Chapter Eighteen

Retribution to Babylon and lamentation for its destruction. Appearance of an Angel with the news of this destruction and explanation of its cause (1–3). Invitation to the righteous to come out of Babylon, doomed to destruction in retribution for its former depravity and luxury (4–8). Lamentation over Babylon: the kings of the earth, who reveled in it before, the warriors who used its rich trade, and those who sailed upon ships for the purpose of trading with Babylon (9–19). Rejoicing of the heavenly inhabitants at the destruction of Babylon with its temptations and crimes (20–24).

Revelation 18:1. After this I saw another Angel coming down from heaven and having great authority; the earth was illuminated by his glory. Revelation 18:2. And he cried out with a loud voice, speaking loudly, saying: Fallen, fallen is Babylon, the great harlot, has become a dwelling of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit, a haunt of every unclean and repulsive bird; for she has made all the nations drunk with the passionate wine of her sexual immorality, Revelation 18:3. and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich from her great luxury. John sees another Angel coming down from heaven. His glory and majesty speak of the fact that he was sent with a great mission, with news of a terrible judgment of retribution upon sinful Babylon. The Angel with a mighty voice announces the fall of the same Babylon, of which announcement was made in Rev 14:8 and Rev 16:19. Babylon, in accordance with this prophecy of the Angel, after its fall will become a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit. The city will become a complete ruin, a place of dark devastation. The cause of Babylon’s fall is its corrupting influence through politics and morals upon all earthly peoples. In the devastation, as an act of retribution by God’s judgment, complete opposition to its former state is shown. To the extent that in the days of its power and prosperity Babylon was the center of state might, of world influence on the life and morals of all, and an object of imitation for the entire antichristian kingdom, to that extent it is now worthless.

Revelation 18:4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying: Come out from her, My people, so that you do not share in her sins and do not receive her plagues; From verse 4 begins the speech of another person, by which we more correctly understand Jesus Christ Himself, Who addresses in His own name to the chosen Christians as to the people of His Kingdom (see Exod 19:6). The command of the Lord: “Come out from her, my people” means the final separation of the community of chosen Christians of the last time from the impious antichristian society. God’s forbearance has ended and the time of retribution must come. God has remembered all the wrongs of Babylon, all its lawlessness; they have exceeded the measure.

Revelation 18:5. for her sins have piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her unrighteousness. Revelation 18:6. Repay her just as she repaid you, and double to her according to her deeds; in the cup in which she prepared for you wine, prepare for her double. “Render to her”—this is a command from the same person to whom the voice of Rev 18:4 belongs, but addressed to a different subject. These executors of God’s command are evidently the very kings who were appointed as executors of God’s will regarding judgment upon Babylon. They are commanded to render, to repay Babylon as she repaid “you,” for from her corrupted life, from her violence not only did the chosen Christians suffer, who were persecuted and hunted, but even the impious kings and peoples themselves suffered. A severe twofold punishment, suffering that Babylon fully deserved for its extreme impiety, its corrupting example and influence. Its guilt was manifested principally in the fact that it gave peoples the wine of its immorality (Rev 14:8).

Revelation 18:7. How much she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, give her that much torment and mourning. For she says in her heart: ‘I sit as a queen, I am not a widow and will not see mourning!’ Revelation 18:8. Therefore in one day her plagues will come upon her: death and mourning and hunger, and she will be burned with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is strong. Its former pride and self-confidence, as the capital of the antichristian kingdom, as a true queen, not as a widow, without a husband, a king, will prove to be in complete opposition to its sudden destruction. It considered itself all-powerful, eternal, but it will be overtaken by destruction, and suddenly, in one day, and all at once will fall upon it plagues. Through this will be proved that mighty is the Lord God who judges it (v. 8). The impression that these plagues will produce is spoken of in the following verses. First of all the kings, the rulers of individual provinces and states constituting one antichristian kingdom, will weep. For them the devastation of the capital city will be especially painful; but they will only from afar observe the plague and will not dare to come to help and prevent the destruction, and only will cry out: Woe, woe! Further, the merchants will lament the destruction, which by itself and directly affects their interests, since with the world city of Babylon the world trade was closely connected. The merchants, likewise, only from afar, will cry out: Woe, woe! This woe is also for the merchants, for they have not only lost a market for their trade, but are themselves in fear and danger of experiencing all those horrors that have already befallen the inhabitants of Babylon. Seafarers, expressing their sorrow over the destruction of Babylon, will even pour ashes upon their own heads as a sign of their grief.

Revelation 18:9. And the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her will weep and mourn over her, when they see the smoke from her burning, Revelation 18:10. standing far off for fear of her torment and saying: Woe, woe to you, great city of Babylon, strong city! for in one hour your judgment has come. Revelation 18:11. And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore, Revelation 18:12. merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all fragrant wood, all carved ivory articles, and all carved articles from precious wood, bronze and iron and marble, Revelation 18:13. cinnamon and incense, myrrh and frankincense, wine and oil, flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and human souls. Revelation 18:14. And the fruits that your soul desired have gone from you, and all things that are luxurious and splendid have departed from you; you will find them no more. Revelation 18:15. Those who traded in these things, who became rich from her, will stand far off for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing Revelation 18:16. and saying: Woe, woe to you, great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, Revelation 18:17. for in one hour such wealth was destroyed! And all the pilots, and all those sailing in ships, and all the sailors, and all who trade on the sea stood far off Revelation 18:18. and, seeing the smoke of her burning, cried out, saying: What city is like the great city! Revelation 18:19. And they threw dust on their heads, and cried out, weeping and wailing: Woe, woe to you, great city, by which all who have ships on the sea became rich, for in one hour she became desolate! Revelation 18:20. Rejoice over her, O heaven and holy Apostles and prophets; for God has executed your judgment upon her. But if the fall of Babylon for the inhabitants of the earth, standing under the direct influence of antichrist, was a cause of their grief, then for the inhabitants of heaven and for those who live for heaven, this event will be an object of joy. Invited to rejoice are heaven, the saints, apostles, and prophets. The cause of joy is the coming of the last and final judgment of God, which the glorified martyrs had asked for and desired (Rev 6:10). This judgment is an object of joy for the heavenly inhabitants, for it is the triumph of Divine Justice.

Revelation 18:21. And one mighty Angel took a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: With such violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more. John sees a symbolic representation of the suddenness and irreparability of the fall of Babylon. An Angel took a large stone and cast it into the sea. This image means that, like a heavy stone thrown into the sea, which disappears in it quickly and irretrievably, so by God’s judgment Babylon will perish without a trace and irretrievably. To this image the Angel further adds a verbal description of the desolation and abandonment that will befall Babylon. In conclusion, the Angel explains the cause of the judgment over the city and its inhabitants. The first guilt is that merchants have become magnates and have given an immoral direction to their trade. Further, the guilt lies in his sorcery, that is, his corrupting politics. Finally, the last and most important guilt of Babylon is that in it was found the blood of prophets, saints, and all those killed on earth (see Rev 17:6). This means that Babylon, as the city at the end of the world, the capital of antichristianity and the place of the highest manifestation of anti-God hostility, was the perpetrator of the shedding of the blood of all those killed on earth; since the evil and sins of the future antichristian world were the fruit and consequence of the entire long history of evil, justly, upon the antichristian world (Babylon) falls the responsibility for all world evil. * * * Ebrard, Kliefoth, Lutardt and others. Andrew of Caesarea, Kliefoth.