Babylon's Fall Explained

Revelation 18:4-8

As we return to our study of chapter 18, we are seeing the finer details of the destruction of Babylon.

Now remember, Babylon is a system, and influence, but it is also a city/place. The den of devils as we learned in our precious lesson, and a holding cell for foul spirits. Babylon’s doom comes, as she has been using others for her own benefit.

We have given much speculation of who Babylon represents. Now remember that at this point in history, Babylon the ancient city had been destroyed. And for the early churches, Babylon represented Rome.

As with history, we know that the Roman empire faded away with time, and Rome lost its prominence in society. But over the centuries, we have seen other powerful countries rise to power, and in a sense could represent the Babylon of the day.

Its hard to deny, that even America has played the role of Babylon, and even now we can see the close resemblance from what we have read in scripture to the description of the woman in the Book of Revelation.

So, chapter 18 opened with a conversation between an angel talking to John about what he has witnessed. Now as John stands and beholds these events, he hears another. And that leads us up to our study tonight.

The Voice of Heaven

· Now John has seen the horrid things that Babylon has become. She is a city of demons, of evil activity, a place where many are possessed by these foul spirits, and a prison for others.

· As the city is about to be destroyed, a command and warning is giving by the voice of heaven.

· Now we can understand that this voice that is speaking to the people, is the voice of the Lord. And he is speaking to those Jewish remnants that have resided in Babylon.

· Now it is important to understand here, that God is speaking to his people. Have you ever had God speak to you?

· I believe that the Lord speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. That even though it is not an audible voice that you may hear, I know that it is the Lord speaking to me directly.

· It is important that we hear the voice of the Lord and pay attention to it, because when we neglect to listen to the voice, life becomes a lot more difficult.

· And that is what the warning is here, first the voice gives a command and he tells them to get out of Babylon.

· Now Babylon is a wicked place, the sin of the people has corrupted the very place itself. What once was looked at as a beautiful city, is now a place that is about to be condemned.

· Telling the people to get out of the city, is reminiscent of the Lord allowing the people to leave Babylon during its original captivity.

· There were some who did not want to leave, they had made lives there and had become comfortable. They were not where they belong.

· Now, take this what we see to heart, if the Lord is telling you to leave somewhere, if the spirit is convicting you, but you haven’t left because you have become comfortable there, friend you are in serious trouble.

· Remember back in the book of Genesis, there was a young man name Lot, who took his family to Sodom and settled in that wicked city. The angels of the Lord came and told Lot that he and his family needed to leave.

· Now what would have happen if Lot refused? Well, Lot would have been destroyed in the judgment.

· Here, we see that same warning being given to those who are followers of Christ.

· Now look at the warning specifically – come out of her, literally meaning flee from this place and people. They are not to be in this area, nor to have fellowship with her.

· “My people” – now it is not the word children, the people of the Lord has always been the Jewish people. Obviously, this place has a population of Jewish people living in it.

· Again, this can be a clue to the locality. Perhaps New York, which holds a large population of Jewish people.

· The warning continues with the voice saying – be not partakers of her sins.

· This is a reminder, that you can be a bystander to someone else’s sin. For example, someone becomes covetous of what another has, and they decide they will go and rob a bank to get money, the bank they rob is the one you go to, and you are there the day they decide to rob the bank. When they come in they shoot you. Now you didn’t sin in that, but the other person did, and you were a bystander that paid the price for that sin.

· In a similar manner, judgment is going to come on those who are in that city, that have corrupted that city, and it is not God’s desire to bring judgment on those who are not guilty of the crimes.

· Now the Lord is going to bring plagues on this city. And we have seen these plagues shown in this book. The plagues are almost a reflection of what it was like for the Children of Israel when they were in Egypt. Boils, Darkness, Blood, and a hail.

Verse 5 – Continuation

· Her sins have reached unto heaven. Do you remember what the tower of Babel was intended to do? It was a symbol of man taking himself to heaven. A mammoth structure that was to reach into heaven.

· Well that structure never made it to heaven, but the building project did continue on, just in a different manner.

· Babylon, continued to build, by piling sin after sin onto one another, until they reached to heaven.

· Now remember, the Lord is patient, and long suffering, but God can no longer tolerate what has been happening.

· This verse says, God hath remembered her iniquities.

· I praise the Lord that I can claim the verse in Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

· God has put aside and cast away the remembrance of my sin, but here is a city that God has not forgotten their sin. He knows what they have done, they have not repented. They have not turned to Jesus.

· And the sin has just built and built, like an ant hill that has turned into a mountain, God sees it, and he is about to deal with it.

Verse 6

· Now this verse speaks to the severity of the judgment that God is going to give.

· We understand that the city is going to be destroyed by the beast and his allies, but we have learned that this was really put there by God.

· Using them to bring judgment on the wicked. But this is not all that we see that this verse say.

· The destruction is requested to be double! Or another way to understand what is said here, is repay her double according to her works.

· I want to take you back to the Old Testament for a second, under the Law of Moses, found in Exodus 22:4 “If the theft be certainly found in his hand alive, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall restore double.”

· Babylon has been a thief, and now she will pay for it, and she will doubly pay.

· Remember, her cup has been a toxic poison, a deadly drink to so many, but now she is forced to drink her tainted wine and face the severe punishment.

Verse 7

· “How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously”, Babylon has never really cared for others, she has only cared for herself.

· The public deals, the accolades through the media, had painted her to look so wonderful, and she has taken all of this really to just benefit her life. To have the fine things of life.

· We see this mentality in our culture today. People who are out there just to look out for themselves.

· The politicians of today, seem to illustrate this so well. We see so many of them who say they are here to help us, only to be making shady deals and living lavishly off of our shoulders.

· Its frustrating to see, how so many who take this approach and seem to succeed with it, and never get punished. Well, God will not allow the injustice to continue.

· The verse continues on by saying – “so much torment and sorrow give her”

· The voice is speaking to himself, remember, God is a trinity. And the voice is speaking to himself in a way, telling to bring this severe torment and sorrow upon her.

· This woman has taken her abundance and treated it as blessing, she has robbed the people of the earth, she has abused so many for her own ill gain. Now the voice, reminds himself to bring much torment and sorrow.

· Babylon, is going to pay the price. Now think for just a moment, is Babylon America? If it is, we may be seeing here in the scripture, the destruction of not just a city, but of a country.

· America has committed so great atrocities, our culture has tried to remove God and reach into heaven just like the original Babylon.

· We see the sickening underhanded tactics by our politicians. The pain and torment that she will receive will be great.

· “For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

· That my friend is the mentality of Babylon, of so many, even those around us today. No one is going to do anything to us, we are to powerful.

· Friend, there are those today, that think we are untouchable. That the world needs us. That we are too important to be destroyed.

· There are some strong assumptions made by Babylon, that she will not see any consequences for her actions and that she will have no sorrow.

· She believes she can get away with her crimes, that she is invincible. Even when her children are destroyed, she has in her mind, that it cannot happen to her.

· What a foolish mindset she has, but she is convinced of it.

Verse 8

· The destruction that comes on Babylon is going to be severe but we learn that it is going to be swift!

· “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day”

· The fall of Babylon will not be a drug out war, it will not be a gradual chipping away, it will be a destruction that happens in a day.

· The relevance that Babylon had, is insignificant when it comes to the judgment of God. God doesn’t care what dealings Babylon had, He does not care that she was such a prominent place in the world.

· Sin has to be dealt with, and God will make sure to deal with this place, ideal, and influence completely.

· Now, note what comes with her destruction.

o Death – people are going to literally die from this destruction. There are those who may want to say that this is all symbolic. They do not want to accept the reality of this judgment. But friend, there are going to be people who die, because of their unbelief.

o Mourning – the heart ache that so many are going to feel when they see this place destroyed is going to be great. There are many who are going to lose family members. Children and grandchildren, that will perish in this judgment.

o Famine – there will be a severe shortage of food, goods, and necessities. The fall of Babylon will deliver a famine onto the world that hasn’t been seen in ages.

o Now what is the judgment that God delivers? Well it is a fire that comes down on to her.

o Remember, God is going to use these nations who represent the beast, to come and attack Babylon. This place who has influenced the world for her own benefit and power.

o This attack that is unleashed is said to be fire, almost in a similar method that we see Sodom being destroyed with fire and brimstone. Babylon is destroyed with fire.

o This is a fire that I believe could be delivered by missiles or a nuclear bomb. Thinking to be untouchable, Babylon carries herself like she is untouchable. But with nations gathering against her, her reign comes to an end.

o I believe that the military assault that will take place will devastate Babylon, where she is no longer a credible force anymore.

o Now again, picture this is America. Many people despise us like the ancients despise Rome. What if, this is a rally against us as a nation that comes and destroys us as a superpower.

o No longer, will America be a force or power.

o Babylon thought herself to be strong, invincible, but she was no match for the Lord. By just his moving on hearts, he was able to bring destruction on Babylon.

o Listen, the Lord is strong, and when I mean strong, I mean omnipotent. There is none who can compare to the Lord.

o He doesn’t even have to lift a finger to destroy this place. He is able to just place a thought on the hearts of men, and is able to carry out his will.

It is at this point we will stop our study until next time.