When the seventh angel poured out his bowl of wrath at the end of chapter 16, we’re told that “God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath” (Rev 16:19b). In chapters 17 and 18, we get a closer look at who this Babylon the Great is and what her final end will be like. From 17, we learned that she represents this world’s system that is in opposition to God; and the beast represents the kings of the earth who were drunk with the wine of her immorality. In chapter 18, we will see the extent of her fall and the people’s reaction to it. Her fall will be sudden, devastating, and complete. And the inhabitants will mourn the loss of their wealth and pleasure, while the saints in heaven will rejoice over her fall, because she will be repaid for all the blood of martyrs that she had shed.
There are a few valuable lessons that we can learn from this passage. In the first place, we must be sure that we are building our life on the solid foundation of Christ and his word. Every other human philosophy and religion will be utterly destroyed at the end. Secondly, seeing that this world’s system will be destroyed, we are to be in this world but not of it. That means that our lives are not to be governed by the principles of this world, namely the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; but rather, we are to live lives that reflect the work of God in us. We are to be light shining in this dark world. Thirdly, seeing that everything here on earth will be destroyed, we are to store up our treasure in heaven; we do this by using our resources to further the kingdom of God here on earth. Fourthly and finally, we are to keep our eyes on God’s eternal kingdom, remembering that as ancient Babylon fell, so will this world’s system. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!