Day 24 of Revelation Study: Chapter 18

Understanding the Chronology

Key Phrase:

“After this….” Chapter eighteen takes place immediately after chapter seventeen in chronological order. How do we know this? We can be sure of this fact because in 17:1, the angel who came to John after pouring out a bowl of God’s wrath upon the Earth told John that he was going to show him “…the judgment of the great prostitute….” However, we do not see the judgment of this prostitute [i.e. Babylon] until chapter eighteen. Therefore, we know with one hundred percent certainty that this visual of Babylon’s destruction is still connected with the angel taking John to see this woman in the previous chapter.

The Fall of Babylon

This then, is John’s description of the fall of the great city. He first sees an angel swoop down from Heaven and condemn this immoral woman. Next, John hears a voice from Heaven which is likely the Holy Spirit’s voice. Why? I say this because the very first thing this person says in 18:4 is, “Come out of her, My people.” God is calling His people to leave this great city before it is too late so that they will not be destroyed in the plagues which will soon fall upon her [cf. 14:13 where the Holy Spirit is also seen calling out from Heaven]. This could be an audible voice which the people [or more specifically, the believers] hear or it could be through the preaching of the 144,000. Nevertheless, no matter what we believe, there are people of God [who have not yet died] in the world at this time and are confined in this mess during God’s judgment upon the Earth; and they are warned of the coming destruction.

God declares that because of her great abominations, this woman [Babylon] will be destroyed and burned up in a single day (18:8). Whereas many of God’s judgments are distributed over the whole world, this one in particular is centrally located. It is specific to this city because it is this city of sin and transgression which stands in stark contrast to the holy city of Jerusalem. The text says that the plagues will be so severe upon this city that, not only will it burn to the ground in a single hour but, the rulers and all who are outside its borders will stand far off in fear and weep because of how terrible the destruction will be (18:9-20).

Concluding the Vision

At the conclusion of this vision, John sees a mighty angel take up a great stone and thrust it into the sea (18:21). The point is this: that while the city is great, it is no match for our God! At this, the city will be no more and will never again rise to power. It will never again be found to have life; nor will she ever be able to lay another hand on a saint of God (18:21-24). Why? The reason is because God is victorious.

Continue on to read about chapter 19.

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