< Revelation chapter 18 Introductory Notes
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א ˙1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.
The occasion is the formal announcement of the sentence of death and destruction being passed upon the Babylonian civilization, which has been said to have had its start as the Sumarian civilization. It went on to become the Persian, Greek and Roman civilizations and finally became the dominant global civilization. It is prophetically represented as the the city of Babylon in the Revelation because from the time that Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah was given over to the city of Babylon for captivity it has been through holding Israel and the promises of God in captivity that this civilization has received all of its power and authority. However, it has done this in order to defy God and not in order to serve God. Therefore judgment is come upon it.
The angel who comes forth with the authority to formally announce this judgment appears to be Michael the archangel of the people of Israel, or another archangel like him. Yochanan does not recognize what angel this is, as he is not receiving a revelation of angels but of the Mashiach. What is made known to him is that this angel comes having great authority, the authority to announce that the Good News of God has become the Good News of Jerusalem. The earth was made bright with his glory. What is his glory? The glory of the truth of HaShem in Yehoshua HaMashiach, now testified to by Jerusalem herself, the truth of her complete redemption through his blood.
ב ˙2 And he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
Babylon is defeated by Jerusalem’s repentance. The mysterious Babylon has no more lies to hide behind. She is left with nothing but the demonic beings who own her. She is left with no allies but the evil spirits who taught her all her lies in the time when Jerusalem was quiet. Now Jerusalem has spoken and has utterly defeated her.
”Fallen, fallen is Babylon...”. This formal announcement that Babylon is fallen Is an announcement that she is fallen in the court of heaven. Now it will be shown to all who live upon the earth that judgment has been passed upon her and she is fallen to rise no more. For God himself will carry out upon the earth his sentence that he pronounced upon her in the court of heaven.
The mysterious spiritual power of the Babylon came to be the mysterious spiritual power of The Roman Empire, and finally the mysterious spiritual power of the global civilization that arose from the West and came to dominate all the earth. This was her prostituting spiritual power by which she held Israel captive. For her power was entirely based on turning the truth into a lie. From where did she receive this power? The foundation upon which the system of Roman Babylon arose to complete control over Israel was a foundation that was laid by the imperfect repentance of Israel even at the crossing of the Jordan River with Joshua.
Finally, in order to rectify Israel’s imperfect repentance for her failed witness to the glory of HaShem in entering the Land, the Assyrian and the Babylonian captivities were decreed. After these, the Persian and Greek captivities. Still, Israel’s repentance was incomplete.
Then came Yohanan the Immerser, calling on Jerusalem and all Judea to complete this repentance and perfect its testimony to the glory of HaShem. At this time Rome was lusting for it’s own power over Jerusalem and over Israel.
And then Yehoshua gave himself, without Israel having yet come to perfect repentance, in perfect faith. Even so, he gave himself for her, to justify the sentence of death upon Adam in the hope of mercy upon Israel, according to the Scriptures. And HaShem was glorified in answering his prayer and in forgiving all of Israel’s sins, in order by this testimony to establish Israel in the Land.
Then, in order to magnify his grace, he delayed the granting of complete faith and repentance to Israel through the knowledge of this Good News. For In his wisdom God determined to first gather all families and all nations, even unto the ends of the earth, around Jerusalem. All families of the earth would be called to bless themselves in Abraham through his seed. Through this means, God would grant the greatest measure of the revelation of his grace to Israel in granting her full and complete repentance, through the knowledge of the forgiveness of all her sins.
3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living."
The nations loved nothing more than to hear that the Messiah of Israel was rejected by his own people and that he was up for grabs. This assertion was a denial of the resurrection - exactly what the rulers of this world wanted.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;
Come out of her... Let my people testify to the truth that HaShem has redeemed both them and the Land which he promise to Abraham together! Whosoever you may be who would prevent my people from giving this testimony, beware! The dust of the earth shall become plagues unto you!
5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
Her sins are heaped high as heaven... Everyone on earth can see them and will see them when God opens there eyes to the justice that will come upon her.
Some, who are called and chosen of God, will see her sins which have all been exposed and will separate themselves from her. Others will see her exposed sins and will try to excuse her and defend her from judgment, because they will not repent from their alliances with her.
6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.
As she herself has paid back... It is her own measure that comes back to punish her. She has despised the life of others and with her curses has stolen the blessing of others to consume for her pleasure, consuming souls, annihilating love for heat. And now she is punished with this doubly, for she is left face to face with herself, having learned to feel nothing but arrogance and revulsion, with bitter hatred and an evil eye. Leave her now to see no one but herself.
7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.'
Her luxury was to do unlimited evil while seducing her victims by calling it good. Now exposing her fully by your testimony you take away from her all access to those whom she would deceive. You Leave her with the dark and tortuous heart that she grew within herself. You leave her mourning the loss of all the substance and the souls that she stole to constantly feed the emptiness of her conceit, which conceit alone was her throne.
8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her."
The plagues arising from her own evil will consume her immediately, as soon as she is fully exposed as a result of the sentencnce God passes upon her. There is nothing about her that is redeemable, that might take time and delay the hour of her destruction.
Mighty is the God who reveals Himself in the deliverance of Israel from the web of her lies and the clutches of her temptations, who annilates her throne of conceit with the word of truth, as she has annihlated love in the homes of many. Today, if you hear his voice, turn toward him and follow him to the Land which he will show you.
9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.
All those who clothed her and hid the nakedness of her sins, who made themselves wealthy through trading in her evil secrets, who gained their power through her, in learning how to use good to serve evil, will be seized with grief when the see what has happened.
The artificial beast, the Military Technological System, upon which she rode, has thrown her out like refuse, and like a heap of refuse has burned her. Her fashion designers and her dressmakers, her global suppliers and her media managers shall all stand together agast, watching the smoke of her destruction. They shall know their world is ended. The day of justice is come.
10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, "Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come."
Not a word of hope will come from them, even though they finally try to separate themselves from her, pointing a finger at her and accusing her, saying, “Alas, alas, you called yourself a mighty civilization! But you fell just like ancient Babylon! God sentenced you to stand exposed before the truth. No longer could we cloth you in distracting luxuries, casting spells over the eyes of the nations, no longer could we cover up you sins. The God of Israel passed his sentence upon you, and in no less than one hour the horns of the artificial beast who you rode upon with pomp and splendour cast you off and gored you and trampled you and left you destroyed in flames!
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,
Then also, all the ancient guilds of liars, masters of the priest craft of superstitions and idolatry, all the sources of her trade, the moneychangers, who change illusions into great wealth, all of these will weep and mourn, for now the artificial beast will be left to battle openly against the truth of God. No longer will it have the great spiritual prostitute to hide behind. No longer will there be any market for the products that they weave, the lies of spiritual prostitution, the artifacts of the worship of Mammon.
12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,
Gold and silver, jewels and fine linen, royal cloth, perfumes and incense, all elements and materials of the earth made rare by exploitation, all these soaked in blood and demons, were traded as the wares of the civilization of spiritual prostitution.
13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.
Babylon was not a street prostitute. She was not poor. Her economy was a table set for her patrons as a table of fine dinning, a table of the elite, a table for the great human monsters and traders of the earth, to pleasure them with immoralities, with wines and spices and commodities and with the spiritual consumption of human souls, which were the specialty served at her table.
14 "The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!"
Your time is up, wonton Babylon! You laboured to give birth to a utopia on earth which you could abuse and continually milk to feed the void inside of you. But your time has run out. Your civilization of delicacies and splendours will not survive God’s judgment. The great illusion is spoiled and will never deceive the earth again!
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
Those great international corporations who served you like stage hands, crafting the props for your show, selling your victims on your lies, earning their wealth from your spiritual lewdness and corruption, they now will distance themselves from you, even as they mourn your death. For the will know that if their mother, whom they emulated, is judged, their days also are numbered.
16 "Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
No one one earth was able to expose her. No one on earth was able to give a testimony That could defeat her lies and stop her spiritual abuse of the innocent. So now heaven itself has testified against her and the children of heaven on earth have announced the verdict of heaven. She was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! But underneath her cloths was all spiritual filth and moral poverty and cold lust to corrupt innocence and defile holiness. The testimony of heaven has removed her cover.
17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste." And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off
For untold years her lies defeated all witnesses who came against her, but now in one hour the witnesses of heaven and heaven’s children on earth have silenced her and stripped away her riches. And the masters of world trade and the rulers of the global economy who would not tell the truth about her now tell the truth about her vileness by utterly seeking to disassociate themselves from her.
18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, "What city was like the great city?"
These great international corporations and organizations now feign to have switched sides. They feign incredulity and subtly mock her, saying, “What civilization was like the great, modern civilization?” For they see that the foundations of civilization have crumbled and the earth has only one choice left, to turn to worship the artificial beast, to serve the one ruling the global military-technological complex, or to worship the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth. Therefore, they are paralyzed and tremble in shock, while trying to calculate how to position themselves.
19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
Executives threw themselves out from high tower windows; their assistants sat in corners beating their heads into the walls, weeping and crying, seeking repentance and not finding it. Having nowhere to fall but into self-pity, they cried, “Only if our great civilization still stood! Only if heaven had not judged her! Only if the truth about the corruption at her foundations had not come out!”
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!"
Truly, indeed, it is the God who has chosen Israel and who has redeemed Jerusalem who has judged her. He has passed sentence upon the global civilization which gained its place and power by taking Jerusalem captive and by exploiting her faith and hope through her lies. Therefore, rejoice that she has been exposed, O heaven, and you children of heaven and you emissaries of Mashiach on earth. For you were her primary victims and the witnesses against her. And the God of Israel has ruled and has vindicated you!
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;
Now, to show how God is about to carry out this great judgment on the great civilization of spiritual prostitution, an angel of great might takes, symbolically, a great wheel of agriculture and industry and casts it down from heaven into the sea. As the angel does so, it announces the meaning of its prophetic act. As the great wheel of commerce was cast into the sea, so shall the Babylonian global civilization, built upon a lie and upon rebellion against God, be cast down to drown in the sea of the peoples of the earth.
22 and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,
She prided herself in her culture and boasted of her tradecraft and celebrated herself for her science and industry... but all of it was stolen. None of it was ever hers. Therfore in her trial all of it is stripped away, and what is good is given to God’s children, to whom that which is good belongs.
23 and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.
Just as the armies of Egypt held Israel captive and were left drowned in darkness at the bottom of the sea, so The civilization of the nations which hold Israel captive will be drowned in darkness at the bottom of the demonized humanity to which it gave rise. Pharaoh thought to keep Israel captive forever and one day build Jerusalem and make her his own bride. Therefore, he perished in shame. Amalek, also, established himself among all the nations, seeking from every dark corner to appear and kidnap Jerusalem to make her his own. Always failing, he would crawl back into darkness, to take refuge among the demons. Babylon made an alliance with Amalek, and having stolen her garments, dressed herself in the robes of Jerusalem and went into the bed chambers of Amalek. Therefore she will perish in the shame of her judgment. And Amalek will be exposed and destroyed in the light.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth."
A divine judicial autopsy is performed upon the great spiritual prostitute, and she is found to have been the agent of death from the beginning, the parasite of spiritual life which captured Adam and Eve in the beginning, until she was cast out by their repentance. The mother of all spiritual prostitutes who married Nimrod, whose only source of life was inhaling the violence of murder and drinking in the sorrow of God’s prophets and martyrs.
