The fall of Babylon
18
📚And after these things I saw another angel 📖 come down from heaven. He had great authority and the earth was lit up with his brightness. 2 📚And he cried out loudly in a strong voice and said,“Babylon the great is fallen,
is fallen 📖, and has become
the home of demons 📖,
a guardhouse for every foul spirit
and a cage for every unclean
and hateful bird.
3 📚For all nations have drunk
of the inflaming wine of her adultery 📖,
and the kings of the earth have committed
adultery with her,
and the merchants 📖 of the earth have
grown rich through the power
of her luxuries 📖”.
4 📚And I heard another voice from heaven 📖 say:
“Come out 📖 of her, my people,
so that you do not share in her sins 📖
and that you receive none of her plagues.
5 📚For her sins have reached to heaven 📖,
and God has remembered 📖 her wrongdoing.
6 📚Give her back just as she has given 📖 you
and pay her back double for her deeds.
Pour out for her a double amount
in the cup 📖 that she poured.
7 📚In the measure she has honoured herself 📖
and lived luxuriously 📖,
give her torment and sorrow.
For she says in her heart,
‘I sit as queen 📖 and am not a widow,
and will not see grief.’
18:7 Three sins (v 5) are listed here in this verse: self-glory, luxurious living, and proud boasting.⚜
8 📚Therefore her plagues will come in one day 📖:
death, mourning, and famine.
And she will be consumed by fire,
for the Lord God who judges her 📖 is mighty.
9 📚“And the kings of the earth 📖 who have committed adultery with her and lived luxuriously with her will weep 📖 and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 📚From fear 📖 of her torment they will stand far off, and will say,
‘Alas, alas, the great city Babylon!
The mighty city 📖! In one hour
your judgment has come.’
11 📚“And the merchants 📖 of the earth will weep and mourn over her 📖 because no one buys their merchandise any more, 12 📚the merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet cloth, and every kind of citron wood, and every kind of article made of ivory, and every kind of article made of costly wood, of bronze, of iron, and of marble, 13 📚and cinnamon, perfumes, fragrant ointment, frankincense, and wine and oil, and fine flour and wheat, and cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men 📖.
14 📚“The fruit that your soul craved has gone from you, and your luxuries and splendors have gone from you, and you will never find them again.
15 📚“The merchants of these things who were made rich by her, will stand far off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 📚and say,
‘Alas! alas! that great city,
that was clothed in fine linen, and purple,
and scarlet, and adorned with gold,
and precious stones, and pearls!
17 📚For in one hour such great wealth
has come to nothing.’
“And every ship captain, and all who travel by ship, and sailors, and all who trade by sea, stood far off, 18 📚when they saw the smoke of her burning, and cried out and said, ‘What city was ever like this great city!’ 19 📚And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and said,
‘Alas! alas! that great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
were made wealthy through her riches!
For in one hour she has been destroyed.’
18:17-19 Sailors and their captains will join the lament. The fall of Rome will be a serious blow to commerce by sea. “What city was ever like this great city?” Will Rome in the future be greatly developed as a commercial center as well as a political one? It seems quite possible from this question and this chapter. Or is it here viewed more as what it represents than what it will be in itself? “Wealthy” (v 19) – the kings will think of her power (v 10), merchants and sailors will think of her wealth.⚜
20 📚“Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you holy apostles and prophets,
because for you God has executed
judgment on her 📖”.
18:20 These words are spoken by the voice from heaven which has been speaking from v 4. See how different are God’s thoughts from the thoughts of unbelievers about the same event. The destruction of mystery Babylon is a source of grief to men of the world, but of joy to God and His people. Compare Luke 16:15; Isa 55:8-9. It will mean the end of a system based on greed, covetousness, and love of money; a system that craves power and cares nothing for people; a system that ignores God and tries to build a world of leisure, luxury and satisfaction without Him. Such a system deserves to be destroyed, and it will be.⚜
21 📚And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, and said,
“In this way that great city Babylon
will be violently thrown down
and will never be found again 📖.
22 📚And the sound of harpists, and musicians,
and flutists, and trumpeters will never
again be heard in you.
And no workman of any kind of work
will ever again be found in you.
And the sound of a millstone will never again
be heard in you.
18:21-22 It would seem that mystery Babylon’s final destruction will result from a sudden terrific act of violence.⚜
23 📚And lamplight will never again shine in you.
And the voice of bridegroom
and of bride will never again be heard in you.
For your merchants were the world’s great men 📖
and all nations were deceived 📖 through
your sorceries 📖.
24 📚And in her was found the blood of prophets
and of saints and of all who had been killed 📖
on the earth”.