The Proclamation of Judgment upon the City of Babylon
Rev. 18:1-8
"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."
Another great angel comes down from heaven with great power. His glory is so brilliant that the entire earth is lightened by it. This is the angel that makes the proclamation of judgment.
The city is fallen and becomes the habitation of demons. The foul spirits lodge there. It is the cage of unclean and hateful birds. This is a picture of utter desolation and destruction.
The commercial wealth of the city has drawn the merchants of the earth to her shores. The political power of the city has attracted the kings of the earth. These two things have induced the peoples of earth to enter into the most intimate relations with this city and her inhabitants. They have thus become partakers of their sins. In their drunken state they must share in the wrath that goes with it.
Note Jeremiah 51:7 and Revelation 17:4. This aspect of her wickedness applies mainly to her character as the “Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth,” with all her false evolutionary pantheistic religious systems and the ungodly practices of their cultures.
Introduction vs. 1
"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory."
Another great angel comes down from heaven with great power. His glory is so brilliant that the entire earth is lightened by it. This is the angel that makes the proclamation of judgment.
The Desolation
of Babylon vs. 2
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."
The city is fallen and becomes the habitation of demons. The foul spirits lodge there. It is the cage of unclean and hateful birds. This is a picture of utter desolation and destruction.
The Fornication
of Babylon vs. 3
"For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies."
The commercial wealth of the city has drawn the merchants of the earth to her shores. The political power of the city has attracted the kings of the earth. These two things have induced the peoples of earth to enter into the most intimate relations with this city and her inhabitants. They have thus become partakers of their sins. In their drunken state they must share in the wrath that goes with it.
Note Jeremiah 51:7 and Revelation 17:4. This aspect of her wickedness applies mainly to her character as the “Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth,” with all her false evolutionary pantheistic religious systems and the ungodly practices of their cultures.
Ancient Babylon, beginning with Nimrod and brought to its zenith under Nebuchadnezzar, was also the mother of human covetousness and desire for wealth and luxuries. That same spirit infected many of the Jewish exiles there, as well as the trading partners of the Babylonians in other nations, and in every age and nation since, there have been some men who have been able to accumulate great wealth and even greater power than kings and emperors. Paul charged that covetousness was really idolatry (Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5), and warned that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Perhaps today, more so than ever in history, the real power of the nations rests in the hands of international financiers, industrial barons, shipping magnates and other men of great wealth who can manipulate governments almost like puppets. All of this wealth and power will finally be centered in Babylon the Great, after its installation as the world’s great center—not only its geographical and population center, but also its center of finance, trade, communication, culture and government. See notes on Zechariah 5:5-11.
The Separation
From Babylon vs. 4
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
This is undoubtedly a call to the Jewish people
who have been attracted to the city through commercialism. Perhaps others also
have been attracted there. But it is the call to escape before the judgment
falls.
The Retribution upon Babylon vs. 5-6
"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double."
The highest
form of Satanic defiance is indicated by the words that her sins have reached
unto heaven. But God hath remembered her sins even though it seemed that he had
forgotten or never knew. To her shall be rewarded double for her works. In
Chapter 17 is the record of the first judgment, in 18 the second.
The Exaltation of Babylon vs. 7
"How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."
She lived deliciously. She meted out torment and
sorrow to others. She dares to suggest that she is a queen and no widow and
will never see any sorrow. This is pictured in 2 Thess. 2:3-4.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
The Termination of Babylon vs. 8
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
- The suddenness of her judgment: in one day.
- The substance of her judgment: plagues, death, mourning.
- The scale of her judgment: utterly burned with fire.
- The source of her judgment: the Lord God judgeth her.
"But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.""And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."
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