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| Earl Gillespie |
A Study of The Book of Revelation
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Heaven Rejoice at The Fall of Babylon
A quick analysis of the chapter.
The visions described in this and
in the following chapter are evidently intended to represent, by vivid images
or symbology, the certain and terrible destruction of the great anti-Christian
powers represented by Babylon. The things John saw does not yet appear in their full intensity but in todays society
we can see a prelude of things to come; for this reason many teach we are living in the days of Revelation. Prior to being “caught up”, there was a concerted effort to take control
of the true church by the devil and his disciples. The church was held hostage by men and women under the guise of being righteous as they demanded retribution from its followers. They set themselves up as ruler and perverted the Word of God. We would do well to remember the warning of Jesus in Revelation 2:12-16:.
This chapter may be regarded as a still further explanatory episode,
designed to show the effect of pouring out the seventh vial (Revelation
16:17-21) on the formidable Anti-Christian power. The description in this chapter is that of a
rich merchant-city reduced to desolation, and is but carrying out the general
idea under a different form. The chapter comprises the following points:--
(1.) Another angel is seen descending from heaven, having great power,
and making proclamation that Babylon the great is fallen, and is become utterly
desolate, Revelation 18:1-3.
(2.) A warning voice is heard from heaven, calling on the people of
God to come out of her, and to be partakers neither of her sins nor her
plagues. Her torment and sorrow would be proportionate to her pride and luxury;
and her plagues would come upon her suddenly-- death, and mourning, and famine,
and consumption by fire, Revelation 18:4-8.
(3.) Lamentation over her fall--by those especially who had been
connected with her; who had been corrupted by her; who had been profited by
her, Revelation 18:9-19.
(a) By kings, Revelation 18:9-10. They had lived deliciously with her,
and they would lament her.
(b) by merchants, Revelation 18:11-17. They had trafficked with her,
but now that traffic was to cease, and no man would buy of her. Their business
so far as she was concerned, was at an end. All that she had accumulated was
now to be destroyed; all her gathered riches were to be consumed; all the
traffic in those things by which she had been enriched was to be ended; and the
city that was more than all others enriched by these things, as if clothed in
fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones,
and pearls, was to be destroyed for ever. Jesus first addressed this issue in Matthew
16:26 For what is a man profited, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?
(c) By ship-masters and seamen, Re 18:17-19.
They had been made rich by this traffic, but now all was ended; the
smoke of her burning is seen to ascend, and they stand afar off and weep.
(4.) Rejoicing over her fall, Re 18:20. Heaven is called upon to
rejoice, and the holy apostles and prophets, for their blood is avenged, and
persecution ceases in the earth.
(5.) The final destruction of the city, Re 18:21-24. A mighty angel
takes up a stone and casts it into the sea as an emblem of the destruction that
is to come upon it. The voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers would be
heard no more in it; and no craftsmen would be there, and the sound of the
millstone would be heard no more, and the light of a candle would shine no more
there, and the voice of the bridegroom and the bride would be heard no more.
Verses 1-2: “And after these things I saw another angel come down from
heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul
spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Babylon is still the subject - but here we have the introduction of a
new set of circumstances. In this chapter, the Beast is not once named, nor do
we find the ten kings mentioned. The chapter is given over entirely to the
destruction of Babylon. Human agents disappear; the ruin of that awful system
of corruption is the predominating theme of the entire chapter.
The chapter opens with “And after these things I saw ANOTHER ANGEL.”
This angel is not to be confused with the seven angels who had the vials of the
seven last plagues. This angel descending out of Heaven suggests the heavenly
character of the action he is about to take. “Having great authority,” he comes
down from Heaven to earth to perform an act of judgment such as has never been
known - nor ever will be known again.
All angels are not identical - some are more distinguished than others
in service and in their angelic position - but all angels are mighty (II
Thessalonians 1:7; II Peter 2:11). At specific times God bestows special power
upon certain angels to perform certain duties. Universal authority is never
ascribed to an angel. The Lord Jesus is the appointed heir of all things
(Matthew 28:18; Hebrews 1:2).
Christ as Creator of all things certainly has a right to lay claim to
universal dominion. As Creator, the claim of the Lord Jesus to universal
dominion is not a conferred claim . . . God the Father did not confer it upon
Him but it is sovereign and independent (Colossians 1:16), It is founded on the
rights and glory of His person as God.
The angel referred to here is probably the one to whom God has committed
the judgment of Babylon. The angel announces the fall of Babylon; he has
authority to deal thoroughly with the subject of the destruction of Babylon -
the most ungodly, rotten religious system ever to exist upon the face of this
earth. “The earth was lightened with his glory.”
This certainly is a testimony that God is on the scene, and it is God
who is acting in this judgment that is about to come. The fall of Babylon will
be a public event. The smoke of her burning (verse 18) will be seen - it will
darken the heavens and announce to the whole wide world that the great system
of Babylon is being destroyed. But “the earth lightened” - not by the
reflection of the sun, but by the glory of the angel seen descending out of
Heaven.
This will Witness to the fact that whoever the actors are in the
judgment, it is God, the Righteous Judge, who is the head of the judgment of
Babylon. Personally, I believe the angel here is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ . . . the same angel of whom we studied in Revelation 8:3 and 10:1.
- Christ - the Angel-Priest -
on behalf of His suffering remnant (chapter 8) will no doubt be the one to mete
out final judgment to Babylon.
- Christ - the Angel-Redeemer - is seen taking possession of His
rightful inheritance, the earth and the sea, in chapter 10.
- Christ - the Angel-Avenger of His people - is here (chapter 18) seen
taking vengeance on the most deadly enemies God’s people ever had . . . the
system of Babylon during the last half of the Tribulation.
The angel cried with a loud voice, and the cry he sent forth was the
welcomed proclamation of Babylon’s destruction. The angel made the announcement
with such surety as though it had already taken place, yet we know that it will
take place in the future. The angel said “Great Babylon has fallen, has
fallen.”
The fall of that mighty system which, while guilty of gross falsehood
and treason against the Lord Jesus Christ, yet bore His name, is here publicly
announced. The actual fall is yet future. In the previous chapter we saw the
Beast to whom the power of civil authority was given, and who for a time became
the willing slave of the woman. She sat upon the Beast in pride. She was an
object of wonder and admiration to all except those who knew her true character
because their eyes had been opened by God.
God has always had a remnant - and always will have a righteous
remnant here on earth until the consummation of all things. The Beast had for a
season yielded power to the woman, but he becomes restless under her restraint
and chafes under her intolerant sway. Then too, the woman is very wealthy, and
the civil and apostate power of the Beast covets the wealth of the woman.
Thus the ten kingdoms with their kings, together with the Beast and
the whole material strength of the revived empire, unite to her destruction.
The ten kings are even more active in her destruction than is the Beast
himself. The woman is stripped of all
her possessions, her wealth, her treasures . . . all that she has is taken from
her.
The woman (the system she represents) will be brought down to the
lowest depths of degradation, to the lowest insults that can be heaped upon
her. She will be the object of scorn and contempt by those who, only a short
while before, sought her favors and courted her smile. When the ten kings have
finished with her, she will be a total wreck. The apostate civil authority will
win the complete victory over her.
Then, after the victory over the woman, the ten kings yield themselves
and their kingdoms into the hands and unto the fate of the brutal Beast who
will be the world dictator at that time. As bad as the situation under the
woman will be, after her destruction a much worse condition will follow under
the unchecked will of the brutal Beast, Satanically inspired and empowered.
Continued
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