Lesson 22
Additional Comments on Chapter 17:
Last week we discussed the false denominational notion
that people somehow make Jesus Lord or crown Jesus King. As
we saw, people obey him because he is already Lord and King
― not to make him Lord and King. There is a great deal of
misunderstanding about the reign of Christ, and much of it
comes from misunderstandings about the book of
Revelation.
Sadly, many denominational interpretations of this book
belittle the church and belittle Christ. To them, the
church is just a mistake and just an afterthought. They
tell us that Jesus failed to set up his kingdom during the
first century, and that he is not ruling now. Here is how
the Wycliffe Dictionary of Theology describes
premillennialism ―
It is held that the Old Testament prophets predicted the
re-establishment of David’s kingdom and that Christ himself
intended to bring this about. It is alleged however, that
because the Jews refused his person and work he postponed
the establishment of his kingdom until the time of his
return. Meanwhile, it is argued, the Lord gathered together
‘the church’ as a kind of interim measure.
How anyone could read the Bible and believe that Jesus
failed in anything he intended to do is inconceivable! How
anyone can read the Bible and conclude that the church is a
mistake or an afterthought or “a kind of interim measure”
is likewise inconceivable! Premillennialism is not simply a
matter of opinion on which we can agree to disagree.
Rather, it is a false doctrine that runs counter to the
gospel of Jesus Christ, belittles the work of Christ, and
belittles the church of Christ. We discussed these issues
in our introductory classes, and we will have more to say
about this dangerous heresy when we get to Chapter 20.
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter 18 is a form of prophetic literature called a
“doom song” that is common in the Old Testament. Isaiah
13:19-22 is a doom song for Babylon. Isaiah 34:11-15 is a
doom song for Edom. Zephaniah 2:13-15 is a doom song for
Nineveh. In each case, the ruin of a great city is
described in vivid, poetic language interspersed with
apocalyptic speech. Here — just as a careful student of the
Old Testament should have expected — we have a doom song
for Rome.
1 After this I saw another angel coming down from
heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made
bright with his splendor.
Verse 1 reconfirms that this message of doom and the
judgment that it relays are from God. The verse also brings
to mind Ezekiel 43:1-2 where we read that “the earth shone”
with the glory of God. Swete writes that this angel has “so
recently ... come from from the presence [of God] that in
passing he brings a broad belt of light across the dark
earth.”
2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen
is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of
demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul
and hateful bird;
In 14:8, an angel proclaimed, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon
the Great.” In verse 2 that message is repeated, and once
again the past tense is used to stress the certainty of
that event. In like manner, over 100 years before the
actual fall of ancient Babylon, Isaiah 21:9 said, “Babylon
is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods
he hath broken unto the ground.”
Verse 2 goes even further and tells us that the city has
(past tense) become a dwelling place of demons, foul
spirits, and every foul and hateful bird. The description
of this city is very different from the holy city we will
see in Chapter 21, of which 21:27 will tell us: “And there
shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth,
neither whatsoever worketh abomination.”
Isaiah 13:17-22 describes the destruction of historical
Babylon by the Medes using very similar language to what we
read of the fall of Rome in verse 2 ―
Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them ... And
Babylon ... 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 the shepherds make
their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie
there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures;
and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their
desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and
her time is near to come, and her days shall not be
prolonged.
Was this a literal description of Babylon’s fall? No. As
we discussed earlier, ancient Babylon fell without a shot
being fired. Is the language in verse 2 a literal
description of Rome’s fall? No. Why then is the city
described that way? It is symbolic of the depth of Rome’s
fall. Barclay explains:
Surely the most dramatic part of the picture is the
demons haunting the ruins. The pagan gods banished from
their reign haunt the ruins of the temples where once their
power had been supreme.
The language denotes utter devastation and utter
desolation. That is what it meant in Isaiah 13 about
Babylon, and that is what it means here about Rome.
3 for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure
passion, 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.”
Rome was a great military and commercial power, and Rome
enticed other nations to follow her wicked example. Rome
was powerful and arrogant and openly boasted of her
abominations.
We are reminded of the description given in Isaiah
10:12-14 of the arrogant boasting and haughty pride of the
king of Assyria, who says:
By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my
wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the
boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures;
like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.
My hand has found like a nest the wealth of peoples; and as
men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered
all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or
opened the mouth, or chirped.
Rome had the same attitude as that Assyrian king and
ultimately suffered the same fate.
The reference in verse 3 to the “merchants of the earth”
is important. As we like to say today, if you want to
understand something, then just follow the money. And if
you followed the money in the first century you would end
up in Rome. It was money that kept the emperors in power
because it was money that allowed them to keep the army
happy, and no emperor ruled very long when the army was
unhappy. It was Roman money that fueled the fires of Rome’s
power and of Rome’s persecution of the church, and God is
including the merchants in this judgment of Rome. Then, as
now, much and perhaps most of the misery in the world can
be traced to greed. While the Christians were denying
themselves, the Romans were denying themselves nothing.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while
some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy
6:10)
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come
out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest
you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as
heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
In verse 4, God calls for his people to come out of the
city lest they follow Rome’s evil example and share in
Rome’s destruction. This call is one that is made many
times in the Old Testament. It was the call that Lot heard
in Genesis 19:12-14. It was the call that Moses heard in
Numbers 16:23-26. It was the call that the exiles in
Babylon heard many times ―
• Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the
Chaldeans!
• Jeremiah 50:8 Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out
of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before
the flocks.
• Jeremiah 51:6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, And
every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; He shall
recompense her.
• Jeremiah 51:45 My people, go out of the midst of her!
And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of
the LORD.
Was this call in verse 4 a call for the people to
literally leave the city? No, and once again we should
consider the example of ancient Babylon. Were the exiles in
Babylon being told to literally flee that city? No, and, in
fact God told them in Jeremiah 29:7 to “seek the peace and
prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into
exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you
too will prosper.”
Although the Jewish exiles in Babylon did eventually
return to their homeland, they did not flee there. Instead,
they returned in three groups. First, some of the exiles
returned in 539 BC when Cyrus gave a decree that the Jews
should return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. (That
decree can be found in Ezra 1:2–4 and 2 Chronicles 36:23.)
Second, others returned in 458 BC when Ezra led 1500 men
with their families to Jerusalem. And third, yet others
returned in 445 BC when Nehemiah, a cup bearer in the court
of Artaxerxes, asked the king to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem. And these returns happened after the judgment of
Babylon by the Persians that Jeremiah wrote about in
Jeremiah 50-51.
Likewise, the Christians in Rome are not being told to
literally flee that city. Throughout this book the church
has been pictured in Heaven. God is simply telling them to
live that way. It is what Paul told us in Colossians 3:1-2
― “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth.”
Barclay explains it well:
[T]his cry and challenge [to come out] do not involve a
coming out at a definite moment. They imply a certain
“aloofness of spirit maintained in the very heart of the
world’s traffic.” They describe the essential apartness of
the Christian from the world.... The Christian is not
conformed to the world but transformed from the world
(Romans 12:2). It is not a question of retiring from the
world; it is a question of living differently within the
world.
We are reminded of 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 ―
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we
are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live
in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. Therefore come out from them, and
be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing
unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to
you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty.”
“Come out from among them and be ye separate!” That is a
central theme of this book and one that we desparately need
to hear today. God is always calling upon his people to cut
their connection with sin and to stand with him and for
him. Dwight Hervey Small in his book The High Cost of Holy
Living wrote:
Wherever the Christian finds himself, and whatever his
calling in life, his life must stand as a radical protest
against the world and its standards.
C. S. Lewis wrote:
Hope means a continual looking forward to the eternal
world. It does not mean that we are to leave the present
world as it is. If you read history you will find that the
Christians who did most for the present world were just
those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians
have largely ceased to think of the other world that they
have become so ineffective in this.
The church has a lot of problems today. Why? Heresy is
inevitable when men become more interested in pleasing
themselves and in pleasing the world than in pleasing God.
Why are some today advocating leadership roles in the
church for women? Because they think it pleases God, or
because they want to please the world? Why are they
bringing instruments into the worship? Because they think
it pleases God, or because they want to please the world?
Why are they watering down baptism?
Is the church becoming more like the world, or is the
world becoming more like the church? Is the world setting
our agenda or is God? Perhaps as Wordsworth once said, “The
world is too much with us.”
Verse 5 tells us that Rome’s sins were heaped high as
heaven. Yes, God is longsuffering, but at some point sin
reaches a level that is intolerably high, and judgment
falls. In Ezra 9:6, Ezra said of the people in his day, “I
am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God:
for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our
trespass is grown up unto the heavens.” How high are our
own sins? How close is our own country to that divine
tipping point? How many are left in our own land who are
ashamed and blush to lift their faces to God? “Were they
ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were
not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore
shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their
visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.”
(Jeremiah 8:12)
6 Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay
her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in
the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and played
the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and
mourning. Since in her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit, I am
no widow, mourning I shall never see,’ 8 so shall her
plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and
famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is
the Lord God who judges her.”
God commands that Rome be punished and that vengeance be
exacted. To whom is this command directed? We know it is
not directed to the church because the church is commanded
in Romans 12:19 not to seek vengeance. Some argue the
command is directed to the 10 horns in 17:16 who would
“hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and
shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Others argue
the command is directed toward the angel who is acting on
God’s behalf as his instrument of justice.
But one thing is certain: Vengeance does not belong to
man, it belongs to God. God said in Deuteronomy 32:35 that
“vengeance is mine, and recompense.” In Romans 12:19, we
read, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” That verse contains
both a command and a promise. The verse that commands us
not avenge ourselves is the same verse that promises us
there will be vengeance. We see the same thing in the Old
Testament about ancient Babylon:
• Psalm 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be
destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou
hast served us.
• Jeremiah 50:29 Repay her according to her work;
According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been
proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.
The double punishment in verse 6 may come from the
double repayment that was often exacted under the old law.
(Exodus 22:4, 7, 9) A more likely explanation is that it
refers simply to a balancing of the scales — not in the
sense that the scales become even but rather in the sense
that Rome would be placed on those scales in the same
position that Rome had placed the church. We see this idea
in Isaiah 40:2, Isaiah 61:7, Jeremiah 16:18, Jeremiah
17:18, and Zechariah 9:12. Verse 7 seems to confirm this
view — “As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so
give her a like measure of torment and mourning.”
Verses 6-8 teach us at least two lessons about the
judgment of Rome. The first lesson is that a man sows what
he reaps. In Galatians 6:7 Paul writes, “Do not be
deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows,
that he will also reap.”
A second important lesson that we learn from Rome’s fall
is that all human pride will one day be humiliated. “Pride
goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a
fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Rome’s supreme sin was pride.
Ezekiel 28:2-7 could have been penned about any of the
Roman emperors we have considered ―
Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast
said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of
the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set
thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser
than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from
thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou
hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver
into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy
traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is
lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus saith the
Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of
God; 7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee,
the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their
swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall
defile thy brightness.
In verse 7 Rome boasts that she will never see the very
thing that God said she would see ― “A queen I sit, I am no
widow, mourning I shall never see.” Rome’s pride (like all
pride) caused Rome to feel that it had no need for God.
Rome was all that Rome needed! Rome was full of pride and
thought it would never and could never fall, and Rome was
not the last nation to feel that way.
Pride is one of seven things that God hates in Proverbs
6:16-19, and the pride that God hates is the arrogance of
those who feel they have no need of God. God’s punishment
for pride in the Old Testament was to inflict extreme
humiliation, and that is what God promises Rome. “When
pride comes, then comes shame.” (Proverbs 11:2) Rome would
plummet from her glory to her destruction quickly and her
destruction would be total and complete. Rome’s affluence,
pride, and gaiety would be replaced by death, mourning, and
famine.
We are reminded of a similar pronouncement regarding
Babylon in Isaiah 47:7-11 ―
You said, “I shall be mistress for ever,” so that you
did not lay these things to heart or remember their end. 8
Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit
securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one
besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of
children”: 9 These two things shall come to you in a
moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many
sorceries and the great power of your enchantments. 10 You
felt secure in your wickedness, you said, “No one sees me”;
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said
in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” 11
But evil shall come upon you, for which you cannot atone;
disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to
expiate; and ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you
know nothing.
Both Babylon and Rome were filled with pride, and both
later had to eat their boastful words.
Isaiah 14 presents a vivid picture of the Babylonian
king going into the underworld after his destruction to be
greeted by other fallen nations. Rome and its godless
emperors would one day make a similar trip and receive a
similar greeting.
Is Revelation relevant today? Yes, very much so. One way
in which it is particularly relevant is that it reminds us
that history repeats itself. Egypt, Babylon, and Rome — all
great enemies of God and God’s people, and all judged by
God. What other cities have taken or will take their place
on that list?
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication
and were wanton with her, will weep and wail over her when
they see the smoke of her burning; 10 they will stand far
off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! alas! thou
great city, thou mighty city, Babylon! In one hour has thy
judgment come.”
Verses 9-19 contain three dirges for Rome: The first in
verses 9-10 is a dirge sung by kings. The second in verses
11-16 is a dirge sung by merchants, and the third in verses
17-19 is a dirge sung by shipmasters and sailors. Each of
these dirges speaks of the greatness, the wealth, and the
luxury of Rome.
Are such descriptions of Rome historically accurate? The
Talmud says that of the ten measures of wealth that came
down into the world, Rome received nine and all the rest of
the world only one. Rome’s wealth was concentrated in and
controlled by the emperors. Seutonius described Nero this
way:
He never wore the same garment twice.... He fished with
a golden net drawn by cords woven of purple and scarlet
threads. It is said he never made a journey with less than
a thousand carriages, with his mules shod with silver.
Seutonius says that Caligula would “drink pearls of
great price dissolved in vinegar, and set before his guests
loaves and meats of gold.”
Barclay says that “nothing John could say of Rome could
be an exaggeration.” Another writes that “our most
extravagant luxury is poverty compared with the prodigal
magnificence of Rome.” “In the time when John was writing a
kind of insanity of wanton extravagance, to which it is
very difficult to find any parallel in history, had invaded
Rome.”
From an earthly vantage point it seemed that Rome had
everything and the church had nothing, but the exact
opposite was true!
The kings in these verses placed great faith in the
military might and power of Rome. How could they possibly
lose while betting on Rome? But what they did not know
until it was too late was that Rome is fallen!
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for
her, since no one buys their cargo any more, 12 cargo of
gold, silver, jewels and pearls, fine linen, purple, silk
and scarlet, all kinds of scented wood, all articles of
ivory, all articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and
marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense,
wine, oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses
and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 “The
fruit for which thy soul longed has gone from thee, and all
thy dainties and thy splendor are lost to thee, never to be
found again!” 15 The merchants of these wares, who gained
wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her
torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 “Alas, alas, for
the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple
and scarlet, bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with
pearls! 17a In one hour all this wealth has been laid
waste.”
This lament by the merchants is very similar to and
likely modeled after the lament over the city of Tyre found
in Ezekiel 26:1 — 28:19.
These verses describe the great commercial success of
Rome, and verses 12-14 in particular describe the vast
extent of Rome’s trade. Aristides left us the following
description of Rome’s vast trade:
“Merchandise is brought from every land and sea,
everything that every season begets, and every country
produces, the products of rivers and lakes, the arts of the
Greeks and the barbarians, so that, if anyone were to wish
to see all these things, he would either have to visit the
whole inhabited world to see them—or to visit Rome; so many
great ships arrive from all over the world at every hour,
at every season, that Rome is like some common factory of
the world, for you may see such great cargoes from the
Indies, or, if you wish, from the blessed Arabias, that you
might well conjecture that the trees there have been
stripped naked; clothing from Babylon, ornaments from the
barbarian lands, everything flows to Rome; merchandise,
cargoes, the products of the land, the emptying of the
mines, the product of every art that is and has been,
everything that is begotten and everything that grows. If
there is anything you cannot see at Rome, then it is a
thing which does not exist and which never existed.”
The phrase “slaves, that is, human souls” in verse 13 is
interesting. A better translation might be “slaves, even
the lives of men.” There were some 60 million slaves in the
Roman empire. It was not unusual for a man to own 400
slaves, and those slaves were used for many different
purposes. Some masters had slaves walk in front of them so
they could return the greetings of friends when the master
was to tired or disdainful to do so. Another had an
educated slave stand behind him at dinners to supply him
with witty quotations. Others used slaves to remind them
when to eat and when to sleep.
As Barclay reminds us, “a society built on luxury, on
wantonness, on pride, on callousness to human life and
personality is necessarily doomed.” That was true then, and
it is true today.
Why do the merchants weep? They weep because of their
loss of business. Their lament is not for Rome but for
their own lost profit. They have merchandise with no one to
sell it to. Their concern for Rome is much like China’s
concern today for the U.S. — a concern totally motivated by
self interest.
The merchants, like the kings, stand far off and watch
the destruction. They do not attempt to help the great
city. The kings believed that Rome was a stronghold
destined to endure forever. The merchants believed that
Rome was a market destined to endure forever. If there is
one message in Revelation it is this: There is but one
eternal kingdom! The church of Christ is the only eternal
kingdom. No kingdom of man will endure.
Many commentators discuss at length the various items
listed in verses 12-13, but we will not. In short, these
are all items that could be found in Rome and that arrived
there from all over the world. The cinnamon and the silk
likely came from China, and the spices likely came from
India.
Verses 16-17a are chilling: “Alas, alas, for the great
city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet,
bedecked with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! In one
hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” Much could be
said of that statement and its relevance both then and now,
but I will just quote Homer Hailey: “What about the United
States, which has been a land of plenty and great
abundance? It has taken much for granted, wasting and
squandering its resources. Is it approaching a time when it
shall reach for the great abundance bestowed upon it by
God, and find it gone for ever?”
17b And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and
all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried
out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was
like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their
heads, as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas,
for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich
by her wealth! In one hour she has been laid waste.
The city is pictured here as being laid waste in one
hour. We have already discussed the phrase “one hour,” and
you will recall that it denotes a time of critical
importance and activity as in the phrase, “My hour has not
yet come.”
Nero’s fire raged a week and failed to destroy the
entire city yet the fire that God sends destroys the city
in one hour! Rome’s fall is total and complete and worse
than anything Rome could imagine.
This dirge of the shipmasters reminds us of Ezekiel
27:28-30 ―
At the sound of the cry of your pilots the countryside
shakes, and down from their ships come all that handle the
oar. The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on
the shore and wail aloud over you, and cry bitterly. They
cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.
Although Rome was not on the coast, the merchandise of
the world entered at its port in Ostia. And again, the
shipmasters weep over their loss of trade. Their concern is
for themselves, not for Rome.
We see in these verses the incredible materialism of
Rome, and if we are looking for modern day parallels, that
one is impossible to miss. We may still print “In God We
Trust” on our money, but our actions speak much more loudly
than those words.
The motto "In God We Trust" first appeared on our
coinage during the Civil War. But there is one particular
gold coin that does not include that motto. Why? Teddy
Roosevelt specifically asked for its exclusion. He knew the
lifestyles of many of the men out West where those gold
coins were most seen in circulation, and he did not believe
that God’s name should be used on coins that were spent in
saloons, gambling halls, and brothels. The President
expressed this view in a letter dated November 11,
1907:
My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm
conviction that to put such a motto [In God We Trust] on
coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no
good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence
which comes dangerously close to sacrilege. A beautiful and
solemn sentence such as the one in question should be
treated and uttered only with that fine reverence which
necessarily implies a certain exaltation of spirit. Any use
which tends to cheapen it, and above all, any use which
tends to secure it being treated in a spirit of levity, is
from every standpoint profoundly to be regretted.
My how times have changed! How far have we already
fallen? Sadly, most today trust in their dollars rather
than in God. They have everything that money can buy — but
have nothing that it can’t. As one commentator noted, “like
the uprooted vine that generated the self-consuming fire in
Ezekiel 19:14, a culture that worships commercial success
will strike the sparks that ultimately burn it to
ashes.”
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and
prophets, for God has given judgment for you against
her!”
The saints, the apostles, and the prophets are shown
here in contrast to the kings, the merchants, and the
sailors.
Rome’s judgment is cause for rejoicing. God’s people
requested justice, and God has delivered it. The righteous
are victorious, and evil has been defeated. Rome was
rejoicing in Chapter 11 when it appeared that the two
witness had been defeated, but their rejoicing was
premature, and now the tables are turned. Again we find a
parallel in the Old Testament judgment of literal Babylon.
Jeremiah 51:48 ―
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall
come against them out of the north, says the Lord.
But I thought we were supposed to weep with those who
weep. Aren’t the Christians in verse 20 rejoicing with
those who weep? Absolutely! But they are not doing so out
of personal bitterness. Their concern, like that of the
four living creatures, is for the holiness and reputation
of God. They rejoice at the vindication of God and at the
defeat of this great enemy of God. These events are an
answer to their prayers! How could they not rejoice? God
had imposed on Rome the sentence that Rome passed on the
church.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great
millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So shall
Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and
shall be found no more; 22 and the sound of harpers and
minstrels, of flute players and trumpeters, shall be heard
in thee no more; and a craftsman of any craft shall be
found in thee no more; and the sound of the millstone shall
be heard in thee no more; 23 and the light of a lamp shall
shine in thee no more; and the voice of bridegroom and
bride shall be heard in thee no more; for thy merchants
were the great men of the earth, and all nations were
deceived by thy sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood
of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain
on earth.”
A great millstone is thrown into the sea by a mighty
angel to explain how the great city would be thrown down
and found no more. A similar image is used in Jeremiah
51:63-64 to describe the fall of literal Babylon:
When you finish reading this book, bind a stone to it,
and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus
shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the evil
that I am bringing upon her.’
Rome, like Babylon, would fall never to rise again.
There would be no revived Roman empire.
It is interesting (but not surprising) that
premillennialists teach just the opposite! They say that
the so-called antichrist will rule from a revived Roman
empire.
Verses 22-23 show us five aspects of normal Roman life
that would vanish. The sound of musical instruments and
rejoicing would go away. The sound of craftsmen plying
their trade would never be heard again. The sound of the
mill would disappear. No lights in the houses or in the
streets would be seen again. The sounds of weddings would
no longer be heard. Rome is to become a terrible silent and
dark desolation. Rome, which had once set Christians aflame
to provide light for Nero’s drunken orgies, would be
plunged into darkness and silence.
We find similar descriptions in the Old Testament:
• Jeremiah 25:10 (concerning Judah) “Moreover, I will
banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the
bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the
lamp.”
• Ezekiel 26:13 (concerning Tyre) “And I will stop the
music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be
heard no more.”
Why did this happen? Verses 23-24 give us three reasons:
(1) Thy merchants were the great men of the earth, (2) all
nations were deceived by thy sorcery, and (3) in her was
found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who
have been slain on earth.
Was Rome a great nation? Yes, it was the greatest the
world had ever seen from an earthly perspective. But Rome
had not used that greatness for a good purpose. Instead,
Rome had used its greatness to deceive and mislead the
world. Rome had made its material greatness the goal of its
existence. Rome had used its great power to persecute and
murder the people of God. Rome had caused all nations to
adopt her false standards and her false worship.
Rome fell because Rome was covered with the blood of
God’s people, and, like Tyre in Ezekiel 24:6, was truly a
“bloody city.” Rome fell because Rome worshipped wealth and
luxury. Rome fell because Rome lived a prodigal and wanton
life. Rome fell because Rome found no pleasure except in
materialism and perversity. Rome fell because Rome was
lifted up with pride and felt it had no need for God.
Waste? Materialism? Wantonness? Perversity? Pride? The
shedding of innocent blood? Do we see any modern day
parallels in that list?
Chapter Nineteen
God’s people were told to rejoice in Chapter 18, and
that is what we see them doing in Chapter 19. They rejoice
over the fall of the great city and the victory of the
church.
The great joy of those who overcame and conquered is
compared here to the joy that accompanies a great wedding
feast. The picture is one of victory and unrestrained
joy.
The battle at Armageddon (that was first portrayed in
Chapter 16) is considered again in this chapter. The two
beasts are defeated and cast into a lake of fire. This
chapter provides some of the details that were omitted when
the battle was first described.
1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of
a great multitude in heaven, crying, “Hallelujah! Salvation
and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments
are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who
corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has
avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
A great multitude in heaven rejoices over the judgment
of the harlot. This great multitude (which we first saw in
7:9) represents all of God’s people both living and dead.
Although they are pictured in heaven, this book has
consistently divided the godly from the ungodly by
describing the former as being in heaven while describing
the latter as those that dwell on the earth.
Verse 2 reminds us that God’s judgments are true and
just. God’s greatness rests not just on his power but on
his character. His judgments are always true and just, and
this judgment of Rome is no exception.
In judging Rome, God avenged the blood of his martyrs as
they had requested him to do in 6:10 where they cried with
a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long
before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who
dwell upon the earth.” That prayer set events into motion,
and verse 2 tells us that prayer has been answered.
Verse 2 also provides an important focus for what is
about to be described. Verse 2 tells us that the focus of
this joy and the focus of the judgment is the great harlot
— and that great harlot is Rome. We should keep that
context in mind if we are tempted at times to leap ahead
1000’s of years (and possibly many more) to the final
judgment at the end of time. This vision is still focused
on Rome!
3 Once more they cried, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her
goes up for ever and ever.”
Rome is depicted in verse 3 as a city set on fire by God
that burns forever. In 18:9-10 the kings of the earth stood
far off and watched the city burn. The shipmasters in 18:18
also watched the great city burn.
Fire is a common symbol for the judgment of God. Sodom
and Gomorrah were literally destroyed by fire, yet
eventually the fire went out. Nevertheless, Jude 7 says
that Sodom and Gomorrah are presently undergoing a
punishment of eternal fire.
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities,
which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural
lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of
eternal fire.
Those two cities fell never to rise again, and their
fall serves as an eternal example. Edom is likewise
described in Isaiah 34 as burning forever. That they burn
forever simply means that they serve as an example forever.
We are seeing the smoke from those cities as we study about
their judgment and heed their example.
Rome provides an eternal illustration of the power of
God and of his ability to deal with anyone or anything that
opposes his will and harms his people. In that sense, Rome
burns forever and the smoke that rises from it is always
visible.
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