Antichrist and the End Times AET-071 and 072: Babylon’s Destruction.

Antichrist and the End Times

AET-071 and 072: Babylon’s Destruction

Revelation 18 - Babylon

• In Chapter 18 the destruction of the great prostitute/Babylon the Great in 17:16 is now expanded into a full-fledged vision, further fulfilling the promise of the angel in 17:1 that he would "Show [John] the judgment of the great prostitute."

• The overarching theme of this section is the judgment on Babylon for its economic oppression.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 1After these things I saw another angel descending

from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2And he cried out with a strong voice "Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the Great. It has become a home for demons,a prison for every unclean spirit and a prison for every unclean and hateful bird.

• For all the nations have fallen because of the wine that leads to passion for her immorality. The kings of the earth have committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy because of the power of her luxuries."

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• 4Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out from her, my people,lest you share in her sins, lest you receive her plagues,5because her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.6Give back to her as she has given.In fact, pay her back double according to her deeds; give her a double portion in the cup she has mixed.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 7To the degree that she has glorified herself and

lived in sensuous luxury,to the same degree give her torment and sorrow. For in her heart she said,‘I sit as a queen,I am not a widow,I will never see grief.’ 8Because of this her plagues will come in one day, pestilence and grief and famine,and she will be burned with fire, because mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. 9Then the kings of the earth who committed adultery and lived in sensuous luxury with her will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.

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• 10They stand far off because they are afraid of being tormented with her and say, 'Woe, woe, great city, Babylon, mighty city, because in one hour your judgment has come."

• 11The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one will buy their cargo any longer:

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 12cargo of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls;

of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet fabrics; of every kind of citron wood, every type of ivory product, every type of costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13of cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; of wine, olive oil, fine flour, and wheat; of cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages; of bodies, that is, human souls. 14 典 he fruit you lusted after has gone away from you. All the expensive and beautiful things have disappeared from you. They will no longer be found."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 15These merchants who have become wealthy from

her will stand far off because they are afraid of being tormented with her, weeping and mourning 16and saying, 'Woe, woe, great city, clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls; 17for in one hour all this wealth has been made desolate."

• Every sea captain and everyone who sails to a place, the sailors and as many as make their living from the sea, stand far off 18and cry out when they see the smoke of her burning, saying, "Who is like this great city?"

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 19They throw dust on their heads and cry out,

weeping and mourning, saying, "Woe, woe, great city where all those who had ships in the sea became rich because of her wealth, in one hour you have been made desolate." 20"Rejoice over her, heaven, and the saints, apostles, and prophets, for God has judged her for the way she judged you." 21Then a mighty angel took a stone like a large millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, "In this way Babylon, the great city, will be cast down with sudden violence, Never to be found again."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 22The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and

trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. 23The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the great men of the earth; all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24In her was found the blood of the prophets and saints and of all who have been killed on the earth."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Here "Another angel" (after the angel of chap. 17)

is seen καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (katabainonta ek tou ouranou, descending from heaven—another present tense participle dynamically stressing the action), probably in contrast to the beast "Ascending from the abyss" in 17:8.

• Also in contrast to the beast, this angel has two characteristics.

• First, he possesses ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην (exousian megalēn, great authority), compared to the derived authority of the beast (from the dragon, 13:2, and from God, 13:5).

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• Second, the earth was illumined with his glory), while the members of the false trinity do not possess "Glory" in the Apocalypse.

• In fact, no celestial being, angelic or demonic, has "Glory" in the book except here.

• Therefore, it is likely that the angel reflects the glory of God, implying he has come directly from the divine presence.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In 10:1 the "Mighty angel" who also "Ascended

from heaven" was "Clothed in a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head. His face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

• Both there and here, the angels reflect the power and splendor of God, especially his authority over earthly affairs (in 10:2 he "Placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land," indicating control over this world).

• Also, in both places some scholars believe we have Christ rather than an angel.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• But as stated at 10:1, there is too little evidence

that language used of angels in the Apocalypse ever refers to Christ; it is more likely that it always refers to celestial beings.

• Most agree that Ezek. 43:2 is echoed here, "The land was radiant with his glory."

• In Ezek. 43 the measurements of the temple have been completed (42:15–20), and now a solemn procession occurs as Yahweh enters the restored temple through the east gate (43:1).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Here the glory of God once more returns to

the temple (43:2–9) and illumines the whole earth (43:2).

• In that narration, Israel is reminded of the past and warned of future judgments if she persists in her sin (43:3, 7–9).

• The twin motifs of Yahweh’s glorious presence and the warnings of judgment are also present here, and it is likely that John intended these parallels to Ezek. 43.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The angel in 18:2 cries out in ἰσχυρᾷ φωνῇ (ischyra

phōnē, a strong voice—found only here but compare "A great voice" in 5:2; 10:3; 16:1; etc.) in keeping with his authoritative pronouncement and repeats the message of the second angelic herald in 14:8, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great" (with the aorist emphasizing the certainty of the event).

• As stated there, this alludes to Isa. 21:9a, where Isaiah prophesied the destruction of Babylon via a messenger in a chariot who cries, "Babylon has fallen, has fallen," followed by "All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground" (21:29b).

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• Thus, the judgment on the empire includes the destruction of its idols, specifically the Antichrist, who has set up an idol of himself (Rev. 13:14–15).

• Moreover, it is not seen as a new announcement but one foretold by Isaiah himself, grounded in God’s eternal decree.

• The absolute desolation of Babylon … is then described in three parallel poetic lines.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Mounce (1998: 324) notes that "A major poetic

feature in this section is the repeated sets of three lines."

• This is the first of several. • The depiction of it as a deserted city inhabited by

demons and unclean birds is taken from Isa. 13:21–22 (Babylon); 34:11–14 (Edom); Jer. 50:39; 51:37 (both Babylon); Zeph. 2:14–15 (Assyria).

• All these depict the destruction of those cities that have flaunted God’s laws and fallen under his judgment.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• First, Babylon is κατοικητήριον δαιμονίων

(katoikētērion daimoniōn, a home for demons; δαιμονίων is a subjective genitive meaning demons now "Make their home" there), the direct opposite of the only other place the term occurs in the NT, Eph. 2:22, where Christians are "Dwelling places of God."

• Often in biblical literature, demons live in deserts or lonely places (Isa. 34:14; Tob. 8:3; Matt. 12:43 par.).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The meaning of this is expanded in the next

two lines, where Babylon is transformed into a phylakē, (prison), an unusual term for "Lair, haunt," derived from the ancient view of "The underworld as the prison of evil spirits" (Kratz, EDNT 3:441).

• First, it becomes the prison house of "Every unclean spirit," the basic term in Jewish literature for demons as detestable creatures.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Second, it is the prison house of "Every unclean

and hateful bird," building on the presence of scavenger birds in Isa. 13:21 and preparing for the carrion birds of Rev. 19:17–18, 21 who will feast on the bodies of the Antichrist’s army.

• The reason (ὅτι, hoti, for) for this terrible judgment in 18:3 is the sins of the wicked, again found in three lines, with the three groups anticipating the three of verses 9–19 but with "Nations" instead of "Sea captains."

• The first line is drawn from 14:8 and 17:2 but alters the "Made to drink the wine" of 14:8.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• First, the angel announces the "Fall" of

Babylon and then proclaims that "All the nations have fallen because of the wine that leads to passion for her immorality".

• In other words, the nations will be destroyed along with the evil empire because they have freely participated in her debauchery.

• She is "The mother of prostitutes and abominations," leading her offspring, the nations, to fall into the same depravity.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Now they are both destroyed because of those evil

acts. In a wonderful play on words, "Drinking the wine that leads to passion (τοῦ θυμοῦ) for her immorality" in 14:8 results in "Drinking the wine of the wrath (τοῦ θυμοῦ) of God" in 14:10.

• The results of this divine wrath are now displayed. As in 14:10, this probably alludes to Jer. 25:15–18, 27–28; Isa. 51:17; and Zech. 12:2, where God commands that the nations get drunk on his wrath after drinking the cup of sin.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• As throughout Revelation, "Immorality" refers to

both sexual immorality and religious apostasy (esp. idolatry).

• The second line virtually repeats the first: the "Kings" of the nations have led their people in immorality and idolatry.

• Some (Beale 1999: 895; Aune 1998b: 988) believe that this line alludes to Isa. 23:17 (where Tyre is condemned as a "Prostitute" selling herself to "All the kingdoms of the earth" for profit, a commercial rather than a religious metaphor) and that therefore this is more a commercial than a religious image.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• These were wholesale dealers (EDNT 1:446)

who traveled all over the Roman world selling merchandise in huge quantities.

• They “Have grown wealthy" from all the trade (see also 18:15, 23).

• C. Smith (1990c: 30) says these merchants engaged in “Unrestrained debauchery," by which he means excess consumption of goods, with gross ostentation the order of the day.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Much of the material in chapter 18 relates to

Ezek. 27, a lament for Tyre. • As Block (1998: 51) says, “This island city,

renowned for maritime commercial enterprises, is imagined as a magnificent merchant ship loaded with the products of the world, only to be shipwrecked on the high seas." Thus, it is a perfect type of [Babylon] and a perfect picture for the destruction of [Babylon].

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Ezekiel 27:12–25 centers mostly on the trade of

Tyre, and 27:12 is close to the text here, “Tarshish did business with you because of your great wealth of goods."

• Here the merchants grow rich because of the power of her luxuries.

• [Babylon] seduced the nations due to her incredible wealth and the luxurious living it purchased.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This bound them to [Babylon] more securely by far

than its armies could, for wealth brought them into the [Babylonian] fold willingly.

• Edgar (1982: 338) believes that Babylon the Great is not a religious but an economic symbol, as seen in the merchants who symbolize the kings of the earth (18:23).

• Thus, chapter 18 focuses on the economic sins of [Babylon] and the luxurious ostentation that brings about the wrath of God.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Heavenly Voice Commands Believers to Leave

(18:4–8)• The other “Voices from heaven" have occurred in

10:4, 8 and 14:2, 13, and refer to a direct message from the throne itself (God or Christ;6 see 10:4).

• This voice commands, Come out from her, my people.

• Only here and in 21:3 are believers called God’s “People," a semi-technical term in the OT and NT indicating a special [Jewish] relationship with God.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The command to separate oneself from depraved

society is frequent in the OT (Isa. 48:20; 52:11; Jer. 50:8; 51:45, 50; Ezek. 20:41) and NT (e.g., 2 Cor. 6:14, 17).

• In the narrative picture of Rev. 18, it means to get out of the city lest they be destroyed with the pagans.

• In Jer. 50:8–9 the people of God are commanded to “Flee out of Babylon" because God was about to destroy her; and in 51:45 they are told to “Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord" soon to fall on Babylon.

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• Basis of Judgment (18:5)

• Callahan (1999: 58–59) says that 18:4b is the divine command, with 18:5 the author’s interpretation explaining why the [Jews] must distance themselves or be implicated in the judgment (modeled on Jer. 51:45).

• The reason for this danger (ὅτι, hoti, because) is that the sins of Babylon the Great have reached to heaven.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Therefore, God has remembered her crimes. • Normally this verb commands the people of God to

“Remember" their past relations with God (see Rev. 2:5; 3:3), but here it is God “Remembering" the transgressions of Babylon.

• When God “Remembers," he acts (part of the meaning of the verb).

• When he remembers his people, he works on their behalf (Ps. 105:8–11; 111:5–6; Ezek. 16:60); when he remembers sin (Ps. 109:14; Jer. 14:10; Hos. 8:13; 9:9), he acts in judgment.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In Rev. 16:19 “God remembered Babylon the Great

and gave her the cup of wine, namely his furious wrath."

• The term for sin here, τὰ ἀδικήματα, refers to “Unrighteous deeds" or “Crimes."

• While there is definitely a religious aspect here, in Acts 18:14 and 24:20 (the only other NT occurrences of the term) it has a legal connotation of criminal activity, and that is probably the primary thrust here as well. The wrath of God is a judicial response to the “Crimes" of wicked humanity.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Just Judgment Explained (18:6–8)• This section is dominated by the lex talionis (law of

retribution) theme. • Since the sins of Babylon have “Piled up to the

heavens," God will pay them back in kind. • The whole scene could be likened to a universal

courtroom, in which a class-action suit takes place. Plaintiffs in this suit are [Tribulation Believers] together with all those killed on earth (18:24); the defendant is Babylon/Rome, who is charged with murder in the interest of power, [money] and idolatry; and the presiding judge is God.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• As announced previously in 14:8, Babylon has lost

the lawsuit and therefore its associates break out in lamentation and mourning, while the heavenly court and [Believers] rejoice over the justice they have received.

• God pronounces a legal sentence on Babylon in 18:6–8, perhaps given to the heavenly bailiff (see further the additional note on 18:6) who is to carry out the sentence.

• It contains both the sentence and the legal basis for the verdict, all expressed in terms of the Roman (and biblical) “Law of retribution."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• First, the severity of the sentence is described

(18:6). • The heavenly bailiff must “Pay her back as she has

paid back [to others]"). • There can be no better definition of lex talionis than

this. • It is likely that this is taken from Jer. 50:29, where

the judgment of Babylon is stated in similar terms, “Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Yet there is a rich and varied history behind this.

Jeremiah could well have been alluding to Ps. 137:8, which says of Babylon, “Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us."

• As Aune (1998b: 993) points out, there are many examples of “The retributive justice proverb, ‘each will be repaid " in accordance with his or her works’ " (Ps. 28:4; Prov. 24:12; Isa. 3:11; Lam. 3:64; Sir. 16:12, 14; Ps. Sol. 2.34; 17.8; 1 Macc. 2:68; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 11:15; 2 Tim. 4:14; 2 Clem. 17.4).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Strand (1982a: 56) adds that this may well also

allude to “The law of malicious witness" from Deut. 19:16–19, in which those who bear false witness (Babylon) will suffer the very penalty their slander has forced on others.

• More difficult is the next command, “Pay her back double according to her deeds."

• At first glance, this seems overly harsh, as if God has gone overboard in his vengeance, and justice has been forsaken.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In this sense, it means that God will pay them back

fully for all they have done, in keeping with 14:10, which speaks of the “Wine of the wrath of God that has been poured full strength into the cup of his anger”.

• Yet at the same time, the idea of double the penalty was a common theme.

• In Exod. 22:4, 7, 9 certain transgressions demanded a double payment (a stolen animal, stealing, illegal possession of an animal), and the prophets did emphasize double retaliation (Isa. 40:2; Jer. 16:18; 17:18).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In Exod. 22 the double penalty for theft would

be especially apt in light of the economic exploitation that is central to this chapter (so Callahan 1999: 59).

• Thus, this could be a call for a double portion of judgment due to the severity of the sins of the nations (see Chilton 1987: 450).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The “Portion in the cup" refers back to the

cup “Filled with abominations, namely, the impurities of [the great harlot’s] immorality" in 17:4, which itself referred back to the cup with which she "Made all the nations drink of the wine that leads to passion for her immorality" in 14:8.

• Thus, since she seduced the world into drinking the cup of sin, she must drink the cup of God’s wrath “Full strength" (14:10).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The next two verses (18:7–8) give examples of this

cup of sin and the full recompense that follows. • The format means “To the degree that " to the

same degree (BAGD 586). • Her sins are twofold here. • First, she has “Glorified herself" rather than God. • Such arrogance is frequently derided in Scripture.

Luke 14:11 says, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled" (cf. 2 Sam. 22:28; Job 40:11; Prov. 3:34; 29:23; Isa. 2:12, 17; 5:15; 1 Pet. 5:6).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Those who seek their own glory will not only lose all

glory in the life to come but also face the judgment of God.

• One of the major themes of this book is that glory belongs only to God (see the introduction to 4:1–16:21), and all who refuse to acknowledge him will face his wrath.

• Second, she has lived in sensuous luxury, a term that means both sensual and luxurious living (both aspects are probably present here).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Their sensuality is expressed not only in immorality

but in opulent living. • This is another primary theme of the chapter, for

both sensuality and materialism flow out of a self-centered greed that is the antithesis of holiness.

• Due to this sensual lifestyle, the avenging angel is to “Give" (a cognate of “Pay her back" in 18:6) her torment and sorrow.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In Revelation the first term occurs six times (9:5

[twice]; 14:11; 18:7, 10, 15) and its cognate verb five times (9:5; 11:10; 12:2; 14:10; 20:10), always of the “Torment" awaiting those who stand against God.

• Five of the six times “Sorrow" occurs (18:7, 8, 11, 15, 19; 21:4) are in this chapter, describing the “Grief" that will attend the judgment of Babylon.

• Grief" is obviously the result of the “Torment," but it is too late.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The judgment on this hubris is found in 47:9–11,

“These will overtake you on a single day" . • They will come upon you in full measure." • The parallels between these Isaianic themes and

the rest of Rev. 18 are obvious (note the full recompense in 18:6, “One hour" in 18:10, 17, 19).

• Her pride and security will be revealed in all its delusion, and the “Grief" (the second use of πένθος in this verse) she swore she would never “See" is soon to fall upon her.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Because of this arrogant boasting, her plagues will

come upon her (18:8), the same “Plagues" that in 18:4 led to the call to believers to flee.

• Moreover, they will come in one day, again echoing Isa. 47:9, where the judgment of Babylon was also to come “In a single day."

• [The type for this occurred] when Darius killed Belshazzaar and destroyed Babylon in a single day (Dan. 5:30).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• As stated in Rev. 17:17, it is God who is in control,

and he causes the depravity of Babylon the Great to turn upon her and destroy her.

• All these images of war function as they did in 6:1–8; lust for conquest and power must come full circle and self-destruct.

• That has been the history of sinful humankind from the beginning.

• Thus, the final point of this section is the ultimate cause: because mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• It is not the beast or his allies who are "Mighty" but

God alone, and this is proven in the virtually instantaneous destruction of the evil empire.

• While God is not called ἰσχυρός elsewhere in the Apocalypse (though his angels are in 5:2; 10:1), he is called "Mighty" often in the LXX (2 Sam. 22:31–32, 48; Neh. 1:5; 9:31, 32; Job 36:22, 26; Ps. 7:12; Jer. 27:34 [50:34 MT]; 39:18 [32:18 MT]; Dan. 9:4; 2 Macc. 1:24), and there is a direct contrast with the pretentious "Mighty city" of 18:10.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Three Laments Over Babylon the Great(18:9–19)• The three funeral dirges are sung by three groups

who profited most greatly from the largesse of Babylon: the kings who grew rich from her, the merchants who shared her expanding markets, and the shipping people who carried her cargo all over the world.

• Now they see her destruction and weep at the same time that they “Stand far off" so they do not have to participate in her judgment.

• In other words, those who grew fat on her wealth now desert her in her time of agony.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Aune (1998b: 978–79) points to four form-critical

elements that the three laments have in common: each “Stands far off"; each “Weeps and wails"; each begins the lament with “Woe, woe"; each exclaims on the suddenness (“In one hour") of the destruction.

• These laments are again built on Ezek. 27, the lament over Tyre, the great maritime and commercial giant of Ezekiel’s day.

• Many of the details come from there, like the three groups of mourners themselves, their fear and sorrow, the list of cargo, and details in the lamentations

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The purpose is to show the final end of those who

participate in evil, the deep mourning for all that will be lost.

• Yet in this as well is the terrible hardness that depravity produces.

• None of these groups mourns their sin, only all the luxurious living they have lost.

• In other words, they remain self-centered to the bitter end.

• There is no true sorrow for Babylon, only sorrow for all they have lost.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Lament of Kings of the Earth (18:9–10)• The reason “The kings of the earth"12 weep over

Babylon is twofold. First, they have committed adultery with her, referring to the immorality and idolatry they have shared with [her] in 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3 (cf. 2:14, 20–21.

• They have lost their paramour and are bereft. • Second, they have lived in sensuous luxury with

her, a reference back to the “Sensuous luxury" condemned in 18:7.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• There had never been such extravagance as

developed during the [End Times], and the kings of the earth share in all this wealth gathered at the expense of the common people.

• As said in Ezek. 27:33, the “Great wealth" of Babylon “Enriched the kings of the earth."

• Much of the rest of the chapter will focus on this sin.

• The kings see the smoke of her burning.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In this book there is a contrast between smoke as

incense and prayer (8:2–3) and smoke as a symbol of fiery judgment (9:17–18; 18:9, 18).

• The two aspects are combined in 14:11, where the “Smoke of their torment rises [to God as incense] forever and ever."

• This is part of the motif that says the judgment of the sinners is God’s answer to the prayers of his saints for vengeance and vindication.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The kings, however, lament the destruction of their

“Gravy train." • Thus, they 努 eep and wail over her," a sign of

mourning and sorrow. This alludes to Ezek. 27:35, in which the kings “Shudder with horror, and their faces are distorted with fear" at the destruction of Tyre.

• Yet at the same time, they are standing far off in 18:10, meaning that they distance themselves “Far away" from the burning city.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This is not out of respect but out of self-serving

interest. • They want nothing to do with the judgment

“Because of fear of her torment"), with the objective genitive and a genitive of accompaniment, respectively: “They were afraid of being tormented with her.”

• They too were guilty of the same sins and so tried to remove themselves as much as possible from the scene of devastation, for they were terrified that they were next (they were right!).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The rulers of the earth have been seduced by the

earthly power and might of [Babylon] and have ignored the evidence showing the temporary and partial nature of all such worldly splendor (note the emphatic repetition of the connection between “On the throne" and “Who lives forever and ever" in 4:9–10).

• Beale (1999: 907) notes the background behind the suddenness of the judgment in one hour in Dan. 4:17a, 19 LXX.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• There Nebuchadnezzar is told that God would

make him temporarily deranged so that people might “Know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men."

• Like [Babylon], Nebuchadnezzar in Dan. 4 arrogantly set himself up as a god and “Refused to acknowledge God’s sovereignty."

• Therefore, the “Judgment" of Babylon has arrived suddenly.

• This is the judicial act of the "Mighty " Lord " who judges" in 18:8.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This is the third of four times κρίσις (krisis,

judgment) occurs: the angel in 14:7 announces, “The hour of his judgment has come," and in 16:7 “One from the altar" says, “Your judgments are true and just" (repeated verbatim in 19:2).

• It is interesting that it is the kings who decry the “Judgment" of Babylon, for it is they who have been the judges in this earthly sphere.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Lament of Merchants (18:11–17a)• Now the "Merchants," wholesale dealers made rich

through [Babylonian] trade (see v. 3), “Weep and mourn" over the destruction of Babylon.

• While the kings weep and “Wail," the merchants and seamen weep and πενθοῦσιν14 (penthousin, mourn) over her, focusing on the “Grief" (note the noun cognate in 18:7–8) they felt.

• This alludes to Ezek. 27:27, where the merchants and all on board the great ship Tyre “Sink into the heart of the sea," and “Hiss" at the destruction, "An expression of intense grief" (Block 1998: 84 n. 190).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The reason for their sorrow again has no

connection with love for [Babylon] but rather is entirely focused on the loss of trade.

• As Bauckham (1993b: 373) points out, the merchants were usually citizens of the exporting cities and may even include the shipowners who sold cargoes at the ports (they are missing from the list in 18:17b).

• These merchants did not have high social status (the nobility did not sell but instead controlled the profits) but became quite wealthy.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The purpose here is to show why God’s wrath has

descended on them—ostentatious, self-centered materialism.

• Provan (1996: 87–88) argues that this reflects not only the economic exploitation of Ezek. 27 but also the sin of luxurious living exemplified by Solomon.

• The list is arranged in groups of four to six, with six categories of goods: precious stones and metals, luxurious fabrics, expensive wood and building materials, spices and perfumes, food items, animals and slaves.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In 18:14 we hear the voice of the merchants

summarizing the list and mourning the passing of all these luxuries.

• While it is unusual for there to be no introductory formula, this is probably because the list of cargo (vv. 12–13) is a parenthesis, and verse 14 continues the idea from verse 11 of the merchants “Weeping and mourning" over the loss of cargo and then lamenting it directly.

• It is presented as a poetic lament with three lines, and the absence of the formula heightens the rhetorical force of the lament.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• First, they mourn the disappearance of "Your fruit,

the desire of your soul". • The "Fruit" is obviously the list of luxuries (the

"Good things" life has to offer; so Louw and Nida 1988: 1:33) and staples in 18:12–13.

• In apposition is “The desire of your soul," undoubtedly meaning “The fruit you lusted after."

• It has all “Gone away."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Second, in a poetic alliteration, (all the expensive

and beautiful things) have “Disappeared"16 ἀπὸ σοῦ (apo sou, from you; repeated in both lines for emphasis).

• The first noun stresses the cost of the extravagant luxuries, the second the “Bright, glittering" appeal of them to the senses.

• The result is that these luxuries “Will no longer be found," combining the emphatic future negative οὐ μὴ (ou mē, never) with the negative particle οὐκέτι (ouketi, no longer) to mean "Will never be found any longer."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• They are gone forever, a warning to those in our

society who have given themselves over to the folly of conspicuous consumption (which describes most of us).

• As Jesus said in Matt. 6:19–20, seek “Treasures in heaven" rather than “Treasures on earth."

• In 18:15 we now return to the merchants of 18:11, and they are described as having “Become wealthy from her," certainly true in light of the vast numbers of wealthy merchants, some of the richest people in the whole empire.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• But this also means that they share the guilt of

[Babylon], for they have not only been a major cause of the ostentation but have also participated in it themselves.

• The rest of the verse repeats the litany of the kings in 18:9–10.

• They “Stand far off" to distance themselves from the fate of the [Babylonian] empire.

• Then they "Are afraid of being tormented with her". • There is no actual sympathy but a self-centered

sorrow at all they have lost and a terror of suffering the same fate (which they will).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Their "Mourning" in 18:16 (see 18:11) is now

expressed in a similar lament to that uttered by the kings.

• The opening cry, “Woe, woe, great city," found in 18:10, 16, 19, expresses the horror of those who see the destruction occur.

• The “Great city" has become a wasteland (see 18:2, 22–23).

• The description of Babylon in the rest of the verse adds "Fine linen" to a nearly verbatim copy of the description of the great prostitute in 17:4, “Clothed in purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones, and pearls."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The kings mourn the loss of her power (18:10), the

merchants the loss of her wealth.• Finally (18:17a), the merchants decry the sudden

(“In one hour") desolation of the “Great wealth," using the same term (ἠρημώθη, ērēmōthē, make desolate) as used in 17:16.

• In the same way that a city is left in ruins, so the wealth of Babylon is stripped away, leaving it all a wasteland (the verb is the cognate of ἔρημος, erēmos, desert).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The third group that “Stands far off" is all those who

have profited from [Babylon’s] sea trade. • The list builds on Ezek. 27:29 ("All who handle the

oars " the mariners and all the seamen") but with a different list of personnel.

• The list is the most extensive of the three in this chapter, with four groups: (1) the sea captain, the person who commands or pilots the ship rather than its “Owner" (2) 兎 veryone who sails to a place,"17 the passengers (most) or merchants (3) the sailors; and (4) those who "Make their living from the sea.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Like the kings (18:9), they “See the smoke of her

burning" in 18:18, but this group exclaims, Who is like this great city?.

• This parallels 13:4, “Who is like the beast?" and has the same obvious answer, “No one."

• Behind this is Ezek. 27:32b, “Who is like Tyre, surrounded by the sea?"

• All who center on earthly wealth without consideration of God are doomed to destruction, like Babylon, Tyre, Rome, and the final evil empire of the beast.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This group demonstrated their sorrow even more

visibly in 18:19, throwing “Dust on their heads" as a sign of mourning (Josh. 7:6; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), echoing Ezek. 27:30, where the seamen also “Sprinkle dust on their heads" at the destruction of Tyre.

• Their lament begins similarly to those in 18:10, 16, “Woe, woe, great city," but then focuses explicitly on the fact that "All those who had ships on the sea became rich because of [causal ἐκ, ek] her wealth," a reference now to the ship owners (see 18:17b) who profited from the “Rich" sea trade.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• They have participated in the economic sins of

Babylon and so share her fate. • The cry regarding the suddenness of her

destruction (“In one hour you have been made desolate") follows closely the wording of 18:17b.

• All the glory, the magnificence, and the extravagance are gone forever, and the seamen realize their future has gone with it.

• As Michaels (1997: 207) says, “They do not know it yet, but before long the sea itself will be gone" (cf. 21:1).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Call for the Heavens and Saints to Rejoice

(18:20)• At first glance, this verse seems out of place in a

section focusing on the effects of the destruction of Babylon on her followers, but the jarring effect is intended.

• While those who participated in the sins of Babylon mourn her passing, those who were faithful to God rejoice that the name of God has triumphed and his people have been vindicated.

• Thus, both heaven and the believers are enjoined to Rejoice.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Again, while a call to rejoice over the destruction of

a whole group seems strange and offensive at first glance, we must realize that the overriding concern in the book is to defend the justice of God and vindicate the suffering saints.

• The rejoicing occurs because divine justice is being served and because the oppressors of God’s people are finally receiving what their evil deeds deserve, as the last line says (“God has judged her for the way she judged you”).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• As in 12:12, two groups are called on to

rejoice, building on Ps. 96:11; Isa. 49:13; and Jer. 51:48, in which heaven and earth are called on to rejoice in God’s righteous deeds.

• Jeremiah is especially behind this, for there too the heavens and earth rejoice over the destruction of Babylon.

• In this passage, the “Heaven-dwellers" of 12:12 are specified as the saints, apostles, and prophets.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The reason for the rejoicing (ὅτι, hoti, because, for)

is that God has judged her for the way she judged you; lit., “God has judged the judgment of you [objective genitive] from her").

• This theme of lex talionis recurs throughout the Apocalypse (most recently 18:6, “Give back to her as she has given"; cf. also 2:23; 6:9–11; 11:5, 18; 14:8, 10; 16:5–7; 19:2; 20:12–13).

• It is justice that is being celebrated, not …the punishment itself.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Similar to verse 6, this is a legal scene, and the

spectators at the trial are rejoicing as the just sentence is handed down and the just penalty imposed on the guilty.

• Babylon has condemned the saints in their courtroom, so they in turn have been condemned in God’s courtroom.

• Since they have murdered the saints, apostles, and prophets (Rev. 6:9; 7:14; 11:7; 13:7, 15; 14:13; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2), God has justly destroyed them.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Therefore, the same ones who suffered under her

repression and persecution are the ones who rejoice over her destruction (see Krodel 1989: 306; Mounce 1998: 336).

• As Beale (1999: 916–17) says, “The rejoicing does not arrive out of a selfish spirit of revenge but out of a fulfilled hope that God has defended the honor of his just name by not leaving sin unpunished and by showing his people to have been in the right and the verdict rendered by the ungodly world against his saints to be wrong."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Destruction of Babylon (18:21–24)• This is the third and last time an ἄγγελος ἰσχυρός

(angelos ischyros, mighty angel) appears in the book.

• In 5:2 the "Might" was seen in the portentous message regarding the one worthy to open the seals, and in 10:1–2 it was seen in the authority the angel wielded over earth and sea.

• In both cases, the "Mighty angel" was the herald who held the great “Scroll" detailing the end of the age.

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• Here the sentence depicted in that scroll is carried out, and his "Might" is seen as he picks up "A stone like a large millstone."

• This millstone is not the small stone used by women “Grinding [grain] with a hand mill" (Matt. 24:41) but the “Large millstone" of Mark 9:42 (and par.), a stone so large it had to be driven by a donkey.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• It was used to grind large amounts of grain and

weighed several tons.• The angel “Cast [this stone] into the sea"—another

prophetic, acted parable (see 10:8, 10; 11:1–2), which looks back to Jer. 51:63–64, where Jeremiah is told to “Tie a stone to the scroll" and throw it into the Euphrates, saying, “So will Babylon sink to rise no more."

• Echoing the Jeremiah passage, this angel says, “In this way Babylon the great city will be cast down with sudden violence."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Chapters 17–18 in this sense celebrate, 1) the

judicial verdict, with, 2) the sentence imminent. • In both cases, the key terms function to heighten

the rhetorical power of the judgment. • Babylon will first be “Judged" and then “Cast down"

for slandering God’s name and murdering the saints.

• The same violence that occurred when the huge boulder was “Cast" into the water will occur when God’s wrath “Casts down" the empire of the beast.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The extent of the destruction is introduced in

18:21b and then amplified in 18:22–23. • The city will “never be found again”, continuing the

future orientation of the action. • When a millstone sinks into the oceanic depths, it is

never seen again. • Thus also Babylon is cast down by God, “Never to

be found again."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This last phrase (“Never to be found") becomes the

model for the next five lines, all of which utilize the [same] format and detail what “Will never be again" after God’s wrath falls on Babylon.

• These five losses expand on the merchants’ lament of 18:14, “All the expensive and beautiful things have disappeared from you. “They will no longer be found.”

• First, the “Sound of harpists, musicians (μουσικῶν, mousikōn), flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again.”

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• These are the artists who brighten everyday life

and make the simple moments joyous. • Any city without them would be desolate indeed. • This builds on Isaiah’s bleak picture in 24:8 (“The

gaiety of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent"; and on Ezekiel’s diatribe in 26:13, “I will put an end to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps will be heard no more."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Music has always been the special provenance of

the wealthy class, and so this is an economic judgment as well.

• As Beale (1999: 919) says, "Babylon’s economic system persecuted Christian communities by ostracizing from the various trade guilds those who did not conform to worship of the guilds’ patron deities."

• Thus, Babylon has now lost the very thing they used against the Christians.

• This leads to the second deprivation: “No craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Cities in the ancient world were subdivided so that

different sections of the town would belong to the various trades (see the introduction to the letter to Thyatira, 2:18–29).

• The removal of the craftsmen means the abandoning of the city itself.

• Without them there would be no economy, and here we see the fulfillment of 18:6–7, the “Double portion" that God would return upon Babylon for the “Glory" and “Sensuous luxury" she heaped on herself.

• She lived for her material pleasures, and so God has now taken them all away.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Not only is there to be no economy, there will not

even be food. • That primary staple of life in the ancient world,

grain, will also disappear forever, for there “The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again.”

• In light of the centrality of economics in this chapter, however, the broadest interpretation is better, namely, the production of food for the populace with the “Large millstone."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The last three items of this list are probably taken

from Jer. 25:10, where in his prophecy of the seventy-year captivity, he presents them in slightly different order: “I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp."

• Again, the judgment theme from Jeremiah comes to the fore.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The fourth deprivation is “The light of a lamp." • While the millstone was heard during the day, the

lamp was seen at night. • These are not the torches that lit the way for groups

traveling at night (there were no street lamps in the ancient world) but rather the small lamps of the home (see Thomas 1995: 346, building on Swete and R. Charles).

• Thus, these are pictures of everyday life, those elements that define normal existence. They are to be seen no more.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Finally, “The voice of bridegroom and bride" will be

“Heard no more." • There is no stronger metaphor for “Joy and

gladness" (Jer. 25:10, where the “Voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride" is placed first as the primary example of joy; see also Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 33:11) than the wedding, so the stilling of such sounds of joy has a special poignancy. Also, note the contrast: The nations will never again know the joy of a wedding, while the church will become the “Bride" of Christ (Rev. 19:7–8; 21:2, 9).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In the ancient law court, the crimes were always

read as the sentence was carried out. • Thus, in addition to the other lists of her crimes in

18:2–3, 7, one final enumeration is given. • In summary there are three primary sins: economic

tyranny, sorcery, and murder. • First, the merchants are described as the great

men of the earth). This sums up all the emphases on wealth, luxury, and greed in the chapter.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This line refers back to Isa. 23:8 in the prophecy

against Tyre, “Whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the earth."

• In other words, like Tyre the merchants have exalted themselves as the “Rulers of the earth" and left God out of the picture.

• Beale (1999: 921) calls this self-glorification “Economic self-idolatry," linking it also with Ezekiel’s condemnation of “The prince of Tyre" in Ezek. 28:1–9 for “Lifting [his heart] up because of your riches," which in effect was saying, “I am a god."

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The second judicial basis for judgment is that "All

the nations were deceived” by your sorcery. • “Sorcery" or "Magic potions" is listed as one of the

vices in 9:21; 21:8; 22:15, but here the term is metaphorical.

• While magic was a major problem in Israel, Judaism, and the early church (Deut. 18:10; Isa. 47:9, 12; Nah. 3:4; Mal. 3:5; Acts 8:9–13; 13:6–11; 19:13–20; Gal. 5:20;), this text uses “Sorcery" as a figure of speech (though some see a literal “drug” interpretation) for the demonic deception of the nations by Babylon.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Elsewhere in Revelation they were deceived

speaks of Jezebel’s “Teaching" and “Seducing" believers into immorality and idolatry (2:20) and the false trinity’s “Deceiving" the nations (12:9; 13:14; 19:20; 20:3, 8, 10) into worshiping the beast.

• Thus, idolatry and immorality are clearly connoted in the concept (in 21:8 and 22:15 it is connected with both vices).

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• This makes sense, because Scripture frequently links idolatry with demonic influence (Deut. 32:16–17; Ps. 106:35–37; 1 Cor. 10:20), and idolatry often included immorality as part of the pagan rites (e.g., sacred, or cultic, prostitution).

• Finally, Babylon/Rome/the empire of the beast stands condemned by God because she murdered the saints.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• This last reason is given special emphasis because

the ὅτι is not repeated (as in the first two reasons) and because the tone shifts from the second-person style of 18:22–23 back to the third-person style of 18:1–20.

• Thus, this becomes not only the third reason but a separate indictment on its own, summarizing the emphasis on Babylon’s martyrdom of the saints (6:9–11; 7:14; 11:7; 13:7, 15; 14:13; 16:6; 17:6; 19:2).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Yet there are two groups here. There are “The

prophets and saints," probably an adaptation of the list in 18:20, “Saints, apostles, and prophets," and reversing the order of 16:6, “Shed the blood of your saints and prophets."

• There is a close connection between 18:20 and 18:24. The “Prophets and saints" rejoice (v. 20) because God is vindicating them against those who shed their “Blood" (v. 24).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Then there are also "All who have been killed on

the earth," most likely meaning not just the saints but all, believer and unbeliever alike, who have died at the hands of the evil empire.

• Jer. 51:49, "Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon."

• This is similar to Rev. 11:18, where the elders praise God that the time has come “To destroy those who destroy the earth.”

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Revelation 19 - Rejoicing• Rev 19• In 18:20 the heavens and the saints are told to

rejoice at God’s judgment of Babylon the Great. • That call to celebration is now expanded into a

series of “Hallelujah" choruses sung by the heavenly multitude (19:1–3) and the elders and living creatures (19:4), and finally by an invitation to those “Servants" on earth to participate in the joy and praise of God.

• Only here in the NT does the word Ἁλληλουϊά (Hallēlouia, Hallelujah = praise Yahweh) occur, and it governs 19:1–8.

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• There could be no greater contrast than the mournful laments of the three groups most affected by Babylon’s demise (18:9–19) and the great joy of these who were most hurt by the murderous policies of the evil empire (18:20; 19:1–5).

• The interconnecting series of hymns reminds one of chapters 4–5 and the great praises to God and the Lamb there (see also 7:10–12; 11:15–18).

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• 1After this I heard as it were a loud voice of a

great multitude in heaven saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just, 2for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his slaves shed by her hand." 3Then they said a second time, 滴 allelujah! The smoke of her torment is going to ascend forever and ever."

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• Praise for God’s Just Judgment (19:1–2)

• “After this" (namely the destruction of Babylon in chaps. 17–18), John has another auditory vision and “Hears" a “Loud voice," namely, the praise of the heavenly multitude.

• The only other occurrence of the great multitude is in 7:9, where the group stands before the throne and praises God for his salvation.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The reason (ὅτι, hoti, because, for) for this

celebration is a virtual quotation of 16:7, “His judgments are true and just" (the order is reversed in 15:3, “Just and true are your ways").

• God’s justice is “True" because it is based on his own covenant faithfulness and “Just" because it is based on his holy character.

• In other words, his judgments are both morally true and legally just (see on 15:3; 16:7). Babylon is being destroyed because her evil deeds demand such an extreme punishment.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The legal basis of the judgment is that she

corrupted the earth by her immorality. • Babylon has not only “Corrupted" the earth

but “Destroyed" it, as seen in the persecution mentioned in the next line.

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• The corrupting presence of the evil empire is

stressed in 14:8 ("Made all the nations drink of the wine that leads to passion for her immorality"); 17:2 (“The inhabitants of the earth were drunk with the wine of adultery with her"; cf. 17:4); 18:3 (“All the nations have fallen because of the wine that leads to passion for immorality"); and 18:9 (“The kings of the earth who committed adultery and lived in sensuous luxury with her").

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• In each of these, we see how the great prostitute

has seduced the nations by utilizing Satan’s great weapon, “Deception" (12:9; 20:3, 8, 10). Now she must pay the price for her evil folly.

• The final reason is God’s response to the imprecatory prayers of the saints for “Vengeance" (ἐκδικεῖς ekdikeis) in 6:10.

• Now we see that the destruction of the great prostitute is another answer to those prayers, as God has avenged the blood of his slaves [see 11:18 on this term] shed by her hand).2

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Revelation 18 - Babylon• Since God’s slaves were martyred “By the hand of"

persecution, the perpetrators will shed their own blood in return.

• The OT states that God “Will avenge the blood of his servants" (Deut. 32:43; 2 Kings 9:7; cf. Ps. 79:10; 94:1), and this is an extension of that covenant promise [to Israel].

• [The Great City of Economic, “Religious”, Drug, Commerce, Luxury and Murder has now been destroyed by God’s Justice.]

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Antichrist and the End Times AET-071 and 072: Babylon’s Destruction.

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Transcript of Antichrist and the End Times AET-071 and 072: Babylon’s Destruction.