Babylon is Destroyed, 1-24
18:1 After these things I saw another angel, who possessed great authority, coming down out of heaven, and the earth was lit up by his radiance. 18:2 He shouted with a powerful voice:
“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!
She has become a lair for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detested beast.
18:3 For all the nations have fallen from
the wine of her immoral passion,
and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.”
This chapter, which forms the climax and completion of Rev 17:12-18, recollects all those OT prophecies that pronounce doom on the prosperous but oppressive nations. See esp. Isa 13, 21, 47; Jer 50, 51; Ezek 26, 27. (NBC)
“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” – a quotation from Isa 21:9. See also Rev 14:8.
‘Babylon’ represents Rome (identified most clearly in Rev 17:9,18), ‘as the incarnation of the spirit of evil that has ever assaulted God’s people’ (NBC). It is true that Rome itself became the worldwide centre of Christianity, but that prospect is scarcely within John’s sights here.
‘Already in the OT (cf. Isa 13:1-22, esp. the ultimacy of the language in Isa 13:9-13; 14:3-23) and certainly in the NT (e.g., 1 Pet 5:13; cf. 1:1; 2:11), Babylon stands not for a specific power but more generally for world power in opposition to God-the empire where God’s people live in exile. This is particularly clear in Revelation, which draws heavily on OT imagery in portraying the end times. Here stands Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes. She is the harlot, drunk on the blood of the martyrs, making others drunk with the wine of fornication (Rev 17:1-6), forced by God to drink a double draught of judgment in her own cup (Rev 18:3-6). She is the arrogant and secure queen of the whole earth, now smitten suddenly and decisively with pestilence, mourning and famine (Rev 17:15-18, 18:7-8); desolate, naked and destroyed (Rev 17:16); deprived of all her previous luxuries (Rev 18:11-19). She is the ruin inhabited by demons and birds (Rev 18:2). The force of the imagery is the more strongly felt in Revelation because of the deliberate contrast drawn toward the end of the book between Babylon and the new Jerusalem, which is presented as the Bride of Christ (Rev 19:6-9; 21:1-27).’ (DBI)
18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so you will not take part in her sins and so you will not receive her plagues, 18:5 because her sins have piled up all the way to heaven and God has remembered her crimes. 18:6 Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her. 18:7 As much as she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’ 18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues in a single day: disease, mourning, and famine, and she will be burned down with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”
“Come out of her, my people” –
As Gorman (Reading Revelation Responsibly) notes, the judgment of Babylon applies to ‘us’, as well as to ‘them’. There is an economic dimension to this, which applies to individuals, families and congregations alike. How do we earn our money, and how do we spend it? Gilbert Desrosiers suggest that the two beasts of Rev 13 can be thought of as capitalism and consumerism, and David DaSilva has reminded us that ‘a person cannot share in the profits of domination without also sharing in its crimes’.
Gorman writes:
‘If Christians should not engage in sex in the same kinds of ways as the Gentiles who do not know God (1 Thess 4:5), then neither should we engage in commerce as if we were non-believers.’
What vocations are consistent with a Christian world-view? Prostitution and drug dealing are obviously inconsistent. But what about serving in the armed forces? Most of us would consider teaching to be an honourable profession, but there may be values and practices – including nationalism and consumerism – which a Christian teacher might question.
In economic life, does a business increase, or decrease, the disparity between the rich and the poor? Does it help, or harm, the environment or other people? What principles do our churches apply, either to local fundraising or to investment?
How many economies appeal to greed, or are based on materialism, sexual lust, or exploitation? Note the reference to human trafficing in v13.
Do our ways of spending mirror the spirit of the gospel? Do they:
‘benefit the least, the last, and the lost? Do they promote justice and the healing of the nations? Do they reflect our convictions about the reign of God and the Lamb? Or do they reflect the values and practices of Babylon, of those who do not know God?’
18:9 Then the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up. 18:10 They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,
“Woe, woe, O great city,
Babylon the powerful city!
For in a single hour your doom has come!”
18:11 Then the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo any longer—18:12 cargo such as gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all sorts of things made of citron wood, all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble, 18:13 cinnamon, spice, incense, perfumed ointment, frankincense, wine, olive oil and costly flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four-wheeled carriages, slaves and human lives.
Bodies and souls of men – indicating the trafficking of human slaves; cf. Ezek 27:13.
NBC quotes Swete: ‘The world of St. John’s day ministered in a thousand ways to the follies and vices of Babylon, but the climax was reached in the sacrifice of human life which recruited the huge familiae of the rich, filled the brothels, and ministered to the brutal pleasures of the amphi-theatre.’
18:14 (The ripe fruit you greatly desired
has gone from you,
and all your luxury and splendor
have gone from you—
they will never ever be found again!)
18:15 The merchants who sold these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep and mourn, 18:16 saying,
“Woe, woe, O great city—
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing,
and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls—
18:17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!”
And every ship’s captain, and all who sail along the coast—seamen, and all who make their living from the sea, stood a long way off 18:18 and began to shout when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up, “Who is like the great city?” 18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning,
“Woe, Woe, O great city—
in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth—
because in a single hour she has been destroyed!”
18:20 (Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has pronounced judgment against her on your behalf!)
18:21 Then one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,
“With this kind of sudden violent force
Babylon the great city will be thrown down
and it will never be found again!
18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,
flute players, and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again.
No craftsman who practices any trade
will ever be found in you again;
the noise of a mill will never be heard in you again.
18:23 Even the light from a lamp
will never shine in you again!
The voices of the bridegroom and his bride
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,
because all the nations were deceived by your magic spells!
18:24 The blood of the saints and prophets was found in her,
along with the blood of all those who had been killed on the earth.”
Magic spells – probably meant figuratively – ‘‘the witchery of gay luxurious vice and its attendant idolatries, by which the world was fascinated and led astray.’ (Swete)