(*All Bible verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)
Chapter 18
18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’
19 They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’
20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.”
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
Rev 18:18
When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city:
Everything John has seen has been leading to the fall of “Babylon”, but it’s not the end of the world. John was asked why he stared in wonder at the glittering “prostitute” (17:6-7). For centuries after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (c. 476 AD), despite the pagan decadence that characterized Rome, the evolving Christian world looked back and yearned for Rome’s former glory. The Latin language would continue to be spoken in church liturgy for nearly two thousand years. People yearned for the grandeur of ancient Rome evidenced by the clergy’s robes, the jewels, purples, scarlets, and the glittering gold that adorned cathedrals and pontiffs.
Rev 18:19
Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin:
There is something almost pathetic in these laments. In every case, the cry is not necessarily for the great city, but for themselves – for lost wealth and luxury.
If the foundation of a person’s life is material wealth, there’s nothing left when money and possessions dissolve. There was nothing inherently evil about the commodities that made up Rome’s commerce. In fact, John will use images of gold and jewels to describe the Holy City of God’s presence.
It’s the fact that Satan uses the provision provided by God to seduce mankind away from reliance on Him and instead turn their eyes toward material wealth for their security!
Matt 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Luke 12:33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
Rev 18:20
Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you:
G.B. Caird translates this verse as, for God has imposed on her the sentence she passed on you!1 The principle expressed in this rendering can be seen in two Old Testament laws – the law of bloodshed and the law of malicious witness:
Gen 9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.
Deut 19:18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you.
Deut 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
Jer 51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her,” declares the LORD. 49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
These words are ones of justice, not just the vengeance of an angry God. The ultimate message proclaimed by the prophets is that God’s righteousness will prevail over tyranny!
Rev 18:21
Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again:
Jer 51:63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’
Luke 17:2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
This angel is the third to be given the title, “mighty”.
The first mighty angel
Asked the question, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (Rev 5:2-5)
The second mighty angel
He was surrounded by a rainbow and shone like the sun. He had the “little scroll” in his hand. (Rev 10:1-3)
The third mighty angel
Takes a great millstone and hurls it into the sea; the water closes over it as if it had never been.
In God’s timing, Babylon, the symbol of the world’s evil, the “great city” that tramples righteousness and justice, the gaudy prostitute that misleads mankind, will be thrown down and will be found no more!
Rev 18:22-24
The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again…By your magic spell all the nations were led astray…
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.
In verse 24, the eternal principle is proclaimed. The great city, Babylon, and the prostitute do not just epitomize Rome and Jerusalem; They symbolize all of Satan’s evil institutions that have maligned, harassed, and sought to crush God’s people from the beginning of time – “all who have been slaughtered on the earth!”
Footnotes
- Caird, p. 229. ↩︎
*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
