Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 164th episode. In this episode I want to continue our study of the book of Revelation. We are in chapter 18. This chapter gives us a dazzling glimpse of the fall of Babylon. Remember, this prophecy applies to the ancient city Babylon as well as to any nation who defies God to pursue idolatry, pride, and tyranny. In this chapter an angel proclaims the fall of Babylon and enumerates the reasons for her fall. A warning is cast for any persons inside Babylon who might still belong to God – a warning telling them to get out before the city falls. Ancient Babylon was a global superpower and it’s not uncommon for powerful nations to get stuck in a sense of arrogance. They forget why they need God.
Being a powerful nation also means you have great economic prowess and people all over the world share in your tremendous wealth. In this chapter there are merchants and others who partook of Babylon’s sinful enterprises and these people gaze in terror as the city collapses into ruin. But for the host of heaven and for all those who had remained faithful to God, the fall of Babylon meant justice for the wicked and vindication for the truth. It was a sight which brought great joy to those who had been unfairly afflicted by the evil foundations upon which the city was built. God’s judgment is inescapable, authoritative, and final. It can either bring you great fear or great joy and that reaction depends entirely on which side you choose to invest your faith. Let’s begin with verses 1-8:
Rev 18:1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated from his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 “For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich from the excessive wealth of her luxury.”
Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues;
Rev 18:5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her offenses.
Rev 18:6 “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
Rev 18:7 “To the extent that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’
Rev 18:8 “For this reason in one day her plagues will come, plague and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.
In this passage an angel is sent from heaven to proclaim the fall of Babylon. The angel would have been an awesome sight to behold – shining bright with power. The angel announced Babylon’s fall as if it had already happened and he announced it with a loud, strong voice. This shows us the certainty of God’s counsel in that once God executes judgment there are none who can resist Him. The loud voice of the angel represents how judgment against Babylon is a righteous deed which should not be hidden from the public or be the cause of shame. Sometimes we think God’s judgment is cruel or harsh, but we must remember that cities like Babylon had a plethora of opportunities to repent. Fundamentally, God does not desire to punish the wicked, rather He desires the wicked to repent of their sins and seek His forgiveness. The idolatry of Babylon resulted in the city being laid waste and becoming a haunt for wild animals and the sorts of things which colonize abandoned ruins.
God’s judgment is perfectly righteous and He owes no explanation to humanity for the execution of His divine will. Even so, it pleases God to explain the cause of His judgment because often this explanation serves as a warning to others who later go on to repent. The fact that God explains the causes for His judgment allows us to understand His motive behind the judgment itself. He’s trying to bring humanity back home to Him. He wants humanity to reside in the perfection of His holy presence in Heaven. That’s the overarching aim of God’s redemptive work. Our sins have caused a great division between ourselves and God – a chasm so wide that we are helpless to cross it ourselves. So God carries us home by His own power. Jesus Christ is God Himself coming over to our side of the impasse so that through Him imperfect humans can stand in the presence of a perfect Creator. When you spend time reflecting on just how much God has done to save us the infinite depth of His grace is quite shocking.
But Babylon rejected this grace and so do the wicked who live among us today. Babylon turned away from the one true God in their efforts to craft idols made in their own image. Idolatry is primarily a power grab on the part of the humans who do it. They can’t tolerate the idea of submitting to the will of anyone other than themselves, so they create an idol which has no power so that they themselves can control it. The irony is this idolatry leaves the person vulnerable to being controlled by principalities and powers which are far more ancient than themselves. And that’s exactly what happens. The idolaters become possessed by an idea or a set of ideas and these ideas control every facet of their existence right down to their perception of reality. In their efforts to liberate themselves from the easy yoke of Christ they are given over to the cruel slavery of sin. The idolaters of Babylon were so deep into this problem they became artistic in ways to drag others down with them. They used wealth and luxury to captivate the hearts of humanity and march them into spiritual enslavement.
Instead of allowing these people to blindly fall into the jaws of Babylon’s trap, God gives them a warning to come out of the city and turn from idolatrous ways. The angel who announced this warning also instructed those who might leave Babylon to actively take up a stance against her. They themselves were to take part in assisting the destruction of Babylon’s collective psychosis. This was not an order to execute personal revenge, rather it was God calling His people to become a part of His own plan to demolish the deceptive structures upon which Babylon was founded. Interestingly enough, this process is exactly how we could repair and preserve the Western world today. If every person everywhere made a personal commitment to tell the truth as best they could even if doing so meant sacrificing their own power, then good faith conversation would be revived and sophisticated society would revive alongside it.
This passage teaches us that even in places as dark and twisted as Babylon, there exist people who belong to God and who hear the call of His Holy Spirit. These people are warned to put space between themselves and the wickedness of Babylon so they aren’t caught up in God’s judgment against it. We often wonder why evil people seem to get away with it and even prosper as a consequence of their crimes. But this passage shows us they aren’t getting away with it at all. What we see as a lack of justice is actually the loving forbearance of God – whose grace goes beyond human comprehension. Despite this divine grace, as the sins of a society continue to stack up eventually they will reach heaven, and when they do God’s wrath will reach back down to earth. For wicked, unmerciful people who reject the saving grace which attends a relationship with Christ, they will be punished in proportion to their own arrogance and their own sins. Because their hearts are hardened and they are not receptive to the Holy Spirit, God’s wrath aggravates a sinful society causing them to deepen their own pits of misery. C.S. Lewis said the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. When the wicked face God’s righteous judgment they don’t beg for forgiveness, they boil with rage. Let’s read verses 9-24:
Rev 18:9 “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
Rev 18:11 “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more—
Rev 18:12 cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Rev 18:13 cinnamon, spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, slaves, and human lives.
Rev 18:14 “The fruit you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them.
Rev 18:15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,
Rev 18:16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls;
Rev 18:17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and all who make their living by the sea, stood at a distance,
Rev 18:18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’
Rev 18:19 “And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich from her prosperity, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’
Rev 18:20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”
Rev 18:21 Then a strong angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will never be found again.
Rev 18:22 “And the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again;
Rev 18:23 and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.
Rev 18:24 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
This passage gives us a look inside the minds of Babylon’s allies as they watched the city fall. They lamented the loss of Babylon because they had shared in the city’s great wealth. Many of these people partook in the sins of Babylon so their hearts were likely too hardened to appreciate the judgment of God. They didn’t stop to ask themselves why God might be judging the city. They cared less about God’s motives than they did about the loss of the city itself. So they weren’t mourning the pitiful status of humanity’s relationship with God, they were mourning the fact they would no longer benefit from the extravagance of Babylon. Leadership in cities like Babylon was probably deeply corrupt. Undoubtedly they sold indulgences to the highest bidders and were willing to give wealthy merchants authoritarian power over commoners. When you’re leading any organization you must always be aware of corruption forming pathological incentive structures which feed toxicity and instability. Take for example celebrity preachers who are discovered to be quite wicked in their behavior patterns. Often these preachers gain so much popularity that it pays those around them to be on their side no matter what. The staffers of the celebrity preacher will do whatever they can to facilitate his wickedness and protect him from the outside world because their own notoriety and their own paychecks depend on it. You never want to find yourself in a situation where you are orbited by people who are unwilling to give you honest feedback. That’s probably what these allies of Babylon were like – they ignored and likely helped promote the wickedness of the city because they wanted the wealth and the prestige.
When trying to determine whether you’re running with the wrong crowd or not, it’s a good idea to ask yourself whether or not these people want the best for you. If your friends encourage and help facilitate destructive behavior patterns in your life that’s a sign they don’t care about your well-being. The dangerous side of people like this is they will abandon you when you get caught or when your behavior finally catches up to you. This was the case with Babylon as well. Allies of the city lamented Babylon’s fall but they made sure they stood back far enough not to reap the judgment themselves. Often wicked people will encourage you to make bad choices knowing full well the consequences these choices will have on your spiritual condition. These people are not your friends. I really can’t emphasize that enough because nothing will bring you down faster than hanging out with the wrong crowd. It can also be very difficult to cut ties with toxic people because you feel like you’re betraying them. But if these individuals aren’t interested in repentance and turning their lives around it’s likely they don’t care about themselves or you. Babylon’s allies weren’t sad for Babylon so much as they were sad to lose the benefits of Babylon’s excesses.
When we think about repentance it’s important to draw the distinction between sorrow for your sins as opposed to sorrow for your punishment. Repentance doesn’t mean being sorrowful that you got caught – repentance means understanding the deleterious nature of your sin itself and wanting to be rid of it. The lament which came from Babylon’s allies wasn’t a lamentation regarding the sins of Babylon, rather it was a lamentation of the punishment. If God’s judgment hadn’t come down on Babylon it’s likely they would have just continued in their wickedness or even deepened it. The same goes for her allies. The only thing inhibiting a full continuation of their sin was the fact they were cut off from Babylon’s wealth and merchandise. This is an important point when it comes to enabling the destructive behavior of others. Financial support is not a panacea when it comes to fixing the issues in a person’s life. Sometimes the only roadblock that’s preventing them from embarking on a headlong binge into destruction is the fact they can’t afford to do it. If you actually want to help someone it’s going to take more than your money – it’s going to take your time and your attention. The allies of Babylon were the kind of people who did not wish for the well-being of Babylon or of the Church. And it’s always a bad idea to bet against the longevity and durability of God’s Church.
The host of heaven and those who had remained faithful to God rejoiced over the fall of Babylon. This isn’t to say that Godly people wish destruction on others, rather it describes the peace one feels when justice is served and their rejoicing over acts of evil which have been stopped. Notice the continuity between the rejoicing in heaven and on earth. That which brings joy to the host of heaven also brings joy to the faithful on earth. This is because when you invest your faith in Jesus the Spirit of God indwells you and progressively sanctifies you into His likeness. Across time you grow and develop into like-mindedness with God. The faithful who rejoice at God’s judgment against wickedness are the ones who have forsaken their own opportunities at personal revenge and instead committed their cause to Jesus. They’ve rested in the knowledge that vengeance belongs to God because He is the Lord and only God can carry out vindictive justice perfectly.
Another reason the Godly rejoiced over the fall of Babylon was God’s assurance that Babylon would never rise again. As a token of this assurance, an angel is seen casting a great millstone into the sea. The angel said just as this millstone is cast into the sea, so will Babylon be cast down with violence – never to rise again. The story of Babylon is an archetypal story of humanity laboring to build their own utopia absent of God. There was a time when Babylon was so powerful and so technologically advanced that it wasn’t uncommon for travelers and prisoners of war, upon entering the city, to fall down and worship Marduk who was Babylon’s state sponsored god. They did this because of the sheer impressiveness of the city. After all, how could an empire become so strong unless Marduk was truly the most powerful god? The Babylonians became so convinced of their own enlightenment that they became lost in idolatry and self-aggrandizement. But turning away from God and giving yourself over to idols always ends in the same destruction.
In our efforts to move beyond Jesus, we tell ourselves pathological meta-narratives which attempt to account for where we’re from, why we’re here, and where we’re going. But it’s always the same mistakes. We’re too ignorant write our own story and too malevolent to produce a society which is dislodged from the first principles set down by God in His word. So we lie to each other and spread toxicity until we arrive at a mindset where apprehending objective truth becomes increasingly difficult. Without the shared goal of building a better understanding of truth, there’s no other reason for us to have conversations apart from advancing our own position in each hierarchy of power. Decades of bad-faith conversations lead us to believe our opponents aren’t worthy of our time or our respect. Then we stop talking to each other altogether and resolve that violence is the only way to make them understand. This low-resolution, confused ideological climate is where many wars begin. The goal of ushering in our utopia begins to justify any means including but not limited to genocide.
Societies will always suffer false messiahs. People who claim to possess perfect moral clarity and therefore the authority to execute any and all things necessary to shape the world according to their vision. But the unassailable truth about humanity is that all of us are broken and all of us fall short of the glory of God. The truth we will never get past regardless our efforts is that each and everyone of us needs a savior – and therefore none of us are qualified to be the savior. The cycle of bloody revolution will not depart from us until we pass into eternity and rest in the peaceful harmony of God’s Kingdom. Until then we should march forward as boldly as if we have the one omnipotent, living, and true God on our side – because we do. Our generation, like the ones which came before us, has laid significant challenges at our feet and has imbued our spirits with a sense of urgency to overcome these challenges. We must get out there into the world and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must alert all those around us to repent of their ideologies and seek first the Kingdom of God. Like John the Baptist, all of us must make way and prepare the ground – because our Mighty King is coming back.
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