This chapter portrays the sorrow of the world's multitudes when they discover that Babylon has fallen and they are lost.
When God's people are delivered before Jesus returns with the armies of heaven, the merchants and princes of the earth will cry and wail because their wealth will not save them in the day of God's vengeance.
•Revelation 18:1-5: The loud cry to leave Babylon prior to the start of the seven last plagues.
•Revelation 18:6-8: Babylon faces punishment for her transgressions.
•Revelation 18:9, 10: The earthly kings' lament.
•Revelation 18:11-16: The lament of the merchants (‘the great men of the earth’).
•Revelation 18:17-19: The lament of the employees and travelers.
•Revelation 18:20: Heavenly celebration of Babylon's downfall.
•Revelation 18:21-24: Drowning of the Great City and the end of her activities.
•Revelation 17 describes Babylon's sins and judgment.
•Revelation 18:1–5 encourages God's people to flee Babylon before she faces divine judgment.
•Revelation 18:6–24 talks about the sorrow of those who fail to respond to the call to come out of Babylon.
Revelation Chapter 18 Verse 1 to 3
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.
At this time, Babylon's spiritual fall must be confirmed and demonstrated, and she must be punished. (Compare to physical Babylon in the past - Isaiah 13:21–22; 21:9; Jeremiah 51:8).
Verse 2 contains three parallel expressions, each building on the previous one:
• ‘a dwelling place of demons’
• ‘a prison for every foul spirit’
• ‘a cage for every unclean and hated bird’
The two-fold repetition of the term 'is fallen', as well as the three expressions that follow, represent a crescendo. In Hebrew poetry, this is known as synonymous parallelism. At this juncture, right before the end of probation, Babylon will have suffered an irrevocable moral decline. The forces of evil will completely possess her.
•Devils - “Babylon the great” is now wholly demon possessed (Revelation 17:5-6, 14; Matthew 12:43-45).
•Foul spirit - Literally “unclean spirit” (Mark 1:23).
•Unclean and hateful bird - Metaphor to emphasize Babylon's complete depravity and apostasy.
Revelation Chapter 18 Verse 4 to 6
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.
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.
Babylon includes not only the Papacy (which governs the Catholic Church), but also its daughters (apostate churches). Remember that Babylon is the mother, thus, she has daughters that are like her.
Her daughters are represented by churches that adhere to her teachings and traditions. There are churches that criticize the Catholic Church while still following its teachings (Sunday sanctity, Christmas, Easter, and other traditions that are not present in the Bible and were introduced into Christianity by the Roman Church when it took over Christianity). Churches that follow these unbiblical ideas, as well as others, are Babylon's daughters.
God is pleading with Christians to leave false churches that teach non-Biblical ideas and stop engaging in non-Biblical activities before He destroys the false religion, which has long been mistakenly identified as part of Christianity.
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Other non-Biblical teachings, Babylon is also guilty of the following sins.
•Pride and arrogance (Revelation 18:7)
•Crass materialism (Revelation 18:11-14)
•Giving wine of false doctrine to the nations (Revelation 14:8; 17:2; 18:2, 3)
•Fornication between the church and the state (Revelation 17:2; 18:3)
•Persecution of God’s people (Revelation 17:6; 18:20, 24; Jeremiah 51:24)
•Practicing the ‘art’ of deception through sorcery (Revelation 16:13, 14; 18:23)
Babylon the Great will be fully compensated for her terrible actions. The punishment will be proportionate and commensurate with the crime.
Revelation Chapter 18 Verse 7 to 19
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.
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.
An article in 2023 states that the Catholic Church has assets worth at least $73 billion.
Article 1:
How much money does “God” have? - Link
Article 2:
Vatican Owns Over 5,000 Properties Worldwide, It Reveals In First Disclosures On Its Real Estate Holdings - Link
The true church is described in Scripture as a "chaste virgin" (2 Corinthians 11:2), Christ's bride. (Ephesians 5:23–32; Revelation 12:1; 19:7-8).
The great harlot pretends to be Christ's bride before the people of earth, over whom she claims rule in His name. But she is a counterfeit "queen" (Isaiah 47:6–10). She is a harlot who has never had a lawful husband, but boasts about her exploits.
Do not the “kings” and “great men” of the earth wait upon her? (Revelation 18:9, 23)
Are they not subservient to her will and dedicated instruments of her evil plans?
Anticipating their own imminent doom, earth's powerless "kings" and "merchants" (verse 11) participate in a mournful song of death for arrogant Babylon, now in anguish.
In the Bible, the word "soul" frequently refers to a "human being" or "person." (Psalm 16:10, Matthew 10:28). "They traded the persons of men" (Ezekiel 27:13), which translates to "they traded the souls of men."
Revelation Chapter 18 Verse 20 to 24
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.
She had ordained the death of God's people (Revelation 13:15), but now faces the same fate to which she had condemned them. Consider the fate of Haman in the Old Testament in the story of Esther.
The image of the stone being thrown into the sea is set against the backdrop of Jeremiah 51:63–64, in which the prophet is told to hurl a stone into the Euphrates. The stone is a metaphor for Babylon. She will drown in the waters of the Euphrates. The waters will dry up, like the Red Sea, and then avalanche onto the apostate Babylonian system. When Babylon collapses, all of its activities will come to an end.
Babylon used sorcery (pharmakeía) to deceive the nations. This word appears only in this verse in Galatians 5:20, while a comparable word, pharmákon, is found in Revelation 9:21, 21:8, and 22:15. The word refers to the use of magic, which frequently involves drugs and the casting of spells on people.
Literally “lamp” (Revelation 1:12). The utter blackness of night vividly portrays the absence of all life.
All that were slain may properly include all martyrs of all time, but the emphasis here is unquestionably on those who gave their lives in the final struggle of the great battle between good and evil, as well as those whom Babylon intends to kill but is prevented from doing so by divine intervention.
-Please note that the posts regarding the Roman Catholic Church are not talking about the members (laity), but the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church (Papacy and the clergy).
-Extremely few Catholic Church members have read the entire Bible and are therefore ignorant of what kind of church they are attending. Let us pray that they read their Bible, which is the truth (John 17:17), and that they stop turning a blind eye to the sins of their church.
-We should not only pray for them but for every Christian who is being deceived, regardless of which church they attend.