Revelation 18:1-3

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!’
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

Babylon the whore, representing the whole world system of corruption, the sensual, the intoxicating as a substitute for God has fallen, and an angel steps forward to interpret the situation for us. If you look carefully, you will notice that this is parallel to the oracle against Babylon in Isaiah 13:19-22 (cf. Jer. 51:37).

You may recall from our discussion of chapter 17 that the scene in which John saw Babylon riding the red beast took place in the wilderness. Scripture speaks of the wilderness as the abode of demons, jackals, owls and other wild creatures (Isa. 34:11-15; Jer. 9:10-12; Zeph. 2:13-15; Mal. 1:3).  In our text, we see the ruins of Babylon in a similar light, something of the desert wilderness full of detestable things. Babylon the whore, the adulteress has committed adultery with the kings of the earth and the peoples of the earth: Adultery is symbolic of idolatry because it replaces the true covenant partner with an imposter, just as idolatry replaces the true covenant partner with an imposter or pretender. Our true covenant partner is God, and anything or anyone that we replace God with forms an idolatrous relationship. This idolatrous relationship apart from God is the very purpose for which the system symbolized here as “Babylon” exists in this war between God and the dragon.

John also refers to “the maddening wine of her adulteries” which is the blood of the saints shed by the persecuting powers of this world over the centuries. At this point, the somewhat confusing picture of the whore and the red beast begins to clear up. You may recall that in chapter 17 we saw that both of them could represent Rome in John’s time, and all of the other persecuting powers that followed. Babylon represents the system of luxuries, sensual indulgences and false religions that impose themselves into God’s rightful place in the lives of so many people. The red beast represents the earthly power of nations and governments that seek to force these things on people who resist, and persecute those who insist on remaining faithful to God; the woman and the beast are partners in crime…

When we get back together, another voice takes up the lament, and in so doing the lament becomes an exhortation… see you then!