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Commentary on Revelation

Chapter 18

The doom of Babylon announced

This chapter contains a form of prophetic literature which is very common in the Old Testament. In particular, Chapter 18 is a "doom song" for the city of Rome. Compare Isaiah 13:19-22 which is a doom song for Babylon, Isaiah 34:11-15 which is a doom song for Edom, and Zephaniah 2:13-15 which is a doom song for Nineveh. In each case, the ruin of a great city is foretold in vivid, poetic language interspersed with apocalyptic speech.

Rev. 18:1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor.

This passage brings to mind Ezekiel 43:1-2 where we read that "the earth shone" with the glory of God. H. B. Swete writes that this angel has "so recently ... come from from the presence [of God] that in passing he brings a broad belt of light across the dark earth." This verse reconfirms that this song of doom and the judgment which it relays are from God.

2 And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;

Babylon has fallen. So certain is the fall of Rome, that it is spoken of in the past tense. This was also the case in 14:8 where an angel said "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great." The city has become a dwelling place of demons. Isaiah 13:17-22 describes the destruction of historical Babylon by the Medes in the same terms. (Recall that the historical city of Babylon was not literally destroyed and that the land is not literally a wasteland even today.) Why is the city described in this way? Barclay writes: "Surely the most dramatic part of the picture is the demons haunting the ruins. The pagan gods banished from their reign disconsolately haunt the ruins of the temples where once their power had been supreme."

3 for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness."

Rome was a great military and commercial power which enticed other nations to follow her wickedness. Rome was powerful and arrogant and openly boasted of her abominations. Compare the description given in Isaiah 10:12-14 of the "arrogant boasting" and "haughty pride" of the king of Assyria:

By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.

Rome had the same attitude as the Assyrian king and ultimately suffered the same fate.

The call to come out of Babylon

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

God calls for his people to come out of the city before they slip into Rome's evil ways and share in her destruction. This call is made many times in the Old Testament. God always wants his people to cut every connection with sin and to stand with him. God told Abraham in Gen. 12:1 to "Go from your country ... to the land I will show you." God told Lot in Gen. 19:12-14 "Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city." God told Moses in Numbers 16:23-26 "Get away from about the dwelling of Korath, Dathan and Abiram ... Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men." Isaiah 48:20 says "Go forth from Babylon, flee from Chaldea." Jeremiah 51:6 says "Flee from the midst of Babylon, let every man save his life." Was this a call for the people to literally leave the city? Barclay writes:

Swete well points out that this cry and challenge [to come out] do not involve a coming out at a definite moment. They imply a certain "aloofness of spirit maintained in the very heart of the world's traffic." They describe the essential apartness of the Christian from the world. ... The Christian is not conformed to the world but transformed from the world (Romans 12:2). It is not a question of retiring from the world; it is a question of living differently within the world.

This very passage may have been on John's mind when he wrote in 1:3 that "blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near."

"6 Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, 'A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,' 8 so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

God commands that Rome be punished and that vengeance be exacted. This command is not however directed toward men; it is directed toward the angel who is acting on God's behalf as his instrument of justice. Vengeance does not belong to man, it belongs to God. God said in Deut. 32:35 that "Vengeance is mine, and recompense." This passage teaches two lessons concerning the judgment of Rome.

(1) Galatians 6:7 says "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap." A man sows what he reaps. Punishment always follows sin. Although Christians are forgiven and not punished for their sin, the punishment is still inflicted. Recall Isaiah 53:4-6 -

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The first lesson we see here is that punishment and sin always go together. Sin has both eternal consequences and earthly consequences. Even Christians who are spared the eternal consequences may have to face earthly consequences. A forgiven convict must serve the remainder of his sentence. This passage parallels the command in Jeremiah 50:29 regarding Babylon:

Do to her according to all that she has done; for she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

We also learn a second important lesson from Rome's fall:

(2) All pride will one day be humiliated. Rome was judged more harshly because of her pride. She said "A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see." Rome was full of pride and thought she would never fall. Recall that pride is one of seven things which God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). The pride which God hates is the arrogance of those who feel they have no need of God. God's punishment for pride in the Old Testament was to inflict extreme humiliation and that is what he promises Rome. She would plummet from her glory to her destruction quickly and her destruction would be total and complete. Compare a similar pronouncements regarding Babylon:

Isaiah 47:7 You said, "I shall be mistress for ever," so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end. 8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children": 9 These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments. 10 You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, "No one sees me"; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." 11 But evil shall come upon you, for which you cannot atone; disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate; and ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you know nothing.

Both Babylon and Rome were filled with pride and later had to eat their boastful words. Isaiah 14 presents a vivid picture of the Babylonian king going into the underworld after his destruction to be greeted by other fallen nations. This passage implies that Rome would one day receive a similar greeting.

The lament of the world over Babylon

9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; 10 they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! alas! thou great city, thou mighty city, Babylon! In one hour has thy judgment come."

Verses 9-19 contain three dirges for Rome: a dirge sung by kings (9-10), a dirge sung by merchants (11-16), and a dirge sung by shipmasters and sailors (17-19). These dirges speak of the greatness, the wealth, and the luxury of Rome. Are such descriptions historically accurate? The Talmud says that of ten measures of wealth which came down into the world, Rome received nine and all the rest of the world only one. Aristides said that "if there is anything you cannot see at Rome, then it is a thing which does not exist and which never existed." Seutonius described Nero as follows: He never wore the same garment twice. ... He fished with a golden net drawn by cords woven of purple and scarlet threads. It is said he never made a journey with less than a thousand carriages, with his mules shod with silver." Seutonius says that Caligula would "drink pearls of great price dissolved in vinegar, and set before his guests loaves and meats of gold." Barclay says that "nothing John could say of Rome could be an exaggeration." These dirges describe the greatness, the wealth, and the luxury of Rome. They have many points in common with the lament over the city of Tyre found in Ezekiel 26 and 27.

11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 "The fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from thee, and all thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be found again!" 15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!

These passages speak of the great commercial success of Rome. Verses 12-14 indicate the vast extent of her trade. (These verses cause a lot of trouble for the "Babylon is Jerusalem" crowd but fit historical Rome perfectly. Verse 13 speaks of slaves. There were some 60 million slaves in the Roman empire.) The merchants weep because of their loss of business. Their lament is not for Rome but for their own losses. They, like the kings, stand far off and watch the destruction. They do not attempt to help the great city. Again, compare the lament for Tyre in Ezekiel 27 and 28.

17 In one hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?" 19 And they threw dust on their heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! In one hour she has been laid waste.

The city is pictured as being laid waste in one hour. Recall our comments regarding the use of the phrase "one hour." In 8:1 and elsewhere it is used to indicate a time of critical importance and activity. (My hour has not yet come.) Nero's fire raged a week and failed to destroy the entire city yet the fire which God sends destroys the city in one hour. Rome's fall is total and complete and worse than anything she could imagine. Compare this dirge of the shipmasters with the following passage from Ez. 27:28-30 -

At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countryside shakes, and down from their ships come all that handle the oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the shore and wail aloud over you, and cry bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.

Although Rome was not on the coast, the merchandise of the world entered at its port in Ostia. Again, the shipmasters weep over their loss of trade; their concern is for themselves, not for Rome. These men weep because their happiness was based upon the material things which came from their association with Rome.

Heaven's rejoicing over Babylon's fall

20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"

Rome's judgment is cause for rejoicing. God's people requested justice and God has delivered it. Again we find parallels in the Old Testament:

Jer. 51:48 - "Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, says the Lord."

Babylon's doom portrayed

21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So shall Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and shall be found no more; 22 and the sound of harpers and minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters, shall be heard in thee no more; and a craftsman of any craft shall be found in thee no more; and the sound of the millstone shall be heard in thee no more; 23 and the light of a lamp shall shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall be heard in thee no more; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, and all nations were deceived by thy sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."

A great millstone is thrown into the sea by a might angel to explain how the great city would be thrown down and found no more. A similar image is used in Jer. 51:63-64 to describe the fall of the literal city of Babylon:

When you finish reading this book, bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, 'Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the evil that I am bringing upon her.'

Rome, like Babylon, would fall never to rise again. There would be no revived Roman empire. The sound of craftsmen plying their trade would never be heard again. The sound of rejoicing would never be heard again. No lights in the houses or in the streets would be seen again. The sounds of weddings would no longer be heard. Compare the following Old Testament descriptions:

1. Jer. 25:10 (concerning Judah) "Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp."

2. Ezekiel 26:13 (concerning Tyre) "And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more." Verse 24 gives the reason for Rome's fall: She was covered with the blood of God's people. She like Tyre (Ezekiel 24:6) was a "bloody city."