter eighteen, we read of the fall of "Babylon the Great"...
- With the fall of Babylon proclaimed in verses 1-8
- Followed by the fall of Babylon mourned in verses 9-20
- Ending with the fall of Babylon justified in verses 21-24
[So let's begin with...]
- THE FALL OF BABYLON PROCLAIMED (1-8)
- AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT...
- By an angel from heaven - Re 18:1-3
- John sees an angel coming down from heaven
- Having great authority
- Illuminating the earth with his glory
- The angel cries mightily with a loud voice
- "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen..."
- And has become:
- A dwelling place of demons
- A prison for every foul spirit
- A cage for every unclean and hated bird
- With her:
- The nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication
- The kings of the earth have committed fornication
- The merchants of the earth have become rich
- By a voice from heaven - Re 18:4-8
- Calling God's people to come out of her
- Lest they share in her sins and her plagues
- For her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered
her iniquities
- Calling for judgment to be rendered her
- Render her just as she rendered them
- Repay her double according to her works
- In the cup she has mixed, mix double for her
- To the degree she glorified herself and lived luxuriously...
- Give her torment and sorrow
- For she says in her heart she is a queen and will not see
sorrow as a widow
- Her plagues will come in one day...
- Death, mourning, and famine
- Utterly burned with fire
- For strong is the Lord God who judges her
-- Proclamation of her fall from two sources: 1) an angel from heaven,
and 2) a voice from heaven
- OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION...
- In this proclamation of the fall of Babylon (i.e., Rome) we see
God's justice at work - Re 18:2-3,5-8
- Babylon had become a home for demonic spirits
- Babylon had defiled the nations, kings, and merchants
- Babylon would receive double according to what she had done to
others
- In this proclamation of the fall of Babylon (i.e., Rome) we see
God's mercy at work - Re 18:4
- God has forewarned His people to come out of her
- Lest they find themselves on the receiving end of her plagues
-- Similar to how Jesus warned His disciples of the destruction of
Jerusalem (cf. Lk 21:20-24), so here God's people are forewarned
of the judgment coming upon Babylon (Rome)
[The proclamation of judgment is then followed by...]
- THE FALL OF BABYLON MOURNED (9-20)
- AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT...
- By the kings of the earth - Re 18:9-10
- Those who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her
- They shall weep and lament when they see the smoke of her burning
- They shall stand afar off for fear of her torment, saying:
- "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!"
- "For in one hour your judgment has come."
- By the merchants of the earth - Re 18:11-17a
- They shall weep and mourn over her
- For no one buys their merchandise anymore
- All that they longed for, both rich and splendid, they shall
find no more
- The merchants shall stand at a distance for fear of her torment,
weeping and wailing:
- "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."
- By the traders and travelers on the sea - Re 18:17b-19
- They stood at a distance, crying when they saw the smoke of her
burning, "What is like this great city?"
- Throwing dust on their heads, they cried out, weeping and wailing:
- "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."
- By not by the holy apostles and prophets - Re 18:20
- They are to rejoice over her
- For God has avenged them on her
-- Divine justice bringing grief to those who profited by her wealth,
and joy to those who had suffered from her sins and persecution
- OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION...
- If Rome (in particular her commercial and immoral spirit) is the
"harlot", then this chapter may describe the fall of Rome in 476 A.D.
- Statements in Re 18:3,9-19 seem to fit Rome better than Jerusalem
- "all the nations...the kings of the earth"
- "the merchants of the earth...all who had ships on the sea"
- The fall of "Babylon" was due to her treatment of apostles, prophets,
and saints - Re 18:20,24
- When Revelation was written (ca. 70 A.D.), Rome had already
killed Peter and Paul, along with thousands of other Christians
- By the time of Rome's fall (476 A.D), there had been at least
ten periods of persecutions by Rome against the church
-- Rome, just as much as does Jerusalem, certainly qualifies as
"Babylon, the harlot!"
CONCLUSION
- In this chapter we get a picture of what the early Christians faced...
- Persecution by political forces with the aid of corrupted commercial
enterprises
- Yet given promises similar to that Paul wrote to the church in Rome:"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord." - Ro 12:19
- Should we ever find ourselves living in similar circumstances...
- Let the Book of Revelation be a guide and source of comfort
- With its warnings and its promises that can be applied to ourselves
Especially the words of our Lord of lords and King of kings...
"Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." - Re 2:10