Revelation 18

The summons in Rev 18:4 suggests a literal flight from the doomed city (as Christian Jews fled to Pella at the fall of Jerusalem), but when projected on the larger screen of the consummation it becomes a call to the last generation of believers for “spiritual withdrawal from ostentation or empty, idle amusement and frivolity.

The persecuted church has always faced the temptation to compromise with worldliness and thus ease the tension of living in a hostile environment. Separation is the order of the day: sometimes physical, always ideological.

Augustine interpreted the section spiritually, commenting, “We must renounce our rights as citizens of this world, and flee unto God on the wings of faith”

The Judgment is Defined

The nature of God’s judgment, Psalm 137: “O daughter of Babylon … how blessed will be the one who repays you with the recompense with which you have repaid us” Ps. 137:8; . likewise

The punishment of historical Babylon is typological of that of the end-time Babylonian system.

Self-glorification is sinful, since glory can be rightfully given only to God v7 “Yet you said, ‘I shall be a queen forever,’ ” and spiritual Babylon here speaks the same words:

The church must beware of trusting in economic security, lest she be judged along with the world (as with the potential judgment of the Laodiceans, who said “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” 3:17).

As disaster came upon earthly Babylon in one day (Isa. 47:9), as she was burned by fire (Isa. 47:14), so also will it be with spiritual Babylon. The clause she will be burned up with fire is  identical to 17:16.

The voice from heaven now gives the reasons for these judgments. With arrogant pride Rome sees herself as mistress of the world beyond any possibility of personal loss or sorrow.

v8 Because of her arrogant self-confidence, her plagues will come suddenly26 upon her, and she will be utterly devastated by the fire of divine judgment. Belshazzar, his court and his concubines, drinking wine from the sacred vessels of the temple, suddenly saw their fate being written on the wall of the palace by the fingers of a man’s hand (Dan 5). Rome, drunk with the blood of martyrs (17:6; 18:24), will suddenly meet a like disaster. The three plagues that come are death, mourning, and famine.

REFLECTION ON 18:4–8

On being in the world but not of it. One of the lessons of these verses is that Christians should be in the world but not of it. To be “of” the world means that we have compromised our values to share in the world’s present wealth and advantages, but at the cost of also inheriting a share in its coming judgment. The worldliness both outside and inside our churches is always making godly standards appear odd and sinful values seem normal, so that we are tempted to adopt what the world considers to be “normal.”

How do we practically avoid such contamination while we are holding down jobs, buying houses and cars, making prudent financial plans for retirement, and so on?

Judgment Lamented

Those who cooperate with the Babylonian system will cry over her judgment because it means their own demise (18:9–19)

9–10 The first lament is that of the kings of the earth. These kings are the governing heads of all nations who have entered into questionable trade with the commercial center of the ancient world.

The mourning of those who prosper from cooperation with the idolatrous economic system happens because they see in its downfall their own economic downfall. The main point of the entire segment is the despair because of economic loss,

The close connection between idolatry and economic prosperity was a fact of life in Asia Minor, where allegiance to both Caesar and the patron gods of the trade guilds was essential for people to maintain good standing in their trades.  Local and regional political leaders had to support this system in order to maintain their own political stability and to benefit economically from their high positions.

They are in awe not only because of the judgment itself, but because of its suddenness (in one hour). Judgment shows that the unbelieving kings perceive in Babylon’s doom the judicial hand of God.

The time designation one hour refers in 17:12 to the brief time when Babylon’s former allies turn against her and destroy her.

A representative list of trade products shows what cargo will no longer be purchased by the Babylonian economic system.

The trade goods in the list are selected because they represent the kind of luxury products in which Rome overindulged in an extravagantly sinful and idolatrous manner.

The merchants, somewhat in irony, lament the fact that all the rich luxuries that Rome longed for have vanished forever. The concluding clause, “never to be recovered,” brackets the list along with the earlier statement, “no one buys their cargoes any more

These cries of lamentation are not a token of true repentance, but are expressions of sorrow for their own demise.

REFLECTION ON 18:9–19

The destructive power of human self-interest. The mourning and weeping of the kings, merchants, and mariners over the destruction of Babylon reflects their own self-interest rather than genuine repentance and recognition of the righteousness of God and of His judgment.

Entanglement in the things of this world, and particularly pursuit of material wealth, focuses us inward on ourselves, blinds us to the interests of others, and numbs us to the approaching judgment of God, such that we do not even recognize it when it comes.

Those who separated from Babylon should rejoice over her judgment because it vindicates their faith and God’s just character (18:20–24)