Babylon means confusion, for at Babel man made his first organized attempt to act in independence of God, and therefore God confounded it. Babylon afterward became the head of the Gentile powers which desolated Jerusalem, and consequently is often spoken of as representing the whole. The prophets also frequently denounce it in strong language on account of its shameless idolatry. The ideas therefore suggested by Babylon, whether civil or religious, are all in antagonism to God’s city. It began in independence of God; it continued as the oppressor of God’s people; it fell while using the vessels of God’s temple to do honor to its own idols.
The city of Babylon has long been a ruinous heap, where the “wild beasts of the desert” couch, and the “houses are full of doleful creatures.” But the system which Babylon represents still survives. Politically, it is independence of God, as seen in the beast; religiously, it is idolatry, as seen in the woman. Both agree in hatred and persecution of God’s people. The civil and religious aspects are often, as in Babylon itself, intertwined together, but all the evil elements are united in the mystical Babylon of the Revelation. In every point of view it is ripe for judgment.
The Church
The church may be looked at in its relationship either with Christ or with the world. In the former view no figure can be more exquisitely appropriate than that of the bride or wife. In the latter view no figure can be more expressive than that of some striking object in which skill and beauty are displayed, such as a magnificent temple or city. Thus the church is presented by John in the book of Revelation under the two symbols of the Lamb’s wife, and the “great city, the holy Jerusalem.” On the other hand the counterfeit church, the apostate body which has professed to be the bride of Christ, is presented under two corresponding figures — as the harlot or false wife in contrast with the true, and as the unholy city in contrast with the holy, the city of earth in contrast with the city “descending out of heaven,” man’s city in contrast with God’s city, the city of the beast’s throne in contrast with the city of the Lamb’s throne. These two aspects are successively placed before us in Revelation 17 and 18.
The Woman (Harlot)
In chapter 17 the woman is seen as seated on the scarlet-colored beast. She had been willing to commit fornication with the kings of the earth, to prostitute the religious power she wielded to pursue worldly ends, and advance the schemes of worldly sovereigns. She was willing to do this for the beast, even when acting under Satan’s inspiration. But a new religion has now sprung up, the worship of a man, and all trace of Christianity must be obliterated. These sovereigns, therefore, now turn their hatred against the woman, who, though frightfully perverting, has still been called by the name of Christ. Vast as her influence has been, and perhaps still is, over the peoples, they resolve on her utter destruction. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest and the beast [not “upon” the beast], these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:15-1815And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Revelation 17:15‑18)).
This is all clear enough, and most instructive. God can use any instruments He will to carry out His purposes. Satan’s malice only drives the remnant of God’s people into the wilderness, where He meets them and speaks comfortably unto them, while it gathers the armies of the world to the place where He designs to execute judgment upon them. The beast and ten kings in this chapter, though hating and blaspheming God, are just His tools, with no knowledge or will of their own, to accomplish His unfailing designs. He has purposed to destroy the harlot, and these wicked kings, though leagued together to “make war with the Lamb,” are the blind instruments He uses. Vanity of vanities! They rebel against His authority, deny His truth, blaspheme His name, combine against His purposes, and yet He “hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will.”
The Queen
We have now seen God’s judgment of Babylon as the harlot, the one who falsely took the place of the Lamb’s wife. Revelation chapter 18:1-19:4 shows us its judgment as a city, or religious system in the world. Here we learn man’s thoughts about it, and see how different the feelings created by its desolation in earth and in heaven.
In this corrupt system, indeed, there are, and always have been, true children of God, for His grace can overleap all barriers. But God calls them to come out of it, warning them of its true character and its coming judgment. “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. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” (Rev. 18:4-54And 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. 5For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4‑5)). Here the people called to quit this evil system are God’s people, as Lot was in Sodom, and God will never let His own perish. But how different the fate of Lot — saved “so as by fire,” and with loss of everything — from that of Abraham, beholding the judgment from the heights of Hebron. Such is the difference between those who walk in separation from evil, and those who go on contentedly with it, because they are assured of their own salvation.
The kings leagued against the Lamb are the instruments by which the false church is stripped of its glory and riches, and rendered desolate; but in this they are ignorantly carrying out God’s purposes, as Nebuchadnezzar of old. So the voice from heaven bids them — ”Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works” (Rev. 18:6-86Reward 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. 7How 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. 8Therefore 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)).
The True Church
The church was called to be separate from the world, and to wait for the Lord. “Our conversation,” says Paul, “is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20)). But it soon left this waiting attitude, and said in its heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming.” Presently, as we see in the sketch of ecclesiastical history furnished by the seven churches, it settled down in the world, “where Satan’s seat is.” The next step is soon made. Having ceased to be a widow, she began to be a queen. Abandoning her proper heavenly hope, she appropriated the earthly hopes of the Jews, which were more pleasing to her worldly tastes. Heedless of the apostle’s warning, she forgot that, if unfaithful, she would be cut off. Her widowed character was dropped, and the splendor and glory promised to Israel, but utterly unsuited to the church, were claimed and appropriated for herself. She became, not only a great power in the world, but a power before which all others must bow. True, her pretensions aroused resistance, and the monarchs who crouched before her at one moment would defy her at another. But such were her claims, claims she has never abated, while her splendor and luxury exceeded all limits. For this she is now suddenly visited. The very power she has leaned upon turns with fury against her, and becomes her destroyer. “In one hour so great riches is come to naught.”
No wonder there is joy in heaven. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets [or ye saints, and apostles, and prophets], for God hath avenged you on her” (Rev. 18:2020Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. (Revelation 18:20)). For “In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (Rev. 18:2424And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Revelation 18:24)).
The End of Babylon
The close moral connection between the head of the Gentile monarchies and the mystical Babylon of the Revelation is further shown by the resemblance of the figures describing their overthrow. Jeremiah, binding up his prophecy against Babylon with a stone, cast it into the Euphrates, saying, “Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her” (Jer. 51:6464And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 51:64)). So, in the chapter before us, we read, “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” (Rev. 18:2121And 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. (Revelation 18:21)).
Judgment is God’s strange work, but it is needful to clear the ground for blessing, as the follow chapters signify for what a mighty and blessed event this judgment prepares the way. The four and twenty elders who join in this thanksgiving are here named for the last time. They are, as we have seen, a company representing the redeemed, who have been raised or caught up when Christ came for His saints, and are now forever with the Lord. They add their Alleluia to the chorus of joy at the judgment of the harlot, and then go to in the marriage of the Lamb.
T. B. Baines (adapted)