Episode 26 – Fallen, Fallen, is the Great City, Revelation 18.

 

You can watch the video of this study here at 8pm AEST.

Introduction

Last week we looked at who the great whore in Revelation 17 is. I laid my cards on the table and made a case for why this passage is prophesying about the destruction of Jerusalem. I argued that Revelation 17-19 presents the apostate people of God and contrasts this righteous people of God in Revelation 19, the bride of the lamb. I also posted something about this on my Substack as well: here.

Just to build on this, look at this passage in Ezekiel 16. This is a description of Judah in the days just prior to the exile:

“30 How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different” (Ez. 16:30-34).

Judah is not just described here as a prostitute but as the worst of prostitutes, “34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.” Remember we read in Revelation 17, “5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” Don’t forget the word “earth” here can also be translated “land.” Babylon in Revelation 17 is not just a prostitute, but the worst of them. Just as Judah is in Ezekiel 16.  

Babylon, the actual city of Babylon is also described as a woman who needs to be judged in in the Bible. We read in Isaiah,

“47 Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers. 3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one. 4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name— is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 47:1-4).

Babylon was the arch enemy of the people of Judah in the Bible. The one who destroyed their temple, took them into exile and where they were refined by God. But in the New Testament it is not the literal city of Babylon that opposes the church. Who is it? It is Jerusalem (cf. Matt. 23:33-38). I think in Revelation we see that Jerusalem has become like Babylon. It has become the oppressor of God’s people. In rejecting their God, the Jewish nation has gone back to their origins, which were in Ur of the Chaldees, Babylon. Things have reversed for that city. It has gone from the oppressed to the oppressor, and God is going to judge Jerusalem, and we know he did.

Even in the context of judging Babylon we see in Isaiah 48 God say this,

“1 Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right. 2 For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name” (Isa. 48:1-2).

They call themselves the holy city but really they are rebellious (cf. Isa. 48:3-5). They have whored themselves with the idols of the nations (Isa. 44).

So, we see that Babylon, the literal Babylon, is condemned in ways that are very similar to what we read here in Revelation 18. However, it is Judah who is the chief of prostitutes according to Ezekiel. Therefore, this descriptions in Revelation 18 fits better with Apostate Israel, or Apostate Jerusalem rather than the literal Babylon. The Babylon of Jesus’ day was not the persecutor of the saints and prophets. Neither the Bible nor history makes the claim that it was. By the first century Babylon was a minor city in the Parthian Empire.  

Of course, others see in this passage the Roman Empire of John’s day, especially those who date Revelation to about 90AD. Others see a resurgent future Rome. Still others see the Catholic Church, which was basically the standard theology of the Reformation from Luther on through to the Radical Anabaptists. So, we will take that into consideration in our study.

For background on this study I would encourage you to pause here and go read Jeremiah 40-41, Isaiah 13-14 and 46-47, and Ezekiel 15-16.

Analysis of Revelation 18: The Fall of Babylon

Revelation 18 is a dramatic and poetic chapter that depicts the final and complete judgment of "Babylon the Great," a symbol for the world's entire system of opposition to God, characterized by idolatry, immorality, economic exploitation, and violence. It functions as a prophetic dirge, announcing the downfall of this powerful entity and the resultant shockwaves throughout the world.

Old Testament Background

The language, imagery, and themes of Revelation 18 are deeply rooted in the Old Testament prophets, particularly their oracles against pagan cities and empires. We have already touched on some of this, but we will summarize it a bit more here, to keep our study formats consistent. We see the Revelation 18 imagery in many Old Testament passages:

• Isaiah 13-14 & 21:9; Jeremiah 50-51: These are the most direct parallels. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah pronounced judgment against the historical city of Babylon. John borrows their phrasing directly. For example:
• "Fallen, fallen is Babylon!" (Rev 18:2) comes from Isaiah 21:9.
• The call for God's people to "Come out of her" (Rev 18:4) is a direct echo of Jeremiah 50:8 and 51:6, 45, warning Israelites to flee Babylon to avoid being caught in its judgment.
• The image of throwing a millstone into the sea (Rev 18:21) is taken from Jeremiah 51:63-64.
• The lament of merchants and sailors (Rev 18:11-19) mirrors the description of Tyre's fall in Ezekiel 26-27, a chapter that details the economic collapse following the destruction of a great maritime trading power.
• The Nature of Babylon: In the Old Testament, Babylon was not just a city; it was the archetypal enemy of God's people, the one that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and took Judah into exile. By using the name "Babylon," John identifies the ultimate enemy of the New Testament people of God—a satanic system that is spiritually seductive and physically oppressive.

New Testament Background

In the New Testament, "Babylon" is reinterpreted spiritually and eschatologically.

• The Great Prostitute: Revelation 17 identifies Babylon as "the great prostitute" who sits on many waters (nations) and is drunk with the blood of the saints. This clarifies that Babylon is not merely a political power but a corrupting religious, economic, and ideological system that influences all nations (kings commit immorality with her) and is violently opposed to true faith (persecuting believers).
• A Contrast to the New Jerusalem: The fall of Babylon in Revelation 17-18 sets the stage for the arrival of the Bride, the New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21-22. The two are stark opposites: one is a prostitute, the other a pure bride; one is characterized by luxury, exploitation, and violence, the other by God's presence, righteousness, and life.
• The Seduction of the World System: The chapter expands on Jesus' warning that one cannot serve both God and money (Mammon) (Matthew 6:24) and the Apostle John's admonition to not love the world or anything in it (1 John 2:15-17). Babylon represents the ultimate expression of compromise with "the world" in its rebellion against God.

The Economic Collapse of a Hegemonic Power

There is also another way we can draw application out of Revelation 18. This passage provides a profound commentary on how the collapse of a central, dominant city or empire devastates the global economy that has become dependent on it. The chapter highlights several key economic principles:

• Global or Localized Interdependency: The extensive list of cargo in verses 12-13 is not just for poetic effect; it illustrates a complex, interconnected economy. The goods come from all over the region (precious metals, luxury fabrics, exotic woods, spices, livestock, and tragically, "human souls" or slaves). This shows that the economies of many nations were structured around supplying Babylon's demand for luxury and consumption.
• The Shock of Collapse: The repeated refrain "in a single hour" (vv. 10, 17, 19) emphasizes the suddenness and totality of the collapse. Modern parallels can be seen in the rapid fall of major financial institutions or the sudden disruption of a central economic hub, which causes immediate panic and chain-reaction failures. Many people do not consider the city of Baghdad as an economic superpower, but it once was. It was the centre of a large Islamic empire, a centre of knowledge and commerce, and then in 1258 AD the Mongols came and levelled the city. The city never reached the same heights. This would have also devastated all the traders who were reliant on this mecca of economic activity.
• The Grieving Stakeholders: The chapter identifies three groups who mourn:
1. The Kings/Political Rulers (vv. 9-10): They lost a partner in power and prosperity. Their political and economic alliances are shattered.
2. The Merchants (vv. 11-17): They are the most vocal in their grief because their wealth has been obliterated overnight. Their market is gone, their investments are worthless, and their supply chains are broken.
3. The Shipping Industry (vv. 17b-19): This represents the entire logistics and transport sector whose livelihood depended on the trade generated by Babylon. The collapse of the core city means the collapse of their entire trade network.
• The Illusion of Permanence: Babylon's boast, "I sit as a queen... and mourning I shall never see" (v. 7), is the classic hubris of a seemingly invincible power. Its sudden fall serves as a warning that any system built on exploitation, pride, and opposition to God's order is fundamentally fragile and destined for judgment.
• One of the reasons people so many different possible applications for what Revelation 18 says is because this is what it looks like when major cities or Empires fall. Imagine what would have happened to the British Empire had Britain been destroyed in 1850? What would happen if New York fell today? On a local scale, what would it do the Southeast Queensland’s economy if Brisbane of the Gold Coast were devastated by war? This passage is an incredibly accurate reflection on the ripples that would spread from the disaster of the destruction of a major city.

Study Questions:

1. What is amazing about the glory of this angel? And how does it contrast with what comes after this?

 

2. Do you agree Revelation 18:2, corresponds to Revelation 14:8? I think we are getting here a more detailed picture of the summary in chapter 14.

 

3. What did Babylon do for the merchants of the earth, and the kings of the earth or land? What are friends like who have to be bought?

 

4. Why are God’s people being addressed as being in Babylon, but told to come out of her? (wheat and tares, if this is the Catholic church this gives us an interesting insight into the fact that faithful people can be found in corrupt churches, which could equally apply to many evangelical churches).

 

5. According to verse 7, what is at the heart of her sin? What could allow Babylon to become so proud and so sure that she would not be judged? (cf. Jeremiah 28:1-4, the Judeans did not believe God would judge them, because they had the temple, Jeremiah 23:14-17).

 

6. V.9 Why are the kings of the earth crying over the destructions of Jerusalem? Vs 11 gives us the answer.

 

7. Vs 9, How could this possibly apply to the nation of Israel in the first century? Was it really that influential and rich? (Think about the commerce the temple brought in).

 

8.  What does human souls refer to in vs 13?

 

9. What does verse 14 teach us about lollypops and fancy pants? What does that mean?

 

10. V16-17 would people mourn the loss of the Catholic church like this?

 

11. Vs 23, And what does it mean by sorcery?

 

12. Vs 24, This city is obviously more than just a city, it also represents a worldwide system, doesn’t it? If not then why not?