A Study of The Book of Revelation, Part #63

Earl Gillespie

A Study of The Book of Revelation

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 

Heaven Rejoice at The Fall of Babylon

Notes to remember: Babylon symbolizes a corrupted political-religious system.  The woman or whore symbolizes the organized church after it had entered into its final stage of apostasy. The apostate church sealed its doom by promising all types of earthly blessings (gold and sliver) to its followers. The political system supported the church because of it ability to control the people.  The political system and the religious system walked hand-in-hand, a married Jesus frown upon, therefore the church, the bride of Christ is symbolized as a woman who committed fornication with the devil.  The political system turned against the apostate church and destroyed her because of her inability to deliver the promises she made.  This is the system that existed in the final days of Revelation.

Revelation 18:2-10

Verses 2-3: “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. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.”

Here is described the condition of Babylon after and consequent to her political downfall. She was overthrown but not totally destroyed. The destruction will be sudden: “She shall be utterly burned with fire” (verse 8). “Utterly burned with fire” is subsequent to the burning mentioned in Revelation 17:16. The Spirit makes the statement as though it had already happened, and of course it will happen exactly as prophesied. Babylon, having lost her place of supremacy, having been torn to pieces by the very powers which once formed her strength, is now reduced to a state of desolation described in dynamic language.

The description is no doubt borrowed from the prophet Isaiah: “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged” (Isaiah 13:20-22).

The city has become the habitation of devils (demons), making the city the dwelling place of creatures out of the abyss. Who these demons are, we do not know. Whether they are angels who left their first estate, or a special class of miserable beings, we do not know. We only know that the city is inhabited by creatures from the underworld (the pit). The abyss is the dwelling place of the emissaries of Satan.  Then is mentioned every unclean and hateful bird. Unclean birds and birds of prey and birds of darkness symbolize the many and various agents of the devil. Study Matthew 13:4-32; Jeremiah 5:27; and especially Isaiah 34:11-15. Thus Babylon becomes a cesspool of corruption and abomination in the sight of a holy God.

Next we find the grounds of God’s judgment poured out upon Babylon. These are: “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” The peoples of the prophetic earth will drink eagerly from her golden, intoxicating cup filled with abominations. She has seduced the nations from their allegiance to the true God and God’s Christ, to herself and her lust. The peoples who make up the religious systems of that day will be completed captivated by her splendor, her services, and her display of gorgeous vestments and her promise of wealth. They will be totally ignorant of the true Spirit of God. 

After the Rapture those who have heard the Truth and rejected it will be sent “strong delusion.” They will believe “the Lie” . . . “that they all might be damned” (II Thessalonians 2:7-12).  Today, religions of “works” are growing like wildfire - while the true, blood-bought religion of Calvary moves so slowly. If a minister organizes a church and preaches the Blood of the cross, members are added very slowly; but if some cult organizes with an attractive religion of works, blessings or “salvation” that can be purchased with money or deeds, that religion will grow rapidly.

“The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,” and this is another reason why God is about to pour out total destruction upon Babylon. The persons who were the heads of the ten kingdoms that will make up the revived empire must be distinguished from “the kings of the earth.” The ten kings who make up the empire will hate the woman and burn her with fire (Revelation 17:16). But not so with the kings of the earth . . . they weep over her fate (Revelation 18:9).

They (the kings of the earth) commit fornication with Babylon. They love the systems of the harlot. The apostate church loves the world for the wealth she can obtain from the riches of the world; and, of course, the world gladly welcomes the love of the apostate church because she promises to open the door of Heaven to all who can "plant a seed". She dangles “the keys of St. Peter” before the kings of the earth, and declares that she is “the Vicar of Christ,” the “intercessor between God and man”; and because the apostate church exalts herself to this height of spiritual dictatorship the kings of the earth and the great men of the earth flock to her and pour much wealth into her coffers.

There is a third group mentioned here: “the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” This group follows the apostate system for gain. There has always been a class of people who join religious systems for what they can get out of religion. They use the church as a stepping stone to advance their business interests. Babylon will offer great temptation to such people. The abundance of her luxuries will certainly attract the merchants of the earth and the merchants will become rich thereby. Therefore, when the system is destroyed, these merchants will weep and wail over the ruin of their source of riches.  I ask you a solemn, sane, sensible question: Is religion becoming the“big business” of today?

Verses 4-5: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

In verse 4 another voice from Heaven speaks: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” In verse 1, an angel descends from Heaven to announce the fall of Babylon. In verse 4, a voice is heard in Heaven. The voice is the expression of the mind of God, announcing to the people of God to come out of this hellish system.

No doubt in the very closing days and hours of time there will be true believers - not in the sense that we are believers in this day of grace, but people who have trusted God will be in the systems of Babylon - probably to avoid persecution and martyrdom; but now they must come out. They must make a complete break if they are to escape the plagues that will be poured out upon the systems - the plagues of death, mourning and famine (verse 8).

“ . . . That ye have no fellowship in her sins.” If they continue to fellowship with her sins, they must also share the plagues. The warning is sounded out from Heaven. The full judgment of Almighty God cannot fall upon Babylon until every person who embraces God’s righteousness is completely out of her. Not one drop of rain fell until Noah and his family were safe in the ark and “God shut them in.” Not one spark of fire and brimstone fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot and his daughters were safe outside the city . . . and then God burned it to ashes. God is a just God - He is righteous. He cannot perform unrighteousness; and even in this terrible hour those who believe in Him as the true and only God must come out of Babylon before full judgment can be poured out.

In verse 5 we learn that the sins of Babylon have reached unto Heaven - and God “hath remembered her iniquities.” That suggests that the sins of Babylon are so many, heaped one upon another, that they reach all the way from earth to Heaven. In Genesis 11:4 we read concerning the first Babylon, “And they said, Go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven.” Now it seems that they have built an empire of sin that has reached Heaven and God is about to crush this giant, evil force . . . once, for all, forever, never to allow it to be revived again.

Verse 6: “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.”

Babylon is to be rewarded as she has rewarded the people of God . . . and double the reward, according to her works. The verse further states, “in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.”  In severity, God is going to pour out double what Babylon has meted out to the saints of God whom she butchered and tormented during the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation period.

Verses 7-8: “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”

The principle of judgment is next shown in the first part of verse 7 . . . not only in relation to what Babylon has done and will do to the saints . . . but she will be judged for what she is herself. At this time the woman will have been degraded from her public place of authority and power. She will have been demoted by the kings of the Roman world; but in spite of her humiliation she maintains her pride in her heart . . . her spirit is not broken. Her haughtiness is asserted in spite of the fact that she sits in the dust of disgrace as compared to the former glory of her reign.

The kings of the earth will weep over her, but they cannot help her. The boasting of the woman is from within. She says in her heart, “I sit a queen.” Her public downfall will already have taken place at this time; but in spite of her downfall she believes in her heart that she will rise again to sit as a queen. She continues by saying, “I am not a widow.” She expects to once again sit upon a throne and reign. Facing utter destruction, the judgment of God hanging heavy over her head, she yet cries out, “I shall in no wise see grief!” The devil does not easily acknowledge defeat; he fights to the last bitter second before his complete downfall. Utter destruction of the woman is signified in the words, “she shall be burned with fire.” This goes much further than the political downfall recorded in chapter 17:16.

The fire here will make an utter end to Babylon with all her ungodly systems. The mighty God Jehovah will be the judge, to mete out final and eternal judgment to Babylon.

Verses 9-10: “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” The lamentation over the great Babylon is demonstrated by all classes. All will be affected by the downfall. The merchandise listed as having to do with Babylon is twenty-eight different articles.

The first listed is gold; the twenty-eighth article is souls. The downfall of Babylon will seriously affect the whole commercial and social life of the world at that time, and it is on this account that the judgment is so deplored by those who shared the glory and the wealth of the woman, and profited by her ungodly practices. 

The kings of the earth lead the mourning. Bear in mind that this does not refer to the ten kings who unite with the Beast to destroy the woman. The kings of the earth referred to here are the distinguished leaders in Christendom throughout the world, and are definitely a separate group from the ten kings who make up the Roman Empire. The kings of the earth stand in awe and fear. They, witness the awful destruction of the mighty system of evil with which they had been so closely identified, and in which they had lived in luxury and splendor. They tremble and fear at the awfulness and suddenness of the judgment of Babylon: “ . . . for in one hour is thy judgment come!”