1After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendour. 2He gave a mighty shout: “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a hideout for every foul spirit, a hideout for every foul vulture and every foul and dreadful animal. 3For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her. Because of her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich.”
Revelation 18:1-3
4Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. 5For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds. 6Do to her as she has done to others. Double her penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so brew twice as much for her. 7She glorified herself and lived in luxury, so match it now with torment and sorrow. She boasted in her heart, ‘I am queen on my throne. I am no helpless widow, and I have no reason to mourn.’
8Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine. She will be completely consumed by fire, for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.” 9And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains. 10They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out, “How terrible, how terrible for you, O Babylon, you great city! In a single moment God’s judgment came on you.” 11The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.
12She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble. 13She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves. 14“The fancy things you loved so much are gone,” they cry. “All your luxuries and splendour are gone forever, never to be yours again.” 15The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out, 16“How terrible, how terrible for that great city! She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17In a single moment all the wealth of the city is gone!” And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance. 18They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?” 19And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out, “How terrible, how terrible for that great city! The shipowners became wealthy by transporting her great wealth on the seas. In a single moment it is all gone.”
Revelation 18:4-19
20Rejoice over her fate, O heaven and people of God and apostles and prophets! For at last God has judged her for your sakes. 21Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted, “Just like this, the great city Babylon will be thrown down with violence and will never be found again. 22The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets will never be heard in you again. No craftsmen and no trades will ever be found in you again. The sound of the mill will never be heard in you again. 23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The happy voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the greatest in the world, and you deceived the nations with your sorceries. 24In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”
Revelation 18:20-24
I have made the above text as plain as I am able for you to compare the similarities and differences between Revelation 18 and what has gone before it. I have coloured the similarities in orange to match earlier chapters and have coloured the fertile ground of the differences in green in order to make it clear to you. Pay careful attention to the fertile green ground. What do you notice? Can you see that this chapter takes an entirely different approach to the sins of Babylon and by assimilation, Rome. Yes, at the very end of the chapter we have a return to the catch cry of earlier chapters in Revelation. The blood of the martyrs: the prophets of old and God’s people then and now.
As I drew to your attention in the previous Gem, we must not skip over John’s opening words in chapter 18. True to form, he tells us first he saw and then he heard. Both forms of communication take place through angelic beings from heaven. The first angel is like no other in that he came with great authority and was brighter than all others. John established again where the vision came from and what was said in association with it. This angel announces that Babylon is fallen. That is curious isn’t it? We know that by John’s time period, Babylon had well and truly fallen. But we know too that Babylon is a circumlocution (a substitute) for Rome. Rome is the nation which was the dominant empire at the time John was writing to the seven churches in the Roman Province of Asia. Rome was named in those days “the eternal city”, i.e. the city of which there would be no end. It was inconceivable that Rome would fall. Yet here the angel is declaring boldly ‘Babylon’ is fallen when Rome was at the height of its powers. That friends is an outlandish statement! But isn’t that the point? It’s a prophetic statement which cuts across all else.
Just read those first five verses again. Why have Babylon / Rome fallen? It’s simple really:
- She has become a home for demons.
- She is a hideout for every foul spirit.
- For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
- The kings of the world have committed adultery with her.
- Through her desires for extravagant luxury, the merchants of the world have grown rich.
Rome is being cast as an archetype much like Babylon was. Both are exemplars of systems of government, military force and economic dominance which squash all else. The explanation from the verbal angel [Revelation 18:4-7] makes it clear:
- Come away from her, my people.
- Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.
- For her sins are piled as high as heaven
- God remembers her evil deeds.
- She glorified herself and lived in luxury.
These two worldly systems corrupted all nations around them.
- What is Chapter 18 focused on?
- Is it clear to you now?
- Why would this be the case?
Allow me to give you firstly a passage from the Law.
“21You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22“You must not exploit a widow or an orphan. 23If you exploit them in any way and they cry out to me, then I will certainly hear their cry. 24My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless. 25“If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would. 26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. 27This coat may be the only blanket your neighbour has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.
Exodus 22:21-27
Now a portion from the Prophets:
6This is what the LORD says: “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! They sell honourable people for silver and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7They trample helpless people in the dust and shove the oppressed out of the way. Both father and son sleep with the same woman, corrupting my holy name.
Amos 2:6-7
This is after Amos has recorded the statements the LORD gave to Amos concerning: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah and finally Israel. God will always hold the people of God to higher standards, as well as those who follow worldly standards. We are all judged on God’s terms. When God’s people do that which is condoned by the world beware. Judgement begins with people of God.
- What is John referring to or being reminded of?
- Where does he get this theme from?
Here is another well known statement to us all:
The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: “See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God.”
Micah 6:8
Given these crucial requirements God places on His people, now read that which is recorded for us in Revelation 18 once again. Do you see now why judgement must follow? In the following Gem I will emphasize for you the salient parts of Chapter 18 in the light of what God has stated above as his requirements.
The crux of the matter is how we measure up?
Isn’t it fascinating how we focus on Grace when it’s us as recipients and Justice when it’s the other guy in the hot seat?
Ian
It’s easy to give people what they deserve, but it’s a privilege to give them mercy.
Joyce Meyer
Is your default mode WITH PEOPLE law and judgment with pride or grace and mercy with humility? “Forgive others as the Lord forgave you.”
Ian
Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.
John Wooden