“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted:
‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’”
Revelation 18:1-2a NIV
Did you know there are two Babylons?
Babylon existed in the Old Testament, and Babylon the Great is yet to come in Revelation. They share the same evil characteristics and the same ends of destruction. Let’s compare them.
Babylon in the Old Testament
The beginning of Babylon, or Babel, goes back to the story of Noah. Nimrod, son of Ham and grandson of Noah, was the founder of a tower that would climb into the heavens and where men could become famous and powerful. This tower was located in the land of Shinar (or present-day Iraq), close to where Shem’s descendants settled.
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Genesis 11:5-9 NKJV
Prophecies of the Fall of Babylon
Hundreds of years before it happened, God prophesied about Babylon’s destruction.
‘And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!’
Isaiah 21:9 NKJV
Then he answered and said,
‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen!
And all the carved images of her gods
He has broken to the ground.‘
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
Isaiah 13:19-20 NKJV
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
Read more here: Isaiah 47:11; Isaiah 13:17; Isaiah 21:2
Let’s fast-forward to the days of King Nebuchadnezzar.
This king fashioned the city of Babylon into one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Its notoriety included the magnificent hanging gardens, the Ishtar Gate, and a double wall fifteen miles square around the city. But it was also full of false religions, idol worship, and sexual immorality.
How did the Jews end up in Babylon?
The Jews refused to heed God’s warnings to repent from their wickedness of idolatry. As a result, their disobedience led them to Babylon as slaves for the next seventy years. But God heard their cries, and He sent King Cyrus to the rescue.
Prophesies regarding King Cyrus
Isaiah prophesied that King Cyrus would conquer Babylon and permit the Jews to return to their land to rebuild their temple.
Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
Isaiah 44:28 NKJV
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
And the Fall of Babylon
Jeremiah prophesied about wicked Babylon’s destruction.
Flee from the midst of Babylon,
Jeremiah 51:6-7 NKJV
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
He shall recompense her.
Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
That made all the earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
Therefore the nations are deranged.
Who would conquer Babylon next? In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar’s puzzling dream of a great statue was interpreted by Daniel. God proclaimed that the kingdom would fall that night into the hands of the Medes and Persians. (Read about Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream HERE.)
Babylon the Great in Revelation
Where is this new city? Does it already exist, or is it in the future? Some believe this future Babylon is a mere representation of idol worship and wickedness on the earth and not a geographical place. My persuasion is the literal interpretation of a future city, perhaps rebuilt in Iraq. Or could it be the linear city of Noem, presently under construction in Saudia Arabia?
Let’s look at the future Babylon described in Revelation 18.
‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 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.‘
Revelation 18:2-3 NKJV
God calls His people ( those Jews and others who have been saved during the Tribulation) out of her before He burns it up with fire. Verse 8 concludes, “Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”
The world will mourn Babylon’s fall
The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
Revelation 18:9-10 NKJV
The merchants who profited from her luxurious cargoes will mourn over her loss.
They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’
Revelation 18:19 NKJV
Emphasis is placed on her rapid destruction in one hour. What could cause complete desolation to occur so fast? Could it be, perhaps, from an atomic bomb?
Heaven will rejoice
‘Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!‘
Revelation 18:20 NKJV
Then a mighty angel threw a millstone into the sea, representing how violently Babylon’s destruction will be. The city will be eradicated from the earth and will never be found again. Then the angel concludes the finality of her utter destruction:
‘The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.‘
Revelation 18:22-24NKJV
Dear Father, thank you for Your perfect justice. We praise You for Your mercy by taking Your people out of Babylon before its destruction. And we rejoice with all of heaven that the world’s false religions and evil political systems will be vanquished forever by fire. We place all our hope in You. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.