Revelation Chapter Eighteen Commentary
Contents
I. Introduction. 1
II. Revelation Chapter Eighteen Commentary Verses. 1
18:1-3- Who is This Babylon?. 1
18:4-5- Come Out of Her My People. 1
18:6-8- Woe Baby lon. 1
18:9-19- In One Hour Is She Made Desolate. 1
18:20-24- God Hath Avenged Ye Elect on Her, Rejoice. 1
III. Illustrations and Tables. 1
Figure 1. Idolatrous Heart-sin Arrows | Harlotry. 1
IV. Works Cited and References. 1
V. Notes. 1
In the previous chapter we were shown a woman called a harlot, symbolic of idolatry (overweening love and reverence for someone or something other than Jehovah God, to the extent of worship); she represents some form of false, idolatrous religion. She was said to be a harlot to the kings of the earth (heads of state, hence government, dripping with her idolatry), and we were told she made drunk the inhabitants of the earth with the “wine of her fornication” (manifest, practiced, trickle-down idolatry, Revelation 17:2). She was described as decked out in purple and scarlet, gold, pearls, fine stones. Eye-popping stuff symbolic of the things the domain of sin and sorrow covets: pomp and power, prestige, wealth, all manner of pleasure, royal ease (here is betrayed to the discerning eye her falseness). She was described as holding a golden cup (highly valued) full of abominations (the above coveted flesh-things by which she tempts) and the filthiness of said fornication with the kings of the earth (the odium of her idolatry, her syncretic state religion), and is further described as sitting on a scarlet-colored (bloody) beast having seven heads (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Revived Rome, a legacy of bloodletting as touching the people of God the former six, the latter to do even more so) and ten horns (an eighth kingdom consisting of revived Rome out of which antiChrist emerges to establish this eighth and final worldly kingdom; important to note, he is not on the scene in chapters seventeen and eighteen). On her forehead was inscribed “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (not least to distinguish her from the former Babylon of the great Babylonian empire which was certainly not a mystery to anyone; separately, we said before that it meant that for all her outwardly “impressive” looks, she is not what she appears to be per the negative part of the inscription, thus a mystery). (Revelation 17:3-5.) And she was drunken with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus (she is a Church predator because the Church stands in the way of her idolatrous, state religion goals, and fundamentally, she hates Jesus Christ and strikes at His beloved Church as though striking at Him Revelation 17:6). Finally, we were told of her utter demise Revelation 17:12-18. (Her religion becomes burdensome, a nuisance, exceeding foolish, to arrogant, self-deified humankind at this determined time, who in unanimity turns on her and burns her with fire, representing consummate destruction and the hate that drove it—she truly became loathsome to the peoples she sat on who wanted no more to do with her religion or religion per se at this determined time.) We had come to the conclusion in our commentary on Revelation chapter seventeen that this harlot sitting upon many waters (peoples), and upon a scarlet-colored Beast (that of Revelation 13), could easily be understood to be the spirit of Roman syncretism in John's day, idolatrous to the core, and ever propagating; propagating through human history by way of the great world kingdoms and their civilizations as depicted by the scarlet-colored Beast she sits on, which Beast we said abhorred carrying her. With her demise we see that God employed his very enemies to rid Himself of false religion. Following is how we put it in the commentary:
God is never mocked, not even a little bit—God has here ridded Himself of false religion at the hands of His enemies no less and through the very mortar of blasphemy particular to the proud neo-headed Beast (Psalms 2:4). What is left is the Beast and its crony kings, all of which our God will ultimately destroy personally: These with the Lamb shall make war, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because Lord of lords he is, and King of kings, and those with him are called, and choice, and stedfast. (Revelation 17:14, cf. Dan 7:9-14, 21-22), but no more harlot sitting upon many waters when this phase of human history consummates—the contestants for human souls at this point are overtly only two, 'face to face' if you will: Jehovah God, and Satan. Jehovah God has always presented Himself openly to the worshiper (“A Letter of Invitation-2”), so there is no change there; not so with the latter—here is a new twist, and many will choose Satan in that sore day owing to the wicked labors of antiChrist and his false prophet crony.
Our chapter seventeen commentary ends with that, which brings us to chapter eighteen of God’s Revelation. What we will learn is that God similarly rids Himself of wicked, Godless, commerce and government at this determined time, creating a massive, religio-political-economic vacuum into which antiChrist will step for his overlord Satan bringing about the final chapter of human history. This commentary will not address the latter, but rather the former, the demise of wicked, Godless, commerce and government.
The term “Babylon” is oft used in this chapter. In John’s Day it was a code-name for Rome used by the (Rome-persecuted) early Church, what should it mean to modern readers? It is understood that “Babylon” stands for a one-world religious order (Revelation 17), and as concerns us in this chapter, a one-world economic and governmental order. One word, Babylon, represents these two world orders.
Before we begin, our position is that we are pre-Tribulation here, as also in chapter seventeen just summarized. We are assuming this because the one-world religion and one-world economy/government particular to these chapters set the stage for the rise of antiChrist, which is decidedly pre-Tribulation; he is not on the scene in these chapters. The removal of this Babylon—false religion in chapter seventeen, wicked commerce and government in our chapter eighteen—is pre-Tribulation is meant. (We think these events are outliers to the Tribulation as expounded upon later in the commentary.) It means that this Babylon is in our midst, no less than she pervaded the scene in John’s Day. She will disappear before the second coming of Jesus Christ and the onset of Tribulation. To repeat what was already said, there will be a considerable vacuum left by the removal of worldwide false religion and wicked commerce and government, and this vacuum we propose presents the opportunity for Satan’s antiChrist, precisely now on the scene, to woo a befuddled, distraught, and grieving (for Babylon) world to his overlord Satan.
Oftentimes in the commentary and endnotes we use “her” and “she” when describing something, we do so to follow the biblical pattern which does likewise.
We must make it clear before beginning that we are not advocating the demise of any nation or its cities, and certainly not the precious souls therein. In what follows we are prayerfully interpreting the text vis-à-vis the times in our day as seems apparent to us. Rhymes and other such nuances are for emphasis only.
We will follow this format:
Verse of Scripture utilizing the KJV text followed by an NKJV mouse over of that verse. Key words in the KJV text will be footnoted with a link to a word study based on the Greek text, and/or a general discussion relative to the given word (we are not biblical Greek or Hebrew scholars, please consider our grammatical constructions with a critical eye).
Commentary We shall always be commenting on this passage keeping before us the crucial fact that every jot and every tittle comprising these verses came forth under the inspiration of the blessed Holy Spirit. We pray that He, by His grace, helps us along the way.
18:1-3- Who is This Babylon?
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 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. 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) . (Revelation 18:3 KJV, Revelation 18:1-3, NLT)
COMMENTARY: The apostle John is here carried away by the Spirit of God and placed just so to behold God’s majestic messenger. It is a continuation of the dreadful vision of Judgment he is receiving (e.g., Revelation 17:1 similarly). We have had tremendous judgment passed on the earth up to this chapter (Revelation 6ff), if the Book is laid out chronologically, which it surely is, how did we get from there, to here? How can we have, coming out of all that destruction, even a semblance of humanity left, let alone viable enough to set up a world economy and system of government that is well populated, prominent, and of course still manifestly evil in its structure and thrust? In fact, how did we get to Revelation chapter seventeen even, given the destruction that had already occurred? There is a general chronology that the Book follows, yes, but there are considerable (by earthly standards) time gaps between some of the judgments. Time gaps make sense of the judgments as they unfold, and there is nothing unusual about that, biblically or otherwise, for example, we await Daniel’s seventieth week having beyond any reasonable doubt realized the first sixty-nine (1-69 have come to pass is meant, the subject of another study); moreover, time gaps are in keeping with Jehovah’s mercy—He is not bent on judgment, He allows room for repentance (2Peter3:9), of which we find none as the judgments continue one after the other. Clearly, the Book covers quite a span of time. (“Quite a span of time” is a thoroughly human notion and is meaningless from the I AM’s perspective of “time.”) But please note, as concerns specifically this chapter and the previous one, we hold that the events related are pre-Tribulation, time gaps do not entirely account for the jump forward unto a revitalized earth and its thriving one-world orders.
The Flesh. Satisfying the myriad cravings of the Flesh. Flesh is what the Babylon of this determined time is. That is what she is all about satisfying, in herself, in others by way of allurement. Flesh-bait. And the world swallows it, can’t get enough of it:
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.
Tasty, tasty, is the wine, I shall make it mine, mine, mine all mine, yon tasty wine yea, care not, ha, be my soul confined, confined, with the foul devil-swine.
Ease. Pleasure. Pomp-strutting. Greed and hegemon-power motivated by ego and ease and pleasure and pomp. Thus she baits. Thus she seduces unto Sin and damnation on a massive scale. Thus, yea, particularly so, she incurs the Divine Wrath. But nay she says. For greed she posits survival, for power she posits security. It must needs be; ease and pleasure and pomp motivate nothing here… She is a liar, and the mother of lies.
She is fallen. It bespeaks not least a better beginning; there came a turning point in her spirit, a decided inflection point. She has a Godly heritage is how we have come to understand it; and it is like a fingerprint at the scene of the crime. It makes sense, this fallenness, both post priori, and somewhat a priori her ruin. She is fallen, apostatized, become the habitation of devils, the hold of foul spirits, a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Somewheres, at some point along the way, in her ease and marry-making, she abandoned Jehovah, her first love; in lockstep her new lover possessed her and shall forever hold her captive:
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.
Who could it be? Who is this Babylon? Who is the Babylon of this determined time? She is alive and appears to be well on the outside today but is diseased and quite dead on the inside for some time now, this Babylon. And her Judgment recently began, it recently visited her, tragically, in an unprecedented way going by her history.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5 KJV, Revelation 18:4-5, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Here speaks Jesus we think in a glorified voice, hence John did not recognize who spoke, but he recognized the Glory in it, and therefore he identified it as coming from heaven:
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying…
Christians are Jesus’ people; He speaks here to them through John. It is a warning for them to get out of Babylon lest they suffer Judgment with the rest when it comes in all its ferocity. Their safety does not come “automatically,” they must get out. Thus it was with Lot and family when God judged Sodom, they were warned and they had to act on that warning to be spared (Gen 19:15):
Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Please notice that God acknowledges that His people are in Babylon. Babylon is an accomplished seductress unto Sin, and God’s people are in her midst, they (we) will succumb to her allurements, God knows it full well, that is why He wants us to get out of there. If Judgment comes upon her for her sins, God’s people in her midst, sinning like the rest, must expect the same judgment from a holy and righteous Judge. He always acts in accordance with His holiness. (They will be caught up in Babylon’s doom whether they are partaking of Babylon’s sins or not—they must get out as commanded to be spared.) God wants to spare His people this Judgment (the anxiety, fear, suffering, torment; as for Babylon, she cannot be spared, she will not repent, she is too proud, self-assured). Flee the scene; pack up and go, do not stay there lest we be caught up in Babylon’s doom. If we are caught up in Babylon’s doom we are doomed indeed along with her.
How do we get out? Does it involve moving to other acquaintances and dropping some of the old, another job, residence, city, country? It very well could involve any of those changes. In this specific context, God had in view, at least, the Rome of John’s Day. It would have been hard to escape the Godless and wicked allurements of the Roman Empire. The mobility necessary to flee was limited, and the Mediterranean environs dominated by Rome were just about as bad wherever one might have gone. It is a difficult move for anybody at any time anywhere. This text speaks to us as much as it did to the brethren at that time; most of us are probably in the same predicament—where to go and how. By-and-by Rome was indeed judged, but she revived, and as we shall see, our text unmistakably predicts her consummate doom. That is surely in the offing, so if the text speaks to us, where do we go to put distance between her and ourselves? Maybe the best thing to offer the reader is a modernity cue—stay out of it, stick with conservative, fundamental, principles, biblically, and otherwise, live simply, gratefully, untethered to commercial Babylon as much as possible. Modernity is Babylon in shoe leather; modernity smacks of Babylon, both in religion and economics/government, and in lifestyle/worldview. The western world is largely bought into it, more than that even, these regions are committed to it. There are places in this world today that do not worship modernity, that is the safest place to be spiritually and physically. Jehovah’s Israel comes to mind. There are other places—they are the less affluent places that do not cater to ease and pleasure, life is more difficult there. The list of possible escapes is dwindling fast because everybody wants to “be like Babylon,” hey, “that’s where it’s happening baby…”.
We do not want to be there, we do not want to be exposed to her and influenced by her, because this Babylon has filled the cup of iniquity, and she is unforgiven. To fill the cup of iniquity covers all bases—no sin-stone left unturned here. She has done it all and continues in it unchecked as though it were her inalienable right to do so. Such a one as her receives the harshest of Jehovah’s judgments. Why? Her exceeding iniquities are unforgiven, Jehovah God specifically says so—God hath remembered her iniquities:
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much (torment and sorrow) give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong [is] the Lord God who judgeth her. (Revelation 18:6-8 KJV, Revelation 18:6-8, NLT)
COMMENTARY: Vengeance is the Lord’s and His only (Matthew 5:39, Luke 6:28, Romans 12:19), here He delegates it to His persecuted people:
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously so much torment and sorrow give her. (cf. Leviticus 24:20.)
The brethren in John’s Day were nowise able to do this, they were comparatively weak, outnumbered, and outmuscled, so why delegate such as this to them? What they could not do, He the Lord God, even Jehovah Jesus here speaking, was going to do—for the Lord God who judges her is strong. Thus the Lord God judged ancient Rome, and will judge the Babylon of this determined time. Notice that this Babylon sits (=eased back), as a queen (=powerful):
for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
it begs the question, who is the king so-called? It is the prince of this world system, very he who controls and powers the seven-headed world-system scarlet-colored Beast (Egypt through revived Rome, in order); it is that odious usurper and fool and would be king Satan. Notice how she boasts of his supposed invincibility and immortality; her own power and presumptuousness derives from him, and she knows it (…says in her heart…) and flaunts it; she “sticks it” in God’s face as though He were of naught over against her sugar-daddy lover Satan: “…I am no widow, and shall see no sorrow…”. She, the Babylon of this determined time, is in league with Satan, it follows that only the Lord God, strong, can make her eat the humble pie, only He can judge her into oblivion given her satanic power. The Lord God strong laughs whilst He sharpens His arrows with her name on them (a side-splitting no contest Psalms 2:4):
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Death, mourning, famine, and fire awaits the Babylon of this determined time. It is a grim picture; we reckon it to be caused by a limited nuclear exchange wherein one of the participants, this Babylon, is outsmarted and outgunned and loses (there may be more than two participants, it seems likely). Our supposition is that the Babylon of this determined time (pre-Tribulation) will disappear before the second coming of Jesus Christ and the commencement of Tribulation. It means that saints that are still in this Babylon (that could not or flat would not come out per our Lord’s command) will suffer and perish with the rest. For them to have been raptured and escape it, would mean that Jesus’ second coming was at hand, so why command them to come out and avoid experiencing the plagues? It would further mean that sore Tribulation was imminent, and antiChrist had before stepped onto the world’s stage, dominating the world’s one-world religion and economy/government, here and in chapter seventeen introduced! Thus, the notion of raptured saints at this juncture puts the cart before the horse vis-a-vis our text. The demise of this Babylon is an outlier to the Tribulation; we think it catalyzes, is a vehicle for, antiChrist’s “beloved” appearance on the world’s stage by way of the massive religious and economic/governmental vacuum left in Babylon’s wake after her demise as he, no slouch in international politics by this time, brokers peace and institutes widespread cleanup and reconstruction programs. Therefore, we hold that this Babylon will disappear before Jesus’ return. If correct, that outlier event could happen at any time. The time of Jesus’ second coming remains uncertain, but this outlier event must happen first. Reiterating God’s particular sorrow over this, the tragedy is that despite His plenteous heads-up here, there are many saints who will find themselves in the wrong place at this determined time and will perish very sad to say. Their circumstances, endearments, and entanglements in this wicked Babylon will have kept them there as though in chains.
9 And (the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her), shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and (souls of men). 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them ( no more at all) . 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city! 19 (And they cast dust on their heads), and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. (Revelation 18:9-19 KJV, Revelation 18:9-19, NLT)
COMMENTARY: My O my, just look at how her lovers carry on and clamor and curse God at her demise. Gone, gone, beloved baby lon is gone. All the thrills, the pills, the deals, the meals, the cash, the stash, gone all gone, beloved baby lon is gone. Bewail her, lament, O the smoke, how she is rent. What to do? What to do? O forever be blue. Gone, gone, beloved baby lon is gone. Cry, howl, weep, bemoan, thus grieve…beloved baby lon is gone:
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.
O how lonely we, no more baby lon glee, she and we, sweet, sweet, idolatry,
so delicious yea, ease, pleasure, pomp hey, in ashes yonder, yonder, along the way.
And they be a shakin’ in their high-tops way out yonder as fer away as them ‘ol Romanish boys can git baby lon cause they be next they be a thinkin’ cause ya’ll bin a partnerin’ in them dirty deeds ya’ll done did—they be a sayin’ we gonna’ keeps our rearward perticulers unscorched baby lon—we outta’ here back on o’er to our side a’ the big pond (which no doubt has been lit up too, for it is all alike “Babylon”):
Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Please notice that her doom comes in one hour; is that literal? Absolutely:
The merchants of these things [goodly things, dainty things, fleshly needful things, cinnamon and spice and everything nice things], which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.
The slang would put it so: Fleecing. That is how they got rich. This Babylon and the merchants from around the world have it all figured out. A duty here, a tax over there, a surcharge for this, an unwarranted, goodly price hike again and again for that. Gouging. Aside, they wail over lost riches, not souls and suffering—how’s that for a twisted crowd? Rome of John’s Day is in view, but the vision extends beyond that because Rome did not fall in one hour, which is literal we think. It could be a metaphor for a rapid fall and not a literal hour, either way, it fits not the Rome of John’s Day—that Rome stood for hundreds of years hence. John is being shown another Rome code-named Babylon, it is the revived Rome as we have posited throughout, at the head of which is the United States of America, itself founded from that stock. Satan’s darling NATO unambiguously betrays these bedfellows, as does the EU unambiguously betray revived Rome; the U.S. was central to the EU’s formation. With these removed or disabled per our text, brother Ezekiel’s prophecies would fall in line for fulfillment next, but that is too far off topic for now.
Scripture is exceedingly redundant here: afar off, wailing, smoke, weeping, riches lost, her prices, gone in one hour. Scripture is redundant for a reason—it’s coming, and in one hour. The timing is entirely in God’s hands:
And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20 Rejoice [over her, [thou] (heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets); for God hath avenged you on her. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23 And the light of a candle shall shine 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 (thy merchants were the great men of the earth); for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Revelation 18:20-24 KJV), Revelation 18:20-24, NLT)
COMMENTARY: The people of God are to rejoice over this Babylon’s demise. It is a present, imperative verb. Rejoice, and keep rejoicing (despite all the crying and wailing; when God is the Avenger and commands it, we may, we must rejoice Deuteronomy 32:43, otherwise no, Proverbs 24:17). Before we saw that God delegated His vengeance upon her to His people, here we realize that He has in fact avenged their blood for them, as expected (Deuteronomy 32:35, Psalms 94:1, Nahum 1:2, Romans 12:19). We knew it was coming, we just had to wait for Him to do it:
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
And so it shall be to the tee. But rejoice over exactly what right here? Rejoice that there is a Righteous Judge who punishes evil—now, and later (the literal sense of the avenge verb is with respect to judgment). Jesus Christ is that Righteous Judge (John 5:22-27, 2Corinthians 5:10). Please note that the text has God Himself avenging for—precisely His people. Let us call it the Divine Favor; a Child of God must rejoice over that, by God’s imperative, certainly, but also by one’s own imperative. No less God is avenged of our sins on Jesus become “Babylon” (God’s wrath fell on Jesus, judged in our place, Matthew 26:39, 2Corinthians 5:21). Here is the quintessence of the Divine Favor; a Child of God must rejoice over that by their own imperative.
Those Beloved whom Judaism did not kill, Rome did. Vicious killers of God’s people these two, rejoicing, partying, as the Beloved pass away. Thus they, enemies of God and His people, wicked, “must” rejoice, by their own imperative (and Satan’s).
Why must heaven rejoice too and why is heaven mentioned first (so it is in the Greek):
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Heaven, the abode of God and the holy angels and holy elders and saints of God, awaiting with bated breath the culmination of the greatest Love Story ever told, that of Salvation and eternal rejoicing per the marriage festivities confirming that Love, is here brought one step closer to that reality, for our God must needs vanquish Evil and Sin before the festivities commence. God says to them here—go ahead and get it going on, because my work is well nigh finished, that is how sure this Judgment is. There remains then one last great battle in which God will act personally, will bare His righteous right arm, and rid His Creation of all Evil and Sin forever and ever.
Heaven is where the victory parade gathers and readies and arrays itself behind the Bridegroom Conqueror leading the way (even at this very moment), should it not be privileged first?
The redundancy of this Babylon’s utter demise, as in total devastation, to the extent that she will disappear, is thick. It is repeated yet again, and the violence of it no less:
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Notice that an angel of God executes this judgment, it is pointed out by the text to make it clear to the reader that Jehovah God is behind her destruction. Jehovah shall raise up the peoples to do it, particularly those whom this Babylon abused, bled, fleeced, gouged, and ran roughshod over to satisfy her myriad lusts; to service and sustain her myriad lusts. She is cast into the sea by which she lived deliciously—these are peoples in the biblical metaphor, no doubt those just mentioned—to drown in it, thus at their hands, violently; in this way her sins fold back on her in kind at the hands of her many victims. God is never mocked, not even a little bit. And again, it is pointed out that her destruction shall be violent, the text makes that clear again, and again very graphically—God never lets up on that theme, it is consistent and persistent in our text.
She lives in ease and pleasure, plenteous merry making of all stripes, Godless (at best, no praise in it; praise of man, things, self, schedules/tomorrows, nasty fun, fun, fun), to be shut down in lockstep with her demise, forgotten, remembered no more but as dregs settling with her at the bottom of the sea (of humanity, yea the bottom), there to crust over with her and morph into the dark, cold environs, environs like unto herself since her turning when she abandoned her Founder and Blesser:
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee.
And her beloved tech, which she worships above God, which dominates and controls her society, her workforce, her pleasures; her tech which she thinks will ever prevent her from becoming a widow (thus she elevates Satan’s power in this tech above that of God, for she is the bride of Satan); her tech that she thinks will allow her to ever sit oblivious, yea sit, as an arrogant queen, distant and safe from all eventualities that might harm or hinder her, distant and safe from God’s wrath even, but it is judged too, gone. Allowed to see it fail, shown to her fat eyes to fail her, up front, she watches, yea, helpless to stop, or even slow down in any effectual way, the doom raining down on her from all angles at that determined time. Gone, all of it as nothing before God’s Judgment:
and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee.
And the food, see how the staff of life is broken, to add to the torment meant precisely for her, as God avenges for His Name and His people:
and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee.
Lights out, the lights put out, darkness, physically now as well; fumbling, groping, just to get from here to there; no power grid, no solar cells per the blockage of the sun’s light, batteries spent, candles spent, darkness; she must die a slow, tormented death, as determined for this arrogant, satanic witch, this seductress unto Sin, this habitation of devils and foul spirits, yea thus determined by God:
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee.
She bastardized holy marriage instituted by God, embraced and legalized homosexuality and transgender in direct violation of His Word, an offense to God and herself as related to her by God aplenty, an unnatural insanity in keeping with her own deranged satanism (she is the bride of Satan), and she is judged for it:
and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.
Her businessmen and women are great in the world, their respective businesses have a dominant market share worldwide, in this way she controls international commerce, she leverages the markets through them, and waxes fat, whilst the poor waste away for all her greed as it trickles down to them in the dress of cost, at best they struggle day by day. In no small way, her seduction unto Sin (Fig. 1) very much propagates by way of commerce, by way of these “great” businessmen and women and their business models and worldviews, not least seductive subliminal, and outright, Godlessness-promotion in her advertising, that ever so satisfyingly appeals to the Flesh—she is an accomplished advertiser in this regard, leveraging the flesh for gain. Her dominant position in the world’s economy, and not least her leading businesses and businessmen and women, her advertising in support of those businesses, is a telling piece in the identification puzzle (of her) for the reader. She dares to put God’s Name on her dirty coins by which she leverages her greed, “In God We Trust,” but spits in His eyes by way of her sanctioned Godlessness—in her legislature, in her jurisprudence, in her law enforcement. She trusts not in God, not anymore (she used to, but she is fallen). She is the mother of hypocrisy because she has become the mother of lies in her fallenness:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
She was and shall always be a Church hunter. Her kin in the day spilled the blood of the saints outright, she bleeds the pulpit today. She strikes at the Church from the inside, perhaps her deadliest blows are delivered in this way—she infiltrates the Church to do this. Look about, and you will find her, Babylon, planted in the Church. From that position, she presumes to do the greatest damage to God. She is a Church hunter, a saint killer, because she is a God hater. (She used to love Him; she is apostatized.) She is a killer of humankind, a paranoid war monger constantly at war, or outfitting it, a bloody beast is in her lineage, her DNA. She bleeds others to shape the world just so in keeping with her heartless and selfish interests, and to ease her freak paranoia. (She is much hated around the world for it.) She is central to conflict, sorrow, suffering, and death, worldwide:
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. [A bloody beast is in her lineage.]
How you have fallen since the days of your founding by God and Godly people. You are too far down past the tipping point now.
Praised be your Name in all the earth great Jehovah God. Amen.
Figure 1. Idolatrous Heart-sin Arrows | Harlotry
(Exodus 20:1-6; The heart is Jehovah’s).
IV. Works Cited and References
“A Letter of Invitation-2.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://development.jesusamen.org/a-letter-of-invitation-2/ >
Henry, Matthew.
Commentary on Revelation Chapter Eighteen.
< http://blb.sc/002gdf >
“A Fascinating Look at Eagles, Ravens, and unclean Birds in the Bible.”
Woman of Noble character Website.
< A Fascinating Look At Eagles, Ravens And Unclean Birds In The Bible - (womanofnoblecharacter.com) >
“Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/commentaryrev13.html >
“Revelation Chapter Seventeen Commentary.”
Jesus, Amen.
< https://jesusamen.org/commentaryrev17.html >
The immediate context of words under study before and aft is bracketed: […] WORD/s […]
[And after these things I] saw-G1492 [another angel come down from heaven]. Physically, with his eyes, John beheld this angel. Verbal usage is second aorist (simple past, probably not punctiliar, i.e., not at some instant, considering the angel’s descent out of heaven; the angel did not just suddenly appear, he came down out of heaven is meant. The Word of God wants us to know precisely where this angel came from; had he just appeared at some instant, who knows where he might have come from, but the Word of God is clear that he came down out of heaven, so we should probably eliminate the punctiliar and go with either an inceptive or cumulative aorist), active voice (specifically the speaker John saw) indicative mood (statement of fact).
[And after these things I saw another] angel-G32 [come down from heaven] A created being sent by Jehovah God as a messenger. (Revelation 17:1 for the “others.” ) An angel is a created being that must, like all other created beings, knuckle under to the Creator Jehovah’s authority. Some of these angelic beings didn’t like that idea and they knuckled over, or so they (=fools) tried, to the day. Now they are joined by myriad flesh and blood cronies, their foolish kinfolk in that rebellion.
[And after these things I saw another angel] come down-G2597 [from heaven]. Come down, descend. Likewise, will Jesus in a more glorious manner (imagine that) split the eastern sky one fine day. Come quickly Lord Jesus, come quickly. The things of God are up yonder way above amen. Verbal usage is present (it complements the ongoing action of the descent in real/present time for John), active, participle (perfectly married to the ongoing present tense here—as in “coming” down). One can imagine John beholding this sight, happening real time, and taking just a little while to unfold. Why would God drag it out like that? Surely, He prepares the hearer, John, for the import of the impending message, and, as said, to make it crystal clear that this messenger and his message is from very God above. ‘…Perk up your ears John and be prepared to behold even greater things than this majestic angel, indeed, the course-of-history things that will astonish and bewilder and fluster and frustrate the enemies of Jehovah God brother John….’.
[And after these things I saw another angel come down from] heaven-G3772 [having great power, and the earth was lighted with his glory]. Why does this angel have such great power, and the capacity to light up the earth? It is precisely because he comes down from heaven, from the presence of very God. We must not miss that; it is an important communique by our text. Everything so far points not to the amazing angel, but to the abode of our great God Jehovah, even heaven, from whence the angel came, that is, he descended, to these lower parts, the land of sin and sorrow, and its attendant darkness. The angel comes from the presence of God and cannot help but radiate that glory. We must focus our attention and wonder on God’s glory, surpassing. Our God Jehovah in heaven is exceedingly glorious.
[having great] power-G1849 [and the earth was lightened with his glory.] EXSOUSIA, not DUNAMH is utilized. This communicates to the reader that in addition to the angel’s splendor, an aura of authority effused from the angel. God’s intent is unmistakable, His glorious messenger’s words were as coming from the very Glory, from the lips of sovereign God Himself. The message was thus sealed, sure, and fixed.
[having great power, and the] earth-G1093 [was lightened with his glory]. The abode and dwelling place of humankind, the animals, the plants, as opposed to the heavens, which themselves could not help but receive a fair reflection of this glory. Note again the decided focus on this angel’s place of origin. He came from heaven and illumined the dark habitation beneath.
[having great power, and the earth] was lightened-G5461 [with his glory]. Illumined. The earth even whilst the sun shines is a dark place, truly illumined only by the glory of Jehovah God Himself. Thus this angel illumines the earth with God’s (not entirely the angel’s) glory. It cannot be overstated that the angel’s glory, not to be denied, derives from God alone.
[Having great power, and the earth was lightened with his] glory-G1391. Exceeding splendor and brightness, magnificence; honor is possible, but that is less visual, John is relating what he saw.
[And he cried mightily with a strong] voice-G5456 [saying]. FONH, from which we get our “phonetics.” It is a clear articulation. In other words, a letter-by-letter message. This holy angel, for starters, came down from heaven, from the presence of God, and he articulates, by the (sovereign) letter as it were, God’s judgment. And notice, he does so with a strong, i.e., “mega,” voice; a mega voice; a mega by the letter articulation. This message, nay, judgment, is indeed sealed. Woe baby lon.
[And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying] Babylon-G897 [the great is fallen, is fallen]. Maybe the overarching question in this study is, who or what is this Babylon? It can be said with good confidence that it is a city. A dwelling place for congregated mortals and their dear things and stuff and necessities. Our guess is that it is not Babylon of the former great Babylonian empire. John is getting a message from God; one would think that he would get some news—fallen Babylon of old is hardly any news in John’s Day. So let us eliminate that possibility. What other prominent, as in great, city might it be, of necessity relevant to John’s Day and God’s imminent plans? It must be Rome, and by association, the “great” Roman Empire. (Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Jerome have “Babylon” as representing the Roman Empire. It was a code name for Rome used by the early Church, itself severely persecuted by Rome.) By AD 476 it all came crashing down for the western Roman empire; in AD 1453, the eastern Roman empire (the Byzantine Empire) fell. By this reckoning, John did not live to see Rome’s demise except by this announcement, which was surely much more succinct and sobering than anything his physical eyes could have beheld. Nevertheless, God says here with great, determined, sovereign authority, through this mighty and majestic angel, and even repeats Himself, that this Babylon is fallen. If Babylon here is Rome and that empire, we cannot have a revived Roman empire that lasts, and indeed we shall not, as per Revelation chapter thirteen for example (“Revelation Chapter Thirteen Commentary”). What this suggests is, sumptuously living, eased back, prominent, mighty nations that huddle under the Roman Eagle, i.e., under Jupiter’s sacred bird (Jupiter: so-called “god of the gods” per Rome), for example, having the Roman Eagle as their national emblem, on their coins, in their quibble halls of Godless jurisprudence and legislature, on their proud flags, and whatnot, will surely fall—before the return of Jesus Christ. This Babylon lives securely and sumptuously at this determined time but will not survive to see the second coming of Jesus Christ is the point (it was posited in the introduction that we were pre-Tribulation here and in the previous chapter). Perhaps that is why so prominent and powerful a nation as the Eagle Nation, the United States of America, is not found anywhere in biblical prophecy except quite negatively here by implication; having disappeared suddenly, in a flash, she is but a memory and is simply not a prominent player in any end times scenario and is hardly worth mentioning therefore; it is truly perplexing that she is not found anywhere on the pages of Scripture, whilst just about every other prominent nation and empire of her stature is. (God’s plans do not revolve around the USA, nor any other nation for that matter, they revolve around His Word.)
[And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the] great-G3173 [is fallen, is fallen.] No doubt not so much as touching anything honorable or of renown, rather, in extent, land mass, geopolitical influence, depravity, Godlessness and Sin, mega-bunches of the latter.
[And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great] is fallen-G4098 [is fallen]. We must consider the action both spiritually and politically. The verbal usage is second aorist, active, indicative. The action is rendered as a simple past event with a helping verb (in English), in an active voice, further indicating the surety of the pronouncement, the redundancy undersores that surety. We like the punctiliar sense of the aorist—the fall is sudden; we think it bepeaks an exact turning point unto spiritual corruption and fallenness, physical fallenness—demise and destruction, sorrow, suffering—follows of necessity, and that is her sure judgment (no less sure is her turn to corruption). The very next descriptor the text gives us is with respect to her spiritual state, not her physical demise, a good indicator that fallen here points in the firection of spiritual fallenness as per intended meaning. That is the way it always happens down here in the land of sin and sorrow—spiritual corruption enters first, then physical brokenness and decay follows straightaway next.
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and] is become G1096 [the habitation of devils, and hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.] Again, we have the second aorist, with a middle (reflexive) voice this time. “Babylon, become thus and so, is fallen,” is how we would interpret it. A habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and so forth, is not only what Babylon is post priori, but a priori her ruin indeed. (This aorist is looking back in time to the same point that the previous active voice aorist is; both aorists vector to the same place in the past: “is fallen” and “is become” are the same point in time from the perspective of the aorist; as she became, in lockstep straightaway she fell.) The middle voice depicts an action that folds back on the one acting, it is “reflexive” in this manner. Here we get a reflexive descriptor proxied by an aorist that folds wickedness back on (consequentially) fallen Babylon. It is likely that the onset of the wickedness was sudden and is further proxied by the aorist if one opts for the punctiliar sense. “Is become” thus and so, suddenly. (It denotes a change, an inflection/ turning point from a better beginning, which further helps to identify this Babylon.)
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the] habitation-G2732 [of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.] That this word is used is telling in that a habitation is a natural sort of dwelling place, where an animal feels at home, “homey.” Devils feel quite at home in fallen Babylon is a scary but vivid picture.
[Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of] devils-G1142. Literally, demons. Fallen angelic fools that followed the head fool Satan in rebellion against sovereign, omniscient, omnipotent Jehovah God (thus are they fools, and eternal damnation is the reward of their buffoonery and not least affront toward mighty Jehovah and murderous enmity toward His Beloved).
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the] hold-G5438 [of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird]. Quite a nasty picture is coming together, we have fallen Babylon as the preferred, cozy home for devils, and now the tight-fisted ward, prison if you like, for foul spirits. Here is a place where foulness, let us say uncleanness in the biblical sense, toys with and tortures its captives. Here depravity beats and degrades its spellbound inmates.
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every] foul-G169 [spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird]. Unclean, biblically unclean. Foulness. Let’s just spell it out. It always has sort of a stink about it does it not? It can be “cologned” and “perfumed” over no problem, but pretty soon the stink gets offensively loud again. One cannot help but associate the idea of rot with it. Foulness+rot= the delight of unclean spirits. Foulness+rot in depraved, spellbound captives = the exceeding delight of foul spirits. Foulness must be washed away, not perfumed over. Foulness may be skin deep or spirit deep, if it is skin deep, it may be washed away by the Crimson Stream flowing from Calvary.
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul] spirit-G4151 [and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird]. The reference in this context is to the unregenerate, corrupted, human spirit within, in league with, in partnership with, held spellbound by, and willingly captive to, the fallen spirit-like angelic fools referred to as demons above.
[Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit and a] cage-G5438 [of every unclean and hateful bird]. Same as note sixteen above, tight-fisted ward, prison. A different sort of metaphor for the same captivity, even Satan’s, that cheats and robs and lays waste this generation.
[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 of every unclean and] hateful-G3404 [bird]. Hating, full of hate and detestation. Verbal usage is perfect (hence the “full” qualifier; the perfect signifies completion, here we must understand that as consummate, i.e., full; fully hateful—an ugly picture of this generation and these peoples), passive voice, participle mood (here is where the repeated action comes in—we have, consummate hatefulness indwelling, expressed again and again).
[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-G3732. Not all birds are considered unclean by God, but many are (Deuteronomy 14:11 clean birds that may be eaten, Deuteronomy 14:12-18 unclean birds that must not be eaten). It is the unclean ones that are likened to being full of hate in our text. The “Woman of Noble Character” website provides an interesting breakdown of these birds (link in the Works Cited and References below). Why the association with specifically the unclean birds? These birds are carnivores, scavengers, birds of prey (hooked bill, sharp talons, predatory, i.e., raptors). Consider a raven, spoken of fondly by the Word of God, yet an unclean bird. The upshot? In this context, God is telling us that hateful, more so than unclean, is what one is on the lookout for. We must put the two qualifiers together and be on the lookout for what it births: Hateful+Unclean=Hellish.
[For] all nations-G1484 [have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication]. All ethnicities, all peoples is meant.
[For all nations] have drunk-G4095 of the wine of [the wrath of her fornication]. Taken in, internalized. Verbal usage is perfect (as in completely internalized, left not a whit unconsumed), active, indicative. Thus Babylon effectually seduced and lured, indeed, seduces and lures, her spellbound captives ever so infatuated with her Siren’s Call elixirs, even the forbidden honey. Tasty, tasty, is the wine, I shall make it mine, mine, mine all mine, yon tasty wine, care not, ha, be my soul confined, confined, with the foul devil-swine. (Nay, nay, O Lord thus let it never be, save me to come out from amongst them…).
[For all nations have drunk of the wine of] the wrath-G2372 of her fornication. Babylon seduces afar and near, unto Sin. Thus is the wrath of God kindled against her, for His wrath is kindled against Sin (all the more therefore against seducers unto Sin). The picture of realized seduction is clear enough by way of metaphor. Hardly is there a more frightening phrase in all of Scripture than “the wrath of God,” and here it is, with seducing Babylon square its crosshairs. Siren’s lyre in hand, chalice, chock full of Sin upon the lips, lights down low, yonder do not go. Babylon is fallen, fallen, therefore. Not a smidgen even of her shall be found when the dust settles. Frightening, sobering, indeed, “The Wrath of Jehovah God,” against Sin.
[and] the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Alliances. Political alliances. Nations just love to be aligned with Power and Wealth (and much less so with Jehovah God, the source of real Power and Wealth—go figure). This Babylon has both, in the extreme. The kings of the earth spoken of are the political leaders, the rulers of the nations, who sold out to unrighteousness, yea; in this way they sold out themselves and their people, to align with said Power and Wealth, to align with this haunt of devils and hold of foul spirits, this seductress Babylon. And that which this unholy alliance births through fornication is manifestly the Godless judicial and legislative norms said sell-out impresses, nay, forces, upon the respective largely innocent, sold out, masses. Here is a change in the text, for here we have moved from seduction, to demanding, to a peculiar sort of rape if you will. These norms are here condemned by implication, of course, it is a fornication after all of which the text speaks. How wicked this Babylon, a seedbed of wickedness. Is not Jehovah justified in removing her off the face of the earth per the opening of our text, for His Name’s sake, and for the sake of His beloved Elect? She will not repent, even as she, dragging her spellbound captives along, falls into the fire lit precisely for her.
[and the merchants of the earth] are waxed rich-G4147 [through the abundance of her delicacies.] Wealth, from a merchant’s perspective, is not just money, it is goods in particular, an increase in goods for trade, and this is what the text is communicating, an exceeding increase in goods for trade, coming from Babylon, again pointing to the great affluence of this Babylon, because this Babylon is sourcing goods for merchants from all over the world, and they are waxing rich. This Babylon wants for nothing, and the text is isolating that fact and bringing it to the fore. Why? It must surely be for the sake of identification; God is helping the reader to put the pieces together, besides this affluence id even, to help them identify this Babylon in their day. Affluence is not the only id-piece, but a significant one, because there are but scarce few nations down through the corridors of recorded history that can even get close to having such affluence as is intimated here. This Babylon cannot be a small nation from a land mass perspective, and her natural resources must be off the charts exceeding, and her population must be significant in order to source a viable work force at this determined time. Militarily and economically, she must dominate, to continually grow and protect her commercial interests worldwide, and without question her tongue must be the world’s lingua franca tongue, as also her currency the de facto currency of international trade. She must push hard for a rule-based world order revolving around her manner of rules, untethered from God’s rules, of course, by which she may sanction and sentence the international community, thus sanction and sentence perceived threats to her economy and security, with the aid of the puppet economies and governments that bought into the order and leverage it as she does. She must fastidiously police her media outlets and shut down any who expose her wicked narrative. That which she cannot or wants not to acquire by force, she can acquire through economic clout or outright bullying—such a nation has the potential to be the Babylon of this determined time. Verbal usage is aorist, active, indicative. John’s (the Holy Spirit’s) aorist here is surely the cumulative aorist.
[and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the] abundance of her delicacies-G1411+G4764. Literally DUNAMIS, “power” + STRHNOS “strain.” The yellow highlight must not be broken up, it is monolithic by intent. Strain, by definition, is elongation per unit length. Stress—some force across some area— imposes strain. That is, some force, acting across some area, imposes some elongation in the direction of the stress. That elongation is some length beyond the natural (stress free) length. That is how the translators landed on “abundance” here, which is right on track with the Greek linguistically, and in concept. The proper rendering of the yellow highlight should be: “…through the dynamics of her abundance…”. The implication: this Babylon leverages its economic wealth (blessings) quite cleverly. In turn, the merchants of the earth, trade ministers from other countries and independents, and this Babylon, work for their common increasing wealth, and the security and sustaining thereof we can be sure.
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying] come-G1831 [out of her my people]. Verbal usage is second aorist (of necessity punctiliar), active voice (it is God that is speaking—this other voice here; no messenger for this one, please note that), imperative mood (direct address command). God acknowledges that His people are in the mix, but He commands them to get out of there, come out immediately.
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her my] people-G2992 People with things in common, of the same stock. Christians are of the same stock; we believe in the triune God Jehovah, His Salvation through Jesus Christ, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, which is our own assurance for resurrection, we have a common spiritual heritage, we are in the world, but not of the world, we are sojourners awaiting a better home, a glorious eternal one. The Great Grammarian purposely chose this version of “people” over other Greek possibilities. God’s people must come out of Babylon, immediately. Do not linger, loiter, or lounge there, GET OUT (and stay out brother, sister). We are not of that profane stock (anymore, though once we were).
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye] be not partakers-G4790 [of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.] Partakers= “together communion.” The profane communion, with Babylon’s sins, her haunt of devils, and foul spirits, and hateful birds, alike “comfy” and quite at home in this Babylon. As the Lord’s People, we share in a different communion, in His sufferings, in His broken body and shed blood for us, in His holiness. The profane communion makes a mockery of the holy communion, and thus it mocks our Lord’s sufferings for us. This must not be beloved.
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her] sins-G266 [and that ye receive not of her plagues.] Where to start. Godlessness (atheism, self-deification, tech-deification, military-deification, economy-deification, knowledge-deification, pleasure-deification, ease-deification, and on it goes…), immorality in the extreme, e.g., a rewrite of age-old, Godly norms like marriage between a man and a woman (legalized homosexual marriage, thereby encouraged and promoted to the youth fueling the wicked mojo into the next generations), transgenders, abortion, gene experimentation, fascination with the occult, weapons of mass destruction designed to kill millions upon one blow (biological, chemical, nuclear); so far, thank God, only the Eagle Nation felt justified to actually use a weapon of mass destruction, twice. She trifled with and mocked God in it (because He is of no account to her), sported with Him, wagged the gongue at Him and said let us call our pre-kill nuclear testing the “Trinity Test.” Will the triune God Jehovah be mocked, or will she reap what she sowed here? Will she end up eating what she spat at Him? She brings doom upon her citizenry, many of whom are beloved brethren this disgusting witch and bride of Satan.
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye] receive-G2983 [not of her plagues]. It is as coming from someone’s hand extended to someone or something, here God’s hand is extended, that is the sense of the verb. Verbal usage is second aorist, active, subjunctive mood (expresses wishes and/or describes circumstances; God wants His people to get out of there, obviously. He does not want His people to taste the impending doom of this Babylon). Will they leave? Or will their endearments and entanglements keep them there? Do God’s people secretly like it in this Babylon (like Lot’s wife loved that wicked place Sodom), and do they presume to play Him the fool by their hypocrisy? They will perish if they stay.
[And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her] plagues-G4127. A blow. It can be rendered as a public calamity. The text has it in the plural—blows. In the modern-day sense, it bodes well for a massive nuclear strike, with many of the warheads getting through her defenses. The Eagle Nation, if that be this Babylon, has thousands of nuclear warheads aimed precisely at her from many different angles/countries (she has made herself odious to many), and if she is this Babylon, nuclear penetration of her defenses will no doubt be one of her plagues as said above.
[For her sins] have reached-G190 [unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.] Literally, the sense is that of “catching up” with someone or something. She has filled her cup of iniquity. Verbal usage is aorist, active, indicative. We like the cumulative aorist here.
[For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God] hath remembered-G3421 [her iniquities.] Contrast the redeemed of God, whose iniquities have been forgotten, forgiven, thanks to Jesus’ Salvation—but of course they must come out of Babylon (Psalms 103:12, Isaiah 43:25, Micah 7:18, 1John 1:7, et al.). What is God telling us here? He is spelling it out plain as day—this proud Babylon’s sins are not forgiven. They are remembered. Because she is unredeemable by way of her pride. She will not, she cannot (too proud), repent. She is the enemy of God, a seductress unto Sin, a proud hypocrite, a cozy haunt of devils and foul spirits who love her and she them. She is the head of the snake, the bride and pride of Satan in the land of the living at this determined time and does all his bidding. She is identified by her surface-deep laws that long ago abandoned God’s Law (thus are they surface-deep, at best), by her phony jurisprudence that swears by God’s Name yet trivializes and denies Him immediately, as necessary, in the interest of self, by her wicked economic and foreign policies that expediently foment trouble, ultimately to bleed others to achieve geopolitical dominance, in this way to maintain and sustain her myriad lusts, but most of all, it is her seducing unto Sin that betrays and identifies her, for many on earth are enamored of her by way of her affluence and ease and pleasure, her Godless “freedoms,” and “rights.” God hath remembered it all. Woe baby lon. How far thou hast fallen since the days of thy founding by God and largely Godly people. Thou wilst still further fall into the abyss thou proud seductress unto Sin, thou enemy of God.
[For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her] iniquities-G92. Immoral and grossly unjust behavior. The latter stands in direct violation of Micah 6:8—do justly, love mercy, walk humbly before Jehovah God, which assumes God is espoused in the first place, which He is not here. The former, the immorality, may be sexual immorality, and it may be vileness, i.e., nastiness and foulness. Immorality drives multifarious corruption. We have here unrighteousness (the Standard of Righteousness is hands-down Jesus Christ; thus unrighteousness, and iniquity by association, is everything that stands against Him, His Word). It is evil doing, toward God, toward others, particularly toward the Elect, even toward self by way of corruption. God’s grievance here leans heavily in the direction of this Babylon’s evil, seductive influences on and hurt (physical, spiritual), to God’s Elect. His Elect are here in the roaring lion’s mouth. God fusses over His own and will judge this Babylon for the hurt she impresses upon His Elect worldwide.
Modernity: focus on the individual, individual subjectivity, scientific truth and rationalization as ultimate, denial of God, religion per se, marked bureaucracy and globalization, particularly in financial exchange and communication. Marked urbanization. Modernity was followed by postmodernism: consummate denial of Truth. (God’s Reality is quintessential reality, is Truth, is Jesus Christ, flat out denied here…)
Reward-G591 [her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works]. Literally, give to. Give to her even as she gave to you, yea, even twofold. ‘…Vengeance is mine saith the Lord…’ (Romans 12:19), but here God delegates, nay, commands that vengeance; He places it into the hands of His abused people worldwide, for this Babylon’s reach is great. Verbal usage is second aorist, active, imperative (note the imperative). To be clear, generally, humankind is not to take vengeance as they see fit. (Beyond the legal channels instituted by God, see Romans 13:1ff.)
[Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double] according to-G2596 [her works]. “According to” in this context is the correct sense of the Greek KATA here utilized, which has a range of meanings to be inferred from the context. Slang: “tit for tat” is coming baby lon.
[Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her] works-G2041. That which consumed all her energy—seduction unto Sin, persecution, and Sin per se as discussed throughout.
[In the] cup-G4221 [which she hath filled fill to her double]. It is symbolic of the Cup of Iniquity, here filled to the brim by this consummate enemy of God and His people, this Babylon.
[In the cup which she hath filled] fill-G2767 [to her double]. One must picture the act of pouring to appreciate this verb. Pour it in to the brim. Here is sore judgment indeed delegated to God’s people. ‘…She bled you and so filled the cup of iniquity with your blood, now you bleed her and fill a different sort of cup sanctioned by Me (i.e., Jehovah God), yea fill it with her blood, even twofold…’. John, writing under inspiration in the late first-century AD, in the face of severe persecution of the Church, has Rome and the Roman Empire in view (the persecution was awful in Asia Minor for example).
[How much she hath] glorified-G1392 [herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her]. Self-glorification is next to self-deification, that is what she is all about, and Satan presumes to realize his goals through her (Isaiah 14:12-15). Not hard to understand that her glory, be that as it may, comes from Satan.
[How much she hath glorified herself, and] lived deliciously-G4763 [so much torment and sorrow give her] This is best rendered as lived abundantly, i.e., lived sumptuously in the abundance of her wealth is meant. We discussed the strain/abundance concept of this verb above in note twenty-seven. This Babylon glories in its wealth and has forgotten whence that wealth came from and for what purposes. She has fallen in that sense.
[So much] torment and sorrow-G929+G3997 [give her, for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow]. This “tit for tat” judgment delegated into the hands of God’s people by Him is graphic. It is delegated, but God Himself will ensure it happens.
[So much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I] sit-G2521 [a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow]. Does not Lady Liberal thus sit? Woe baby lon. She sits, at ease, of course. Eased back. Eased back Lady Liberal, living sumptuously. Verbal usage is present (ongoing action in the present), middle, indicative. Thus she sits and thinks the action will be ongoing ad infinitum. God thinks differently.
[So much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a] queen-G938 [and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow]. She sits as a queen, and Satan as a prince, even a would-be king. She is the bride and pride of Satan after all.
[So much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no] widow-G5503 [and shall see no sorrow]. She knows who her husband is, and as long as he lives, she thinks she will live. But she is wrong. Why? Because Jehovah God is infinitely greater than her husband Satan. No contest here. (See how foolish she is?) Satan is active in the world and empowers her, the point to be noted is that she will disappear despite sugar-daddy Satan’s efforts to the contrary. It will be no contest whatsoever, though almost everybody at this determined time thinks otherwise—they say in their foolish heart no way, Lady Liberal will never fall, uh-uh. Business as usual, as it went today, so it goes again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…
[Therefore shall her plagues come in one] day-G2250 [death, and mourning, and famine]. The linguistic evidence supports a meaning of one, literal, twenty-four-hour day. The case is dative, thus somewhere in that timeframe.
[Therefore shall her plagues come in one day] death-G2288 [and mourning, and famine]. Not least, the population is in view. Literal, physical, death. The separation of the soul from the physical body (as per humans). The term is used generally, so death shall be widespread, animals, humans, all living things. Death will be widespread in this Babylon is the heads-up given by our text.
[Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and] mourning-G3997 [and famine]. This is the same as sorrow, which we had earlier.
[Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine-G3042. Exceeding hunger unsatisfied is the implication. We are going to fast-forward a bit. Keeping in mind that all is in Jesus’ hands, a nuclear winter, or some semblance thereof, not necessarily full blown even, would put this Babylon and generally planet earth into horrible straits in keeping with our text (notwithstanding the destruction from the blasts themselves). There would be a lingering darkness, and eventual attendant widespread famine, and it goes without saying that there would be death and mourning in the extreme, not only for this Babylon, but she, this satanic seductress unto Sin, will bring it upon everybody at that determined time. As everyone surely knows, all the nuke-missiles worldwide are set on a hairpin trigger and are ready to fly even as we write this, be it a headcase that pulls the trigger outright, or it happens “accidentally.” Again, we must reiterate that all is in God’s hands and per His timing. In the end, no one would ever know for sure which was the cause, or care much, because much of life will have been lost, and what managed to survive, will wish it had perished. Woe to the ones who survive such a nightmare scenario, it will have been better for them if they had perished because nothing would ever be the same—it would be a flat-out horror to live in a post-nuke world. Let us pray diligently that it happens not. Let us repent of our sins, both at the personal and the national level. Let us love one another. Let us find a way, always, to love one another and overlook each other’s faults—we all have them, none of us is any better than anybody else. We all need God’s amazing grace. Amen.
[And she] shall be utterly burned-G2618 [with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her]. KATAKAUQHSETAI is utilized for the yellow highlight. It means literally to burn up and down and all around. It is a frightening picture of a meltdown. Thus thoroughly shall this Babylon burn—she will burn out of existence. Verbal usage is future (it is a prophetic utterance), passive, indicative.
[And she shall be utterly burned with] fire-G4442 [for strong is the Lord God who judgeth here]. Literal fire.
[And she shall be utterly burned with fire: for] strong-G2478 [is the Lord God who judgeth her]. ISXUROS is utilized, it signifies surpassing strength—there are none, nor nothing, stronger. Once the judgment begins to roll, it will roll on unimpeded by anyone or anything is the message.
[And she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who] judgeth-G2919 [her]. The verbal usage helps guide the intended meaning: it is present (ongoing action in the ever-present now), active voice, participle (complements the ongoing action). God’s eye has been on this Babylon for some time, she has been found wanting, thus weighed in the balance, and found wanting. What we have been reading about is the pronouncement of judgment, she has been sentenced—and that’s it, no turning back anymore, too late. She would not repent; too proud. The things of God, and the people of God, were and are as foolishness and fools to her. God did bear long with her, now it is too late, plagues have been determined for her punishment; she must taste them for a set time in torment and sorrow. And then she must, by divine decree, disappear off the face of the earth, this seductress unto Sin, this haunt of devils and foul spirits, this enemy of Jehovah God, this Babylon.
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her. We have here intimate political alliances with Babylon from across the world. Many desire “to be like Babylon.” They must come to know her intimately, therefore. Let us cuddle they say to her, and she to them. Let us cuddle with her in her wealth, her pleasures, her ease; her manner of dress, her cool-speak, her killer dainties (junk) by which she waxes fat and soft, her darling tech, her knowledge, (largely devoid of God), her markets, yea her markets, her “freedoms,” her inalienable, as in not to be denied, not even by God, “rights,” her military power and might. Birthed from this fornication is a Babylon-like hegemon foundational to Satan’s interests.
[the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her], shall bewail-G2799 [her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning]. Gone, gone, beloved baby lon is gone. All the thrills, the pills, the deals, the meals, the cash, the stash, gone all gone, beloved baby lon is gone. Bewail her, lament, O the smoke, how she is rent. What to do? What to do? O forever be blue. Gone, gone, beloved baby lon is gone. Cry, howl, weep, bemoan, thus grieve…beloved baby lon is gone. Boo hoo hoo, forever be blue. Verbal usage is future, middle, indicative. Note the prophetic tense.
[the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and] lament-G2875 [for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning]. The Greek KOPTW is utilized—literally it means to cut; the picture here is that of cutting type grief, breast-smiting grief, beating one’s breast in severe, agonizing grief, that’s the picture that is being conveyed.
[the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the] smoke-G2586 [of her burning]. Literal smoke (particulates and gases given off when materials undergo combustion).
[the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her] burning-G4451. Combustion, a chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant. Fuels undergoing combustion produce flames. Smoke is the byproduct of combustion. Babylon here is on fire. John’s Rome did not burn like this, to this extent, suddenly (yea she burned, but hundreds of years later; let us dismiss Nero’s matchbox folly in this context; it came before John wrote anyway). Rome’s fall came piecemeal, first the west, then the east—that is a different scenario than we have here. Besides, Rome revived—just look at Europe today, the EU, and NATO, of which the Eagle Nation is the head of that deadly snake, no question. It bodes well that John speaks also of another Rome code-named Babylon, perhaps as we have been outlining some possibilities, only God knows for sure. What could cause so great a conflagration as to set the greater part of a sprawling nation ablaze, in an hour or less? And how could John have understood that mechanism two-thousand years ago? Nuclear warheads on hypersonic missiles? The Greek utilized is PURWSIS.
Standing-G2476 [afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come]. Literally standing. Verbal usage is perfect (completely standing, as frozen, no slouch or give, dead men’s rigor mortis stance), active, participle (thus they stood and kept standing, frozen).
[Standing] afar-G3113 [off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come]. Yea from a distance. Cuddle time be over, baby lon be a burnin’, we be a gittin’ outta Dodge here, bye bye baby lon, been nice knowin’ ya’, gonna keep my hide unscorched baby lon…
[Standing afar off for the] fear-G5401 [of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come]. PHOBOS is utilized, extreme fear (rational here for sure per her torment).
[Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying], Alas-G3759 [alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come].OUAI—well read as woe. ‘…if that happened to her, what is going to happen to us her lovers, woe…’.
[Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one] hour-G5610 [is thy judgment come]. It means what it says, one hour. We have twenty-four of them in one day. A rough, back of the envelope calculation shows that a given payload delivered by an object traveling at twice the speed of sound (speed of sound=767 mph or 1235 km/h) can cross 1000 miles/1609 km in slightly less than 40 minutes. There are lots of factors that go into that, so that’s just an approximation for illustration purposes. It is not unreasonable to strike from long range and expect serious devastation of the target, and to be able to do so accurately (e.g., GPS targeting; less jam-proof means are available as well) in one hour or less these days.
[Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy] judgment-G2920 [come]. The evidence has been weighed and found wanting, sentence was pronounced, and here together with the trailing “come” it means the execution of the sentence.
Gold-G5557 Au-from Latin AURUM, mythological twist: “shining dawn”, atomic number 79, transition metal (hard, high density , high melting/boiling point), precious metal (ductile, malleable, resist corrosion, pleasing, scarce, valuable), unit of purity: ‘Carat,’ 24 Carat is pure gold, conductor heat and electricity, reflects visible light, chemically inactive (noble, apart from reaction with certain acids), prolific in jewelry, popular as coins in antiquity.
Silver-G696 Ag-from Greek ARGUROS, Latin ARGENTUM “silver”, atomic number 47, transition metal (hard, high density, high melting/boiling point), precious metal (ductile, malleable, resist corrosion, pleasing, scarce, valuable), unit of purity: millesimal, 999 is fine silver, best conductor of heat and electricity of all metals, reflects visible light, very noble (chemically inactive), prolific in jewelry, popular as coins in antiquity.
Pearls-G3135 They are produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk (or fossil conulariids). Composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which gets deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round, and smooth; other shapes (baroque pearls) occur in nature. It has been valued as a gemstone since antiquity.
Linen, fine-G1040 From an Egyptian flax plant, spun into fine linen; delicate, bleach-white, expensive because of the source material and the labor involved. Please see also.
Purple-G4209 Ancient Canaan was the “Land of the Purple,” it was the center of the purple dye “industry.” Specifically, Tyre was that center. The dye came from a sea snail, and it took thousands of them to produce one ounce of purple, and the color itself came from the snail’s mucus, which had to be treated just so. The scarcity of these mollusks, the precise process to extract the dye, together with the rich, bold hues of the purple people coveted, and its presumed ties to divinity, made the dye exceeding expensive, and only available to the rich elite and upper crust per se. It thus became the color of royalty. To be “born in the purple” meant being born into royalty.
Silk-G4596 Soft but strong fiber produced by silkworms whilst making cocoons; also spun by insect larvae and spiders. Used for making thread and fabric. Production originated in China. Expensive because of the work and skill required to make the thread or fabric from the raw material. The Silk Road, perhaps the most famous ancient trade route, connected China and the ancient Roman Empire. Silk was traded along this route (gold, silver, and wool in exchange for silk).
Scarlet-G2847 From the Kermes insect found in the Middle east; the insect contained a natural dye from which the scarlet color was produced. Scarlet, or “Armenian Red,” was the color of power, wealth, luxury, and ease in antiquity.
Ivory-G1661 The main part of the tusks of an elephant (or walrus). Valued as an ornament because of its creamy-white color; soft and easy to carve into ornaments for the wealthy. Also, for religious purposes. It maintained an airtight seal and was prized for containers.
Brass-G5475 A yellow alloy of copper and zinc. Bronze is also an alloy but composed of copper and tin. Bronze predates brass. Both alloys are made suitable for specific purposes by way of adjusting the ratio of copper to zinc (or tin and calamine, an impure ore of zinc found on the shores of the Black Sea); the mixture was heated in a crucible of sorts). The Romans first utilized brass (and bronze) in a significant way, as a decorative alloy and especially as armor and weaponry. Ultimately, they turned to iron for the latter.
Iron-G4604 Fe from Latin FERRUM “firmness”, atomic number 26. Silvery-gray transition metal (hard, high density, high melting/boiling point), good conductor of heat, conducts electricity, magnetic, highest energy nuclide (Fe-56) to form (the end product of stellar reactions), the most common element on earth (forms most of earth’s inner and outer core). Has been known since the dawn of antiquity. Coveted in antiquity for its hardness in weaponry and farming equipment—made war more brutal, farming more efficient, also prized for its capacity to repair bronze items. The so-called Iron Age apparently dates to c 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region, it followed the Bronze Age (characterized by the use of bronze implements). Used in steel making (steel: iron + carbon at high temperature) during the Iron Age across much of Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa. It is thought that the Hittites discovered iron (this culture occupied Anatolia, i.e., Asia Minor, modern day Turkey). Australia is the leading global producer of iron ore today (~38% of total production).
Marble-G3139 Highly prized for its beauty, utilized in the construction of homes, tombs, temples, counter/tabletops, backsplashes, etc., sculpture, ornaments. Further made expensive by way of the labor necessary to convert the raw chunks of rock into lavish articles of beauty—very labor intensive (the author’s father worked with marble). Its color is white and/or pink, and is derived from limestone, dolomite. The grain size is medium, one can see the calcite crystals—its component mineral—with the naked eye. The marble is hard, yet the calcite is soft, allowing for workability.
Cinnamon-G2792 Oft mentioned in the Word of God. The scientific name is Cinnamomum Zeylancicum. “Cassia” in the Bible (Exodus 30:24, Psalms 45:8, Ezekiel 27:19). It comes from the bark of the Cinnamon Tree in southeast Asia (Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Burma [Myanmar], Sri Lanka, southwest India [Kerala]). They are semitropical evergreens with aromatic bark and leaves that grow year round. The bark is peeled, dried, and ground up into powder; sometimes it is rolled into strips. A spice of trade in antiquity, perhaps the first. On par with gold and ivory as touching value in ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used it in their embalming rituals. It found its way to Rome by way of long-established spice trade routes from Indonesia through East Africa and/or Egypt, routes that had come about largely for trade in this spice.
Odours-G2368 Incense. It is made from blends of biotic material, for example, cinnamon and sandalwood. When burnt, it releases fragrant smoke. Probably originated in ancient China. A land-based incense trade route existed that allowed the transport of massive amounts of incense from the Arabian Peninsula to places along the Mediterranean coastline by camel, eventually displaced by waterways. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were large consumers of incense.
Ointments-G3464. Probably myrrh (note the fragrance of the Divine Name, symbol thereof Sgs 1:3). The bitter gum/resin of the Myrrh Tree, native to Saudi Arabia, India, and northeastern Africa. The trees are wounded to bleed the gum; it becomes hard and glossy after harvest. It was highly prized by the ancients in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions; used in incense, perfume, medicine, cosmetics, embalming. See also.
Frankincense-G3030 From the French franc (high quality)+incense. Derived from the Boswellia Tree, native to North Africa and India, also in Oman (highly prized Boswellia sacra species, “reserved for royalty” from here), Yemen, and western Africa. The trees are cut and the oozing sap, which hardens into frankincense resin, is collected. Treasured in ancient times for worship and as a medicine. See also.
Fine flour-G4585 Three steps are involved in its production: threshing removes the grain from the plant, sifting separates the grain from the chaff, and finally grinding the grain to a desired consistency, The ancient Romans used watermills to power millstones to grind the grains. Fine flour has an even consistency, it is fine-grained evenly, throughout, it is balanced in this way, and it is very tender owing to the fine grain size; it has no foreign extracts remaining, and all the nutrients remain. See also.
Wheat-G4621 there are many kinds of wheat, the most important being: common (breads), durum (pasta), and club (cakes, cookies, pastries, crackers). It includes any of the different species of cereal grasses. It is one of the oldest food staples known to humankind. One of its earliest uses was to make flour for baked breads. Wheat cultivation originated in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, the so-called “Cradle of Civilization” in the Tigris and Euphrates valley, near modern day Iraq. As concerns us, this area is on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. Rome (the city) imported all its grain, and even had distribution programs for its destitute citizenry; the imports came by way of sea from (Roman) Egypt, North Africa, and Sicily (historically rich in wheat). See also.
Beasts-G2934 Typically large, four-footed, dangerous. See also.
Sheep-G4263 Domesticated animals, spit hoofs for traction, agility (as also cattle, deer, goats, pigs, antelope), thick, wooly coat, followers. Prized for their wool, milk, meat. See also.
Horses-G2462 Domesticated on the Eurasian Steppes and spread throughout the Near East from there, solid hoofs, beast of burden, for riding, carrying/pulling loads. Rome prized horses bred by the Celts for their cavalry units, horses coming largely from Libya and Spain (by way of conquest, as also other animals not native to Rome [wolves, bears, wild boar, deer, and goats were native to ancient Rome]). See also.
Chariots-G4480 The Roman chariot was the weapon of choice in antiquity. Light, typically two-wheeled, drawn by one or two horses. One soldier held the reins, and another did the fighting, with bow and arrow and/or spear. Also used for sport in chariot racing (at the Circus =”racetrack” Maximus, a large sports venue in the days of Empire [Circus Maximus dates to the sixth century BC, Empire founded in 27 BC per Augustus Caesar ascending to power upon the assassination of Julius Caesar]). It is understandable why John (the Holy Spirit) mentions horses and chariots as part of this Babylon’s ease and pleasure bent. See also.
Souls of men (that is the literal translation)-G5590 Perhaps a reference to the people—largely brethren, but others too—whose lives were lost in the various Colosseum “entertainment” activities. Whereas a slave’s body was considered “merchandise,” a person’s life per se was considered “merchandise” for these “games” attended and enjoyed by the twisted elite who expected to watch zero sum mortal combat, between one human and another, or perhaps between a human and some ferocious beast. Nero apparently used human beings, brethren, as human torches to light his nighttime garden “frolicking.” Very twisted, but true sad to say.
[And the] fruits-G3703 [that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all]. This is the low hanging fruit, full of ripeness, juicy and tasty. Easy pickings. It is a metaphor for luxurious things, luxury, her specialty, her craving, and delight. She was the trading and thus financial capital of the world. She was the equivalent of an international stock market, futures market, foreign exchange, all wrapped up in one. All things dainty and delightful, excellent and expensive, lovely and luxurious, needful and nice, splendid and staggering… passed under her nose into her outstretched, beckoning hands, as though in free fall. Low hanging fruit, juicy and tasty all of it. Low hanging fruit, until now. Now but the fruit of fire. Ashes and agony, blazes and burning, charring and chapping, cinders and smoke, melting and misery…
[And the fruits that thy soul] lusted after-G1939 [are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all]. It is largely figurative—like unto an exceeding sexual desire for said fruits. The imagery is that of her very being, her soul no less, panting for said fruits. Her very being, her soul, is driven by worldliness and materialism, to the point of intimacy with it. Her soul is the soulmate of the prince of this world, she passionately embraces all he offers—gross glitz and glamor, pathetic pomp and power, sordid savvy and stuff. She is the bride and pride of Satan and lusts as he lusts.
[And the fruits that thy soul lusted after] are departed-G565 [from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all]. Literally, (are) come out (from thee). Verbal usage is second aorist (punctiliar), active, indicative.
[And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou] shalt find-G2147 [them no more at all]. I looked high, I looked low, for my stuff, my stuff, O my stuff where’d it go? Look yonder, baby lon, it’s all ablaze and aglow. Through the smoke, I see it, O no, my stuff all ablaze, and aglow. I don’t know, what to do, my stuff’s all I knew. Better run, hit the exits, ‘fore the blaze gets me too. Bye bye baby lon. Verbal usage is second aorist, active, subjunctive (circumstantial possibility).
[And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them] no more at all-G3765+G3361 A resounding sort of negatory planted right here on purpose, one cannot miss it. OUKETI MH baby lon.
[And every] shipmaster-G2942, [and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off]. Skipper, captain. Captain and crew are in their vessels, afar off is the picture. Probably because of the intense heat. If it is a nuclear incineration, then also deadly radiation abounds; in that case “afar” can’t be far enough. One can picture here an entire coastline laid waste by such a blast or blasts and the vessels way offshore dare not come near but they know exactly what is happening by way of their tech, if it is still functional, given digital electronics malfunction in such an environment. Directly ionizing radiation from alpha particles is not so much the problem as is indirectly ionizing radiation coming from beta particles, gamma rays, and neutron radiation; the alphas are high linear energy transfer particles that leave considerable ionizing damage tracks but they give up all their energy in just a very short space and do not have a good penetrating capacity therefore (surface-deep nukes if you will). The ionization causes “bit flips” in the electronics, i.e., state changes, that renders the underlying code’s decisions squirrely and untrustworthy. It is a digital picture of anarchy. It is like a child at the controls of a stoplight changing the stoplight’s colors at random. The underlying code mentioned is like traffic encountering such stoplights.
[And every shipmaster, and all the] company-G3658 [in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off]. Maybe passengers is meant. One gets the sense that the vessels themselves per the prudence of the captains dare not come near. It is a frightful picture of tremendous destruction that is so intense in its burning that even ships on the sea out away from the conflagration cannot come close. How could a fire be that intense? The only thing that makes sense writing in these modern times is the aftereffects of some sort of nuclear devastation. Modern cities have gas stations, gas pipelines, fuel storage facilities and so forth, for the most part placed strategically far apart but a nuclear blast would ignite all of that. There would be the horrific fireball from the blast proper, plus all this other collateral burning in a modern city and its vicinity. The picture here is one of everything going up in flames and staying lit for some time. It is a picture of a meltdown. Whoever this Babylon is, if in fact it may be extrapolated out beyond the Rome of John’s day, literally ceases to exist, with untold myriad tormented in the flames per the text and eventually perishing.
And they cast dust on their heads [and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness]. It is an expression of mourning. Please see also.
[And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her] costliness-G5094 [for in one hour is she made desolate]. There is a picture of gouging here. “Stick-it-to-themness.” The prices are high coming out of this Babylon, they get even higher when the good ‘ol boy traders and merchants sell her stuff with some kickback to her no doubt. She profits, they profit, the poor got skinnier. She is the entry into the greed pipeline and the ratcheting of the cost starts with her. That is only half the picture, the economics. What of her “State Department’s” machinations and meddling?” In the end, even more costly. The poor get skinnier yet and the general population scrambles for cover. So, it is a double-fisted costliness here. (Folks don’t like that sort of thing happening again, and again baby lon, it can start a fire.)
[And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness for in one hour is she] made desolate. Bleak, deserted, empty. Verbal usage is aorist (punctiliar), active, indicative. A grim picture.
Rejoice-G2165 [over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her]. Let her lovers bewail and bemoan and grieve and carry on like that over her, but not ye Elect. Be delighted ye Elect. Verbal usage is present (rejoice just now, and don’t let up; don’t get distracted by all the burning and wailing, be about rejoicing over the demise of this bride of Satan, this witch that abused and used you, that exploited and humiliated and maimed and tortured and killed you and your loved ones; yea, this enemy of God and seductress unto Sin that sought to waylay your soul), passive, imperative (it is a command no less). Note the imperative.
[Rejoice over her, thou] heaven-G3772, and ye holy apostles-G652 and prophets-G4396; [for God hath avenged you on her]. See also: heaven, apostles, prophets. Heaven and the Holy rejoice over her utter demise no problem (does not God sit in the heavens and laugh…), the rest, well, they have a large problem with this. It is a good litmus test this capacity (obedience) to rejoice, a good litmus test to figure out which camp one belongs to. O how far you have fallen since the days of your founding by God and Godly people. You have abandoned, yea, egregiously offended your God in your ease, which He gave you. Surely you must realize that precisely therefore you have been abandoned by God, and your Judgment hastens nigh to offend you unto utter ruin. And miss it not, you are alone in it, when it comes, for He knows you not anymore going forward.
[Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God] hath avenged-G2917 [you on her]. KRINEN hO THEOS. Literally, it is a sentencing, by God the righteous Judge. Sentenced unto punishment for harm and injury inflicted. No lying, deflecting sort of finger pointing, loopholes, bribery, concoctions, none of that works in His court. His decisions are sound and incontestable because He knows all the facts, the minutest details and motivations are known by Him. When He judges here and sentences, it is True and deserving. This Babylon has been weighed in the balance and found wanting, and but awaits the execution of judgment. And we have been reading about that sentencing largely throughout.
[And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great] millstone-G3458 [and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all]. Why a millstone? One of the stones, the mobile top one, was used for grinding grain and whatnot. It was massive. It represents “massive,” i.e., “great” Babylon. Massive here by worldly standards; it is as nothing to God, like unto a ragdoll, who plucks it up and casts it into the sea, violently no less, signifying again the horrific Judgment determined for this Babylon. He casts it into the very sea by which she profited, here to drown in it (because God is not mocked, not even a little bit, Galatians 6:7), yea to settle at the bottom of the sea forever, thus out of sight. It is the redundancy of her complete removal in yet another context. When God’s Word is redundant the thing is coming to pass absolutely. The redundancy of this Judgment is thick and unmistakable, and that is the point God does not want the reader to miss. This Babylon is doomed. Be ye forewarned beloved Elect, come out of her (thus God said above). Are you content and cozy in Babylon beloved reader?
[And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with] violence-G3731 [shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all]. Violent indeed, it literally bespeaks an assault. Notice how God belabors her Judgment. And all throughout it has been graphic. God’s righteous indignation, nay, more, His flat-out wrath, is being unleashed on this Babylon. It is because she is the apostatized bride and pride of Satan, in this way a traitor (her heritage is Godly; her ancestors turn in their graves at the thought of her today), she is an adulteress, a seductress unto Sin, the decided enemy of God. She stiff-arms God out of her affairs (unlike her ancestors who humbly welcomed Him in); she stiff-arms His Law, His rules, and scoffs, she mocks Him and His people trapped in her midst. She is a soul hunter, a predator, she preys on the spiritually gullible, the carnal, the ignorant, the downtrodden, she blames God here. Her own carnality is unprecedented. She is the bride and pride of Satan and does all his bidding, champions his cause. She kills for him, spiritually, physically. Her hands are bloody, exceeding bloody. She is his means to an unholy and blasphemous and murderous end at this determined time. Yea she is violently judged amen.
[And the light of a candle shall shine 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 thy merchants were the great men of the earth [for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived]. Please notice that the great men of the earth are her merchants. Let us look around us in our day and locate them, for in so doing, we locate her.
[And the light of a candle shall shine 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 thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy] sorceries-G5331 [were all nations deceived]. Her opulent and carnal manner of life in the eyes of the beholder seduces the beholder to be like her, to enjoy the same. It is a play on the weakness of human flesh. The pull of her seductions—the opulence, the carnality—is narcotic-like, unto craving and addiction for many. “To be like Babylon.” Tasty, tasty, is the wine, I shall make it mine, mine, mine all mine, yon tasty wine, care not, ha, be my soul confined, confined, with the foul devil-swine. It is her idolatry that is coveted. Please notice: Idolatry is demon worship. Thus Satan deceives, bewitches, by way of his bride Babylon. The particulars of her idolatry are held in high esteem, lusted after; her idols are demons inconspicuously decked out. All throughout these demons have been isolated and exposed by God. Thus was worshiped ease, pleasure, carnality, opulent living. Such as these were let in, invited in, by way of greed and its attendant gouging, and exploitation; by way of slavery, souls of men sporting, immorality.
[And the light of a candle shall shine 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 thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations] deceived-G4105. EPLANHQHSAN is utilized, literally, it means to seduce, to lead astray. Verbal usage is aorist (simple past, looking back, possibly inceptive with her sorceries being the fiducial), passive, indicative. Were seduced, were led astray in context. This is the overarching grievance God has with her—she is a seductress unto Sin. The glitz (pride), the glamor (pride), the money-lust (greed), the ease (sloth, exploitation), the myriad pleasures (immorality), are the demons she employs in her seduction. And here is the problem—all the nations are seduced, seduced unto Sin. Sin from God’s perspective, which she is deceitfully promoting as non-Sin, as “normative,” as necessary for vital human living, as “no big deal,” as “over-the-top” Christian nonsense. (She says glitz, not pride, glamor, not pride, survival, not greed, ease, not sloth/ exploitation, pleasure, not immorality.) And souls feel justified therefore, guilt-free, to buy into it. And they do so in droves—it is sanctioned by her governmental and societal norms after all. They buy into it in droves, to satisfy the incessant yearnings of the flesh, which she exploits here, and are eternally lost. This cannot be allowed, a holy God cannot wink at such gross unholiness running rampant and accelerating with each new generation, with each new generation building upon and adding to the previous generation’s blatant, “in your face” offenses toward God, and flat-out unholiness, with such great loss of souls consequentially. Jehovah God cannot maintain His claim to deity and at the same time forgo judging her.
[And in her] was found-G2147 [the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth]. Now we must add murder to the former list in the previous note. She has killed and kills God’s people. The Babylon of this determined time inherits this bloody legacy and writes her own chapters in the bloody ink of the saints. But notice that she is a killer of humankind per se. Verbal usage is aorist (cumulative), active, indicative. War. Her wars in which she has laid waste myriad souls. She is a war monger. War is in her DNA. Weapons of mass destruction are her delight, and she hesitates not to employ them. Hardly a handful of years go by in which she is not actively at war or promoting and sanctioning and outfitting it somewhere on earth. She is a paranoid and a schizoid, thus not at ease lest she be at war. And at home her blood-lust mania deadens her sensitivity to life as she slaughtered and continues to slaughter her unborn by the millions. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
[And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were] slain-G4969 [upon the earth]. ESFAGMENWN. Its meaning is graphic—to butcher, slaughter. The verbal usage shows a switch in tense from the oft-used aorist and is telling, it is perfect here (all the blood has been spilled, it has happened, it is done, i.e., a prophetic utterance this perfect), passive, participle (verbal noun). Had we the aorist tense our thinking would be locked on those slain in the past, but that is not entirely what is being communicated. God is attributing all the blood of the slaughtered (looking back, going forward) specifically to her. It is the spirit of wickedness in her thus killing in all her generations down through history and going forward. She embodies this wickedness (she is the habitation of devils and foul spirits). Her apostatized spirit animated ancient Rome (and others in antiquity), and it certainly animates the Babylon of this determined time. This spirit’s assault on the Church began in the Garden already, and continued nonstop, repeatedly striking the Messianic line; finally, it struck at Messiah Jesus Himself. This snake continues to strike today, the bloodletting has not stopped. Please notice that it strikes less bloodily as well, but no less deadly, perhaps more deadly, at the Church (at Jesus), from the inside. (How did it/she get in? Who let it/her in?) From the inside through too many shysters peddling the Word of God for money; yea, health and wealth, make ya’ feel-good shysters peddling the Word of God with their myriad donation buttons and “do this for God,” “sponsor me, sponsor me” subliminals plastered all over their websites. And then there is the ego-trip fame club crowd, and the social gospel champions, the claim your gift for free charismatics, alike, the whole lot of them, pawning themselves off as “Spirit of God endowed” preachers and so-called ministers, that is, “privileged” in this way, preachers. They are ministers of Satan, really happy that there is an internet out there for them. They “punk” the spiritually, and otherwise, needy; they get into their head with their phony slick-speak to promote their devilish agendas, and get into their wallet with their crowbar-like hands as motivated by their greed and laziness (greed, ease, per our text). And then there is the bloody Roman Church. My goodness, how could we not mention the Roman Church right here. Talk about bloodletting and corruption and shameless bastardization of God’s Word, there you have it. The Babylon of this determined time and the Roman Church have a special affinity and let us watch it unfold and mature. The Babylon of this determined time is the satanically groomed culmination of wickedness, of all the above and more, and we can watch it unfold real-time right in front of our eyes in our day—it is unfolding fast. (There are many good and sincere Christian ministries out there, not all are as outlined, many are not like that.) We are still pre-Tribulation here; clearly, antiChrist is not yet manifestly on the scene. It seems plausible that he will step into the considerable vacuum this Babylon leaves behind and begin to woo a grieving (for wicked Babylon) world to his overlord.
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