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               The Fall of Commercial Babylon, Part 1

                                                       Revelation 18:1-8 

 

Scripture Reading and Insights

Begin by reading Revelation 18:1-8 in your favorite Bible. As you read, keep in mind that God desires you not only to hear His Word but also to do it (James 1:22). In yesterday’s reading, we witnessed the destruction of religious Babylon. Now let’s find out about the destruction of commercial Babylon—the antichrist’s economic headquarters. With your Bible still accessible, consider the following insights on the biblical text, verse by verse.

Revelation 18:1-3

I saw another angel coming down (18:1): This a portion of Revelation presents an interesting irony. While the antichrist is preparing his armies to attack Israel (the initial stages of the campaign of Armageddon), God judges and destroys the antichrist’s economic headquarters in Babylon along the Euphrates River (see Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 50:11-27,40). This destruction will come on Babylon as a direct, decisive judgment from the hand of God. Indeed, God will settle the score for Babylon’s long history of standing against His people of Israel. Just as Babylon showed no mercy to its oppression against Israel in the past, so God will now show no mercy to Babylon during the tribulation. This judgment will apparently occur at the very end of the seven-year tribulation period. In Revelation 18:1, the angel is said to have great authority, so we can surmise that an important judgment is about to be unleashed.

The earth was made bright with his glory (18:1):

This does not necessarily mean that the angel has intrinsic glory. It is more likely that having just come from God’s presence in heaven, the angel still shines forth the radiating glory of God. This is similar to what happened to Moses when receiving the two stone tablets of the law. On that occasion, “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34:29). “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (18:2): The dual occurrence of the word “fallen” apparently indicates both the woeful condition of commercial/political Babylon as well as the certainty of judgment (compare with Isaiah 21:9; Jeremiah 51:8).

This is another proleptic announcement—a description of future action as if it had already occurred. It emphasizes that God’s triumph over evil Babylon is an accomplished fact even though its execution is actually yet future (in the seventh bowl judgment). Religious Babylon is apparently destroyed about halfway through the tribulation period (Revelation 17), but the destruction of economic/political Babylon is apparently at the end of the seven-year period

(Revelation 18). Revelation 18:2 describes the city of Babylon as it will be once God finally judges it at the end of the tribulation (see also Isaiah 13:21; 47:7-9; Jeremiah 50–51). “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” (18:2): This demonstrates how horrific God’s judgment will be.

 Babylon will become utterly desolate. “All nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality” (18:3): The words of this verse are quite similar to those in Revelation 17:2. The earlier verse, however, dealt with religious Babylon (a false religious system), whereas our present verse deals with economic/political Babylon. Just as religious Babylon entices the people of the world into committing spiritual fornication (Revelation 17:2,4), so commercial/political Babylon will entice the unbelieving world into anti-God materialism. In both cases, people will be utterly unfaithful to God. The imagery seems to indicate that the anti-God political, economic, and commercial system of Babylon will influence everyone on earth—“all nations” and “the kings of the earth.”

The influence of Babylon will be universal. It will have an octopus-like reach around the world. “The merchants of the earth have grown rich” (18:3): Because of the commercial success of this city, merchants around the world will become wealthy. Anti-God materialism will be rampant. The city and all that it represents will be ripe for judgment.

Revelation 18:4-8

Another voice…“Come out of her, my people” (18:4): John then hears another voice from heaven— perhaps an angel who speaks for God—urging the faithful to dissociate from Babylon. Otherwise, sin may result, and they may end up being on the receiving end of the plagues that will shortly fall on Babylon (see Isaiah 52:11; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 1 John 2:15-17). If they separate, the implication is that they will receive God’s protection (compare with Matthew 24:16; Revelation 12:14). Both Isaiah and Jeremiah called the people of God to leave Babylon (see Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6-9,45).

 Prophecy scholars Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy provide this helpful explanation of how Jews are able to make it out of Babylon before judgment falls on the city: When Babylon is destroyed, the Antichrist will not be present in the city. He will be told of its destruction by messengers (Jeremiah 50:43; 51:31,32)…The attack will be swift, but there will be some warning or opportunity for Jews who are living in Babylon to flee from the city (Jeremiah 50:6-8,28; 51:5,6). Even in these last days, God will preserve a remnant of His people. These refugees are to go to Jerusalem and tell them of the city’s destruction and their escape (Jeremiah 51:10,45,50; Revelation 18:4,5).1 “Her sins are heaped high as heaven” (18:5): Here is the reason why God’s people must quickly exit Babylon. Babylon’s sins are almost immeasurable. “God has remembered her iniquities”—His patience has now been exhausted. Judgment is about to fall. A righteous and holy God must judge such unrepentant evil. “Pay her back…repay her double” (18:6): Here we find an echo of the lex talionis, the law of retaliation.

As Matthew 7:2 put it, “With the judgment, you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Galatians 6:7 tells us, “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Babylon had sown evil and is now about to reap evil. Babylon will now receive the payment that it had paid out to others. It will now be on the receiving end of what it had dished out to others (such as the Jews throughout biblical history). In fact, Babylon will be repaid double. This was a common judicial requirement in Old Testament law (see Exodus 22:4,7,9; Isaiah 40:2; 61:7; Jeremiah 16:18; 17:18; Zechariah 9:12). Babylon’s judgment would be thorough, even overflowing.

 Such judgment might seem harsh at first glance. One must keep in mind, however, that all the people associated with economic/political Babylon had fallen into such deep wickedness, with no repentance in view, that they were essentially beyond the point of no return in their moral choices. They seemed irrevocably committed to the person and program of the antichrist. They had permanently crossed the line, declaring allegiance for the antichrist and against God. Judgment was thus unavoidable. “Give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen’” (18:7): What irony we see in this verse.

Though Babylon had been proud, she will now be humbled. Though Babylon enjoyed glory and luxury, she will now be brought low in torment and mourning. Though Babylon had pretended to be a queen, she will now be brought low by the royal King of kings. Babylon had seemed superior in every way, but its moral inferiority will now be judged. One cannot help but notice that the description of Babylon in this verse bears at least some resemblance to the Laodicean church. Christ said to this church: “You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked”

(Revelation 3:17). Self-delusion is a wretched state. “Her plagues will come in a single day” (18:8): The people of God must make haste to separate themselves from the evil system of

Babylon, for judgment, will come suddenly in one day. There will be death and mourning and famine and fire. The collapse of the city will be stunning. “Mighty is the Lord God who has judged her” (18:8): Babylon had thought itself to be mighty, but the Lord God is truly mighty.

Major Themes

1. Sin: missing the target. A key meaning of sin in the Bible is “to miss the target.” Sin is failure to live up to God’s standards. All of us miss the target. Not one person is capable of fulfilling all of God’s laws at all times (Romans 3:23). Some people may be more righteous than others, but all of us fall short of God’s infinitely perfect standards. When we sin, God desires repentance and confession (see 1 John 1:9). When people such as those associated with Babylon go deeper and deeper into sin, with no repentance in sight, they become ripe for judgment (see Psalms 9:7; 96:13; Ecclesiastes 3:17; Romans 2:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3; 2 Peter 3:7).

2. God’s holiness and human sin. Human sin shows up in the light of God’s holiness (Romans 3:23). This is illustrated in the life of Isaiah. He was a relatively righteous man, but when he saw God in His infinite holiness, his own personal sin came into clear focus: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). When we measure ourselves against other human beings, we may come out looking okay. But other human beings are not our moral measuring stick—God is And as we measure ourselves against God in His infinite holiness and righteousness, our sin shows up in all of its ugliness. God’s judgments fall on unrepentant people in the tribulation period because their sin represents a calloused disregard for God in His holiness. They do not even care that they fall short of God’s righteous standards.

Digging Deeper with Cross-References

Flee from evil Babylon—Genesis 19:12; Numbers 16:26; Isaiah 48:20; 52:11; Jeremiah 50:8;

51:6-9, 45. Materialism and riches—Proverbs 15:27; Ecclesiastes 5:10; Jeremiah 17:11; Matthew 6:19-21; 1 Timothy 6:10; James 5:3.

Life Lessons

1. God forgets our sins. Revelation 18:5 says that God remembers the sins of the Babylonians. But in the new covenant, God says of those who turn to Him, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). In Hebrews 8:12 God promises, “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Psalm 103:12 proclaims: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” It is a wondrous thing to be forgiven of our sins such that God no longer remembers them!

2. Come out and be separate. Christians today are called to separate themselves from that

Which is ungodly. The apostle Paul urges Timothy, “Do not…take part in the sins of others;

Keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22). To the Ephesians he writes, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). And he writes this to the church in Corinth: Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

1. God has not only forgiven your sins but also forgotten them—all based on the work of Christ on the cross. Do you find that spiritually motivating? How does it affect your level of joy in life?

2. In view of the enticements of Western society, do you sometimes find it difficult to “come out

and be separate”? In what ways?

3. Do you ever struggle with materialism?