The Great Divorce: The Fall of the Harlot City Text: Revelation 18:1-3
Introduction: Getting the Address Right
The book of Revelation is not a locked diary, and it is certainly not a crystal ball for predicting newspaper headlines. It is a revelation, an unveiling, of Jesus Christ. It was written to be understood by the first-century saints who were in the thick of it. And if we are to understand it, we must learn to read it over their shoulders, with their Old Testament in hand. For centuries, interpreters have tried to pin the tail on the apocalyptic donkey, identifying Babylon with papal Rome, or Moscow, or New York City, or some future one-world government. But the text itself gives us the address, and it is an address that Jesus Himself confirmed. The great city, the harlot drunk on the blood of the saints, is first-century, apostate Jerusalem.
In Revelation 11:8, the "great city" is explicitly identified as the place "where also their Lord was crucified." That is not a riddle. That is a street sign. The Old Testament prophets consistently used the language of harlotry and adultery to describe covenant unfaithfulness. When Israel, the bride of Yahweh, went chasing after other gods and other political saviors, she was called a whore (Ezekiel 16; Jeremiah 3). Babylon, in the Old Testament, was the pagan oppressor, but Jerusalem, when she became unfaithful, became Babylonish. She adopted the ways of the pagans. She became the new Babylon, the covenant-breaking city that persecuted the prophets and killed the Son.
So when we come to Revelation 18, we are not witnessing the fall of some distant, future metropolis. We are witnessing the final, terrible, and just divorce decree being served on the unfaithful wife. This is the culmination of the judgment that Jesus prophesied would fall upon "this generation" (Matthew 24:34). The events described here are the heavenly commentary on the earthly events of A.D. 70, when the Roman armies, acting as God's unwitting axe, brought Jerusalem to utter ruin. This is not just history; it is covenant history. It is the story of God's faithfulness to His promises, both the promises of blessing to the faithful remnant, the true Israel which is the Church, and the promises of curse to the covenant-breakers.
This chapter is a funeral dirge for a city that chose to be a harlot instead of a bride. It is a declaration of bankruptcy for a nation that sold its birthright. And it is a glorious announcement of freedom for the people of God, who are called to come out of her, lest they share in her sins and receive of her plagues.
The Text
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.
And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “FALLEN, FALLEN IS BABYLON THE GREAT! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean bird and a prison of every unclean and hateful beast.
For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her sensuality.”
(Revelation 18:1-3 LSB)
The Glorious Announcement (v. 1)
We begin with the messenger. The message is momentous, and so the one who carries it is glorious.
"After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory." (Revelation 18:1 LSB)
John sees "another angel." This is not to be taken as some run-of-the-mill angelic being. The description here is weighty. He comes "down from heaven," indicating that this is a divine intervention into human history. He has "great authority," which means the message he brings is not a suggestion; it is a verdict from the high court of heaven. And the earth itself was "illumined with his glory."
This is language that echoes the glory of God Himself. In Ezekiel's vision, the glory of the God of Israel comes and "the earth shone with his glory" (Ezekiel 43:2). While it is best not to be dogmatic that this angel is Christ Himself, he is certainly a high-ranking minister of Christ's court, reflecting the glory of his King. The point is this: the fall of Babylon is not a minor event. It is a world-altering, history-shaping event, and its announcement is accompanied by the brilliant light of heaven breaking into the darkness of the world. The glory of God is manifested in His judgments. When God judges sin, His holiness, justice, and power are put on display for all to see. The fall of Jerusalem was not a back-alley political squabble; it was a display of the glory of the ascended Christ, vindicating His name and His people.
The Divine Verdict (v. 2)
The angel with great authority delivers his message, and it is a final, definitive declaration of ruin.
"And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “FALLEN, FALLEN IS BABYLON THE GREAT! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean bird and a prison of every unclean and hateful beast." (Revelation 18:2 LSB)
The cry is "with a mighty voice." This is for public proclamation, not for private ears. The verdict is shouted from the heavens. "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!" This repetition echoes the prophecy against the original Babylon in Isaiah 21:9. The verb is in the past tense, a prophetic perfect. From heaven's perspective, it is already done. The judgment is so certain that it can be spoken of as a completed action. Though the Roman legions had not yet surrounded the city when John wrote, the decree had gone out from the throne. It was a done deal.
And what is the result of this fall? She has become a "dwelling place of demons." This is decreation language. When God judges a rebellious city, He un-creates it. He turns a garden into a wilderness. The Old Testament prophets used this exact imagery to describe the desolation of a city under God's wrath. Isaiah said of Babylon, "But wild beasts of the desert will lie there, and their houses will be full of owls; ostriches will dwell there, and wild goats will caper there" (Isaiah 13:21). Jeremiah said something similar (Jeremiah 50:39). This is what happens when God's protective presence is withdrawn. When a people or a city rejects God, they do not become a neutral vacuum. They become a haunt for demons. Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does the spiritual realm. If the Holy Spirit is driven out, unclean spirits move in.
Apostate Jerusalem, the city that was meant to be the dwelling place of God, had become so corrupt that upon her destruction, she is rendered fit only for demonic habitation. She is a "prison" or a "cage" for every unclean thing. This is a picture of utter spiritual desolation. The city that was supposed to be a light to the nations had become a cage of spiritual filth, a haunted house on the world stage. This is a terrifying warning. Any church, any nation, any family that was once covenanted to God and then turns its back on Him does not simply revert to a state of pagan innocence. It becomes something far worse: a demonic ruin.
The Stated Reasons (v. 3)
God is not arbitrary. His judgments are always just, and the reasons for this cataclysmic judgment are laid bare for all to see.
"For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her sensuality." (Revelation 18:3 LSB)
Here we find a three-fold indictment that explains the "why" behind the fall. First, "all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality." The sin is "sexual immorality," which in prophetic language is code for idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness. Jerusalem, the harlot city, had not kept her sin to herself. She had exported it. She was the one who was supposed to teach the nations the ways of God, but instead, she taught them her idolatries. The "wine" is intoxicating; it makes men lose their judgment. And this wine is mixed with "wrath." Her sin was not just a private affair; it was an act of rebellion that incurred the wrath of God, and she served this toxic cocktail to the surrounding nations.
Second, "the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her." This refers to the political alliances that apostate Israel made with pagan powers. Instead of trusting in Yahweh her husband, she hopped into bed with Rome, with the Herodians, with whomever she thought could guarantee her security and prosperity. The ultimate expression of this was when the chief priests declared before Pilate, "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). That was the consummation of the affair. They openly renounced their divine King in favor of a pagan emperor. This political harlotry was a direct assault on the crown rights of Jesus Christ.
Third, "the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her sensuality." The temple in Jerusalem had become a massive commercial enterprise. It was a racket. Jesus cleansed the temple twice, calling it a "den of robbers." The system was corrupt. There was a corrupt alliance between the religious authorities and the commercial powers. They made merchandise of the people of God. This unholy mixture of false religion and greedy commerce made many people rich. Her "sensuality" or "luxury" points to a system built on self-indulgence and economic exploitation, all under a veneer of piety. When a church gets in bed with the world's economic and political systems for its own gain, it has become a harlot, and judgment is not far behind.
Conclusion: Come Out of Her
This is not simply a history lesson about a judgment that fell two thousand years ago. The principle is perennial. The spirit of Babylon is always seeking to infiltrate the church. Babylon is any system, religious or secular, that demands ultimate allegiance in place of Christ. It is any system that mixes idolatry with the worship of God, that trusts in political power instead of the power of the gospel, and that uses religion as a means for material gain.
The voice from heaven will soon cry out, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). That call echoes down to us today. We are called to be a distinct people. We are called to be a faithful bride, not a worldly harlot. We must constantly be on guard against the temptation to commit sexual immorality with the kings of the earth, trusting in political solutions to solve spiritual problems. We must be on guard against the merchants who would turn the gospel into a commodity and the church into a business.
The fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a glorious and terrible thing. It was the final end of the old covenant order, with its temple and sacrifices, which were always meant to point to Christ. Their destruction cleared the ground for the new covenant temple, the Church of Jesus Christ, to fill the whole earth. The harlot was judged so that the true Bride could be revealed.
Therefore, let us not mourn the fall of Babylon. Let us rejoice in the judgment of God, for it is always righteous. And let us take heed. Let us examine our own hearts, our own churches, and our own nation, and where we see the spirit of Babylon at work, let us repent. Let us come out from among her, and be separate. For our King is glorious, His authority is absolute, and His judgment is sure.