[Chapter 18-1] The World of Babylon Is Fallen (Revelation 18:1-24)
(Revelation 18:1-24)
“After
these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great
authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried
mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is
fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every
foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the
nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the
kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the
merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her
luxury.’ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her,
my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her
plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her
iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her
double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix
double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived
luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she
says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see
sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning
and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the
Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed
fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her,
when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear
of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that
mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ And the merchants
of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their
merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and
pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron
wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most
precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and incense,
fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat,
cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. The
fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things
which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them
no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich by her,
will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen,
purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every
shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the
sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her
burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’ They threw dust on
their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas,
that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by
her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’ Rejoice over her, O
heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on
her!’ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and
threw it into the sea, saying, ‘Thus with violence the great city
Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. The sound
of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in
you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore,
and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The
light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of
bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your
merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the
nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and
saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.’”
Exegesis
Verse 1:
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having
great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.
Through
the servants whom God sent to this earth to do His works, people can
hear the sermons of God’s blessings and curses. To be freed from all
their sins and unhappiness, therefore, all of you must receive into your
hearts and believe in the Word of the spiritual blessings of Heaven
preached by the servants of God.
Verse 2:
And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison
for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!”
In
the phrase “Babylon the great is fallen,” the word Babylon is used by
the Bible to refer to the secular world. In the Old Testament, for
instance, we find the story of the Tower of Babel, a tower built by
mankind seeking to defy God by garnering together their own strengths,
which was then brought down by God for this reason. When the above
passage says that Babylon the great is fallen, it is telling us that
this world would be fallen. There are some people who might think, “This
world is standing just fine now, and so how could it ever fall?” But
God is telling us here that when the plagues of the seven bowls are
poured one after another, He will bring down this world just as He had
brought down the Tower of Babel.
What,
then, is the reason why this world would be destroyed by God with the
plagues of the seven bowls? It is because the people of this world would
have united themselves with the Antichrist in murdering the born-again
saints who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and it is
because they would have thus stood against God to their very end. It is
also because this world would have become “a dwelling place of demons.”
Why
would this be the case? Why, that is, would this world have become a
dwelling place of demons? It is because when the end times come, many
people would surrender to the Antichrist and turn into this evil one’s
servants by receiving the mark of Satan from him.
In
the Scripture, Dragon is used to refer to Satan, and demons to the
servants of the Dragon. Thus, when it says here that the world has
become a dwelling place of demons, it means that the Antichrist, a
servant of the Dragon, would fully occupy the world. The world of the
end times will face the age of extreme tribulations when the plagues of
the seven bowls are poured on it. This world will become a world of the
Dragon, and demons will run rampant as if the whole world belonged to
them. And this world will fall down rapidly, brought down by the final
plagues of the seven bowls poured by God.
Verse 3:
“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance
of her luxury.”
Just
as the verse says here, literally “all the nations” on the earth have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of the world’s fornication. In other
words, the people of this world have thought of this world as God, and
believed in and followed it as such. They have loved the world more than
God. This world has thus become a hotbed of sin, and its people have
lived their lives drunk in sin.
The
result, therefore, is the fall of the world brought down by sin.
Because people have loved and followed the world like God, He will
destroy them with His punishment of the plagues of the seven bowls.
Everyone living in this world will ultimately be destroyed by these
seven great plagues brought by God and be cast into hell.
God
is giving us His clear warning that everyone who does not believe now
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord will face
the plagues of the seven bowls in the end. You must remember that if you
do not believe in this gospel and continue to stand against God despite
His warning, you will not only be punished by the plagues of the seven
bowls, but you will also receive the eternal punishment of hell.
People
must realize, therefore, that they have to believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit now, in order to escape from God’s great and
terrible plagues, and they must return to the faith in the true gospel
of the water and the Spirit as soon as possible.
Though
many kings and merchants of the world have amassed great wealth with
its material abundance, they will all end up weeping, lamenting,
mourning and wailing when they see this world crumbling down with the
great plagues brought by God.
So,
we must all never forget that we have to preach the gospel of the water
and the Spirit to everyone, and that we have to live our lives by
looking toward the Millennium Kingdom. We must lead everyone to the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, so that every mankind may escape
from the great plagues.
Verse 4: And
I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people,
lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.”
“Come
out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive
of her plagues.” This is the Word of God spoken to His saints. The
saints must not, in other words, belong to the world of the end times
and live their lives as its slaves. Even those who had already become
saints before, if they fall into the sins of the world of the end times,
they will not be able to avoid being judged by God with His fearful
plagues. God is telling all the saints, in other words, to not garner
His wrath by ending up as the slaves of the world.
Verse 5: “For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
God
indeed remembers all the sins and deeds of this world and waits only
for its judgment day. With the sudden appearance of the Antichrist one
day, destruction will soon cover the entire world just as God has
planned. Yet there are still some people who believe that this world
would not be destroyed, but that it would last forever.
This
world will not, however, last as they think, but be destroyed suddenly
by the plagues of the seven trumpets and of the seven bowls brought by
God. When the end times come, God will bring tribulations to everywhere
in the world and destroy it. We must thus be diligent in our lives of
faith to the very end, holding steadfast to our faith that the Kingdom
of Jesus Christ will indeed come.
Before
God commands His angels to pour the seven bowls on this earth, the sins
of the world would have become so rampant and widespread that it more
than deserves to receive God’s judgment. God will therefore remember its
sins, and hold its destruction no longer. Moreover, the Antichrist and
the worldly people would be persecuting God’s people, coercing the
saints to deny their faith, and making martyrs out of them. When these
things happen, this world will face the plagues of the seven bowls.
Verse 6:
“Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double
according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for
her.”
It
is written here, “Render to her just as she rendered to you.” To whom
does this “she” here refer? This refers to this world, namely sinners
living in it, the Antichrist, and Satan. It tells us that God will pay
them back just as they had brought persecution, torment, tribulation and
death to the saints.
Verse
6 also says, “in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.” This
is God’s command given to His angels to punish all the false religions
of the world that had led people to hell by spreading the Devil’s lies.
It means that God will bring His wrath and punishment on today’s
Christianity for its sin of giving false teachings, mixing the Word of
God with the teachings of Satan, and thereby leading people to the
Devil. Therefore, Christians who do not believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit will receive the same punishment of sin as the
secular people of the world.
Verse 7:
“In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in
the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart,
‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’”
God
says here to repay the sins of these prideful people with torment and
sorrow. To all the religious people of the world who are not born again,
and to the unbelieving, secular people of the world, God will ask after
their sins and punish them.
Yet
they remain prideful, saying to themselves, “I sit as a queen, and am
no widow, and will not see sorrow.” God will therefore bring to them the
plagues of their destruction. With the great plagues brought by God,
they will all suffer the sorrow of losing all their worldly possessions
and their beloved ones, all at the same time.
Verse 8:
“Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and
famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord
God who judges her.”
With
the advent of the seven plagues, the plagues of death, mourning and
famine will come to this world in one day. The Antichrist and all his
worldly followers will thus be punished to burn forever in hell.
Verse 9:
“The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously
with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her
burning,”
The
people and kings of the world will witness with their own eyes their
world being engulfed in fire and earthquakes and destroyed by the
plagues of the seven bowls. The kings of the world will therefore weep
and lament, wailing for their loss.
Verse 10:
“standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas,
that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment
has come.’”
The
people who had not believed that this world would fall will be struck
by fear when they see the whole world actually crumbling down right
before their eyes. On a world glittering so much with its beauty, God’s
judgment will descend in one day, and it will be fallen all at once.
Verse 11-13:
“And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no
one buys their merchandise anymore: merchandise of gold and silver,
precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet,
every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of
object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; and cinnamon and
incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and
wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of
men.”
Who
could buy or sell anything when the world’s destruction is at hand? The
merchants of the earth, too, will weep and mourn over the loss of their
world. When God pours the plagues of the seven bowls, no one in the
whole world would be buying anything. This world will never be
reconstructed again, and only the Kingdom of Christ will be built on its
ruins.
Here
is a list of the extravagant merchandises that people have adorned
themselves in luxury to this very day. But all these things will become
useless in just one day, and no one will ever again seek after such
worldly things. All these things are what the worldly religions trade
in. The religions of the world have done everything imaginable for their
love of money, not hesitating to sell even souls for a penny.
Verse 14-18:
“The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the
things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall
find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, who became rich
by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and
wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in
fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious
stones and pearls! For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’
Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade
on the sea, stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of
her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’”
People will therefore never be able to see any of their worldly possessions again.
The
merchants who had become rich through this world will weep and wail as
they see their world crumbling down. They will wail in desperation, for
when the world falls, they, too, will fall with it, and all their
amassed possessions will disappear in just a day.
When
the religions built on the worldly wealth fall, the people of this
world will find themselves lamenting, “alas, alas!” International
traders and shipmasters crisscrossing the world will also wail. These
people will cry out in desperation, “What civilization ever built by
mankind has been greater and better than that of today?”
Verse 19:
“They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and
saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the
sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’”
Seeing
the world brought down by the plagues of the seven bowls, all those who
had thought that this world would last forever will be wailing in great
sorrow. Those who still remain in this world will be weeping and
lamenting as they witness the whole world being destroyed all at once
with the plagues of the seven bowls brought by God, but all their crying
would be of no use, for by then this world and everything in it would
have ended already. If they have the strength to cry then, they should
be wailing now over their own fate, that they are bound to hell because
of their sins, and they should believe in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit to be delivered from their eternal destruction.
Verse 20: “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”
The
raptured saints in the air will rejoice when the plagues of the seven
bowls are brought, because with these plagues God would avenge them all.
It is only right that God would thus pour the terrible, great plagues
on His enemies.
Verse 21:
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it
into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall
be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.”
God
says here that this world will never be seen again, as a millstone is
thrown into the sea. Our Lord will then renew the whole universe and all
things in it, and fulfill His work of turning this earth into the
Kingdom of Christ.
Verse 22:
“The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not
be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you
anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you
anymore.”
When
the plagues of the seven bowls end, no sound of music that people had
heard in this world before will ever be heard again, nor will the sound
of the hammering of craftsmen be heard.
Verse 23:
“The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of
bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your
merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the
nations were deceived.”
When
the plagues of the seven bowls are completed, this world will never
again see the light of a lamp, nor hear the voice of bridegroom and
bride any longer. The deception of the sorcerers of the world will also
end, for the world would have ended.
Verse 24: “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”
The
reason why God would pour the great plagues of the seven bowls on this
earth is because Satan’s servants would have shed the blood of His
prophets and saints.
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