Sermon Tone Analysis

| *Babylon** Is Fallen \\ (Revelation 18:1–24)* |

* *

/And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 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.

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////a//// of her delicacies.

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 of her plagues.

5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

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.

7 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.

8 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. 9 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, 10 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.

11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine////b//// wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves////c////, and souls of men.

14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 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!

17 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, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

19 And they 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.

20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

21 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 at all.

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 heard no more at all in thee; 23 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 the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

*” */(Revelation 18:1–24)

 

Throughout history the petty kingdoms and empires built by proud, arrogant, God-rejecting rebels have come and gone.

The spirit of humanism first expressed at Babel has permeated human history ever since.

Unshakably optimistic despite centuries of war, slaughter, injustice, and cruelty, people still seek a utopia, to be brought about by humanity’s upward scientific progress.

Having taken control (so they think) of their own destiny through science, sinners have no use for God and haughtily replace Him as self-styled gods devoted to their own sovereignty.

But God cannot be so easily replaced, nor His plans thwarted by the whims of sinful men (Isa.

43:13; 46:10).

In fact, in a profound, if brief, statement in Acts 14:16, Scripture says that God “permitted all the nations to go their own ways.”

§       In Psalm 2:2–4 the psalmist recorded God’s reaction to man’s impotent fury against Him:

 2 /O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

/

§       Compared to the glorious, indescribable majesty of the omnipotent God, all of man’s vaunted empires are a mere “drop from a bucket” (Isa.

40:15).

§       In His sight, they are but “a speck of dust on the scales” (Isa.

40:15), so insignificant that they “are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless” (Isa.

40:17).

§       The inescapable reality is that God, not man, will have the last word in human history, and that word will be a word of judgment.

From beginning to end, the Bible warns of coming judgment on sinners who reject God and blaspheme His holy name.

Job declared that “the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity; they will be led forth at the day of fury” (Job 21:30).

David noted that “the Lord … has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness” (Ps.

9:7–8).

Psalm 96:13 warns that God “is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.”

Isaiah wrote, “According to their deeds, so He will repay, wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the coastlands He will make recompense” (Isa.

59:18).

In His kingdom parables, Jesus also described the coming time of judgment:

“So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

He who has ears, let him hear.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

(Matt.

13:40–50)

The apostle Paul declared to the Greek philosophers gathered on Mars Hill in Athens that God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

To the Thessalonians he wrote:

The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.

(2 Thess.

1:7–10)

In 2 Peter 2:9 Peter added, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”

But nowhere in Scripture is there a more detailed description of the coming judgment than in Revelation 6–18.

Those chapters describe the future seven-year period known as the Tribulation.

Summing up what they reveal about that period, God’s judgment will rain down on the earth in the form of the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments.

Although those judgments will be worldwide in scope, they will focus particularly on Antichrist’s world empire of Babylon.

That empire will involve both a religious and a commercial aspect.

At the midpoint of the Tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the false Babylonian religious system, which will be absorbed into commercial Babylon (cf. the discussion in chap.

12 of this volume).

Religion will not cease to exist, but will be restricted to the worship of Antichrist.

The Babylon in view in chapter 18 is Antichrist’s worldwide commercial empire, which will rule the world during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation.

That Antichrist will be able to build the greatest commercial empire the world has ever known in the midst of the devastating judgments of the Tribulation reveals his incredible power.

God’s destruction of commercial Babylon is the theme of chapter 18.

It is thus a very somber chapter; it is a requiem, a dirge for the funeral of humanity.

With the destruction of the satanic last and greatest human empire, the stage is set for the triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Though some commentators view it as a symbol for Antichrist’s whole godless system, the Babylon described in chapter 18 is most likely an actual city.

It is called a city five times in the chapter (vv. 10, 16, 18, 19, 21), and other features in the text imply that a literal city is in view.

Since the text plainly describes Babylon as a city, and there is nothing in the context to indicate otherwise, it is safest to view it as a real city.

The specific Old Testament prophecies of Babylon’s destruction and perpetual desolation (Isa.

13:19–22; 14:22–23; Jer.

50:13, 39; 51:37), as yet unfulfilled, also argue that chapter 18 describes an actual city (cf. the discussion in chap.

12 of this volume).

But while Babylon will be an actual city, its influence will be worldwide.

As Antichrist’s capital city, it will be the hub of and represent his commercial empire.

Thus, the judgment and destruction of Babylon will kill the head, and the rest of the body of Antichrist’s whole world empire will follow in death.

Babylon will have received plenty of warnings of its impending doom by the occurrence of the events of chapter 18.

The 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, the rest of the redeemed, and an angel flying in the heavens will have proclaimed the gospel message.

That message includes the truth that God will judge those who refuse to repent.

In addition, earlier in the Tribulation an angel specifically warned of Babylon’s impending doom, crying out “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality” (14:8).

The angel spoke of Babylon’s yet future fall as if it had already happened, emphasizing the certainty of its doom.

But despite the repeated warnings, the people of the world will refuse to repent (cf.

9:20–21; 16:9, 11), and God’s judgment will fall on Babylon.

Chapter 18 records seven aspects of that judgment on Antichrist’s commercial empire: judgment pronounced, judgment avoided, judgment defined, judgment lamented, judgment enjoyed, judgment completed, and judgment justified.

#. *Judgment Pronounced*

/And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 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.

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////a//// of her delicacies/*.”

*(18:1–3)

#.

This solemn opening pronouncement of judgment gives two reasons for Babylon’s impending destruction: *pervasive demonic activity and wretched sensuality*.

#.

As it often does in Revelation (cf.

4:1; 7:9; 15:5; 19:1), the phrase *after these things* marks the beginning of a new vision.

i.

While still discussing the general theme of Antichrist’s world empire, destroyed finally by the seven bowl judgments (chap.

16), chapter 18 moves from its religious aspects to its commercial aspects.

ii.

As this new vision opened, John *saw another angel,* distinct from the one in 17:1.

Some view this angel as Christ, but the use of /allos/ (another of the same kind) instead of /heteros/ (another of a different kind) indicates that this is an angel of the same type as the one in 17:1.

iii.