Revelation Study 21 Chapter 18
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Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Where did we leave off in chapter 17?
The Great Prostitute is what? Rome, Babylon, all great empires
It talked about her being drunk with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs.
What is the prostitute language all about?
Who have aligned themselves with “her”?
John even marveled at her, her splendor and “greatness”
For some O.T. context on this chapter you can read Ezekiel 27
So, now on to chapter 18, looking at verses 1-3
New Living Translation Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The Fall of Babylon
After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor. 2 He 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.
3 For 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.”
After this?? A new vision, is giving a new perspective on what has already been said, but maybe with some new details.
And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire,
Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
or you can also read Isaiah 13:1-22 for his prophecy on Babylon.
Ok, so let’s get back to chapter 18
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
Another angel, great authority, earth made bright with his glory?? could this be Jesus, yes. Is it?? we don’t know. If not it’s an angel with extraordinary splendor who’s come from the presence of God.
What does He say?
And he called out with a mighty voice,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
For all nations have drunk
the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”
With a mighty voice
This is a funeral dirge, a somber funeral song or lament, expressing mourning and grief, the first of 3.
Fallen, Fallen is Babylon the great, yes Babylon has fallen, but if this is about the current Babylon, then who is this angel talking about? Rome
This great and mighty kingdom is fallen, it is doomed, for it is the abode of all that is impure, unclean, the abode of evil.
We talked about the dismantling of creation, a land uninhabitable that God had brought out of chaos, is now returning to chaos and unsuitable for clean and human life.
Rome seemed invincible, unbeatable, nobody in the natural world would see this coming.
This judgment is because of the sins already committed.
what does verse 3 tell us?
All the nations have drunk? Nations of the earth, ungodly nations, not Israel of God.
Then the kings, then the merchants.
All nations are interconnected with Rome, they rely on her for their wellbeing. Is it not the same today? what happens to the other nations in the world if the USA were to collapse?
But why also have they fallen? They too have drunk her wine, committed adultery against God, forsaken Him and committed injustices.
The worlds rulers have done so and led their nations astray.
What is the final reason John gives at the end of verse 3? Extravagant luxury, at the expense of many. The poor suffer, go hungry, but the rich keep getting richer.
The exploitation of the world’s peoples to satisfy Rome’s own insatiable desires, with merchants growing rich through the misery of the poor, cried out to God for judgment and justice.
This is about economic injustice and greed, the system of the beast helps the wicked become wealthy
New Living Translation Chapter 18
4 Then 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.
Another voice from heaven, not the altar, not the tent of meeting, but could still is God.
Come away from her, or the ESV has come out of her
Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
If we keep the adultery theme and sexual immorality of V3, what is he saying by come out of her?? This is not PG, this is an R or NC-17 comment
He is saying, “stop having “sex” with her, fooling around with her, playing with her, cheating on God with her.
Decide now which side your on, this must be pre-mark of the beast.
This is holiness, separating from the depraved society in which we live, separating from the things of this world.
These people were living the “American Dream” their money brought comfort, ease, security, etc. or so they thought.
But at its core, this system is anti-God, and moving you away from Him and towards Him, causing us to live ungodly as we shall see.
Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea,
declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it,
send it out to the end of the earth;
say, “The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
Why? Lest you take part in her sins. This is a message found to the early churches in chapters 2-3.
Because if you take part in her pleasures, what else will you take part in? Her plagues. You will be judged along with her.
English Standard Version Chapter 18
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others,
and repay her double for her deeds;
mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so give her a like measure of torment and mourning,
since in her heart she says,
‘I sit as a queen,
I am no widow,
and mourning I shall never see.’
8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day,
death and mourning and famine,
and she will be burned up with fire;
for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
Her sins are piled or heaped as hight as heaven, a metaphor communicating the excess of her sinfulness.
God doesn’t forget, biblically when He remembers, He acts.
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
So, verse 6, God gives back to her what she gave or did to others, and more, maybe. Drain the cup. A double portion.
Some say the idea of double is that of a twin, an identical twin.
In the O.T. Law some crimes required a double repayment, this is just in the eyes of the Lord.
Verse 7 communicates what? The arrogance of Rome/Babylon, she glorified herself and not God
Lived in sensuous luxury, pleasure and opulence while many were mistreated and destitute
The prostitute believes herself to be the queen to the king dragon, she will never see mourning or destruction, believing her kingdom to last forever.
In ancient times a widow was in a terrible spot, her land went to the sons to carry on the fathers legacy. A widow was dependent of her sons or others for care. But not this queen, she will need no one.
Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.
I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.
Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”:
These two things shall come to you
in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
The plagues or things she inflicted on others will come on her, death, mourning, and famine we’ve seen in the 4 horses of chapter 6and how the world did these to themselves.
So the judgment of fire will bring total destruction is from 17
This principal is important, let no one think they can flaunt our self-centered pleasures before a holy God, every act we do will be justly repaid.
Mighty, truly mighty is the God who judges her, the “mighty” city.
The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:
“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
set up a banner and proclaim,
conceal it not, and say:
‘Babylon is taken,
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach is dismayed.
Her images are put to shame,
her idols are dismayed.’
“For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.
Out of the north, in this Jeremiah passage, biblically symbolizes enemies in war coming to conquer you.
The Megiddo valley was the bottleneck between Israel and the nations to the north who were hellbent on her destruction.
“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.
your mother shall be utterly shamed,
and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
but shall be an utter desolation;
everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
and hiss because of all her wounds.
Back to Revelation 18:9-10
English Standard Version Chapter 18
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,
“Alas! Alas! You great city,
you mighty city, Babylon!
For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
This great and mighty kingdom which survived a thousand years, will be brought to ruin in an hour, sudden, unexpected, and catastrophic.
The smoke of fire and judgment, like Sodom.
And many will weep and wail for their livelihood will go down with her, and those who were aligned with her forsaking God.
They will stand far off in fear, hoping not to get burned.
If mighty Rome has fallen, what now for them.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
“The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!”
The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
A careful study of the list of the worldwide commodities traded by Rome shows they came from places as far away as India, China, Egypt, Arabia, and Africa, no extravagance was missing.
A look at these “luxury” items reveals to us that we here in America possess many of them.
Gold and silver, jewels and pearls, fine expensive clothing, fine furniture and adornments, marble and granite, expensive perfumes and colognes, food and beverage in excess and even being eaten in fine expensive restaurants, and other signs of wealth, cars, land, etc.
This list is meant to be encompassing, and the final thing on the list? Slaves, or as John puts, human souls.
This is a horrible evil in the Lords eyes, this is not the indentured labor of slavery the is listed in the O.T.
This is the taking, forcing, brutal practice known all over the world, that mighty kingdoms are built on.
So again, Rome gets what she deserves, and the merchants who provided these for Rome stand far off in terror.
They too are guilty, but don’t want the punishment.
They are sorrowful over their loss, not remorseful nor are they truly mournful over Rome.
“Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”
And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
This is a repeat to a degree, those luxuries that defined Rome’s greatness has all been laid waste in the blink of an eye.
And now the shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors, all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off, if fear and terror, will this fall on me next?? Again sorrowful over their loss, but not mournful over Rome.
and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,
“What city was like the great city?”
And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,
“Alas, alas, for the great city
where all who had ships at sea
grew rich by her wealth!
For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
This is a scene of mourning, funeral imagery, throwing dust on their heads, weeping and mourning.
They are in terror and amazed how quickly destruction has come upon the indestructible.
Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her!”
So we’ve looked at who’s been mourning, now who is rejoicing? Heaven the inhabitants of, saints, apostles, and prophets, all who were mistreated and slain by her.
Why are they rejoicing? For God has brought righteous judgment, just judgment. How long O’Lord, was the cry in chapter 6 by the martyrs, now all are rejoicing, vindicated.
English Standard Version Chapter 18
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more;
22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,
will be heard in you no more,
and a craftsman of any craft
will be found in you no more,
and the sound of the mill
will be heard in you no more,
23 and the light of a lamp
will shine in you no more,
and the voice of bridegroom and bride
will be heard in you no more,
for your merchants were the great ones of the earth,
and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints,
and of all who have been slain on earth.”
The violent crashing of the millstone will be like the destruction of Rome, the sinking to the depths of the sea, will be like Rome.
When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’ ”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
The words “no more” are repeated, all human life ceases to exist in Rome.
Babylon will be no more
The sound of music will be no more
No more craftsmen or millworkers
No more light from a lamp
Or the sounds of brides and grooms
Her kingdom and His system made merchants great, all the “earthly” nations believed in the system and drank her Kool-Aid
The focus of this chapter is the last 3 crimes, economic tyranny and economic idolatry, sorcery & deception and false worship, and murder of God’s holy ones.
This last verse, 24, is the ultimate condemnation, “in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
All who have been slain on earth, not just for God, but for injustice, violence, advancement, conquest, all the reasons the system, the beast, the dragon would give.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
“Rome” and “Babylon” are fallen, maybe not yet for the Rome or Babylon that we live in, but it is fallen.
Fallen from God, fallen for the lies of the enemy, and one day will be fallen, destroyed.
With who will you be standing, those mourning or those rejoicing??
For us, do we need to hear this, wake up and come out of her?