(5) The final destruction of the city, ver. 21–24. A mighty angel takes up a stone and casts it into the sea as an emblem of the destruction that is to come upon it. The voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers would be heard no more in it; and no craftsmen would be there, and the sound of the millstone would be heard no more, and the light of a candle would shine no more there, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride would be heard no more.
CHAPTER XVIII.
A ND after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the[543]earth was lightened with his glory.
1. And after these things. After the vision referred to in the previous chapter. ¶ I saw another angel come down from heaven. Different from the one that had last appeared, and therefore coming to make a new communication to him. It is not unusual in this book that different communications should be intrusted to different angels. Comp. ch. xiv. 6, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18. ¶ Having great power. That is, he was one of the higher rank or order of angels. ¶ And the earth was lightened with his glory. The usual representation respecting the heavenly beings. Comp. Ex. xxiv. 16; Mat. xvii. 2; Lu. ii. 9; Ac. ix. 3. This would, of course, add greatly to the magnificence of the scene.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, [544]Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is [545]become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
2. And he cried mightily. Literally, “he cried with a strong great voice.” See ch. x. 3. ¶ Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. See Notes on [ch. xiv. 8]. The proclamation here is substantially the same as in that place, and no doubt the same thing is referred to. ¶ And is become the habitation of devils. Of demons—in allusion to the common opinion that the demons inhabited abandoned cities, old ruins, and deserts. See Notes on Mat. xii. 43–45. The language here is taken from the description of Babylon in Is. xiii. 20–22; and for a full illustration of the meaning, see Notes on that passage. ¶ And the hold of every foul spirit—φυλακὴ. A watch-post, station, haunt of such spirits. That is, they, as it were, kept guard there; were stationed there; haunted the place. ¶ And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. That is, they would resort there, and abide there as in a cage. The word translated “cage” is the same which is rendered “hold”—φυλακὴ. In Is. xiii. 21, it is said, “and owls shall dwell there;” and in Is. xiv. 23, it is said that it would be a “possession for the bittern.” The idea is that of utter desolation; and the meaning here is, that spiritual Babylon—Papal Rome (ch. xiv. 8)—will be reduced to a state of utter desolation resembling that of the real Babylon. It is not necessary to suppose this of the city of Rome itself—for that is not the object of the representation. It is the Papacy, representedunder the image of the city, and having its seat there. That is to be destroyed as utterly as was Babylon of old; that will become as odious, and loathsome, and detestable as the literal Babylon, the abode of monsters is.
3 For [546]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 [547]merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the [548]abundance of her delicacies.
3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. See Notes on [ch. xiv. 8]. This is given as a reason why this utter ruin had come upon her. She had beguiled and corrupted the nations of the earth, leading them into estrangement from God, and into pollution and sin. See Notes on [ch. ix. 20, 21]. ¶ And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Spiritual adultery; that is, she has been the means of seducing them from God and leading them into sinful practices. ¶ And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The word rendered “abundance” here, means commonly power. It might here denote influence, though it may also mean number, quantity, wealth. Comp. ch. iii. 8, where the same word is used. The word rendered delicacies—στρήνους—occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means rudeness, insolence, pride; and hence revel, riot, luxury. It may be rendered here properly luxury, or proud voluptuousness; and the reference is to such luxuries as are found commonly in a great, a gay, and a splendid city. These, of course, give rise to much traffic, and furnish employment to many merchants and sailors, who thus procure a livelihood, or become wealthy as the result of such traffic. Babylon—or Papal Rome—is here represented under the image of such a luxurious city; and of course, when she falls, they who have thus been dependent on her, and who have been enriched by her, have occasion for mourning and lamentation. It is not necessary to expect to find a literal fulfilment of this, for it is emblematic and symbolical. The image of a great, rich, splendid, proud and luxurious city having been employed to denote that Antichristian power, all that is said in this chapter follows, of course, on its fall. The general idea is, that she was doomed to utter desolation, and that all who were connected with her, far and near, would be involved in her ruin.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, [549]Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
4. And I heard another voice from heaven. He does not say whether this was the voice of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God. ¶ Come out of her, my people. The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two: (a) that they might not participate in her sins; and (b) that they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her. The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following:—“Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing,” Is. xlviii. 20. “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity,” Je. li. 6. “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord,” Je. li. 45. Comp. Je. l. 8. ¶ That ye be not partakers of her sins. For the meaning of this expression, see Notes on 1 Ti. v. 22. It is implied here that by remaining in Babylon they would lend their sanction to its sins by their presence, and would, in all probability, become contaminated by the influence around them. This is an universal truth in regard to iniquity, and hence it is the duty of those who would be pure to come out from the world, and to separate themselves from all the associations of evil. ¶ And that ye receive not of her plagues. Of the punishment that was to come upon her—as they must certainly do if they remained in her. The judgment of God that was to come upon the guilty city would make no discrimination among those who were found there; and if they would escape these woes they must make their escape from her. As applicable to Papal Rome, in view of her impending ruin, this means, (a) that there might be found in her some who were the true people of God; (b) that it was their duty to separate wholly from her—a command that will not only justify the Reformation, but which would have made a longer continuance in communionwith the Papacy, when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God; (c) that they who remain in such a communion cannot but be regarded as partaking of her sin; and (d) that if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon her. There never was any duty plainer than that of withdrawing from Papal Rome; there never has been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world separated itself for ever from the sins and the plagues of the Papacy.