REV ELATION - CHAPTER 18 - Dirge Over Babylon
DIRGE OVER THE GREAT MERCANTILE CITY - BABYLON
Revelation – Chapter 18
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
October 30, 2012, the Year of Our Lord
It feels strange to be preparing this “on time” Bible-teaching of the Book of Revelation at the same time New York City and our east coast is being visited by the worst storm (Sandy) in the history of our nation.
Is it a warning of God’s judgment on this great mercantile city which is not only a world trade center, but the location of the United Nations? It is also known for its pride, elitism, and liberal view that leaves God out of its reckoning.
In chapter 17, an angel invited John to come and see the great harlot, mystery Babylon, who manipulated the kings of the world. In chapter 18, the theme of great Babylon’s downfall is continued, but it is now presented in terms of the destruction of a great mercantile city.
In John’s day, Rome was the centre of world commerce---‘Rome was the whole world and all the world was Rome’ (Spenser). What is here portrayed is not merely the doom of an ancient city, but the sure collapse of all human organization, commercial and otherwise, that leaves God out of its reckoning.
First a mighty and resplendent angel announces the fall of Babylon echoing the prophecy of Isaiah 21:9 and Revelation 14:8. In this chapter the angels do most of the talking. John won’t say much at all.
Rev. 18:1-3: “After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 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 cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 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.”
John has brought us some distance. The first four seals we called “the beginning of sorrow.” The fifth and sixth seals mark the reign of the beast as he vents his rage against the church. Then came the trumpets. The first 6 trumpets, though they were judgments, constituted God’s warning to man.
Again there are many Bible scholars who believe John’s vision of Babylon is a flashback. I do not hold that view. They spin this conclusion to support their theory of the time-line of the rapture of the church. I believe that which is on-going in Heaven is eternal and is not limited to man’s interpretation of a time-line.
It seems unnecessary to mention that Babylon in chapter 18 is identical with Babylon of chapter 17. However, there are some commentators who have tried to make a distinction between them.
“Abundance of her delicacies” translates to power of her luxuries”.
This chapter presents one main-idea the fall of Babylon and the effect it has on three groups of people:
- The kings of the earth
- The merchants of the earth
- Those who make their living from the sea.
Rev. 18: 4-8: “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. Her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she reward you, and double to her double according to her works; in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. How much she has glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says 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 judges her.”
Suddenly John hears another voice from heaven, which can only be the Voice of God. It is a command from God to His people. Again, there are still Christians on the earth. (The pre-tribulation doctrine supports their theory by saying John is having a flashback).
It is always tempting for Christians, when caught in a dangerous situation, to compromise with worldly programs to go-along to get-along. God is not telling us to turn our backs on people or be aloof from the suffering. We must keep our lives separated from the pull of the world. Anyone who loves worldliness does not love the Father. Everything in the world, all that panders to the appetites or entices the eyes, all the arrogance based on wealth, fame, and popularity, with all its allurements is passing away, but those who do God’s will remain forever (Paraphrased 1 John 1:15).
For her plagues to come on her in one day is a statement of the principle of retribution in human history which recurs throughout the Bible, with special reference to Babylon.
In ancient times, ascending smoke was a signal to all that the city had collapsed. Once those fires got going, nothing could stop them.
Also, it is to be noted that Queens a suburb of New York City, has suffered severe devastation by this storm; not only by flooding but burning of homes. “I sit a queen and am no widow…”
Rev. 18: 9-10: “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 your judgment come.’”
Although the kings of the earth hated this city, they are sorry to see her go. Much of their luxury vanishes with her. Beyond that, the handwriting on the wall is clear…God can play rough and the day of His wrath is approaching. Note that the kings are not about to rush in and help Babylon, but stand off at a safe distance. Later these same kings will join the beast in the battle of Armageddon. For the moment, however, they are dumbfounded that such a powerful city could be reduced to ashes in such a short time.
This is an echo over Tyre in Ezek 26: 17-19: “They shall take up a lamentation for you, and say to you, how are you destroyed, that were inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which were strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it! Now shall the isles tremble in the day of your fall; yea the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at your departure. For thus says the Lord God; when I shall make you a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon you, and great waters shall cover you.”
To the Jew, Babylon represented a man-made religion that was demonic in nature with a lifestyle that was abominable in the sight of God. Jews came to apply the name Babylon to any city that shook its fist in the face of God.
Rev. 18: 11-17a: “The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her. No man buys their merchandise any more. The merchandise of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine line, purple, silk, scarlet; all Thyine wood; all manner of ivory vessels; all manner of vessels of most precious wood; of brass, iron, marble, cinnamon, odors, ointments, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, beasts, sheep, horses, chariots, slaves, souls of men and the fruits that your soul lusted after are departed from you. All things which were dainty and goodly are departed from you and you 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. Saying, alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine line, purple, and scarlet and decked with purple, scarlet, gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour so great riches has come to nothing…”
So much for the kings, how about the merchants? It’s the merchants turn to lament the destruction of Babylon. They grew rich off of the extravagances of Babylon. One commentator writes that Nero spent $100,000 to import roses from Egypt for a single banquet. Another emperor spent 20 million dollars on food alone in a single year. These numbers are nothing compared to the extravagant spending of this administration and of the government of this nation with our indebtedness in the trillions.
Among the items on the shopping list are the bodies and souls of men, with people traded as slaves and merchandise. The sex trade and number of illegal immigrants pouring into the U.S.A. is a sin against the souls of mankind.
Rev. 17b-19: “Every ship-master, and all the company in ships, and sailors; and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off. They cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What city is like to this great city'! They cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that greet city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour she is made desolate.”
The third group to suffer economic shock is the shipping industry. The maritime moguls are amazed to see so many fortunes go down the drain. Everything on the Rome’s wish list had to b imported, generating a tremendous flow of goods. So great was this flow, that all those in the maritime industry benefitted, right down to sailors, fishermen and pearl divers. Like the kings and merchants, they stand off and watch the smoke rise from burning ruins, overwhelmed that it happened so fast.
With Rome the hub of all this shipping, she was probably the home base for most people involved in the business.
Being prophetic, I see Jesus in everything. It is noteworthy to mention the first sign this storm aligns with Revelation 18 as a warning is the ship “Bounty” was the first to sink.
Revelation 18:10: “Rejoice over her, you heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets; for God has avenged you on her.”
Like the apostles and prophets of old, we have cried out to the Lord for the salvation and redemption of the lost. We must trust God with his dealings! Some will feel that believers are being told to rejoice over the suffering of the unsaved people involved with the harlot. But God is not like that. It is the destruction of the city with the satanic way of life that calls for rejoicing. It is akin to hating the sin, but not the sinner.
This is not the malignant delight which some take in the discomfiture of their enemies, but a call to rejoice in the judgments of God. There is unmistakable pathos is the dirge over Rome, just as there was in the dirge over Tyre which it echoes. We need not suppose that either Ezekiel or John did not feel this pathos at heart. “But when your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness (Isa. 26:9).
In the judgments of God, rightly considered, the people of God can properly rejoice, but they will rejoice with trembling, remembering that His judgments begin with His own household."
1 Pet. 4:17: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18: 21-24: “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 at all. The voice of harpers, and musicians, of pipers, trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in you. The sound of millstone shall be heard no more at all in you. The light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you. Your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your sorceries were all nations deceived.
The casting of the “great millstone” will be the fulfillment of the prophecy which Jeremiah commanded Seraiah to act out at Babylon in 593 B.C.
Jeremiah 51: 59-63: “The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah…when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign (594-593 B.C.). This Seraiah was a quiet prince. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon…Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “ when you come to Babylon, and shall see and shall read all these words; then you shall say, O Jehovah you have spoken against this place to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast. But that it shall be desolate forever. It shall be when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. You shall say, ‘thus shall Babylon skin, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”
Rev. 18:24: “In her was found the blood of prophets, of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth.”
Our Lord spoke similar words of judgment about Jerusalem’s impending expiation of the blood of the prophets…shed since the beginning of the world (Lk. 11:50; Mt. 23:35). It is not for her wealth and commercial enterprise that the great city is doomed. If prosperity is no proof of divine approval, neither does it arouse divine envy. Godlessness brings on its own nemesis, and where godlessness is conjoined with the unconscionable exploitation of the underprivileged and the persecution of the righteous, nothing but timely and whole hearted repentance can avert the death sentence. Where, however, the sins of civilization reach their utmost limit and there is no further room for repentance, the judgment falls with the decisiveness of the large millstone.
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Scripture from K.J.V.
I entered into the labors of F. F. Bruce Bible Commentary by: F. F. Bruce and C. S. Lovett’s Lights on Revelation. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those whom I entered into their labors.