Chapter 18 is a vision of the fall of world Babylon crumbling under God's hand as the last plagues break the Antichrist system, and bring it down to its knees culminating in the Battle of Armageddon. Enoch, in Jude, only 7 generations removed from Adam, saw a vision of the Second Coming of Christ and the ungodly judged. Chapter 18 is a victory declaration exposing the defeated foe of God and the Lamb. The defeated foe lays low in the dust bewailed by the merchants of the earth because they were made rich through this system. There's always those who will try to use this system to their own personal end and as the system goes, so go them. So when the system goes down, they'll be bewailing it because their vested interest is now totally gone.

Revelation 18:2 "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."

He cried saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. Parallel scripture with that: Isaiah 21:9-- similar language there. This, we're going to see here, is a description of the destruction of the world church system. And it is the will of God being accomplished according to Revelation 17:16,17.

This isn't the destruction of the whole Antichrist system that we're seeing here. Because remember, it is the beast and the ten horns who are performing this destruction of the harlot. So it can't be the whole system because the Antichrist and his leaders who are following him are the ones performing this thing. So we're speaking about the world church, specifically.

Jeremiah 51:8: the whole chapter of Jer. 51 is a description of the fall of the kingdom of Babylon. There are many typological aspects of it that apply to the destruction of the world church. Verses 8,9 (Read).

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. She is not going to be healed. She is corrupt thoroughly and so God's will is expressed and He says, Come out of her My people (Rev.18:4). Don't be partaken of her plagues. And I believe there are going to be many thousands of people in this end time who get the revelation; we would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. It's getting worse and worse, and they'll finally come out of her.

She has become the habitation of demons. That word devils is demons. And the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Those words hold and cage are both the same word and it means a prison. She has become the prison of every foul spirit and the prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

Those birds primarily speak of demons, the way I take it. All three things demons, foul spirits and hateful birds are parallel, and they speak of demonic spirits. Now there could be a reference in those hateful birds to the leaders of the world church system. Primarily, I think it is demons, because the typology of scripture in several passages; demons are typified by the birds of the air; e.g. who come and devour the seeds, the Word of God in one case.

Jeremiah 51:37 says that Babylon becomes a dwelling place for dragons. Strong's concordance says that word dragons can mean either a sea-serpent or a jackal. I guess it has a rather wide application. So this destruction of Babylon became a type of the destruction of this spiritual Babylon in the last days-- this world church.

Isaiah 13:19-22 shows it in a very pictorial way (Read). Doleful creatures-- literally, howling beasts. Owls = ostriches. Satyrs indicates a rough, hairy, he-goat, but it has associations with demons in other scriptures. It has a demonic overtone.

Now the ultimate fulfillment of this Babylon system becoming the habitation of demons is the Lake of Fire. For that's where the members of this system are going to spend eternity. And the Lake of Fire, Jesus said, was prepared for the devil and his angels. So they are going to dwell with the devil and his angels for eternity.

Revelation 18:3 "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."

A parallel scripture is chapter 17:2 & 4, it shows the nations drinking of the wine of her fornication. Jeremiah 51:7 & 57, (Read). So the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. And so they bought her and used her as a man would buy a prostitute and use her. Concordant literal translation translates these words harlot and whore as prostitute in chapter 17 of Revelation.

It says here that the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Nahum 3:4 speaks of the well favored harlot. Jeremiah 51:13 says that she is abundant in treasures.

This other voice because it says, my people, is the voice of God Himself saying, Come out of her. Jeremiah 51:6 & 45 says, (Read). God's judgment is going to come on this lie that has been foisted upon the world. And those who join themselves to it will be judged along with it. We see that same thing in Revelation chapter 2 concerning the Thyratira church age. There was Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess.

And it said in verses 22 and 23, "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the reigns and the hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to his works." So He's going to kill her children with death. So He says come out of her. Don't be one of her children, because you'll partake of her judgment.

This is a terrible position to be in. To have God remember one's iniquities. On the opposite end, David says, "Blessed is the man whose sin is covered and to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity." Those who walk with God. But, her iniquities are being remembered-- everyone of them. Every tear that the saints of God shed because of her persecution, and every prayer that they made for deliverance and for God's justice to be done is now going to be fulfilled. It's an awesome time of judgment.

For her sins have reached unto heaven. Her sins have reached, the better texts would say, instead of saying have reached, they say were glued together. Her sins were glued together. And that is found in Greasbok, Lochman, Fregeles, Fichindorf, Westcott and Hort, and U.B.S. So her sins are glued together just as the bricks of the tower of Babel were cemented together. Her sins are glued together unto heaven. You see, they're built one upon another, upon another, upon another. And they get higher and higher. And God is remembering everyone; her sins are mounting up and becoming worse and worse.

Ellicott says of this, that it's like a great heap firmly fastened and towering like another Babel. The parallel scripture there is Genesis 11:4 (Read). Jeremiah 51:9 and 53, (Read). Speaks about, though Babylon should mount up to heaven, yet God is going to pull her down. So the sins of this world system are bricks and the cement that cements them together: deception, lies and false doctrine.

Now the destruction of this world church has to be an awesome thing if it is to be in accordance with the destruction she brought against God's people down through time. It has to be an awesome destruction and a horrible thing.

God is always just and so the doubling here of her works back upon her shows the greatness of the sins that she's committed. And, of course, it's a righteous retribution from God because of her horrendous sins. The torment and the grief that is poured out upon her is because of her sins. In other words, her real evil is horrendous. It's great. It's mighty. And so God says in order to show the impact of how great her sin is, He says double unto her-- her punishment for her iniquity. It shows the greatness of her sins.

And with that you can read Isaiah 47:6. It shows the sins of Babylon against the people of God. Jeremiah 51:56 says that the Lord God of recompences shall judge her. And her sins among them: Love of money, love of luxury, wealth, pride, murdering of the saints, blasphemy and Satanism to name a few.

Now I believe that this judgment, although it's spoken here as though it's meted out by the saints, I believe that that is a rhetorical statement here. Not at all that the saints are going to actually be the agents to destroy this world church system. But that their prayers and their cries unto God have brought about this vengeance that God is going to bring upon her.

And there's another sense at the last judgment. Of course, remember, this world Babylon system is made up of people that are going to be judged too. And the judgment at the end of the Millennium there may be a certain way in which saints are used to bring judgment. Now that is not a doctrine that is expounded on in great detail, but we do see in 1 Corinthians 6:2, Paul says, "Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world."

And, of course, the judgment is God's. It's God's will. It's exactly what He wants to be done, but there seems to be a sense in which God uses the saints to stand in that position. This world Babylon system is going to be judged and destroyed, not only at the time that the Antichrist and the ten horns bring her down and abolish and destroy her, but, also, there's the judgment of God throughout all eternity that is yet to come after that.

Revelation 18:7 "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."

Revelation 18:8 "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."

And this shows the destruction that is spoken about in chapter 17:16. The ten horns destroy the whore, and shall make her naked and desolate. And they shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. This is the wrath of God being poured out upon the world church and it happens at a very specific time and quickly. Nahum 3:15 says that the fire shall devour thee. And also Jeremiah 51:25 and 58 (Read). She has been a destroying mountain, destroying the souls of men.

Revelation 18:9 "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."

The kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with her. That's also mentioned in chapter 17:2. And they have lived deliciously with her. This world church and the world system have worked hand in hand for a long time to support and strengthen one another in their control.

Jeremiah 50:40, Read, says that this destruction will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbor cities. Jeremiah 50:40, that goes back to Genesis 19:27 and 28.

This is what the kings say. Isaiah 47:9, in a moment, in one day, it says, this destruction comes (Read). Of course, he's looking at the kingdom of Babylon. But the type applies here to the world church. The destruction is going to happen suddenly.

"In one hour is she made desolate", it says in Revelation 18:19. In another place it says the merchants of the earth cry out and say, "In one hour such great riches has come to naught." Revelation 18:17.

And so this world church is somehow swiftly destroyed and stripped of all wealth, power, and control. And quite possibly there is a lot of death involved, too. Now we don't specifically know exactly what this destruction is going to entail, but we do know it is going to be the destruction of this harlot church, and it's going to happen suddenly.

Literally, "No one buyeth their merchandise anymore." It doesn't mean that no one is ever going to make another purchase after the world church is destroyed. But we see that she is a source of great commerce and great wealth for the merchants. Jeremiah 51:8 "Howl for her."

manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 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."

This describes the lament of the loss of the merchants. "Purple" and "scarlet" are fine material dyed with the most costly dyes in the world. And that goes along with fine linen and silk here.

"All thyine wood" This kind of wood is from the citron tree and it's an African tree. It's a conifer. And it's aromatic. It has a beautiful aroma, and it's used for doors, panels, ceilings, tables, and it's often inlaid with elaborate designs and ivory.

Now between cinnamon and odours the Greek adds another word. And the Greek word is "amomum." "Amomum" is an Indian spice. For these cinnamon and odours, you can look at a parallel passage: Prov.7:17, which shows the harlot, the adulteress woman. She says, "Come and enjoy the night with me for my bed is perfumed with cinnamon and other spices." And she begins to describe it. It's a type of this harlot system again.

"Beasts" is literally "property" or "that which is acquired". Now it did come to mean "stock" and "cattle", but it could apply to any kind of property. And we know that the world church will be vastly wealthy with property.

"Slaves" literally is "bodies". "Possesses the bodies of men" because they do her will. And the implication is slavery, but the word is "bodies" and "souls of men". So that final phrase reads "bodies and souls of men".

Revelation 18:14 "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."

"Dainty" here literally means "fatty" or "greasy". All the greasy things-- the implication is expensive delicacies like fine food that's just dripping in grease and oil. Well, fine according to her. Food cooked in butter and smothered with rich thick sauces. That's the implication.

"Goodly" is literally "bright things" or "shiny things". The Revised Version uses "sumptuous" here. So you can see her soul-- she's just lusting after those things. "Oh, it was so pleasant to walk in those marble halls of power, and to eat richly and to control men. And to stamp official documents, and to gather in the wealth of nations," etc. That's the heart of this false church. They just lusted after those things.

And all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee. And so she enters eventually into a realm of total thirst and lack and want for all eternity. And she's left in eternal torment, pain, darkness and burning. "The wages of sin is death."

Parallel verse 11. We see the tremendous wealth of this world church. Now we see that the church really is in view, the harlot church, and so we have to get an impression of how vastly powerful and wealthy she is. And the tremendous holdings she has. There are probably many corporations that are controlled by the Catholic Church in particular.

Revelation 18:17 "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."

"For in one hour so great riches is come to naught" literally "so great riches is desolated" in the Greek. Parallel passages are Isaiah 47:9 and Ezekiel 27:29-36-- this shows the destruction of Tyre. And again it shows the merchants and the ship men standing afar off and they wail at her destruction. God prophesied and said that she was going to be destroyed and here's what happens when she is destroyed, (Read).

And it says here that every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off. So that shows that there is great commerce and wealth involved in this Babylon system. Shipmaster literally is a helmsman, kubernesis in the Greek. It is the same word that we get our governments from. In 1 Corinthians 12 it talks about governments in the church; God gives helmsmen in the church.

Well, these aren't helmsmen in the church, they're ship captains. All the company in ships, literally, everyone that sails anywhere; or as Ellicott puts it, everyone who sails for a place.

As many as trade by sea. Literally, as many as are working the sea. Now it says that all of these men stood afar off. Now that's a metaphor here. It doesn't necessarily mean at all that they are standing afar off 20 miles away and seeing the smoke rise up. But rather it shows surprise and horror and the greatness of the destruction and the powerlessness of anybody to help her. When God has ordained that this Babylon religious system is going to fall, it is going to fall. And the Bible says strong is the Lord God that judgeth her. And when He has ordained that this is the time when He is going to take vengeance on her, no man is going to be of any help to her. They are going to stand afar off.

Now the reason I don't think we should think of men standing several miles away looking at the destruction here is because I don't think we're looking at the destruction of one city or a world church headquarters by being bombed or something like that. I'm not saying that none of that could be involved, but it is the system as a whole that is being destroyed here. So you have to take them standing afar off as a metaphor, the way I see it. It's a metaphor of their horror and surprise and of the fact that they don't want to get involved to save her, because if they do, they will go down with her. Because the judgment is certain and there is nothing they can do about it.

Revelation 18:19 "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."

Now they cast dust on their heads and that is a sign of great mourning in a great calamity. It is a calamity that affects them. Cast dust on head--- References: Eze.27:30;2 Sam.13:19. Of course, that was the custom back in those days and so when we take it across into our period of time, we equate that casting dust with great mourning.

It says that all that had ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness. And that costliness could be translated her preciousness. So all her work of striving and plotting for control and all her wealth is gone in one hour of time. The fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, verse 14. (Read). It is something that happens suddenly in one day. And in several other verses it says in one hour.

He tells us, Rejoice over her. Now here where it says, ye holy apostles and prophets, holy and apostles are actually separate. And it is talking about saints and apostles and prophets.

Apostles and prophets are of course leaders of the church against whom the world's hatred is directed, 1 Corinthians 4:13. Paul says that we, the apostles, are made the off scouring of the earth. They are hated and despised. And those who go all the way with God will always be hated and despised.

Now in the early church, pagan Rome was the murderer of God's apostles and prophets. And in the last days the world church is going to persecute the true men of God and there has been a lot of persecution in between. But now these saints and apostles and prophets are in heaven and the harlot is being destroyed. It appears that in some way they are witnesses to this because it says, Rejoice over her. They are rejoicing over her destruction. So they must be witnessing this in some way.

Revelation 18:21 "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."

Jeremiah 51:63,64-- says, Thus shall Babylon sink. And it talks about Babylon sinking and being destroyed. Matthew 18:6 (Read). And Babylon, the world church, had a part in the fall and the stumbling of many of God's little ones and there was a great apostasy. The world church certainly was involved in causing that apostasy. And I think that many of those who apostatize will go into the world church.

And the angel says, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down. Violence means an onrushing of some kind. It's a swift and violent rushing. The Revised Version translates this violence as a mighty fall.

Revelation 18:22-24 "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; 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. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."

And that's why God takes such a violent vengeance against her. Now through history we can't help making the parallel that the Catholic Church surrounded herself with the arts. She patronized great musicians, artists and architects, and so it talks here of the musicians and the craftsmen, etc... Of course, in a wider sense, that means that all joy, all life, all activity, their flourishing culture and beauty, is gone in a moment of time. It is ended. The world church is no more. A parallel is Isaiah 24:8.

The sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. The sound of the millstone shows the very basic activity of life because, in John's day, grinding with a millstone was something that took place every day. The women would go out and they would have to grind wheat or whatever and make fresh bread every day. And so this shows the basic activity of life. So the Babylon system's very life is stopped. Read verse 8.

Verse 23 speaks about the light of the candle, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride. And it says that these things shall be found no more at all in her. The candle of course is a lamp. They didn't use candles in those days, it's a lamp. The light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee. We're seeing a picture here of the utter darkness, emptiness and desolation of this destruction. She becomes devoid of life, light and joy and is empty and desolate and gone (Jeremiah 25:10).

For thy merchants were the great men of the earth. So she is involved in great commerce and wealth and financial power. Now all through verses 21-23 it keeps saying that these things shall be found no more at all in thee and that is repeated six times. The Greek phrase in all of those is not not, a double negative. That means it is an emphasis upon the negative and it could be translated in no wise shall any of these things be found anymore in thee. It's an absolute certain and total destruction.

For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. Sorceries is a Greek word pharmakia. Primarily, it means drugs like we have our word pharmacy. That's where you get drugs. So it primarily means drugs. But it came to mean in a wider sense, sorceries or incantations, because false religions incorporated drugs often times. And so they came to be associated together.

So it says literally: for by thy druggery were all nations deceived or made to wander from the pathway. They were made to wander from the pathway. And all the way back to the beginning of Babylon when Nimrod set up his false religious system, the people were mad to wander from the pathway. And from that time on many false religions went out into the world and they all had their basis back there at Babel, and that is clear from history. They are all cousins, all children of the same mother. So sorceries here speaks of drugs associated with false religions.

Then if you take it in a figurative sense, the sorceries can speaks of demonic practices, doctrines and deceptions. Just as Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:1-3, he said that in the latter days.... Read. So these demonic doctrines and deceptions that have such a grip upon the minds of people are involved in these sorceries. But you can't rule out actual use of drugs, because that goes on in some false religions, too.

Exodus 22:14 shows that the penalty for sorcery is death. So the penalty for Babylon's sorcery here is death. Nahum 3:4 speaks of Assyria as a mistress of witchcrafts or literally, love potions. And that's a type of this destruction of Babylon as well.

Revelation 17:6 is a parallel to 18:24 (Read). And so murder, violence and destruction in the earth has been the out flow and the bitter fruit of this system. You can look back into history and there were several million Christians killed in the times of the Roman persecutions. And then during the Reformation there are estimates of anywhere from 30-60 million killed through persecution and war during the Reformation. And today Christians are dying for their faith and there will even be more in the days ahead. And, of course, the final culmination of that is the Great Tribulation in which everyone who will not take the mark of the beast is killed. And you know the world church will have her hand in backing and supporting that. So this is a true saying wherein it says in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth.

1. It could involve mass slaughter of leaders and all of importance in the world church. That would certainly fit as a revenge for the killing of the saints. Again, it is ungodly men, the Antichrist and the ten horns who bring this about. We see that death is spoken of in Revelation 18:20,24.

2. Now as to whether a world church headquarters will be destroyed. That is a possibility. And it could be involved, but the destruction in this chapter is not the bombing of a headquarters, it's more than that. It's the destruction of a whole city. It speaks of this city, and by city, I mean the system. It's not a single literal city or building, but it's the whole system that God is taking vengeance upon. So that's the destruction of Babylon.

Revelation 14:8 "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

"City because" isn't in the original Manuscripts. Rather it says, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. She who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." This is a solemn announcement of the destruction of the harlot church. And that destruction is described in chapter 17 and 18. God devotes a large portion of His Revelation to describing that. This world church will be destroyed.

Revelation 16:17 (Read). Now we're right up at the Second Coming here, just before the Second Coming, 16:19 (Read). So it's right up before the 2nd Coming that she comes in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the wrath of God.

"She made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." This means that those who involve themselves with her and those who become one with her will bear her punishment. They're drinking the wine of the wrath. The wrath is that which God pours out upon her. And the wrath is because of her fornication with the world. And so those who are among her and become part of her will partake of that wrath. And this is the announcement of the destruction of the great harlot church. And that's also described in great detail in Revelation 17 and 18. The whole chapter of 18 is dedicated to a pictorial description of the destruction of Babylon. So this is an announcement of Babylon's destruction.