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INTRODUCTION:
We’ve been working our way through the book of Revelation and today we arrive at Revelation 18.
I said last week that Revelation 17 was one of the more challenging chapters of the book of the Revelation.
Honestly, though, chapter 17 has nothing on chapter 18!
Revelation 18 is the climax of a series of warnings that have been building in intensity.
Some have said Revelation is a tale of two cities: Babylon and Zion, the people of the beast vs the people of God.
It’s a showdown of showdowns.
Like Zion, Babylon represents a geographical location as well as a religious idea.
It’s both and.
We saw the spiritual dimension articulated in Revelation 17 and today we’ll see Babylon through a more literal and geographical lens.
(Some distinguish “mystery Babylon” from “Babylon the Great… I think that goes too far.)
Imagine a City
When you hear the word Babylon I want you to imagine a city of sin; a center of godlessness and selfish ambition.
The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life - these things are all elevated in a place like Babylon.
When you think of a city like that… or even a nation like that.... what comes to you mind?
Is it something past?
Something future?
Something close?
Something far off?
Unfortunately, the identity of Babylon in Revelation 18 isn’t defined.
Some believe this to be a future city located in the Middle East.
Some think it’s a historical reference to the Roman empire (city of Rome.)
Some even suggest the illuminati or some reviving of the historical Babylon.
The truth is - we can’t really know for sure.
But here’s what we can know from this passage.
Whenever, wherever and however it happens, Babylon WILL CERTAINLY FALL.
Type / AntiType
The story of Babylon in Revelation 18 leaves us with core truth: the time for God’s judgment is SOON so the time for repentance is NOW.
Why would I say the time of God’s judgment is soon if the destruction of Babylon in Revelation 18 is still future?
The reason is because the final future Babylon is patterned off of TYPES of Babylon that existed in the past and even exist today.
Earlier I asked you to imagine a center of godlessness, materialism and sensuality.
A place came to your mind.
Why is that?
Because the spirit of Babylon is already at work in our world today.
We looked at this idea last week as well.
When John talks about the beast or the antichrist he said it had seven heads.
Those heads represented past, present and future expressions of the beast and his kingdom.
The same dynamic is true of Babylon.
In theology this dynamic falls under the categories of type and antitype.
We use the word type all of the time.
The word means to have similarity to an ideal or standard.
Well in theology that perfect ideal or that future standard is called the antitype.
This is true of all sorts of things in the Old Testament: the temple, the sacrificial system, the prophets, the priests, the kings, all sorts of different symbols and the like.
Those are all types that are pointing to a greater future fulfillment (aka antitype.)
What does that mean for us?
It means the fall of Babylon in Revelation 18 is important for us to pay attention to because the spiritual dynamics of that future Babylon are already active in our world today.
So we must be on guard.
Today the time for God’s judgment is soon and the time for our repentance is NOW.
Let’s begin in Revelation 18:1-3.
Revelation 18:1–3 (CSB)
1 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
2 He called out in a mighty voice:
It has fallen,
Babylon the Great has fallen!
She has become a home for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
and a haunt for every unclean and despicable beast.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her sensuality and excess.
A Sad Song
You notice how the verses are all broken up into short little lines and the cadence of the reading kinda changes?
That’s because Revelation 18 is a song.
Or - to be more technical - a DIRGE.
Revelation 18 is a SAD song.
You know when you’re watching a movie and something really devastating or sad happens and a sad song starts to play in the background?
(Usually Irish acapella.... that’s called a “dirge.”)
A dirge is a song of grief or lamentation sung a funerals or memorials.
They were usually slow, solemn, and mournful.
That’s what we have here.
But the mourning isn’t by God’s people for the death of the saints.
The mourning is by the people of this world because of the fall of their queen.
That queen is Babylon the Great: an idolatrous, murderous and sin-laden city.
Sung By An Angel
Verse one says this funeral dirge is sung by an angel with “great authority coming down from heaven.”
(some suggest it’s Jesus… probably not!)
This angel is impressive and powerful in that the whole earth is captivated by his message.
The idea is that nobody can ignore this message.
Nobody can deny that Babylon is gone.
The angel speaks about the fall of Babylon in the PAST tense even though it hasn’t yet happened.
(in Greek this is called a proleptic aorist.)
John uses this kind of verb after the sixth seal as well when he says, “the great day of God’s wrath has come.”
(Rev 6:17) God’s wrath doesn’t really manifest until later but it’s spoken of as if it’s already happened.
The reason the angel uses this kind of language is because the fall of Babylon is absolutely CERTAIN.
Revelation 18 is a SAD song about the CERTAIN fall of a once powerful city.
He’s speaking about it as though it’s already happened because there is no possible world in which this kind of city DOESN’T FALL.
God is not mocked.
Whatever a person sows that’s what he’s going to reap.
It’s a law of the universe.
Babylon MUST FALL.
An Ugly Picture
Verse two really paints a picture of how great the fall really was.
Though Babylon might’ve started out with great dignity and strength… that dignity was soon replaced with degradation and corruption.
Now Babylon is a home for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, bird and despicable beast.
We don’t use the word ‘haunt’ much anymore but it means a dwelling place like a prison.)
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