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Chap 1

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Chap 3

Chap 4

Chap 5

Chap 6

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Chap 9

Chap 10

Chap 11

Chap 12

Chap 13

Chap 14

Chap 15

Chap 16

Chap 17

Chap 18

Chap 19

Chap 20

Chap 21

Chap 22

2.2. Final destruction of Babylon (18:21).

Rev 18:21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:

"With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. 22 The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. 23 The 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 world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth."

Note the six fold repetition of never indicating the compete destruction of Babylon (Hendriksen):

Babylon never to be found again.

The music of.... never to be heard in you again

no workman... will ever be found in you again.

The sound of the millstone will never be heard in you again

The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.

The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again

v21 - Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. - This is based on the scroll upon which Jeremiah had written all the disasters that would come upon Babylon, the staff officer Seraiah was to read it and tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates, and say 'So Babylon will sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall' Jer 51:60-64. This is followed by a six fold statement of what will not be found in her again (Ezek 26:21). This should also remind us that Jesus said: 'But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea' Mat 18:6. The true crime of the harlot is that she tempts God's people to sin.

v22 - The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. - Compare this with the words of the Lord to Tyre in Ezek 26:13 and to the inhabitants of the earth in Isa 24:8. Contrast the lack of music with the redeemed, Rev 14:2, who play their harps.

v23-24 - The 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 world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." - 'The light of a lamp will never shine in you again' in contrast to the New Jerusalem in which the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp (21:23). In the New Jerusalem where the Lamb is the bridegroom and the church is the bride and voices will be very much in evidence, see 19:6. Her merchants were the world's great men (Isa 23:8) who mourned for her in 18:11-17. Compare this to Jeremiah's words to the people of Judah as they were about to go into captivity because they did not obey the Lord or listen to his prophets, Jer 25:10 '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'. Contrast this to the blessedness of the wedding supper of the Lamb, 19:9. This also reminds us of two other earlier judgements: in the days of Noah people were eating, drinking, marrying and the flood destroyed them all; in the days of Lot people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building (notice that marriage was not mentioned) but then they were destroyed by fire and sulphur from heaven; then Jesus reminds us that it will be just like this when he comes again (Luke 17:26-30); a contemporary example was Pompeii in AD 79 (Sweet). The reasons for judgement are given as:

1. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray (cf. Nahum 3:4).
2. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth c.f. the souls under the altar (6:9) and 19:2 where he has avenged on her the blood of his servants (Jer 51:49).

Nineveh was known for its bloodshed, sorcery and witchcraft (Nahum 3:4) 'all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft'. Verse 24 is similar in thought to Jer 51:49 'Babylon must fall because of Israel's slain, just as the slain in all the earth have fallen because of Babylon'. Nineveh and Jerusalem (Mat 23:37) are types of Babylon depicted here by John. In her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints, in 17:6 we saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, she persecuted the saints and got her just retribution. She is not just a persecutor but is responsible for the blood of all those killed on the earth. So she is much more than just the apostate church, she represent that lust for power and wealth that causes nations to go to war for. She reigns over the kings of the earth and she is therefore, in her greed, responsible for all wars.