Revelation 18 commentary

REVELATIO 18 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Lament Over Fallen Babylon
1 After this I saw another angel coming down
from heaven. He had great authority, and the
earth was illuminated by his splendor.
1.BARNES, “And after these things - After the vision referred to in the previous chapter.
I saw another angel come down from heaven - Different from the one that had last appeared, and
therefore coming to make a new communication to him. It is not unusual in this book that different
communications should be entrusted to different angels. Compare Rev_14:6, Rev_14:8-9, Rev_
14:15, Rev_14:17-18.
Having great power - That is, he was one of the higher rank or order of angels.
And the earth was lightened with his glory - The usual representation respecting the heavenly
beings. Compare Exo_24:16; Mat_17:2; Luk_2:9; Act_9:3. This would, of course, add greatly to
the magnificence of the scene.
2. CLARKE, “The earth was lightened with his glory - This may refer to some extraordinary
messenger of the everlasting Gospel, who, by his preaching and writings, should be the means of
diffusing the light of truth and true religion over the earth.
3. GILL, “And after these things,.... The vision of the woman on the scarlet coloured beast, and
the interpretation of both by the angel:
I saw another angel; not the Lord Jesus Christ, though the several things said of this angel agree
with him; nor one of the ministering spirits, though the characters of him will also suit with one of
them, but rather a minister of the Gospel, or a set of Gospel ministers, who will arise a little before
the downfall of Babylon, in the spiritual reign of Christ; though not the same with the angel of fire,
Rev_14:18 as some have thought, because of his illustrious appearance, and the loudness of his
voice; but the same with the angel, or third thundering voice in Rev_14:6 for not only the times of
both agree, but the selfsame words are expressed by one as by the other; and this angel is
distinct from him that showed John the preceding vision, and gave him the interpretation of it, and
from all the seven angels that had the vials, and is described as follows: and first by the place
from whence he came, John saw him
come down from heaven; denoting the suddenness of his appearance and cry; he came down at
once, and cried out immediately; the subject of his cry, the destruction of Babylon, being what will
be at an unawares; and also the commission and authority of the ministers signified by him, who
will have their warrant from heaven to say what they will deliver; so that this likewise expresses
the truth of their message, since both that and they come from heaven:
having great power; to do great work, to declare the fall of Babylon the great: or "having great
authority"; being sent from the King of kings, in his name, as his ambassador, to proclaim what
shortly will come to pass; an event of the greatest importance to the glory of God, the interest of
Christ, and the comfort of his people:
and the earth was lightened with his glory; see Eze_43:2 by which is meant the glorious Gospel of
Christ, the light of which will at this then be very great: these ministers will run to and fro the earth,
and knowledge will be increased, and the earth will be filled with it: the Arabic version reads, "with

the splendour of his countenance"; and the Ethiopic version, "with the splendour of his
countenance, and his glory"; see Isa_60:1.
4. HENRY, “The downfall and destruction of Babylon form an event so fully determined in the
counsels of God, and of such consequence to his interests and glory, that the visions and
predictions concerning it are repeated. 1. Here is another angel sent from heaven, attended with
great power and lustre, Rev_18:1. He had not only light in himself, to discern the truth of his own
prediction, but to inform and enlighten the world about that great event; and not only light to
discern it, but power to accomplish it.
4B. BARCLAY, "THE DOOM OF ROME
Rev. 18:1-3
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority and the earth was
lit up by his glory. He cried with a loud voice saying: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a
dwelling-place of demons, and a stronghold of every unclean spirit, and a stronghold of every unclean and
hated bird, because the 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 have grown rich.with the wealth
of her wantonness."
In this chapter we have a form of prophetic literature common in the prophetic books of the Old Testament.
This is what is called "A Doom Song," the doom song of the city of Rome.
We quote certain Old Testament parallels. In Isa.13:19-22 we have the doom song of ancient Babylon:
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendour and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and
Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or dwelt in for all generations; no Arab will
pitch his tent there, no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. But wild beasts will lie down there,
and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there satyrs will dance.
Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at hand and its days will
not be prolonged.
In Isa.34:11-15 we have the doom song of Edom:
But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the
line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles.... Thorns shall grow over its
strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. And
wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the night hag alight, and
find for herself a resting place. There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and gather her young in her
shadow; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, each one with her mate.
Jer.50:39 and Jer.51:37 are part of doom songs of Babylon:
Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her; she shall be
peopled no more for ever, nor inhabited for all generations. And Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the
haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing without inhabitant.
In Zeph.2:13-15 we have the doom song of Nineveh:
And he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert. Herds shall lie down in the midst of her,
all the beasts of the field; the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; the owl shall hoot in the
window, the raven croak on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant city that
dwelt secure, that said to herself, "I am and there is none else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for
wild beasts! Every one who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

In spite of their grim foretelling of ruin these passages are all great poetry of passion. It may be that here we
are far from the Christian doctrine of forgiveness; but we are very close to the beating of the human heart.
In our passage the angel charged with the message of doom comes with the very light of God upon him. No
doubt John was thinking of Eze.43:1-2: "He brought me to the gate, the gate facing east; and behold the
glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many
waters; and the earth shone with his glory." H. B. Swete writes of this angel: "So recently he has come from
the Presence that in passing he brings a broad belt of light across the dark earth."
So certain is John of the doom of Rome, that he speaks of it as if it had already happened.
We note one other point. Surely the most dramatic part of the picture is the demons haunting the ruins. The
pagan gods banished from their reign disconsolately haunt the ruins of the temples where once their power
had been supreme.
5. JAMISON, “Rev_18:1-24. Babylon’s fall: God’s people called out of her: The kings and
merchants of the earth mourn, while the saints rejoice at her fall.
And — so Vulgate and Andreas. But A, B, Syriac, and Coptic omit “And.”
power — Greek, “authority.”
lightened — “illumined.”
with — Greek, “owing to.”
5B. NOTES, “ It is no wonder that John tended to worship angels in heaven, for they are so
much like God or Jesus in their power and light. They are awesome and any of us would be
tempeted to fall and worship them.
Rev. 18:1-8
Another angel which had great power ("authority" ASV) came down from heaven and the earth
was illuminated with his glory (indicates his greatness and the importance of his message). He
announces with a strong voice, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen..." As announced and
foreshadowed in earlier visions (14:8; 16:19), the final destruction of Rome has now come. It is
now become the habitation of devils ("demons" ASV; see 9:20; 16:14) and the hold (a place of
guarding, a prison for detention) of every foul ("unclean" ASV) spirit, and a cage ("hold" ASV) of
every unclean and hateful bird. Its overthrow was like that of ancient cities which became dwelling
places for all types of doleful creatures (Isa. 13:19-22; 34:11-15). Concerning "the wine of wrath of
her fornication" see 14:8; 17:2 and the comments on 14:8. The nations of the earth had followed
her lascivious ways, yielded to her seductive practices, and had engaged in her "wrath" (in
persecuting Christians). The kings of the earth had committed fornication with her (had made
idolatrous political and economic alliances to purchase pleasures, power and prestige). The
merchants (first mentioned here; their involvement is discussed in vss. 11, 15) had waxed rich
through the abundance of her delicacies ("wantonness" ASV; refers to her desire to heap up
riches and luxuries). Thus, the angel explains the "fornication" more fully. It is seen all over the
world today as men seek to gain pleasure, wealth, and power through unethical, immoral and
unscrupulous means.
The people of God were summoned to come out of her that they would have no fellowship with
her sins and would not receive of her plagues. A complete separation from her sins was
necessary to escape her plagues. Her sins had reached even unto heaven (see also Jonah 1:2)
and God had remembered her iniquities (see also 16:19). God was going to render to her double
(the phrase indicates a balancing of the scales); thus, the punishment was commensurate with
the guilt. Verse 7a adds to the thought revealed in verse 6; the judgment was to be in accord with
her sin. The word "deliciously" ("waxed wanton" ASV) again refers to her desire for pleasures,
luxuries and riches. She had great pride even as the old Babylon (Isa. 47:7-9) and as ancient Tyre
(Ezek. 28:2). Therefore (because of these things) in one day (very suddenly) shall here plagues

come upon her, for strong is the Lord God who judges her (the guarantee of her end rests on the
power of God). The plagues mentioned in verse 8--death, mourning, famine, fire--shows the
proper interpretation of the bowls of wrath of chapter 16. DAVID RIGGS
6. PULPIT, “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven; after [omitting
"and"] coming down, etc. The usual form of introduction to a new vision (cf. Rev_4:1; Rev_7:1,
etc.). The "mystery" of the beast and the harlot having been declared, the angel now describes the
doom in store for them. The angel is from heaven, as carrying the news of the judgment which is
sent from heaven (cf. Rev_10:1; Rev_19:6, Rev_19:15, Rev_19:17; Rev_15:1, etc.).Having great
power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. The great "authority" refers to the judgment
which follows, which, however, is not acted out before the seer, but only described. The last
clause records the visible manifestation of the great power (cf. the description in Eze_43:2).
6B. ELLICOTT,"THE FALL OF BABYLON.—In the commencement of the last chapter the angel
(one of the vial-bearing angels) had promised to show the seer the judgment of the harlot
(Revelation 18:1); he was accordingly shown first the vision of the scarlet-clad woman seated on
the wild beast. The seer was filled with wonder, and the angel ENTERED into explanation of the
mystery of the woman, touching on her relation to the beast, and her ultimate doom, and revealing
to him who she was. But though the angel has proclaimed her overthrow in his explanatory
statement, the judgment of the harlot has not been seen in the vision; we must, in fact, regard the
portion of the last chapter, from Revelation 18:7 to the end, as a kind of parenthesis, a pause in
the drama of vision, the action of which is RESUMED in Revelation 18. Yet though the dramatic
action is taken up, we are not shown in vision her actual overthrow; but we gather it from the four
agencies which are put forward—the angel which proclaims her moral fall (Revelation 18:1-3); the
voice from the heaven which gives the vivid description of her sudden overthrow, and of the
marvellous sensation it occasioned (Revelation 18:4-20); the angel which tells the irremediable
character of her overthrow (Revelation 18:21-24); and finally, the chorus of the heavenly multitude
rejoicing over her fall (Revelation 19:1-4).
Verse 1
(1) And after these things . . .—Or, better, After these things (omit “and”) I saw another angel
coming down, having great POWER (or, authority—entrusted to him for the work against
Babylon); and the earth was illumined by (literally, out of) his glory. The light which shines from the
heavenly messenger shines like day upon the tawdry splendour of Babylon, and shows that what
was admired was but worthless and corrupt. In his brief, but rousing call, he proclaims it to be so.
7. EBC, “THE FALL OF BABYLON
BABYLON has fallen. We have now the Divine proclamation of her fate, and the lamentation of
the world over the doom to which she has been consigned: -
"After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and
the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is
Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of devils, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a
hold of every unclean and hateful bird. 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 (Rev_18:1-3)."
At Rev_17:1, we read of one of the angels that had the seven Bowls. The angel now introduced is
another, or a second. We shall find as we proceed that we have entered upon a new series of
seven parts, similar to that in chap. 14, where six angels and their actions, three on either side,
are grouped around One higher than angels, and forming the central figure of the movement.*
The series is a long one, extending from chap. 17:1 to chap. 22:5, the central figure meeting us at
Rev_19:11; and again, as before, the fact ought to be carefully noticed, for it has a bearing on the
interpretation of some of the most difficult sections of this book. Meanwhile we have to do with the
second angel, whose action extends to Rev_18:20 of the present chapter. (*Kliefoth seems to
have been the first to point this out.)
The description given of this angel is proportioned to the importance of his message. He has great
authority; the earth is lightened with his glory; the voice with which he cries is mighty. It could

hardly be otherwise than that, with such joyful tidings as he bears to men, the "glory of the Lord
should shine round about him, and a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun."1 The
tidings themselves follow, taken from the Old Testament accounts of the desolation that was to
come upon Babylon: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans pride,
shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it
be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall
shepherds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and
their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall
dance there. And wolves shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces."2 In words
such as these, though combined throughout both the present and following descriptions with
expressions taken from the ruin of other famous and guilty cities of the Old Testament, we have
the source whence the powerful and pathetic words of this chapter are drawn. The most terrible
disasters of bygone times are but types of that wreck of all the grandeur of earth which we are
now invited to behold, while Babylon s sinfulness is referred to that her fate may appear to be no
more than her appropriate punishment. (1 Luk_2:9; Act_26:13; 2 Isa_13:19-22)
At this point we are met by one of those sudden transitions, common in the Apocalypse, which so
completely negative the idea of chronological arrangement. A cry is heard which seems to imply
that Babylon has not yet fallen: -
"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. For her sins have reached
even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Render unto her even as she
rendered, and double unto her the double according to her works: in the cup which she hath
mingled mingle unto her double. 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. 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
which judged her (Rev_18:4-8)."
The first words of this voice from heaven deserve peculiar attention: Come forth, My people, out
of her; that is, out of Babylon, the degenerate Church. We are at once reminded of the striking
teaching of our Lord in chap. 10 of the fourth Gospel, where He compares Himself to the "door" of
the fold, not the door by which the sheep enter into, but by which they come out of, the fold.l We
are also reminded of the blind man of chap. 9 of the same Gospel, whom our Lord "found" only
after he had been "cast out" of the synagogue.2 In the midst of the blinded theocracy of Israel in
the days of Jesus there was a faithful, though small, remnant. It had been betrayed by the
religious guides of the people, who had become "thieves and robbers," whom the true sheep did
not know, and to whom they ought not to listen. Jesus came to call it out of the theocracy to
Himself. Such was the spectacle which St. John had witnessed when his Master was in the world,
and that experience is now repeated. The Church as a whole degenerates. Called to prepare men
for the Second Coming of the Lord, and to teach them to live, not for the present, but the future,
she becomes herself the victim of the present She forgets that, in the absence of the Bridegroom,
her days are days of fasting. She fails to realize the fact that until her Lord comes again her state
is one of widowhood. And, instead of mourning, she sits as a queen, at ease and satisfied, proud
of her pomp and jewellery. What is all this but a recurrence of the old events of history? The
Apostle sees the future mirrored in the past; and he can only follow in his Master’s footsteps, and
call His Christian remnant out of Babylon. (1 Joh_10:7; 2 Joh_9:35)
The words are in the highest degree important for the interpretation and understanding of the
Apocalypse. We have already found in more than one passage distinct traces of this double
Church, of the true Church within the false, of the few living ones within the Body which had a
name to live, but was dead. Here the distinction meets us in all its sharpness, and fresh light is
cast upon passages that may have formerly seemed dark. "Many are called," "many" constituting
the outward Church; but "few are chosen," "few" constituting the real Church, the Church which
consists of the poor, and meek, and lowly. The two parts may keep together for a time, but the
union cannot last; and the day comes when, as Christ called His sheep out of the Jewish, so He
will again call His sheep out of the Christian "fold," that they may hear His voice, and follow Him.
Having summoned the true disciples of Jesus out of Babylon, the voice from heaven again
proclaims in a double form, as sins and as iniquities, the guilt of the doomed city, and invites the
ministers of judgment, according to the lex talionis, to render unto her double. The command may
also be founded upon the law of the theocracy by which thieves and violent aggressors of the poor

were required to make a double repayment to those whom they had injured,1 or it may rest upon
the remembrance of such threatenings as those by the prophet Jeremiah, "I will recompense their
iniquity and their sin double."2 (1 Exo_22:4; Exo_22:7; Exo_22:9; 2 Jer_16:18)
Judgment is next supposed to have been executed upon Babylon; and the Seer proceeds to
describe in language of unexampled eloquence the lamentation of the world over the city’s fall: -
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, 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. And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their
merchandise anymore: 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, and cinnamon, 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.
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. The merchants of
these thing’s, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping
and mourning, 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! for in one hour so great riches
is made desolate. And every shipmaster, and every one that saileth anywhither, and mariners,
and as many as gain their living by sea, stood afar off, and cried out as they looked upon the
smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city? And they cast dust on their heads,
and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein were made rich all
that had their ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Rejoice with her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath
judged your judgment on her (Rev_18:9-20)."
Three classes of persons are introduced to us: Kings, Merchants, and Sailors. All are of the earth;
and each class, in its own strain, swells the voice of lamentation. The words are largely taken from
the Old Testament, and more particularly from the description of the overthrow of Tyre in Ezekiel
(chaps. 26 and 27). There is even a peculiar propriety in this latter reference, for Tyre was known
by the prophets as another Babylon. In describing the "Burden of Tyre," Isaiah uses in one part of
his description the words, "The city of confusion" (the meaning of the word Babylon) "is broken
down."* (* Isa_24:10)
It is unnecessary to enter into any examination clause by clause of the passage before us. We
shall better catch its spirit and be made sensible of its effect by attending to a few general
observations upon the description as a whole.
1. Not without interest may we mark that the classes selected to mourn over the burning of the city
are three in number. We have thus another illustration of the manner in which that number
penetrates the structure of all the writings of St. John.
2. Emphasis is laid upon the fact that the city is burned. Her destruction by fire has indeed been
more than once alluded to. Of the beast and the ten horns it had been said that "they shall burn
her utterly with fire;"1 and, again, it had been proclaimed by the voice from heaven that "she shall
be utterly burned with fire."2 We shall not venture to say with any measure of positiveness that the
type of this "burning" is taken from the burning of Jerusalem by the Romans. It may have been
taken from the burning of other cities by victorious enemies. But this much at least is obvious:
that, in conjunction with the fact that Babylon is a harlot, destruction by fire leads us directly to the
thought of the spiritual, and not simply the civil, or political, or commercial, character of the city.
According to the law of Moses, burning appears to have been the punishment of fornication only
in the case of a priest s daughter: "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing
the harlot, she shall be burnt with fire."3 (1 Rev_17:16; 2 Rev_18:8; 3 Lev_21:9)
3. Whether there is any other allusion to spiritual traffic in the lamentations before us it is not easy
to say. Of one at least which may be quoted in this connection the interpretation is uncertain.
When the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over the loss of that merchandise which they
now miss, they extend it, not only to articles of commerce bought and sold in an ordinary market,
but to souls of men. It may be that, as often suggested, slavery alone is thought of. Yet it is highly
improbable that such is the case. Rather may it be supposed to refer to that spiritual life which is
destroyed by too much occupation .with, and too engrossing interest in, the world. "The
characteristic of this fornication is the selling themselves for gold, as the Greek word signifies.

Therefore with such wonderful force and emphasis of accumulation is every species of this
merchandise mentioned, running up all into one head: the souls of men. Like that in the prophet:
‘Their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full
of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots; their land also is full of idols’ And it must be
observed that all these things which are so minutely particularized as expressive of the meshes of
that net by which men’s souls are taken have also their place in the new Jerusalem, where every
jewel is specified by name, and the gold of its streets, and the fine linen, and the incense, and the
wine, and the oil, its white horses also. In both alike must they stand for spiritual merchandise of
good and evil, the false riches and the true."* (*Isaac Williams, The Apocalypse, with Notes, etc.,
p. 360)
The conclusion to be drawn is that Babylon is a spiritual city. That, as such, she is Jerusalem is
further confirmed by the fact that, at the close of the chapter, it is said, And in her was found the
blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that have been slain upon the earth. Similar words met
us in Rev_17:6; and here, as there, they unmistakably remind us of the words already quoted in
which our Lord describes the great city of the Jews.* (* Mat_28:35)
4. From all that has been said, it must be obvious that nothing is here spoken of Babylon
inapplicable to Jerusalem when we think of this latter city in the light in which the Seer specially
regards it. Jerusalem was indeed neither a commercial nor a maritime city, but Rome also was no
city on the sea. A large part, therefore, of the details of St. John’s description is not less destitute
of force when applied, if applied literally, to the latter than to the former. On the other hand, these
details are more applicable to Jerusalem than to Rome, if we remember that Jerusalem supplies,
in a way impossible to Rome, the groundwork for a delineation of those religious forces which are
far more wide-spreading in their reach, and far more crushing in their power, than the legions of
the imperial metropolis.
Babylon then is fallen, and that with a sudden and swift destruction, a destruction indeed so
sudden and so swift that each of the three companies that lament takes particular notice of the
fact that in one hour did her judgment come.* (* Rev_18:10; Rev_18:17; Rev_18:19)
More, however, so important is the subject, has to be said; and we are introduced to the action of
the third angel of the first group: -
"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. 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 millstone shall be heard 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 with thy sorcery were all the nations
deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that have been
slain upon the earth (Rev_18:21-24)."
Yet once again, it would seem, must we think of Babylon as to be destroyed rather than as
destroyed already. So great is her guiltiness that the Seer again and again approaches it, and
dwells, though from different points of view, upon the thought of her disastrous fate. In the present
case it is less the method than the effect of her destruction that is before his eye, and nothing can
be more touching than the light in which he presents it. At one moment we behold the city in her
brightness, her gaiety, her rich and varied life. We hear the voice of her harpers, and minstrels,
and flute-players, and trumpeters, all that can delight the ear accompanying all that can please the
eye. Her craftsmen of every craft are busy at their work; and each shop in the great city resounds
with the noise of the hammer, or the shuttle, or the other instruments of prosperous industry. The
cheering sound of the millstone tells that there is food in her humbler dwellings. Her merchants,
too, are the princes of the earth; innumerable lamps glitter in their halls and gardens; and the
voice of the bride groom and the bride is the pledge of her well-being and joy. The next moment
the proud city is cast like a millstone into the sea; and all is silence, desolation, and ruin. The
resources of language appear as if they had been exhausted to supply the description of so great
a fall.
We have now reached the close of the longest and most important section of the Apocalypse,
beginning, as has been already pointed out, with chap. 6. It is the fourth in that series of seven of
which the book is composed; and the main purpose of St. John in writing finds expression in it. As
the writer of the fourth Gospel describes in the fourth section of that book, extending from chap. 5
to chap. 12, the conflict between the Son of God and "the Jews," so he describes in the
corresponding section of the Apocalypse the conflict between the glorified Son of man as He lives

and reigns in His Church and the evil of the world. Throughout the conflict we are not once
permitted to forget that, although Christ and the true members of His Body may be the objects of
attack, and may even have to retire for security from the field, God is on their side, and will never
suffer His faithfulness to fail or forget His promises. In a threefold series of judgments the guilty
world and the guilty Church are visited with the terrors of His wrath. These three series of
judgments, too, go on in an ascending line. The climactic character of their contents has already
been pointed out, and nothing more need be said of it. But it may be worthwhile to notice that the
element of climax appears not less in the nature of the instruments employed. Comparing the
Trumpets with the Seals, the simple fact that they are Trumpets indicates a higher, more exciting,
more terrible unfolding of wrath. The Trumpet is peculiarly the warlike instrument, summoning the
hosts to battle: "Thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war;" "That
day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of
darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm
against the fenced cities."* That the Bowls, again, are still more potent than the Trumpets,
appears from the language in which they are described, from their mode of introduction, and from
the vessels made use of for the plagues. They are "the last " plagues; in them is "finished" the
wrath of God; they are called for by a "great voice out of the sanctuary;" and they proceed. not
from a secular instrument, however warlike, but from a sacred vessel, not from one which must
be sounded for a length of time before it produces its effect, but from one which, inverted in a
moment, pours out with a sudden gush its terrors upon men. Similar though they thus are, the
three series of judgments lose what might otherwise be their sameness; and the mind is invited to
rest upon that most instructive lesson of the providence of God, that in proportion to privilege
misused is the severity with which sin is punished. Throughout all these judgments the righteous
are kept safe. (* Jer_4:19; Zep_1:15-16)
It will thus be observed that there is no strict chronological succession in the visions of this book.
There is succession of a certain kind, succession in intensity of punishment. But we cannot assign
one series of judgments to one period in the history of the Church or limit another to another. All
the three series may continually fulfill themselves wherever persons are found of the character
and disposition to which they severally apply.
But while these three series constitute the chief substance of the fourth, or leading, section of the
seven into which the Apocalypse is divided, they do not exhaust the subject. The last series, in
particular - that of the Bowls has proceeded upon a supposition the most startling and pathetic by
which the history of the Church is marked, - that "they are not all Israel which are of Israel," that
tares have mingled With the wheat, and that the spirit of Babylon has found its way into the heart
of the city of God. A phenomenon so unexpected and so melancholy stands in need of particular
examination, and that examination is given in the description of the character and fate of Babylon.
The remarks already made upon this point need not be repeated. It may be enough to remind the
reader that in no part of his whole book is the Seer more deeply moved, and that in none does he
rise to strains of more powerful and touching eloquence. Yet what is chiefly required of us is to
open our minds to the full impression of the fact that Babylon does fall, deep in ruin as in guilt, and
that with her fail the conflict ends.
8. WILLIAM BURKITT, “The destruction of spiritual Babylon hath in this prophecy been several
times predicted and already foretold: now here an angel from heaven is employed to declare it
shall certainly be performed.
This angel is variously here described, 1. By the place from whence he came, namely, from
heaven; signifying, that the destruction of Babylon was there surely decreed, and should most
certainly be accomplished.
2. By the authority and power with which he came, in the name of, and by commission from, the
great God, and having great power. A mighty angel is employed in this great and mighty work, to
destroy Babylon, the mighty throne of antichrist.
3. By the effect of his appearance, the earth was lightened with his glory; denoting, that Babylon's
destruction should be open and manifest, and matter of joy and glorious rejoicing both to heaven
and earth.

Learn hence, That as the destruction of Babylon is the work and office of an angel, under God, so
is it unto the angels matter of joy and triumph; especially to such of them as are employed as
officers therein. I saw an angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was
lightened with his glory.
Observe, 2. The place against which the mighty angel doth denounce the vengeance of God, and
that with an ingemination, or repetition of the threatening: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen;
where, by Babylon, all, both papists and protestants, do understand the city of Rome, though in
different respects.
This is called mystical Babylon, in allusion to ancient Babylon, because of their resemblance,
1. In sin; namely, in pride and sedf-exaltation, in cruelty and oppression, in sorcery and witchcraft.
Isa_51:7.
2. In punishment: the destruction of old Babylon was a sudden destruction, Isa_17:9 and a
perpetual destruction. See Isa_13:20 compared with Rev_11:10 and Rev_18:8.
It is called Babylon the great, 1. Because of the greatness of its strength and glory; it was the
strongest and most fortified place in the world. Cyrus besieged it thirteen years before he took it,
and then by cutting channels, and drawing dry the river Erphrates.
2. In regard of her great power and dominion: literal Babylon said, and Are not my princes
altogether kings? and mystical Babylon ruleth over all the kings of the earth.
Farther, it is here said, that Babylon the great is fallen, nay, it is ingeminated and repeated, is
fallen, is fallen; implying,
1. The certainty of her ruin; it is a speech of faith, speaking of things to come as already past;
God's punishments when threatened are as certain as if already inflicted.
2. It denotes the suddenness of her destruction, She is fallen, that is subito ruitura, she shall soon
fall; as when Christ said of his suffering work, It is finished, he meant that it was very near
finishing.
3. It denotes her utter ruin and destruction, is fallen, is fallen, never to rise more: the church shall
never more be tormented by her, or troubled with her.
4. It denotes the joy and rejoicing which will be found in Sion, at Babylon's downfall and
destruction: she is fallen, she is fallen; it is not only a speech of faith and trust, but of joy and
triumph.
Learn hence, 1. That Rome or mystical Babylon, shall certainly fall, shall utterly fall, shall
irrecoverably fall.
2. That the downfall of Babylon will be matter of great joy and triumph to the inhabitants of Sion,
because she has been to the church of Christ an old and inveterate enemy, a cruel and bloody
enemy, and shall be the last enemy. When Babylon is fallen, then shall all persecutions cease,
Satan shall be bound, and the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and
his Christ. Let all that have an interest in God, be instant in prayer with him to hasten its time, that
it may be in the history as it is here in the prophecy, that Babylon is fallen.
Observe lastly, what an heap of multiplied expressions the Holy Ghost is pleased to make use of,
to set forth the utter ruin and final desolation of Babylon,--She is become the habitation of devils,
the hold of every foul spirit, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird; that is, as devils and evil
spirits are supposed to haunt desolate places, and birds which make hideous and dismal noises,
do dwell in ruinous and ruined places: in like manner these expressions denote how entirely and

absolutely God will bring about the destruction of Babylon, insomuch that the place which hath
known her, shall know her no more, and her habitation shall be an eternal desolation, so that none
that pass by shall say, This is Babylon.
9. KRETZMANN, “The Fall and Destruction of Anti-Christ's Kingdom.
The angel's announcement:
v. 1. And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power; and
the earth was lightened with his glory.
v. 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.
v. 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.
This entire paragraph reminds one of chap. 14:6-7, where an angel was pictured as lying in mid-
heaven: After these things I saw another angel descending out of heaven having great power, and
the earth was lit up by his glory. The reference is undoubtedly to Luther and his co-workers in the
great work of the Reformation. The Gospel which they once more proclaimed was not their own,
but was the message of God from heaven, and therefore was full of power. Nor was this
movement one that was done in secret, but the preaching and the writing of these men of God
was done before the whole world, and gave true spiritual light to all men that accepted the pure
doctrine of salvation.
The specific message of the angel on this occasion is recorded by the prophet: And He cried with
a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, and has become the habitation of
demons and a hold of every unclean spirit and a hold of every unclean and loathsome bird; for of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication all nations have drunk, and the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich through the power
of her luxury. That was the effect of the preaching of the pure Gospel upon the kingdom of Anti-
Christ, especially on the Pope and his hierarchy. Spiritually the empire of the Pope has been cast
down; his show of spirituality has been taken from him, his magic is no longer as effective as
formerly. To all believers that do hot willfully close their eyes the true nature of the Roman Church
as such has been revealed. Since the Church of the Pope has officially rejected the preaching of
the pure Gospel and declared her unwavering devotion to the fundamental errors that crept into
the Church in the Middle Ages, since that time the Church of the Pope as such has hardened her
heart, has become obdurate against all true reform. It has become the habitation of devils, of
unclean spirits, and of loathsome birds, as the prophets describe the condition of all anti-Christian
bodies, Isa_13:21-22; Isa_34:14;Jer_50:39; Jer_51:8-38. And that is a just punishment of God
upon the kingdom of Anti-Christ, for the deliberate guilt of this Church as such is such as cannot
be adequately expressed. She has done more to spread the anti-Christian doctrine of works than
any other organization in the world, trying especially to obtain influence with the great and
powerful in the world, to lead them into the ways of idolatry and to make them her willing servants.
And so far as the merchants of the earth are concerned, including many of her own high officials,
the luxury and pomp of this Church have brought them untold wealth. The very name of God,
which the Church of the Pope piously used, was and is made a bait for the unwary, and the wrath
of the zealous God is aroused to the utmost pitch.
10. COLLEGE PRESS, “vs. 1 "And after these things."
After the descriptions given us in the seventeenth chapter to re-

veal 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." (Rev. 18:1)
296
WONDER BOOK OF THE BIBLE 18:1,2
The introduction of such a mighty angel at this juncture em-
phasizes 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 enlightment concerning the final destruction of that great
city Babylon which had darkened the earth doctrinally, spiritually,
politically and economically.
vs 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 (Rev. 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." (Rev.
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 Pharoah why his dream was "dou-
bled," he said: "And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharoah
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 14:8 and the second
double in 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,
297

18:1,2 WONDER BOOK OF THE BIBLE
eventuate in that condition of a godless civilization as typified by
the literal Babylon of antiquity and the spiritual Babylon symbol-
zed under that name in Revelation.
The confusion that obtains in religion, education, economics,
finance, industry, government, politics and morality — all 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 abomina-
tions of the earth." This Babylon we have proved by the testimony
of Scripture and History alike to be the religio-political heirarchal
system known to the world as the papacy and the apostate church.
With a false church dominating the world, it follows, as nat-
urally 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 annointed. 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."
(I Samuel 16:7)
298
WONDER BOOK OF THE BIBLE 18:1-4
This twice repeated expression "is fallen is fallen" describes a
twin falling action. Babylon, as a system of false teaching and wor-
ship in an apostate church, and, Babylon as a system of commercial-
ism 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 re-
peated expression, "is fallen is fallen."
And the reason by both fall together is given in the very next
verse:
11. BI, “The overthrow of wickedness
I. A glorious angel proclaims this (cf. Rev_18:1 as to this angel). Then such overthrow must be—
1. Righteous.
2. Blessed.
3. Divine. Had it been possible for men to effect this, it would have been done long since.
II. God’s people receive command.
1. To separate themselves from sin. From which we learn—
(1) That God’s people may have to dwell in the midst of sin.
(2) That though where wickedness is, they are not to be partakers of it.
(3) That they shall one day be effectually separated from it.
2. To avenge themselves upon it. Resentment and wrath are passions given us by God. Our peril
and propensity is lest we turn them in a wrong direction.
III. The friends of wickedness lament.
1. Wickedness has friends. Those who find delight in it, who “live deliciously” in it (Rev_18:9).
Those who make profit out of it. The merchants, etc. (Rev_18:11). And—
2. Their lament is loud and long. They weep, mourn, wail; say, “Alas, alas” cast dust on their
heads, etc. (Rev_18:11; Rev_18:15-16; Rev_18:19).
3. But the lament is utterly selfish. They mourn not because of the wickedness: that does not
trouble them. Nor even for Babylon’s sufferings. But because the hope of their gain is gone (Rev_
18:19).
4. And they do not go to her help (Rev_18:15). They stand afar off for the fear of her torment.
Look well at these friends, for such are they that sin and sinners call friends.
IV. All heaven, angels and saints, rejoice. When we read over the subject of their joy, we find
that—
1. It is not because in this Babylon there was nothing innocent or good. There was much. Verses
22, 23 tell of what was lawful and right in any community. In the worst of men there is good. None
are utterly bad. But—
2. That the main characteristic of her life was evil. And therefore her destruction was a matter of
joy. She deceived all nations. She slew God’s saints. Thus—
3. Justice was done. And—
4. It was completely done. See the symbol of the angel with the millstone (Rev_18:21). Nothing
like this has ever been accomplished yet, but this prophecy is a sure promise that it will be. “Who
shall live when the Lord doeth this”? Amongst whom shall we be found? Let us now “some out of
her, that we be not,” etc. (Rev_18:4). (S. Conway, B. A.)
Babylon
I. The description of Babylon.
1. Its corrupt character. As before the prophets were “false” and the spirits were “unclean,” and
stood opposed to God; so now harlotry, fornication, drunkenness, blasphemy, abominations,
luxury, persecuting, violence, sorcery, submission to the beast, warring against the Lamb, are the
terms employed to describe or indicate the excessive foulness and corruption of the faithless city.
This is “the woman” having in her hand “a golden cup full of abominations, even the unclean
things of her fornication.” This the “Babylon the great,” which is become “a habitation of devils, a
hold of every unclean spirit and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.”
2. Virulent antagonism to the good, even to the loftiest ideals of goodness. “War against the
Lamb”; “blasphemed the God of heaven”; “gather together unto the war of the great day of God”;
“poured out the blood of saints and prophets”; in such terms is the antipathy to all righteousness
declared.

3. Occasion of all evil, seen in the corruption of life, the deceitfulness of iniquity, the loss of the
blessings of righteousness, degradation in sin, to which the “peoples, and multitudes, and nations,
and tongues” are reduced “where the harlot sitteth”; and the judgments and consequent sufferings
in which they are involved.
4. The widespread, universal character of the desolation caused. In every aspect this vision is
“great and marvellous.” It is “Babylon the great.” The harlot “sitteth upon many waters,” which
waters are “peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues.” “And the woman is the great city
which reigneth over the kings of the earth”; “by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the
nations are fallen.” “What city is like the great city,” with whose “sorcery were all nations
deceived”? “In her was found the blood of all that have been slain upon the earth.” This is the
universal kingdom of evil, whose “sins reached unto heaven.” This great kingdom shall come to
an end. Such is the ever-recurring promise of this book.
II. Its destruction is complete. The “harlot” is made “desolate and naked”; hated by all over whom
she sat as a queen; they shall “eat her flesh, and burn her utterly with fire.” “Woe, woe!” is
pronounced against the great city, Babylon; “for in one hour is thy judgment come.” “Fallen, fallen
is Babylon the great.” “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 which judgeth her.” “The Lamb
shall overcome,” and thus shall they also overcome that are with Him. “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 east down, and shall be found no more at all.” Then shall the kings of
the earth that committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth who were made rich
by her, and every shipmaster and mariner, and all that were made rich by her, weep and mourn
and lament; while to heaven a sweet song of joy and thankfulness shall rise from them who with
the Lamb have overcome—who are called, and chosen, and faithful. (R. Green.)
The fall of corrupt society
The fall of corrupt society is—
I. Divinely proclaimed. As there is a law of disintegration in the material universe, that so
separates the hugest mountains that they ultimately disappear, so there is in the moral a law of
retribution, which will ultimately break into pieces the world of corrupt society.
II. Manifestly deserved. As in the ruins of old cities, the cormorant, the screech-owl, the vulture,
and other hideous creatures are found, so in this moral Babylon are found the most horrible and
detestable of all existences. The utter extermination, or rather extinction, of such objects is
urgently required.
III. A reason for quitting it.
1. The possibility of good men living in this moral Babylon. The depravities of our contemporaries
and neighbours are no justification for our defects.
2. Good men, unless they quit this corrupt society, will be involved in its guilt and fate.
IV. A development of retribution. The ruin comes, not as a casual event, nor as a positive
infliction, but as the result of the eternal law of retribution: a law silent in its operation, resistless in
its force, and inevitable in its issues (Gal_6:7).
V. An overwhelming catastrophe. When full judgment comes upon a corrupt community the
horrors involved not only transcend description, but even imagination. What is lost? Friendship
gives way to fiendish battlings; peace gives way to furious storms; hope gives way to black
despair and terrible apprehensions: liberty gives way to a crushing thraldom, to which every
faculty of the soul is bound in chains of darkness. All the lights of the soul are quenched, and the
whole heavens are mantled in a starless midnight. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The habitation of devils.
The habitation of demons
I. Every Babel-like city or system, is doomed to destruction, and will fall into an abyss of fearful
degradation. This is the lesson of all history from the beginning of the world. We see it in the
overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms, and of the Greek
and Roman Empires. Wherever we find a nation that is supremely devoted to the things of sense,
we have Babel-like adolaters, who are destined to a certain fall and degradation. Such is the
appointed end of every political or religious system that ignores God and His truth, and seek after

material power and prosperity as the chief objects of life. Let a nation lose her faith in God—let
her drive truth, virtue, love, and righteousness from her heart and life, and what will she become?
Can she become anything else than a habitation of devils? Can she become anything else but the
seat and prey of demon-like passions?
II. Observe how diabolical the passions of men may become. “The most terrible physical calamity
that can be imagined,” says one, “has no terror to compare with that of fiends let loose from hell
and taking possession of human hearts and hands. A ship sinking in a tempest with its hundreds
of helpless passengers; a Lisbon overwhelmed by sudden earthquake; a Pompeii buried alive
beneath the lava and ashes of Vesuvius are very terrible to hear of, and to think of, but they are
nothing to what Paris has lately seen. Her streets have been flooded with the worst passions of
which human nature, satanically inspired, is capable. Men, women, and even children, born in the
same streets, neighbours all their life long, who have traded and danced and sung together,
pursuing each other to death with the ferocity of tigers, and inflicting all manner of dishonour and
indignity on the mangled remains of the dead—and all this in the most polished and beautiful city
in the world—what can it all mean, except it be an eruption of demons from the bottomless pit?”
III. We see what society has to expect from the apostles of infidelity and atheism. When men have
destroyed the idea of a God in their own minds, is it not natural to think that they will enter on a
career of destruction in reference to other and smaller things? If they hesitate not to destroy the
idea of a God—the fountain of right and wrong—will they shrink from destroying human life or
property? If the idea of a God be not a sacred idea to such persons, do you think that the idea of
the value of human life or property will be a sacred idea to them? No. Society has everything to
lose and nothing to gain from such apostles of atheism and infidelity. Not from them, but from
other and higher sources, would we look for the salvation of men.
IV. All men are in danger of falling into a Babel-like spirit and life. For all are only too prone to put
faith in the things of sense, and to forget the things that are unseen and eternal. The Babylonian
spirit is not dead. Every man to some extent is a little Babel. We have faith in the powers of
nature. We have faith in the sun, in the moon, in the star, in the coal, and in the seed that we cast
into the ground. Do we believe also in God? Have we a real and lasting faith in Him? Have we
such a faith in love, truth, virtue, and righteousness, as in the things that we see with the eye of
our body and touch with our hands? (Wm. M’Kay.)
Come out of her.—
The influence of the apostate Babylon
When the great apostate power named Babylon comes, as hero sot forth, to utter destruction, it is
seen how wide and how deep its malign influence had been. The whole fabric of the world’s
commerce is shattered by its fall; for all human industries and traffic and all the markets of the
world had come to be diverted from the service of God, and directed and controlled by the corrupt
principles and unhallowed delights of the vast apostasy. Even though the identity of this mystic
Babylon be left unfixed, the warning reaches us with no lack of distinctness and urgency. We
need not wait until we can precisely define and allocate the form and system of wrong which is
here denounced before we determine to hold ourselves clear of all wrong, by doing that only which
is right, by acknowledging and serving God alone in all particulars and interests of our daily fife, at
home and in the world. (G. S. Rowe.)
In the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.—
The rule of retribution
I. This rule commends itself to our sense of justice. That those of the wicked who in this world live
in affluence, and have more than heart can wish, possess abundant opportunities for intellectual
and moral improvement, and means of doing good, should in future retribution fare alike with
those who have none of these blessings or advantages, would be an outrage on our sense of
right. Justice requires a balancing of human affairs, a kind of compensation for existing
discrepancies, and this mankind will have in the great retributive future.
II. This rule answers to biblical teaching. Throughout the whole Scripture record it is taught that
sinners, after they have passed through their probationary period, will be dealt with according to
the mercies they have abused, the opportunities they have neglected, and the advantages they
have wasted. “He that knoweth his Master’s will and doeth it not,” etc. “It will be more tolerable for

Sodom and Gomorrah,” etc. “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime didst receive,” etc.
III. This rule agrees with universal experience. Conscious contrast between a propitious past and
a distressing present is and must ever be an element in mental suffering. (Homilist.)
She hath glorified herself.—
The degenerate Church
Called to prepare men for the second coming of the Lord, and to teach them to live, not for the
present, but the future, she becomes herself the victim of the present. She forgets that, in the
absence of the Bridegroom, her days are days of fasting. She fails to realise the fact that until her
Lord comes again her state is one of widowhood. And, instead of mourning, she sits as a queen,
at ease and satisfied, proud of her pomp and jewellery. (W. Milligan, D D.)
Therefore shall her plagues come.—
National ruin
Our scientific friends find yellow bricks still impressed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, and they
go back to the sarcophagus of a monarchy buried more than two thousand years ago. But is it
possible that that is all that remains of Babylon? a city once five times larger than London and
twelve times larger than New York? Wall three hundred and seventy-three feet high and ninety-
three feet thick. Twenty-five burnished gates on each side, with streets running clear through to
corresponding gates on the other side. Six hundred and twenty-five squares. More pomp and
wealth and splendour and sins than could be found in any five modern cities combined. A city of
palaces and temples. Great capital of the ages! But one night, while honest citizens were asleep,
but all the saloons of saturnalia were in full blast, and at the king’s castle they had filled the
tankards for the tenth time, and reeling and guffawing and hiccoughing around the state table
were the rulers of the land. General Cyrus ordered his besieging army to take shovels and
spades, and they diverted the river from its usual channel into another direction, so that the
forsaken bed of the river became the path on which the besieging party entered. When the
morning dawned the conquerors were inside the city walls. Babylon had fallen. But do nations die?
Oh, yes, there is great mortality among monarchies and republics. They are like individuals in the
fact that they are born, they have a middle life, they have a decease, they have a cradle and a
grave. Some of them are assassinated, some destroyed by their own hand.
1. One evil threatening the destruction of American institutions is the solidifying of the sections
against each other. This country cannot exist unless it exists as one body—the national capital,
the heart, sending out through all the arteries of communication warmth and life to the very
extremities.
2. Another evil threatening the destruction of our American institutions is the low state of public
morals. What killed Babylon of my text? What killed Phoenicia? What killed Rome? Their own
depravity; and the fraud and the drunkenness, and the immorality which have destroyed other
nations will destroy ours, unless a merciful God prevent. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’[a]
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable

animal.
1.BARNES, “And he cried mightily - Literally, “he cried with a strong great voice.” See Rev_10:3.
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen - See the notes on Rev_14:8. The proclamation here is
substantially the same as in that place, and no doubt the same thing is referred to.
And is become the habitation of devils - Of demons - in allusion to the common opinion that the
demons inhabited abandoned cities, old ruins, and deserts. See the notes on Mat_12:43-45. The
language here is taken from the description of Babylon in Isa_13:20-22; and for a full illustration of
the meaning, see the notes on that passage.
And the hold of every foul spirit - f??a??` phulake‾. A watch-post, station, haunt of such spirits -
That is, they, as it were, kept guard there; were stationed there; haunted the place.
And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird - That is, they would resort there, and abide there as
in a cage. The word translated “cage” is the same which is rendered “hold” - f??a??` phulake‾. In
Isa_13:21, it is said, “and owls shall dwell there”; and in Isa_14:23, it is said that it would be a
“possession for the bittern.” The idea is that of utter desolation; and the meaning here is, that
spiritual Babylon - papal Rome Rev_14:8 - will be reduced to a state of utter desolation
resembling that of the real Babylon. It is not necessary to suppose this of the city of Rome itself -
for that is not the object of the representation. It is the papacy, represented under the image of the
city, and having its seat there. That is to be destroyed as utterly as was Babylon of old; that will
become as odious, and loathsome, and detestable as the literal Babylon, the abode of monsters
is.
2. CLARKE, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen - This is a quotation from Isa_21:9 : And he said,
Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
This is applied by some to Rome pagan; by others to Rome papal; and by others to Jerusalem.
Is become - the hold of every foul spirit - See the parallel passages in the margin. The figures
here point out the most complete destruction. A city utterly sacked and ruined, never to be rebuilt.
2B. ELLICOTT, "{(2) And he cried . . .—We must omit “mightily,” and render, And he cried in a
mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become an habitation of demons,
and a prison of every unclean SPIRIT, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird. Those who
walk in darkness, and whose eyes the god of this world hath blinded through their lusts, look only
on the material side, upon prosperous times, large revenues, rapidly developing resources. The
great city of the world looks fair and glorious in their eyes, and even the godly are dazzled by her
beauty; but when the light of heaven shines, her fall is seen to be inevitable, for she is seen to be
hateful; her palaces are seen to be prisons, her highest wisdom little more than low cunning, her
most exalted intelligence base-born, her sweetest songs discordant cries; the evil spirit,
WELCOMED BACK, has come in seven-fold power; for the dry places afford no rest to those who
still love sin and the pleasures of sin. The description in this verse is drawn largely from Isaiah
13:21-22; it is a PICTURE OF desolation and degradation, but it has its moral counterpart.
3. GILL, “And he cried mightily with a strong voice,.... Which shows not only the vehemence and
affection of the ministers of the word, who will publish what follows, but the greatness and
importance of it; and this loud voice may be, as for the sake of the whole church in general, that
all may bear, so for the sake of those of the Lord's people in particular, that will be in Babylon at
this time; and it may have regard to that deep sleep and spirit of slumber that Babylon itself will be
in, which, notwithstanding this loud cry, will remain insensible of its ruin till it comes upon her, as
was the case of old Babylon, Jer_51:39,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen: the whole world is not designed by Babylon, for it is
distinguished from all nations in the following verse; nor Babylon in Chaldea, which was fallen long
before John saw this vision, but Rome Papal; See Gill on Rev_14:8 so the woman is called in
Rev_17:5 who sits on seven mountains, and is that great city, the city of Rome, that reigns over
the kings of the earth, Rev_18:9 this is said to be fallen, because, in a very little time after this
declaration, it will fall; for as yet it was not destroyed, since after this the Lord's people are called

upon to come out of her, and are bid to reward her double; and it is declared, that her plagues,
should come in one day, and she should be burnt with fire; and an angel after this throws a
millstone into the sea, saying, that so should Babylon be thrown down, Rev_18:4 and it is
repeated to denote the certainty and utter destruction of her: and which is more fully expressed by
what follows,
and is become the habitation of devils; as old Babylon was of satyrs, Isa_13:21 demons, which
appeared in a hairy form, like goats, and the word is rendered devils in Lev_17:7 and the
inhabitants of Rome now are no other; the pope and his cardinals, the priests, Jesuits, monks,
and friars, are the spirits of devils, and their doctrines the doctrines of devils; see Rev_16:14
and the hold of every foul spirit: devils are frequently called unclean spirits, and these appear in
desert and desolate places, Mat_12:43 where they are either of choice, or rather are obliged to it;
and so the word translated "hold" signifies a prison, or place of confinement; and such as are
comparable to unclean spirits now haunt and abound in Rome, and its territories; see Rev_16:13
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird; such, as vultures, kites, owls, &c. which generally
reside in desolate and uninhabited places; the Alexandrian copy, the Syriac and Ethiopic versions,
add, "and the hold", or "seat of every unclean and hateful beast"; and so the desolation of old
Babylon is described by wild beasts and doleful creatures dwelling in it, Isa_13:21. Some consider
all this as a reason of the destruction of Babylon or Rome, because it now is the residence of
persons comparable to devils, foul spirits, hateful birds, and beasts of prey; but this account rather
describes its state and case in which it will be after its ruin, being never more to be inhabited by
men, in allusion to old Babylon, Isa_13:19.
4. HENRY, “This angel publishes the fall of Babylon, as a thing already come to pass; and this he
does with a mighty strong voice, that all might hear the cry, and might see how well this angel was
pleased to be the messenger of such tidings. Here seems to be an allusion to the prediction of the
fall of pagan Babylon (Isa_21:9), where the word is repeated as it is here: has fallen, has fallen.
Some have thought a double fall is hereby intended, first her apostasy, and then her ruin; and they
think the words immediately following favour their opinion; She has become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird, Rev_18:2.
But this is also borrowed from Isa_21:9, and seems to describe not so much her sin of
entertaining idols (which are truly called devils) as her punishment, it being a common notion that
unclean spirits, as well as ominous and hateful birds, used to haunt a city or house that lay in its
ruins.
5. JAMISON, “mightily ... strong — not supported by manuscripts. But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and
Coptic read, “with (literally, ‘in’) a mighty voice.”
is fallen, is fallen — so A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Andreas. But B and Coptic omit the second “is
fallen” (Isa_21:9; Jer_51:8). This phrase is here prophetical of her fall, still future, as Rev_18:4
proves.
devils — Greek, “demons.”
the hold — a keep or prison.
5B. NOTES, “ Some say Babylon represents the world in its pursuit of wealth and pleasure.
Commercialism and industrialism rule the world and are not evil in themselves, but become
leaders of evil because they put materialism above God and push Him out of the picture. The
almighty dollar becomes the primary idol. The banks are the temples and bankers the high
priests. The love of money is the root of all that is good in this system. The Bablonian captivity of
the church is when Christians are so caught up in this world system that their devotion to God is a
mere sideline that is not allowed to interfere with with mammon.
Babylon is mentioned more than any other city in the Bible except for Jerusalem. Criswell says
it is mentioned 260 times. It was the city which at one time conquered the Jerusalem of God and
took the people captive. It destroyed the temple of God.
1. Introduction: is this the same Babylon as is described in chapter 17?
a. Good scholars see the issue differently. Some point to two manifestations of Babylon (one

religious and one commercial); others see the two as one, both being judged at the same time
b. There are definite similarities between Babylon as described in Revelation 17 and Revelation
18; both are under the rule of Antichrist, ruling queens; both are filled with blasphemy; both hate
the saints, and shed their blood; both are associates with kings in fornication; both are under
judgment and destroyed
c. However, there are also some significant differences:
17: Religious Babylon 18: Commercial Babylon
1. Mystery Babylon 1. Great Babylon; Babylon the Great
2. Symbol: a harlot woman 2. Symbol: a great city
3. Identified with Rome (inland) 3. Identified with a port city
4. Woman, whore, and mother 4. Habitation, great city, market place
5. Guilty: religious abominations 5. Guilty: greed, self-indulgence
6. Destroyed by a political power 6. Destroyed by a sudden act of God
who had previously supported her
d. In my view, it is best to see them as intertwined, yet somewhat distinct; with one being attacked
at the mid-point of the seven year period of tribulation (religious Babylon), and the other at the end
of that period (commercial Babylon)
e. This passage is very much in the style of Old Testament prophecies of doom regarding wicked
cities (Babylon: Isaiah 13; 14; 21 and Jeremiah 50; 51; Tyre: Ezekiel 26-28)
i. "John has caught the spirit of the prophetic doom songs" (Morris)
2. Is this Babylon a literal or symbolic city?
a. Some have thought it to be a future rebuilt Babylon on the Euphrates river in the Middle East
(now desolate desert in modern day Iraq)
i. Sudam Hussein has been outspoken in his desire to resurrect the ruined city of Babylon in all of
its glory; he may in fact do this, and it is conceivable that a rebuilt Babylon could be a world
economic center, especially with the wealth of Mideast oil. But so far, Hussein has not made good
on his dream to rebuild Babylon
b. But most likely, commercial Babylon is like religious Babylon, symbolic: "When the Lord was
here on earth He spoke of the great hatred that 'the world' had for Him and His own (John
15:18,19). What is this world but a combination of religion, government and commerce? In other
words, Babylon in all its parts stands for that which Christ called 'the world.'" (Barnhouse)
i. "In portraying the destruction of a (symbolic) city, he describes God's judgment on the great
satanic system of evil than has corrupted the earth's history." (Johnson)
6. PULPIT, “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying; and he cried with a strong voice,
saying. This "strong voice" is characteristic of the heavenly utterances (cf. Rev_7:2; Rev_14:7,
etc.). Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. The event, though future, is described as past, being
predetermined in the counsels of God. The words here are a reproduction of Isa_21:9. And is
become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird; a habitation a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated
bird. "Devils" (Greek, da? ?´??a ), inferior evil spirits. The three phrases express the same idea,
viz. the loathsome and hateful state to which Babylon is reduced. The language is derived from
the prophets (cf. Isa_13:21, Isa_13:22; Isa_34:11-15; Jer_1:1-19 :39; Jer_51:37). A hold (Greek,
f??a??´ , "a strong place"); the natural and fitting stronghold of the devils, rather than a place to
which they are involuntarily confined.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with
her,

and the merchants of the earth grew rich from
her excessive luxuries.”
1.BARNES, “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication - See the notes
on Rev_14:8. This is given as a reason why this utter ruin had come upon her. She had beguiled
and corrupted the nations of the earth, leading them into estrangement from God, and into
pollution and sin. See the notes on Rev_9:20-21.
And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her - Spiritual adultery; that is, she has
been the means of seducing them from God and leading them into sinful practices.
And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies - The
word rendered “abundance” here, means commonly “power.” It might here denote influence,
though it may also mean number, quantity, wealth. Compare Rev_3:8, where the same word is
used. The word rendered “delicacies” - st??????? stre‾nous - occurs nowhere else in the New
Testament. It properly means rudeness, insolence, pride; and hence “revel, riot, luxury.” It may be
rendered here properly as “luxury,” or “proud voluptuousness”; and the reference is to such
luxuries as are found commonly in a great, a frivolous, and a splendid city. These, of course, give
rise to much traffic, and furnish employment to many merchants and sailors, who thus procure a
livelihood, or become wealthy as the result of such traffic. Babylon - or papal Rome - is here
represented under the image of such a luxurious city; and of course, when she falls, they who
have thus been dependent on her, and who have been enriched by her, have occasion for
mourning and lamentation. It is not necessary to expect to find a literal fulfillment of this, for it is
emblematic and symbolical. The image of a great, rich, splendid, proud and luxurious city having
been employed to denote that anti-Christian power, all that is said in this chapter follows, of
course, on its fall. The general idea is, that she was doomed to utter desolation, and that all who
were connected with her, far and near, would be involved in her ruin.
2. CLARKE, “The wine of the wrath - The punishment due to her transgressions, because they
have partaken with her in her sins. See the note on Rev_14:8.
3. GILL, “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication,.... That is, all the
nations of the Roman empire, the European nations, otherwise the Pagan and Mahometan
nations have not; but these have, being made to drink by her, and made drunk therewith, that is,
with her idolatries; See Gill on Rev_14:8.
And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her; joined with her in her idolatrous
worship and practices, and encouraged the same, and obliged their subjects to them in their
dominions; See Gill on Rev_17:2.
And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies; or
"luxury"; which is not to be understood in a literal sense; though it is true that many merchants, in
all ages, have enriched themselves by sending their commodities to Rome, where, through the
vast consumption and luxuriousness of the place, they have bore a good price; but this is to be
interpreted of spiritual merchants; these are such who do not merchandise by sea, but are land
merchants, the merchants of the earth, and are said to be the great men of the earth, Rev_18:23
such as are equal to princes, lords, and nobles; such are the cardinals, archbishops, and bishops;
though the inferior clergy of the Romish church, who are under these, may be included: to which
may be added, that one part of their wares is said to be the souls of men, Rev_18:13 which plainly
shows what sort of merchants these are; they are such who make merchandise of men, and
pretend to sell them heaven, and the salvation of their souls; these are they that deal in pardons
and indulgences, which they sell to ignorant people, and for a sum of money say Mass to fetch
souls out of purgatory: all things have been saleable at Rome, crucifixes, priests, altars, temples,
prayers, heaven, Christ, yea, God himself, as the poet Mantuan expresses it; and because of
these idolatries, and wicked practices, Rome will be at last destroyed.

4. HENRY, “The reason of this ruin is declared (Rev_18:3); for, though God is not obliged to give
any account of his matters, yet he is pleased to do so, especially in those dispensations of
providence that are most awful and tremendous. The wickedness of Babylon had been very great;
for she had not only forsaken the true God herself, and set up idols, but had with great art and
industry drawn all sorts of men into the spiritual adultery, and by her wealth and luxury had
retained them in her interest.
5. JAMISON, “drunk — Rev_14:8, from which perhaps “the wine” may have been interpolated.
They have drunk of her fornication, the consequence of which will be wrath to themselves. But A,
B, and C read, “(owing to the wrath of her fornication all nations) have fallen.” Vulgate and most
versions read as English Version, which may be the right reading though not supported by the
oldest manuscripts. Babylon, the whore, is destroyed before the beast slays the two witnesses
(Rev_11:7), and then the beast himself is destroyed.
the wine — so B, Syriac, and Coptic. But A, C, and Vulgate omit.
abundance — literally, “power.”
delicacies — Greek, “luxury.” See on 1Ti_5:11, where the Greek verb “wax wanton” is akin to the
noun here. Translate, “wanton luxury.” The reference is not to earthly merchandise, but to spiritual
wares, indulgences, idolatries, superstitions, worldly compromises, wherewith the harlot, that is,
the apostate Church, has made merchandise of men. This applies especially to Rome; but the
Greek, and even in a less degree Protestant churches, are not guiltless. However, the principle of
evangelical Protestantism is pure, but the principle of Rome and the Greek church is not so.
5B. NOTES, “Announcement of the glorious angel
a. Illuminated with his glory: "So recently has he come from the Presence (of God) that in passing
he flings a broad belt of light across the dark earth." (Swete)
b. He announces that Babylon is fallen, fallen; the phrase is "repeated like a solemn dirge of the
damned" (Robertson)
c. The city has become a habitation of demons; this is "A prophetic picture of absolute desolation
where the proud achievements of man become the demonic haunts of unclean and horrible
creatures" (Mounce)
d. Abundance of her luxury - Babylon's sin is not only idolatry (referred to with the term
fornication), but also pride, greed and excessive wealth
4. (4-5) A call to God's people to separate from Babylon
a. It is inconceivable that a child of God could be a part of religious Babylon (though elements may
creep in); but commercial Babylon, with its materialistic lure, is a constant threat
b. The warning is focused towards saints who are in the position Lot was in while living in Sodom
(Genesis 19); these are God's people in a place they shouldn't be, a place ripe for destruction
c. The call to depart from Babylon and the worldliness that it represents is a theme repeated
frequently in the Scriptures
i. Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from her, be clean, you who
bear the vessels of the Lord. (Isaiah 52:11)
ii. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and everyone save his life! (Jeremiah 50:8)
iii. My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of
the Lord (Jeremiah 51:45)
iv. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness
with lawlessness? (2 Corinthians 6:14)
v. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
(Ephesians 5:11)
d. Their sins have reached to heaven; they have piled up like a tower; the tower of Babel
e. God will remember her iniquities; but for believers, He says I will remember their sins no more
(Hebrews 8:12)
6. PULPIT, “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. "The wine" is
omitted in A, C, but it is inserted in à , B, and retained in the Revised Version. "The wrath" is
omitted (cf. the expression in Rev_14:8 and Rev_17:2).And the kings of the earth have committed
fornication with her. (On the figure employed, as well as the identical language, see Rev_17:2.)
And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The
"abundance" (Greek, d?´?a ?? , which Vitringa renders by copia, referring to Job_31:25; Eze_
28:4, LXX.). "Delicacies." (Greek, st?????? , occurs in the New Testament only here, and as a
verb in Rev_18:7, Rev_18:9, and (compounded) in 1Ti_5:11. It signifies overweening pride and

insolence and wantonness, arising from superfluity of wealth and gifts. Cf. the warning to the
Church of Laodicea (Rev_3:17).
7. WILLIAM BURKITT, “The Spirit of God is placed here to assign the reason and cause of
Babylon's fatal ruin and final desolation; namely,
1. Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornications.
All nations, that is, very many; the generality of the Roman empire have been allured to, and
intoxicated by, her idolatries, which have brought all this wrath upon her and them.
Where note, 1. How idolatry is compared to wine, because very pleasing to corrupt nature, and
also very enticing and ensnaring, overtaking, like wine, a person unawares; and it is called wine of
wrath, because it exciteth and provoketh God's wrath against a person or people guilty of it.
2. Because the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, that is, joined with her in
her idolatrous worship.
Where note, The policy of Babylon in drawing kings and princes to the bed of her fornications, well
knowing how fast their example would be followed by inferiors. The example of superiors in doing
evil is strangely powerful; Jeroboam made Israel to sin, not by commanding them to worship the
golden calves, but commending that idolatrous worship to them in his own person.
3. Because the merchants of the earth were waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
By the merchants, understand all such as trade in Babylon's wares, her pleasing and costly wares
of pardons, as masses and indulgences, by which so many were enriched. All things are vendible
at Rome, any sin may be forgiven for silver, and a license for any thing that is unlawful for money.
These are the reasons here assigned for Babylon's ruin. The nations were made drunk by her,
kings committed fornication with her, and the merchants enriched through the abundance of her
delicacies.
8. COLLEGE PRESS, “vs. 3 "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication and the kings of the earth have committed fornica-
tion 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: vs. 4 "And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not par-
takers 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;
52:4-11) (Jeremiah 50:8,9; 51:6,8) (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 Cor. 6:17, 18) (Rev.
18:4)
The seven-fold, or fullest possible measure of calling, for the peo-
ple 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,
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’[b]
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
1.BARNES, “And I heard another voice from heaven - He does not say whether this was the voice
of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God.
Come out of her, my people - The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two:
(a) That they might not participate in her sins; and,
(b) That they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her.
The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following:
“Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing,” Isa_48:20. “Flee out
of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity,” Jer_51:6.
“My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger
of the Lord,” Jer_51:45. Compare Jer_50:8.
That ye be not partakers of her sins - For the meaning of this expression, see the notes on 1Ti_
5:22. It is implied here that by remaining in Babylon they would lend their sanction to its sins by
their presence, and would, in all probability, become contaminated by the influence around them.
This is an universal truth in regard to iniquity, and hence it is the duty of those who would be pure
to come out from the world, and to separate themselves from all the associations of evil.
And that ye receive not of her plagues - Of the punishment that was to come upon her - as they
must certainly do if they remained in her. The judgment of God that was to come upon the guilty
city would make no discrimination among those who were found there; and if they would escape
these woes they must make their escape from her. As applicable to papal Rome, in view of her
impending ruin, this means:
(a) That there might be found in her some who were the true people of God;
(b) That it was their duty to separate wholly from her - a command that will not only justify the
Reformation, but which would have made a longer continuance in communion with the papacy,
when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God;
(c) That they who remain in such a communion cannot but be regarded as partaking of her
sin; and,
(d) That if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon
her. There never was any duty plainer than that of withdrawing from papal Rome; there never has
been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world
separated itself forever from the sins and the plagues of the papacy.
2. CLARKE, “Come out of her, my people - These words appear to be taken from Isa_48:20; Jer_
1:8; Jer_51:6, Jer_51:45. The poet Mantuanus expresses this thought well: -
Vivere qui sancte cupitis, discelite; Romae
Omnia quum liceant, non licet esse bonum.
“Ye who desire to live a godly life, depart; for, although all things are lawful at Rome, yet to be
godly is unlawful.
3. GILL, “And I heard another voice from heaven,.... Either of another, or of the same angel, or

rather of God, or Christ himself, since the persons addressed are called his people:
saying, come out of her, my people; meaning either his elect ones, till now uncalled, being such
whom God had chosen for his people, and were so by virtue of the covenant of grace, were given
to Christ as his people, and were redeemed by him, though, till this call, in an unconverted state;
or else such who had been secretly called by the grace of God, but had not made a public
profession of the Gospel, nor bore an open testimony against the Romish idolatry; for as the Lord
had a righteous Lot in Sodom, and saints where Satan's seat was, Rome Pagan, so he will have a
people in Rome Papal, at the time when its destruction draws near; and these wilt be called out,
not only in a spiritual sense, to quit the communion of the church, to forsake its idolatries, and not
touch the unclean thing, separate themselves from her, and bear a testimony against her
doctrines and worship, but in a literal sense, locally; they shall be bid to come out of her, as Lot
was ordered to go out of Sodom before its burning, and the people of the Jews out of Babylon
before the taking of it, Jer_50:8 to which reference is here had: and as the Christians were called
out of Jerusalem before the destruction of it: this shows the particular knowledge the Lord has of
his people, be they where they will, and the gracious care he takes of them, that they perish not
with others; and that it is his will they should be a separate people from the rest of the world; and
this call of his sufficiently justifies the Protestants in their separation from the church of Rome, and
every separation from any apostate church;
that ye be not partakers of her sins: by conniving at them, or committing the same; and all such
are partakers of them, and have fellowship with these unfruitful works of darkness, that are in the
communion of that church; and those that dwell at Rome are in great danger of being so, and
cannot well avoid it: yea, even those that only go to see it, and stay but for a time in it, and that not
only through the strength and influence of example, but through the force of power and authority:
and that ye receive not of her plagues; or punishments; the seven last plagues, which belong to
her, the vials of which will be poured out upon one or other of the antichristian states, and the fifth
particularly will fall upon Rome, the seat of the beast, and is what is here referred to.
3B. ELLICOTT, "(4) Voice from heaven . . .—Read, Voice out of heaven, saying, Come forth out
of her, my people, that ye partake not in her sins, and that of her plagues ye receive not. The
voice is not said to be that of another angel. It is not necessary to say whose voice it is; that it is a
voice of divine love giving warning is enough. The coming forth is not to be understood of a bodily
exodus from Rome. It is rather the warning which is so needful in every corrupt state of society, to
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; to practise that separation from the spirit
of the world which is essential lest we should be entangled in the meshes of its sinful habits. This
duty of separation may sometimes lead to a literal exodus, and even under the pressure of
overwhelming necessity to secession from a world-corrupted church; but the jeopardy lies in
ATTACHMENT to the world-spirit (1 John 2:15). The parallel warnings in Jeremiah 51:6; Jeremiah
51:45, and Zechariah 2:6-7, should be read; but the story of Lot in Sodom best illustrates the spirit
of the passage (Genesis 19), for it is participation in sin which is to be primarily guarded against.
4. HENRY, “Fair warning is given to all that expect mercy from God, that they should not only
come out of her, but be assisting in her destruction, Rev_18:4, Rev_18:5. Here observe, (1.) God
may have a people even in Babylon, some who belong to the election of grace. (2.) God's people
shall be called out of Babylon, and called effectually. (3.) Those that are resolved to partake with
wicked men in their sins must receive of their plagues. (4.) When the sins of a people reach up to
heaven, the wrath of God will reach down to the earth.
5. JAMISON, “Come out of her, my people — quoted from Jer_50:8; Jer_51:6, Jer_51:45. Even in
the Romish Church God has a people: but they are in great danger; their only safety is in coming
out of her at once. So also in every apostate or world-conforming church there are some of God’s
invisible and true Church, who, if they would be safe, must come out. Especially at the eve of
God’s judgment on apostate Christendom: as Lot was warned to come out of Sodom just before
its destruction, and Israel to come from about the tents of Dathan and Abiram. So the first
Christians came out of Jerusalem when the apostate Jewish Church was judged. “State and
Church are precious gifts of God. But the State being desecrated to a different end from what God
designed it, namely. to govern for, and as under, God, becomes beast-like; the Church

Revelation 18 commentary

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Revelation 18 commentary