2 And he [the angel] cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast.

3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”

4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

— Revelation 18:2-4

Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.

— Jeremiah 51:7

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

— Revelation 17:4

Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

— Revelation 14:8

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and salvation from Christ to you.

John described in Revelation how Babylon’s immoral influence taints and implicates others in her homage to extravagance, wealth, and excessive self-indulgence. She has three clients who participate in her debaucheries. First, all nations have “drunk” the maddening wine of her adulteries,” a description of Babylon like one offered by Jeremiah in the Old Testament. Secondly, the kings of the earth have “committed adultery with her.” Finally, the merchants have grown “rich from her excessive luxuries.” No single group escapes the angel’s indictment.

John readers of his Revelation probably thought of Rome when they read these words. The overwhelming military, governmental, and economic power of the Roman Empire led to luxuriant living and persecution of Christians. However, if Babylon points to Rome, then Rome likely points to all God-rejecting powers and values. Before Jesus returns, He will defeat the last and worst ruler and kingdom of evil, which the Bible refers to as Babylon. May the true knowledge of Babylon and our current world according to God’s Word will awake us and cause us to come out of the current Babylon.