Revelation 18

V1. After the presentation of Babylon as a woman (harlot) and the judgment on her, Babylon is presented in this chapter as a city and we also see the judgment on it. Babylon is presented as a religious system under the symbol of a woman. The aspect of ‘harlot’ connects to this her unfaithfulness to and apostasy from God. Under the symbol of a city Babylon is presented as a political, cultural and economic power and that’s what this chapter deals with.

With the words “after these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven” a new period is ushered in, which we from the words “after these things”, with the announcement of a new judgment by “another angel”. The impressiveness of his appearance is given added force by the addition “having great authority”. By the way, it seems that it is not just an angel. It may be that this angel is a hidden manifestation of the Lord Jesus, given the accompanying phenomena. Of whom else could it be said that his glory illumined the earth (cf. Eze 43:2)?

V2. This verse describes the condition of Babylon after Babylon as a false church is robbed from her religious power (Rev 17:16) and both beasts are in charge of the ‘Christian’ Western world. The angel speaks with a powerful voice about the fall of Babylon. Everyone should know. With a repeated “fallen” the angel tells the world that the great, impressive Babylon is no longer standing, but has fallen from her pedestal.

The word ‘fallen’ indicates a sudden and instant fall and that it is once and for all (cf. Isa 21:9). She will never rise again. How great and rich she may have been, she has fallen. Nothing was able to prevent or stop her fall.

The perfect tense of the word ‘fallen’ shows the absolute assurance of the prophecy. The moment that John is watching this, there is nothing visible yet of a fall of Babylon. But to God, the future is present, or as here, even already happened, so past tense.

“Bird” here is called, as it happens more often, in an unfavorable sense (Mt 13:32; Isa 34:11-15; Jer 5:27; Dan 4:12). The word for “dwelling” used here, appear only in Ephesians 2 once more where it refers to the dwelling of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:22). Here it concerns the dwelling place of the spirit of the enemy of God. Besides a dwelling place it is also “a prison”. If the demons and all kinds of uncleanness have a dwelling place there, this system must be thoroughly evil. How evil it is, is further demonstrated in the next verse.

V3. There is, as you have seen before, not only mention of religious harlotry, but there is also an economic connection with the world. Babylon is not only a false religious system, but it is also a great politic and economic power in the world. This enticed the nations to drink from the wine she offered. The wine is here associated with “passion” and “immorality”. It is the cunning deception of the harlot who pretends that trading with her gives benefit and joy, while in reality she has wicked intentions.

The nations failed to see through her treacherous purpose and have eagerly accepted the trade she offered. As a result, the leaders of the nations committed themselves to her in a reprehensible way. She did not disguise her nature of harlot, but the merchants gladly attached themselves to her. Great might emanated from her wealth. The merchants of the world have seen the big money in her and wanted to profit from it as much as possible.

Babylon (or Rome) has gained her wealth largely by offering for sale the redemption of the soul. Many billions have been paid to the roman-catholic church by people who believed that they could buy their beloved ones into heaven. Dave Hunt writes in his book ‘A woman Rides the Beast’ about many more scandals than the shameful distortions of the gospel that has deceived many hundreds of millions of people. He reports of corrupt financial transactions, money laundering from drug trafficking, trafficking with forged securities and cooperation with the mafia (documented in police reports) that for a long period of time have received their orders across the globe from the Vatican.

Also the value of the art treasures that are in the possession of Rome, cannot be estimated. The roman-catholic church is by far the richest institution of the world. And then to think that Christ and His disciples were living in poverty. Christ has told His disciples not to store up for themselves treasures on earth (Mt 6:19). The roman-catholic church does not care about that, but it has stored up for itself a fullness of wealth which is unmatchable and over which the pope has the highest management and the greatest access.

V4. This ungodly system which is corrupted to the very core can in no way be a dwelling place of God’s people. How kindly the pope or his subordinates may speak, those are voices from the abyss. To God’s people there comes a voice from heaven that calls to come out of this system. It is not possible to stay there without participating in her sins. Staying there also means participating in the plagues that will strike her. It is the last appeal in the Scripture to come out of what will soon be judged because the people have not given the Christ of the Scriptures His true place. The reason for coming out of her is to be a pure bride for the Lord.

Here every believer is reminded of the necessity to separate himself from every religious system that maintains an impure relationship with the wicked world. Literally the order to come out had come in the past to Judah, that was in exile in Babylon (Isa 48:20; 52:11; Jer 50:8; 51:6,9). Separation from the evil has been necessary for the believers at all times and that will remain so, also after the rapture of the church, like here. For us it is about separation in a spiritual sense and specifically in three relations. We are called to separate ourselves from the world (2Cor 6:17), from Judaism that rejects Christ (Heb 13:13) and from the false Christians (2Tim 2:19-22).

In the time in which the fall of Babylon will take place, the church is already caught up to heaven. That does not mean that there will be no believers of the false church that will still exist. God’s people who are called here to come out of her, are believers who have repented after the rapture of the church by the sovereignty of God’s Spirit. But staying there is absolutely not possible. God cannot be there and He will judge the system. Even though a person may possibly have no part in the prevailing evil in that system, he will defile himself by staying there. That happens by staying in such a system, because it means contributing to the maintenance and in that way to the promotion of evil (2Jn 1:11).

V5. The plagues that will strike the Vatican are so rightly deserved that it may be considered a miracle that God has tolerated it that long. But God judges only when the measure of unrighteousness has been completed (cf. Gen 15:16). In the case of the Vatican, with all her treasures obtained by shady practices, the judgment will come when her sins “have piled up as high as heaven”. ‘Have piled up’ literally means ‘glued together or cemented together like bricks in a building’. God remembers her iniquities when her sins have reached that height and that gravity. That does not mean that God has forgotten them for a while, but it means that He proceeds to act.

V6. The double measure of payback is in accordance with her own double action. Her deeds were characterized by horrible wickedness. Her double action is shown therein that she pretended to be righteous and faithful, but she was unrighteous and unfaithful. She was hypocritical in every way. Her cup which she offered was therefore “the cup which she has mixed”. She mixed the truth with lies, benefit with greed. She presented heaven but she made it a financial source of profit. This very mixing makes her so hated by God. God hates every sin, but He especially hates sins that are committed under the appearance of Godliness.

V7. With all her charms and calls to the world to treat one another peacefully, she has only been seeking to glorify herself. Whatever she has preached of the truth, its purpose was not the glorification of God but the glorification of herself. When the pope writes a book about Jesus, a book that is praised by theologians, even by orthodox theologians, it is a trick of satan. It strengthens the position of the pope even more.

He may theologically write many right things about Jesus, but if he does not condemn his position and the system that he represents, he has not written the whole truth of God about Jesus. He remains to go on with his luxurious life. If he stays there, he will receive the plagues and will share in the torment and mourning that will strike the Vatican. At the moment every thought of mourning is strange to him. After all, he expects to possess the world domination. In his heart he holds on to his position of government. He also holds on to his claim that the roman-catholic church is the bride of Christ. And what to say about the arrogance that he is called ‘substitute of Christ and shepherd over the whole church’.

V8. “In one day her plagues will come”, fast and inevitable. The ten kings will give her a devastating blow in full force, for they are used by God for this judgment, as you have seen at the end of the previous chapter. Nothing can soften the judgment that strikes her. It will be merciless, without compassion. She has to do with the Ruler of the universe, with the almighty God under Whose avenging hand all her pretense turns into “pestilence and mourning and famine”. She gave the impression that she could give life, happiness and saturation in exchange for money and goods. Now she receives what she has done to numerous defenseless victims. She has fallen through the mighty Lord and God against Whom every thought of resistance is plainly ridiculous.

In His glory and excellence He throws this widow down, whereby He uses the means which He in His sovereignty chooses for that purpose as the most suitable. Through the use of this means, namely the ten kings, the plagues come over her in the most terrible way. She had never expected that the beast on which she was riding, would turn itself against her. But the political, economic and cultural power of Babylon will be judged in a way according to God’s will. Therefore it is a definite judgment. She will “be burned up with fire”. There will be nothing left of her on earth than her ashes. It will be impossible for her to rise up again from the ashes, for her everlasting fate is the eternal fire in which she will end up and which will rule over her forever and ever.

V9. The ten kings that were ruled by Rome, but which turned against her and through whom God judged her, are not the only kings. There are also “kings of the earth” who have particularly profited from her. They have had intimate relationships with her and have bathed in the wealth it brought. Because of the judgment on Babylon all that falls away. That saddens them greatly.

It is not a sadness because of what happened to her, but because of what they have lost by it. The kings see the judgment, but they have no compassion with her. Their selfishness is the cause of the tears over their cheeks and of their lamentation. When they “see the smoke of her burning”, they realize it is over and done.

V10. The kings do not try to help her, but they remain at a distance. Besides the selfish sorrow there is also fear, for they notice that the city is being tormented. They stay away from her. They rather stand “at a distance”, than go and see what is left of Babylon. They can see from a distance that nothing is left of that great, mighty, economic stronghold. The fierceness, the speed and the suddenness of the judgment that has struck her, makes clear to them that a greater power is at work.

Now read Revelation 18:1-10 again.

Revelation: Why is it necessary to separate from evil?

V11. The economic world has become dependent on her in such a way that with her collapse all prosperity disappears. From all over the earth merchants have traded with her. “The merchants of the earth” may include top executives of international companies. They owe their riches also to their merchandize with the Vatican.

V12-13. The fabulous riches of the Vatican have been gained through a fabulous extent of cargoes or merchandize. A summary of twenty eight kinds of cargoes follows that are roughly to be divided in seven market areas:
1. mineral resources as a basis of all securities = the market for investments;
2. fine clothing materials = the textile market;
3. precious objects of wood, metal and stone = the (luxurious) housing market;
4. spices and incenses = the market of luxurious goods;
5. drinks and food = the food market;
6. means of transport = the transport market
7. slaves and human lives = the labor market.

In the summary “slaves and human lives” are mentioned the last. That is typical for the value that men had in the eyes of Rome. They were considered to be less than all previous merchandize. With the merchandize in “human lives” we can think of the selling of indulgences.

V14. Of Rome itself there is nothing left, but also of any other thing she owned nothing is left. Everything her soul was desiring, “the fruit you long for” has gone from her. She has lost control over it, she cannot grasp it anymore. She has also lost everything in which her eyes found pleasure, “all things that were luxurious and splendid”, she no longer sees it. Any effort, if there could be one, to find it back, will be in vain, “[men] will no longer find them”. It has all been evaporated, vanished, uncollectable.

Everything she had longed for and what she has enjoyed has been taken away from her. She has lost everything, forever. This is what happens with all riches of a person who uses these riches for his own pleasure and honor. We may think of private aircrafts, luxurious yachts, large villas, expensive cars.

V15. With “the merchants” we may think of the directors and supervisory boards of the multinationals who had the monopoly “of these things”. The reaction of these folks is like that of the kings (verse 9). Even their sorrow, “weeping and mourning”, is purely selfish (verse 10). From the judgment on Babylon comes fear. They no longer dare to approach her because they realize that it is not a natural disaster, but an intervention from on High.

V16. The merchants cry out a double “woe”, because they absolutely have not expected it. After all, it was “the great city”. They thought that nothing could go wrong with it. She survived every economic recession. Her supplies seemed inexhaustible. The city was not only great and mighty, but she was also attractive. Her total appearance was glamorous. Now everything has turned into ashes. All of a sudden everything has disappeared, the riches have made themselves wings (Pro 23:5) and those who have profited from it are the losers.

V17. They are amazed that everything happened so fast. There had been no time to prepare an assistance plan. Unlike the judgment on the harlot, which happens in stages (Rev 17:16), the judgment on the city happens at once, in one hour. The merchants are very sorry that the great city has been destroyed, but only because of the downfall of “such great wealth”.

There are still other categories that were struck by the collapse of the city. Not only the merchants, but also all transportation companies of the materials of the city see their profit disappear. The consequences of God’s judgment on the city will be noticed to the ends of the earth.

V18. Despite the fact that these merchants see the result of the judgment, they cry out their uncovered admiration for the city (cf. Eze 27:32). The profits that this city has brought them are not to be compared with any other city. Harbors like Rotterdam and New York are in the shadow of the Vatican as an economic power center.

V19. They express their despair in the old habit of throwing dust on the head (Job 2:12; Lam 2:10; Eze 27:30). The symbolic meaning of dust is death. And that is indeed the only thing that has left for them. The cause of their mourning does not go further than mourning about the loss of profit and riches. They speak about “her wealth”, which means that this city had the most precious things that the world may harbor. They are also amazed about the rapid and radical judgment that has struck the city.

From the mourning the great power becomes apparent of this degenerated Christian system in the present world. Kings (verse 9), merchants (verse 11) and sailors (verse 17) from all over the world have had relations with her.

V20. It is not said who is talking in this verse. It is plausible that Christ Himself makes this call to burst forth into joy. In contrast to the lamentation over the destruction of the city by those who have profited from her, is the joy of those who suffered from her. They see that God has done justice. The exercise of justice is God’s business, not ours (Rom 12:19). God’s right will one day appear for all those saints who have suffered injustice on earth (Rev 17:6). That happens here.

The “prophets” are the New Testament prophets. Apostles and prophets are the founders of the church (Eph 2:20). In that way all who have been built up together as church by their teachings in the Scripture and have behaved as strangers on earth, have thereby incurred the wrath of Rome. They have kept distance from her pursuit of riches and therefore did not contribute to it. Therefore Rome raged against them.

V21. For the third time you read about “a strong angel”. The first time it is in relation to the book with the seven seals (Rev 5:2). There it is about the judgment on the Roman empire. The second time is in relation to the little book (Rev 10:1). There it is about the judgment on Israel. This third time it is about the definite judgment on the great Babylon (Jer 51:58,61-64).

Babylon is compared to “a great millstone”. That reminds us of a warning of the Lord addressed to someone who causes a little child to stumble in his faith. He says that it would be better for such a person to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea (Mt 18:6). Babylon has caused a lot of people to stumble in their faith by threatening and murdering those who tried to escape her control by faith in the Lord Jesus. Her deceiving practices are definitely over by this judgment that is being executed with violence.

V22. With the downfall of the city all elements of culture and merchandize, which have made the residence in the city so pleasant, have definitely disappeared. In that place of entertainment and noise a dead silence has risen that will never be broken. There will never ever be seen a sign of life again, no such system of wickedness will never arise again. The music has been brought to silence. Once a descendant of Cain introduced music into the world to make the world a pleasant place without God (Gen 4:21). It has become an industry, the entertainment industry, where big money was made.

The artists or craftsmen have decorated Rome and have made it a magnificent and attractive system. The sound of a mill is that of a hand mill used to grind grain to bake bread. But even that sound is not and never be heard again. There will no longer be any household activity.

These consequences of the judgment on Babylon are also the consequences of the judgment that will strike the unfaithful Jerusalem (Jer 25:10-11).

V23. Beside dead silence there is also pitch black darkness. The light will never shine there again, for Babylon is shrouded in darkness forever. Neither will there be any mention of marriage ceremonies she held nor the joy that went together with it. She has always falsely represented marriage as the relation that she herself had with Christ. But an end is made to this appearance with the false joy that was included.

The merchants are here called “your merchants”. She got involved with the bank directors, with those who controlled over the financial markets and in that way steered the economy and exerted her deceiving influence on it. In that way she has ruled in and over the world that has the hallmark of having rejected Christ and living in rebellion against Him. To exercise her influence she even made use of occultism by consulting demons.

V24. This verse gives once again the clear ground for her judgment. In her judgment her history will be visible for all. All the crimes that she has committed will then be found in her, will be brought to the surface and be exposed. Up to that moment she has exercised through the ages her murderous practices under a Christian mask. Then the blood will be revealed that she has shed of those who have been slain by her.

Now read Revelation 18:11-24 again.

Reflection: What lessons can you draw from the destruction of the wealth of the city of Babylon?