Revelation 18:1-6

(Rev 18:1 KJV)
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

The word “lightened” carries with it the meaning of “bring to light, reveal, or enlighten.” This angel is another one of the messengers which God had dispatched concerning the fall of Babylon. This angel also had great power (authority) and his power was given to him directly from God because his glory had enlightened the earth. The enlightening he brings will enlighten the believers throughout all the earth because now is the judgment of Babylon, the kingdom of Satan, the archenemy of Christians will be falling for the last time. It is the revelation that the body of Christ has been waiting for since this kingdom was formed.

(Rev 18:2 KJV)
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.

(Isa 13:19-22 KJV) And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. {20} It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. {21} But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. {22} And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

As God gave Isaiah the prophecy that physical Babylon would become a waste and that it would be filled with all kinds of animals rather than being a world power, God is going to do the same thing to the kingdom of Satan. Verse 2 is a prophecy of what is going to happen to spiritual Babylon as it progresses toward the last day. The word “fallen” in the Greek is in the Aorist tense which tells us that sometime in the future the prophecy of the end of Babylon will be a definite fulfillment. It has become the habitation (the dwelling place or abode) for demons. It is also the hold of every unclean spirit. The word “hold” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of “prison.”

(Isa 14:17 KJV) That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?

Isaiah 14:12-18 teaches us that Satan has held unbelievers as prisoners in his kingdom. It is the same way that those who rebelled against God with Satan are prisoners whose final destination is hell. They are literally on eternal death row. Then we are told that Babylon was also the habitation of unclean and hateful birds. Normally birds in the Bible can have the meaning of birds of prey such as the eagle. These birds would look for easy prey as demons would look for easy prey, those who are easily deceived into false gospels and religions. These birds would represent the evil which permeates Babylon. Now that judgment has come to her, the stripping away of all her fine outerwear and facades will only reveal the true nature of what this kingdom is really like.

(Rev 18:3 KJV)
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.

This verse shows us the scope of Babylon and that it is a worldwide kingdom and not a localized location. For the verse tells us that all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. All the nations that have fornicated with this kingdom will also come under judgment because you cannot judge the source of something without judging the outlet. Then the verse states that the kings of the earth have fornicated with her. This means that the leaders of nations have committed fornication with Babylon. Then we are introduced to a new class of people who have committed fornication with Babylon and that is the merchants of the world. We must realize that the world’s economic systems are an integral part of the way the world operates and that economic system has brought about the bankruptcy of many nations and people. The word in the Greek for “delicacies” may also be translated as “sensuality, wantonness, pride.” The word “delicacies” was probably used to translate this word because of people becoming addicted to pleasure or sensual delights. Many have become rich through the evil systems of this world. The merchants and the kings have all profited well from being intimately involved with the world system. Babylon will now be judged for her entrapment of the kings and merchants with her idolatry. Those in the world who did not do business with the beast system would not enjoy the great earthly rewards that it would give them and therefore the temptation to avoid the beast system was too much.

(Rev 18:4 KJV)
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.

This verse gives us the reason why God commands His people to come out of that system. First, so we should not be partakers of her sins. (1 John 2:15 KJV) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. God is reminding the believers that live on earth that we are not to partake of the evil beast system. We are to love God more than we love the world. Secondly, God tells us that we should not partake of her sins so we will not receive of the plagues that will be inflicted upon Babylon. The word “plagues” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of “calamity, stroke, or blow” which carries the meaning of judgments that will come upon it. This verse is also a two-fold calling of the believers. The first calling would be the calling unto salvation of the Elect of God and then the second calling would be out of the world on the last day when the final judgment comes on Babylon. That is also when all the unbelievers will be removed from the earth for judgment.

(Rev 18:5 KJV)
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The sins of Babylon have now reached their limit and the cup is full which means that the judgment of God is imminent. (Jer 51:7 KJV) Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. That golden cup in the Lord’s hands is the sins of Babylon reaching its fullness and now it is time for her to be requited for her evil which she has brought upon the whole world. It is not that God had forgotten about the iniquities of Babylon, but this is language to state that God is now dealing with Babylon in the area of the final judgment and that system will soon be coming to an end, then the prayers of the martyrs that we saw in Chapter 6 will be complete.


(Rev 18:6 KJV)
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.

Just as Babylon rewarded the true believer with persecution and death, Babylon will now receive the reward of death. This verse is telling us that Babylon is going to be paid back and that payment is going to be doubled. Babylon is going to receive a full requital for the evil it performed on the body of Christ. (Jer 50:29 KJV) Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Just as earthly Babylon was to be judged according to all her evil actions, the spiritual Babylon is also going to be judged in the same manner it doled out its evilness but it will receive double for her actions. Babylon is going to receive a severe form of punishment and as we go on we will see that this form of punishment is going to be the complete judgment and destruction of it. As it tried to destroy the body of Christ and had created many martyrs, yet the body of Christ continued to flourish, yet Babylon will be destroyed in a final blow because of its attempt to destroy the body of Christ. What it tried to do will be requited to it two-fold resulting in total destruction.