Babylon is Fallen

Revelation 18

Immanuel – 7/3/22

On August 10th, 70 AD, the temple was burning. Its courtyards ran red with Jewish blood. The Romans had finally broken down the walls of Jerusalem and were hellbent on her destruction.

Hungry for plunder, the soldiers eyed the temple and its abounding treasures. Not only did it contain vast riches within, it was also leafed in gold. But the fires were melting the gold, causing it to flow into hidden cracks. The Romans weren’t about to let that liquid treasure escape. As soon as they were able, they worked between flames to tear the temple stones apart. By the time they were finished, not one temple stone stood upon another.

It happened just as Jesus had prophesied.

“You see all these [temple buildings], do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” -Matthew 24:2

The four horsemen of the apocalypse had ridden. The beast reaped its destructions. Armageddon had come. Babylon had fallen.

Purpose

Interpret this passage with other Biblical passages.

Understand God’s purposes for destroying Jerusalem.

How are we, as Christians, to think about this destruction.

Read Revelation 18

Though there is some debate over this, I think the angel of verse 1 is Jesus. He was the mighty angel of chapter 10, and I think He is the angel with great authority in today’s chapter. It also says that the earth is made bright with His glory. Later, in chapter 21, we will read that the Lamb/Jesus will be the lamp that illuminates the New Jerusalem.

Read vs 2

Jerusalem as Babylon

As we have seen in chapters past, Babylon is a symbol for Jerusalem. From the Tower of Babel to the destroyers of the first temple, Scripture depicts Babylon as humanity's organized attempt to overthrow God. Now it is Jerusalem who has organized herself in open rebellion against God – even crucifying God the Son. Jerusalem has become Babylon.

And now, that arrogant city is destroyed. As Matthew 24 and Revelation 1 tell us, it is Christ who came in judgment upon Jerusalem. How fitting it is that Christ is the one who announces that Jerusalem is fallen!

Once it was filled with the people of God. Now in its desolation, Jerusalem is filled with demons. Jesus and the disciples cast countless demons out of Israel. But He prophesied their increased return.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” -Matthew 12:43-45

Jesus cleaned house. But once Jerusalem cast Jesus out, more demons than ever before came knocking on the door. Revelation 9 was all about hordes of demons descending upon the city. They filled the inhabitants and drove them mad. They filled the invaders, and filled them with bloodlust. Demons did indeed find a home in Jerusalem.

And further identifying Jerusalem with Babylon, John references Scriptural judgements that came to actual Babylon.

[Babylon] will never be inhabited or lived in for all generations…Wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance. Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant places; its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged.

-Isaiah 13:20-22

The Hebrew of this passage could translate one line as, there goat demons will dance. Jerusalem, where the presence of God was to dwell on earth, is now filled with demons. How far it has fallen!

Contrast this with the New Jerusalem, where Revelation 21:27 says that nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false.

Read vs 3

Last week I spent a fair amount of time explaining how Jerusalem, the Harlot Bride of God, has intoxicated the nations. (If you missed it, I encourage you to listen to that sermon.) In short, instead of leading the nations in true worship of God - as was her calling - she led the nations in self-righteousness. And how sinners are intoxicated by self-righteousness!

But now, in this verse, another element comes into focus: Jerusalem was wealthy, and it turned her greedy. In verse 3 you should read, the merchants of the land, rather than the merchants of the earth. It was Israel’s merchants that Jerusalem had made rich.

So many of these merchants were getting wealthy because of Jerusalem’s religion. They feasted on pilgrims. They set up shop right there in the temple. In fact, the religious leaders themselves have become like merchants, profiting on prayers and worship and offerings.

How that angered Jesus! After He flipped the merchant’s tables, He said He would destroy that temple and build another one in three days (John 2:19). And isn’t Revelation clearly showing us that Jesus did indeed destroy that temple, and the new temple He built is called the Church?

Yes, Jerusalem was destroyed for her self-righteousness and greed. Likewise, these are the two main indictments that Jesus levies against the Pharisees as He pronounces seven woes over them (Matthew 23). The Son of God destroyed Jerusalem because of her hypocritical self-righteousness and greed.

Read vs 4-5

Come Out!

Now we hear the voice of Yahweh, the Ancient of Days. Remember, what we are reading is a prophecy. The church receives these words before they are fulfilled. It is a call for the saints still residing in Jerusalem to flee.

It is much like the warning of Christ.

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.” -Luke 21:20-22

But even more important than fleeing the city, God was calling His people out of the old covenant system. The Mosaic law, with its sacrifices and priesthood and temple, no longer meant anything. All, now, is found in Christ Jesus!

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. -Galatians 2:15–16

In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that anyone who tries to mix the new covenant with the old, adding laws to the gospel, is to be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9).

To do so would be to share in the sins of Babylon, as verse 4 says. To hold on to the old covenant, or see in it some salvific effect, is to receive the same curses as Jerusalem. Therefore, a church with priests, who stand as mediators between men and God, is accursed. A church who elevates its religious leaders above the masses, shares in Jerusalem’s sins.

And look at verse 5. As hard as they tried, the men of Babel could not build their tower to heaven, but Jerusalem’s sins have reached these heights. God remembers.

[The Jews] killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them at last! -1 Thessalonians 2:15–16

There is no hope in Jerusalem.

As Douglas Wilson writes, “Jerusalem as Babylon plays that role completely. Just as Israel was delivered from the Old Babylon, so also the New Israel will be delivered from the New Babylon.” God rescues His church from the curses of Jerusalem!

Read vs 6

If Jerusalem insists upon clinging to the old covenant, then it is the old covenant that she will get - she who has killed the prophets and saints.

“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.” -Leviticus 24:17–20

Jerusalem has received the curse of the law. She receives a double portion for defiling her covenant. God said:

Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed; bring upon them the day of disaster; destroy them with double destruction! -Jeremiah 17:18

And look how defiantly Jerusalem has abominated the covenant.

Read vs 7-8

As we saw last week, God symbolized His covenant with Israel to that of a marriage. Israel, or Jerusalem, was His bride. But with supreme self-righteousness, Jerusalem has bought the lie of Satan, and tried to elevate herself as the divine queen - to become like God.

Look at how verses 7 and 8 so closely mirror Isaiah’s oracle against Babylon.

Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”: These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure. -Isaiah 47:8–9

In Revelation 18:7, when we read, I sit as a queen, that is a parallel claim found in Isaiah 47:8. It is to claim to be divine. Jerusalem has attempted to ascend to heaven all on her own, like Babel. This is self-righteousness unmasked. No need of a Messiah, no need of salvation, no need of repentance. I am queen; or I am king. I shall never see sorrow. I will build for myself heaven.

Is not our world afflicted with such poison? Humanist worshippers think they are good enough; that the divine is found inside of you. So the whole world must bend before them, that they might never be unhappy. We have a whole month to celebrate the arrogance of men. Remember when pride was a sin? And we surround ourselves with goods, pleasures, and entertainments; in vain attempts to capture our twisted conceptions of heaven.

And apostate Israel felt no shame in leading the world in self-righteousness like this, even while they claimed to be leading people to God. God would deliver her up to destruction in an hour - suddenly. She would burn, and her fires would announce to the world that Jesus is the Almighty Lord God - the Alpha and Omega!

Kings, Merchants, and Sailors

In verses 9-20, three classes of people mourn the loss of Jerusalem: kings, merchants, and sailors. The whole section is modeled after Ezekiel chapters 27-28. There we find prophecies against the city-state of Tyre; specifically against Tyre’s king, merchants, and sailors.

At the end of their respective segments in Revelation 18, each group will pronounce woes over the fallen city. In the ESV translation, we read these woes as “Alas!”

The first group are the kings.

Read vs 9-10

The kings of the earth see the smoke rising from Jerusalem, just as Abraham observed the smoke rising from Sodom.

And [Abraham] looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. -Genesis 19:28

These fires testify to Jerusalem’s judgment: see that in verse 10? The kings of the earth, who had learned from Jerusalem’s self-righteousness and benefited from her greed, see the city’s destruction as divine judgment. The fall of Jerusalem makes known the God who brought ruin. It was the same for Sodom and Gomorrah.

Read vs 11-17a

The merchants weep over Jerusalem because she was so prosperous. Her wealth meant their wealth. You see, one of the blessings of covenant with God was economic wealth.

If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands…The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to…The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. -Deuteronomy 28:1,8,12

Everything about Revelation, and the fall of Jerusalem, is covenantal. Even the economic wealth of Jerusalem was important because of its covenantal significance. And as we have already seen, the line between merchants and priests has become dangerously blurry. Jerusalem’s wealth, and the merchant’s wealth, was a blessing from God.

Describing the impressive commerce of Jerusalem during Jesus’ life, historian Alfred Edersheim writes:

“In these streets and lanes everything might be purchased: the production of Palestine, or imported from forgeign lands - nay, the rarest articles from the remotest parts. Exquisitely shaped, curiously designed and jewelled cups, rings, and other workmanship of precious metals; glass, silks, fine linen, woolen stuffs, purple, and costly hangings; essences, ointments, and perfumes, as precious as gold; articles of food and drink from foreign lands - in short, what India, Persia, Arabia, Media, Egypt, Italy, Greece, and even the far-off lands of the Gentiles [yield], might be had in these bazaars. Ancient Jewish writings enable us to identify no fewer than 118 different articles of import from foreign lands, covering more than even modern luxury has devised.”

-Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Jerusalem was wealthy! The long list of goods in verses 12 and 13 can be grouped into 7 categories.

1-precious stones 2-fine clothing 3-the work of craftsmen

4-spices 5-food and drink 6-livestock 7-humans

It is that last category that should alarm you. Jerusalem dealt in the slave trade. Now we can clearly see that Jerusalem had taken the blessings of the covenant and turned them into an abomination. As God had said:

Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death. -Exodus 21:16

To be clear, I do not think Israel had a literal slave market. They were selling slavery of another kind.

[Hagar and Sarah] represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

-Galatians 4:24–26

Jerusalem only produced children that were slaves. Every convert to old covenant Judaism is a slave.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” -Matthew 23:15

Indeed, Jerusalem participated in a slave trade; shackling men and women with heavy burdens and bleeding them with guilt. Becasue commerce within Jerusalem was covenantal first, the merchants of Jerusalem, the religious leaders, were foremost in participating in this slave trade. They swallowed men’s souls with the wealth of the covenant.

The sailors also proclaim their woes over Jerusalem.

Read vs 17b-19

We just read about the merchants of Israel. The sailors, coming from the sea, are the merchants from Gentile lands. These too have become wealthy from their trade with Jerusalem.

The covenantal blessings in Jerusalem were meant to be blessings for the whole world. Consider the Queen of Sheeba, she traveled to see the wealth of Solomon and learn from his wisdom (1 Kings 10) and was trmendously blessed by what she found.

But in 70 AD, the sailors, and the Queen of Sheeba, pronounced their woes over Jerusalem. It was just as Jesus said:

“The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” -Luke 11:31

And this is the theme of verses 9-20, as they are modeled after Ezekiel’s prophecies against Tyre. Jesus said:

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.” -Matthew 11:21–22

Truly, the judgment that came upon Israel in the first century was horrific, more than anyone could possibly bear.

Read vs 20

Rejoicing in Judgement

Though God is clear that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32), here we find rejoicing over Jerusalem’s judgment. How can this be?

Let us first remember that saints, apostles, and prophets have been slain in Jerusalem. These are the martyrs and in 17:6 we saw Jerusalem the Harlot drunk with their blood.

In fact, Jerusalem’s destruction is largely because of the saints they have slain. Remember when they cried out to God for justice?

They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the [land]?” -Revelation 6:10

Jesus had promised their blood would be avenged - in that very generation.

“I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” -Matthew 23:34–36

The fall of Jerusalem are the Days of Vengeance. All the innocent blood shed, including Christ’s own blood, is being avenged. So is God a vindictive God? Are we to rejoice at the death of the wicked?

Never! God is a just God, and He will not allow the unjust killing of His children to be swept under some cosmic rug. God is just, and will reward the persecuted and martyred with justice!

But, not only is God answering the saint’s cries for vindication, He is condemning those who would try to eradicate His Son from the earth. For the saints bear the image of His beloved Son.

We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the [image of Christ] from one degree of glory to another.

-2 Corinthians 3:18

The Father loves His Son, and all those who bear the image of His Son!

As smoke rises from Jerusalem, let us go deeper, and think about the symbolism embedded within the temple that once stood there.

The smoke that daily rose from the altar of sacrifice was to point the worshippers to realities both solemn and joyful. Sacrifices set ablaze symbolized God’s judgment: a deeply solemn reality. It spoke of the fires that every single human deserves for their sins.

But the sacrifice was profoundly joyful, because instead of the sinner consumed by fire, a substitute was offered: an innocent lamb. And this sacrificial substitute was always pointing towards Jesus.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. -Hebrews 10:11–14

Salvation in Christ alone through faith alone! Repent and believe in the gospel! His blood for our blood, His death is our life, He became sin that we might be given God’s own righteousness! Rejoice O you saints!

Yet everyone who rejects Jesus, and regards His sacrifice as meaningless, theirs is the fire, theirs is judgment.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries…How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant…For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. -Hebrews 10:26–27,29-31.

Jerusalem had trampled underfoot the Son of God. They had profaned the blood of the covenant. No amount of sacrificing would cover their sins. All of Jerusalem had become an altar which no substitute was laid upon, and there Apostate Israel was burned for her rebellion.They were consumed by Roman fires - fires sent by God.

God is not pleased with the death of the wicked. But He takes supreme delight in upholding the worth of His Son, even through consuming the wicked. And so should we, for no life is more valuable than the life of the Son of God!

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. -1 Peter 1:18–19

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. -Philippians 3:7–8

If Christ truly is most precious, most worthy, then let the fires take whomever would attempt to disgrace Him! No assault against Him will stand! He is supremely worthy and He has secured eternity for the saints! Worship before our holy and just King!

And see, His fires forever removed the temple from Jerusalem, that is called Babylon.

Read vs 21-24

Fallen!

Jerusalem’s final fall is demonstrated in a symbolic act. A mighty angel throws a millstone into the deep. It is meant to remind the first century Jewish reader of judgments past.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his host [God] cast into the sea, and His chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. -Exodus 15:3-5

Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever.’ When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more’”

-Jeremiah 51:61–64

Just as Egypt was covered by the waters and Babylon was cast down in violence, so has Jerusalem’s end come.

It is not as if the city of Jerusalem will disappear forever. But what will disappear forever is a covenant that is centered in Jerusalem. And there was no clearer way to announce this to the world than through the destruction of the temple.

In chapter 11, at the end of part two, the destruction of the temple was announced in code and somewhat anticlimactically. Here we see the same pattern emerge again. Verses 22-24 announce the temple’s destruction.

The destruction of the temple is signified in seven ways.

Music - The worship of song and instrument, an inextricable part of temple life, is taken away.

Craftsmanship - The temple’s beauty pointed towards heavenly glories, a wonder of the ancient world. Now it was in ashes.

Mill - The temple was built upon the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Chronicles 3:1). It was built upon a mill. Now, the bounty of this holy mill is gone forever.

Darkness - The candelabras that illuminate the holy places symbolized the eternal light that the temple was to be unto the nations. Here was the truth of God to be found. But with fire these lights went dark.

Divorce - God, the husband to Israel, was gone. His presence no longer dwelt there. The divorce was final.

Merchants - The temple priests had turned this holy place into a thing that could be sold. They made a profit on worship. They weren’t priests, they were merchants. Their blood would mingle with fire.

Blood - Like sacrifices, the blood of the martyrs stained the temple stones. So, on the Day of Vengeance, every one of these stones would be torn down.

Seven, being the number of completion. The temple’s destruction was complete. In fire and fury it fell on August 10th, 70 AD; wiped from the face of the earth.

How interesting though, that still standing in Rome is the Arch of Titus, weathering the millenia as an enduring celebration of Rome’s victory over Jerusalem. On its sides you can see temple treasures being paraded through the streets of Rome.

The fires that brought down the temple have been cool for so many centuries. It all seems so distant. And what bearing does it really have on our lives today?

In ways more glorious than we can possibly imagine, the rest of Revelation will answer that question. History decisively pivoted in 70 AD, and even now we bask in the glory of a new covenant, and the Christ who died for it.

He is worthy of all our worship! He is worthy of our every breath! Do not waste your breath running after money and pleasure. Do not turn the King into a means of your own self-righteousness. Without Him you are grasping in the dark, precariously teetering on the brink of unending fires. His nail-scarred hands are outstretched, in faith reach grab for Him and be saved! Let not Jerusalem’s fate be your own!