Revelation 18:1-24

Tomlinson's Comments

CHAPTER XVIII
BABYLON IS FALLEN

Text (Revelation 18:1-24)

1 After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fahen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: 5 for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Render unto her even as she rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she mingled, mingle unto her double. 7 How much soever she glorified herself, and waxed wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise see mourning. 8 Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judged her. 9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, 10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more; 12 merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stone, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; and all thyine wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel made of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble; 13 and cinamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and merchandise of horses and chariots and slaves; and souls of men. 14 And the fruits which thy soul lusted after are gone from thee, and all things that were dainty and sumptuous are perished from thee, and men shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning; 16 saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl! 17 for in one hour so great riches is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth any whither, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off, 18 and cried as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city? 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
21 And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers and minstrels and flute-players and trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft, shall be found any more at all in thee; and the voice of a mill shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the princes of the earth; for with thy sorcey were all the nations deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth.

Revelation 18:1 And after these things.

After the descriptions given us in the seventeenth chapter to reveal to us the identity of that great city of Spiritual Babylon, or papal Rome which rules over the kings of earth, we now come to the consideration of her downfall.

I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. (Revelation 18:1)

The introduction of such a mighty angel at this juncture emphasizes the importance of the subject matter of this vision before us. This is another angel than one of the seven angels which had the seven vials who talked with John in the seventeenth chapter.
To this present angel was given great power or authority because of the world-shattering events introduced in this chapter. The earth was lightened with his glory, because he came with a revelation of great enlightenment concerning the final destruction of that great city Babylon which had darkened the earth doctrinally, spiritually, politically and economically.

Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon 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.

Here this angel repeats a former angelic pronouncement recorded in (Revelation 14:8), Babylon is fallen is fallen. By referring back to that setting we find that this first pronouncement falls into the time of the seventh vial, because in the pouring out of his seventh plague great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. (Revelation 16:19)

The repetition of this announcement of Babylon's fall calls our attention to the importance of this climactic event of history's consummation. Again the emphasis becomes apparent in the double declaration is fallen is fallen.
When Joseph explained to Pharaoh why his dream was doubled, he said: And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established, and God will shortly bring it to pass. (Genesis 41:32)

For the same evident reason the word fallen is repeated twice, even doubled unto us twice,one double in Revelation 14:8 and the second double in Revelation 18:2.

The importance of all this is readily seen when we realize that all the activities of men, all their religious or business enterprises, eventuate in that condition of a godless civilization as typified by the literal Babylon of antiquity and the spiritual Babylon symbolized under that name in Revelation.
The confusion that obtains in religion, education, economics, finance, industry, government, politics and moralityall is traced back to that great city that rules over the Kings of the earth the Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth. This Babylon we have proved by the testimony of Scripture and History alike to be the religio-political hierarchal system known to the world as the papacy and the apostate church.
With a false church dominating the world, it follows, as naturally as daylight comes after dark, that men would have false conceptions of right and wrong in the moral, spiritual, intellectual, financial, economic and political realms of activity.
Our present state of civilization is the harvest. Rome sowed the wind and the closing period of this age is reaping the whirlwind.
The angel describes this present age of which the world is so blindly proud, as a habitation of devils, a hold for every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird.
Of course to the spiritually deluded and the worldling this all sounds absurd. They point to the grandeur of the Roman church, her multitudes of earnest devotees, her pronouncements on peace, her denunciation of intellectual evils, etc. This generation boasts of its material accomplishments in the way of scientific research and inventive genius, but they do not see all this through God's eyes.
Surely, the world, in its evaluation of things, needs to hark back to the declaration God made to Samuel who was trying to select a king to be anointed. Samuel was one of the noblest men of history, yet even this fine man illustrates how far wrong a good man can be in property evaluation. Hear God's council to him:

And the Lord said to Samuel; Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature: because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

This twice repeated expression is fallen is fallen describes a twin falling action. Babylon, as a system of false teaching and worship in an apostate church, and, Babylon as a system of commercialism resulting from a scriptural departure in doctrine and practice, falls.
Twin falls are thus portrayed. Both Mother and child, both spiritual and carnal, both cause and effect are included in this repeated expression, is fallen is fallen.
And the reason by both fall together is given in the very next verse:

Revelation 18:3 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.

Then John hears a call for God's people to come out of this Babylonish nightmare: Revelation 18:4 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 her plagues.

This call to come out of this spiritual Babylon, producer of all the evils of our present civilization, is not the first time such a call has been heard. The call to flee from either physical or spiritual Babylon has been issued seven times in all the scriptures. The call occurs five times in the Old Testament. They are: (Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 52:4-11) (Jeremiah 50:8-9; Jeremiah 51:6; Jeremiah 51:8) (Zechariah 2:6-7)

In the New Testament there are two calls. Although in the first of the two the name Babylon is not actually mentioned, but is implied by the confusion caused by the mixing of believers and unbelievers. The two instances are: (2 Corinthians 6:17-18) (Revelation 18:4)

The seven-fold, or fullest possible measure of calling, for the people of God to flee this great Babylon is impressive indeed.
However, we should recall that whereas God brought His people out of Egypt in a body, with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, in the case of this call to flee Babylon is an individual one. Again his people were forced to flee out of Egypt, but here only those who have a mind to come out may do so.

It will not be a mass evacuation, but rather an individual and voluntary leave of this world-wide institution of confusion and apostacy.

Revelation 18:5 Regardless of man's human judgment her sins are enormous, for we read: For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

While the promise to the obedient believer is Their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more (Hebrew Revelation 8:12), the sins of Babylon are remembered and unforgiven by God, because we read:

Revelation 18:6 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.

Contemptuous flaunting and defiance of the word of God is the essence of the sin of Babylon. If Revelation did not here declare it so plainly we would know it applied to our age in which we live.
Rome's disregard for the Scriptures and the authority of Christ's word has caused the world to hate what they know as the church. They have falsely and mistakenly judged the church of Christ by what they have beheld in the Catholic church. The result has been that men have turned away from God's word, the church and drifted into utter indifference, agnosticism, skepticism, free-thinking and out right infidelity. We live, as a result of Babylons heaven reaching sins, in this age of humanism.

God's principle of judgment is that every individual, as well as every institution, is to be rewarded according to his or its work. What is sown must be harvested. This Thyatira church as given space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. (Revelation 2:21)

He further adds, Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds. (Revelation 2:22)

But an added measure of punishment is revealed here. Babylon, or Rome shall be rewarded double.

Not only was she and still is unrepentant, but she is the most arrogant institution in all the world. Hear the angel describe her haughty attitude: How much hath she glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her.

Revelation 18:7 This recalls the case of the rich man and Lazarus: There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day, but at the end, in hell a far different scene is presented: But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and thou art tormented. (Luke 16:19; Luke 16:25)

Likewise, she who lived deliciously shall be meted out torment and sorrow.
But her boasting continues: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
What a strange statement of the angel concerning Babylonthe papal church! The holy word of God, says Christ is the bridegroom and the repentant baptized believers are his bride. But inform a member of this apostate church of his condition and he will immediately declare, the Roman Catholic church is the only and true church. It is the voice of the apostacy crying I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

And as for this ungodly and unregenerate civilization she has produced, if you tell them of the impending danger of living in sin until Christ comes, they if not in substance, at least in their actions will reply, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation (2 Peter 3:4). But Christ said of these last days,

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Even so shall it be when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-27; Luke 17:30)

So shall the plagues of Babylon come suddenly:

Revelation 18:7 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 who judgeth her.

Man's disbelief that God will punish, notwithstanding, God will destroy her suddenly.
Like the saints under the fifth seal the true saints of this day, cry out, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
I know all who have perused the contents of this book are crying out, How long? When will Babylon fall? In answer will say that such time has never been revealed. There is the highest authority for such a reply, even Christ himself:

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father. (Matthew 24:36)

Christ continued after this declaration But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:37)

So even the angel who here announced the suddenness of Babylon's destruction knew not the hour, so could not tell us when the destruction shall be.

Revelation 18:9-11 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.

And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
The follows an enumeration of the articles in which they made traffic.

Revelation 18:12-13 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble.

And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves and souls of men.
In this lamentation over the sudden fall of Babylon, the merchants of earth and king's of earth join in their voices.
Probably not until God himself reveals all things to us will we begin to realize how this spiritual Babylon has her hand in business and politicsas symbolized by the lament of merchants and kings.
For a book of such brevity as the apocalypse to devote so much space and divulge so many articles of traffic as here confronts us, it must be that the angel wanted to make plain to a startled world how vast are the ramifications of Rome's activities in all the affairs of men.
The whole world is conscious of the political activities of this apostate church which maintains embassies and sends ambassadors to almost every nation on earth, but it may come as a complete surprise to learn of her commercial activities.
But the last statement of these verses is the most startlinga revelation of her traffic in the slaves and souls of men. Literally, the word slaves should read, bodies. Thus the Greek reads.
Here it is that men and women barter their souls and bodies. There are multitudes of Esaus who will barter their spiritual birthright for a mess of this world's pottage.
How pertinent are Christ's words about the conditions of the near approach of His return.

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? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:26-27)

The spiritual Babylon has with business made traffic of the bodies and souls of men. And when we recall the masses for the dead which are said by the priesthood of Papal Rome, in which the devotees pay to have their loved ones prayed out of Purgatory, surely there has been a long and lively traffic in the souls of men.
But the things for which Babylon longed are gone forever at the time of her fall.

Revelation 18:14-19 And the fruits that thy soul lusteth after are departed from thee, and all the things that were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shall find them no more at all.

The merchants of these things which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones and pearls!
For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate!
Thus we see merchants, kings and shipmaster with their sailors lamenting the fall of Babylon. In other words, business, politics and transportation were under the denomination of and blessed by a false religious system that fostered their respective ungodly world-systems.
And three times we hear the cry, Alas, alas! Once it comes from the kings of the earth, or the political realm; once it is uttered by the merchants, or the commercial realm; and once from the shipmasters and sailor, or the transportation realm, It is a triple voice, each part of which is double. It is that evil number six complete.

The repeated Alas, alas! is striking. The word is the same as that of the angel in Revelation 8:13, when he cried, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.

The casting of dust on the head is a symbolic act of one who thus expresses his utter hopelessness and despair. Because of the sin of Achan which brought defeat to Israel we read:

And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell on the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. (Joshua 7:6)

Again this recurrence of the word woe or alas (Revelation 18:10; Revelation 18:16; Revelation 18:19) helps us to identify the time of the fall of Babylon as being in the period of the third and last woe. (Revelation 11:14)

We have had symbolized to us the suddenness of Babylon's downfall in the expressions: in one day Revelation 18:8, in one hour Revelation 18:17; Revelation 18:19. Now we are informed as to the violence of the downfall.

Revelation 18:20 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more.

This symbolic action of the mighty angel as portrayed in this verse is an intensified picture of a typical act which Jeremiah commanded Seraiah to perform when he came to that Babylon on antiquity:

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, when thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words,. and it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates. And thou shalt say. Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her. (Jeremiah 51:61; Jeremiah 51:63-64)

Thus we see that the destruction of ancient Babylon was typical of the destruction of spiritual Babylon.
Thus we see that the fall of mysterious Babylon, that Romish church; that great Harlot woman; the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth; is one of the, if not the most outstanding and marvelous events of all time. More is said about Babylon in the Scriptures than any other great religious and secular occurrence.

But the rejoicings of heaven, and those whose affections are set on things above and not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2), are now set forth in exact contrast with the lamentations of the kings, merchants and shipmasters and all their peoples they represent.

Revelation 18:21 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

While earth rings with the chorus of lamentation, disappointment and despair, a grand jubilation fills the heaven. While the world cries, Woe, woe over the fall of this religio-political system, the citizens of heaven pour out of their mighty halleluiahs.
The angel then announces:

Revelation 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee, and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be herd no more at all in thee.

And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
It will be an event unbelievable to the world. The world has become so accustomed to seeing the Roman church, her priesthood and religious processions and pronouncements played up with such righteousness in the press, magazines and periodicals; propagated in the movies, on the radio and television screen; eulogized in song, poetry and story; kowtowed to by politician, merchant, transportation interests, advertisers, rulers and common citizens that the fall of such a church with such suddenness and violence will be shock that will shake the whole earth.
And it will be the immediate act of God. No earthy power or agency could bring to an end an institution so hoary with age and deeply intrenched in every activity of man.
And to think that all of this could have been avoided! If there had been the New Testament church, with Christ as head and supreme authority upon the earth since Pentecost there would have been no spiritual Babylon to confuse the world religiously, corrupt political governments, compromise truth and morals, and finally to condemn the world to eternal destruction and damnation.