God caused the old Tower of Babel to fall because of an earthquake and a great windstorm. This tower was the pride of the city of Babylon, and it represented a great work of achievement by the people. It made those who worked on it feel great about who they were as a nation and a society.
Revelation 18:1-3… After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, with great authority; and the earth was lighted up from his glory. 2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a lurking place of every unclean exhalation and a lurking place of every unclean and hated bird! 3 For because of the wine of the anger of her fornication all the nations have fallen victim, and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury.”
Has not Babylon always been a place of false worship and the enemy of God? So, how has she become a dwelling place of demons? Who is this Babylon the Great that the Scriptures are speaking of?
When I read about the cup of the wine of her anger, I think back to Jeremiah prophesy about all the nations being made to drink from the cup of Gods rage.
Jeremiah 25:15-30… This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it. 16 They will drink, stagger, (vomit) and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them… all the kings of the north, both near and far from one another; that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. Finally, the king of Sheshach (Babylon) will drink after them…
Many scholars believe that this passage of Scripture is speaking about mystery Babylon. The word Sheshach itself hides the meeting of who is being spoken of.
27 “Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you. 28 When they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink! 29 For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them and say to them: The Lord roars from heaven; He raises His voice from His holy dwelling. He roars loudly over His grazing land; He calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 The tumult reaches to the ends of the earth because the Lord brings a case against the nations. He enters into judgment with all flesh. As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword— this is the Lord’s declaration.
This is a powerful proclamation against all the nations. At the time of this being written Jerusalem was being destroyed by Babylon. This prophecy began with the destruction of Jerusalem then Babylon was destroyed next. God’s judgments have not stopped, just look around and see the fighting that going on around the world today.
So, history has also shown us that Babylon was already destroyed by the time Revelation was written. How could it be destroyed again?
The prophecy of Jeremiah says the king of Babylon will be the last one who drinks from the cup of God’s wrath. But how could it be that of Babylon when it has already been destroyed?
Back to our reading of Revelation:
4 And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if YOU do not want to share with her in her sins, and if YOU do not want to receive part of her plagues. 5 For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. 6 Render to her even as she herself rendered, and do to her twice as much, yes, twice the number of the things she did; in the cup in which she put a mixture put twice as much of the mixture for her. 7 To the extent that she glorified herself and lived in shameless luxury, to that extent give her torment and mourning. For in her heart she keeps saying, ‘I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.’
This is one of the few places that God calls you to come out her, it is to keep you and I from sharing in her sins. Take heed!
8 That is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because Jehovah God, who judged her, is strong. 9 “And the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, 10 while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say, ‘Too bad, too bad, you great city, Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!’ 11 “Also, the traveling merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning over her, because there is no one to buy their full stock anymore, 12 a full stock of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet; and everything in scented wood and every sort of ivory object and every sort of object out of most precious wood and of copper and of iron and of marble; 13 also cinnamon and Indian spice and incense and perfumed oil and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and horses and coaches and slaves and human souls. 14 Yes, the fine fruit that your soul desired has departed from you, and all the dainty things and the gorgeous things have perished from you, and never again will people find them. 15 “The traveling merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of [their] fear of her torment and will weep and mourn, 16 saying, ‘Too bad, too bad—the great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, and richly adorned with gold ornament and precious stone and pearl, 17 because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!’ “And every ship captain and every man that voyages anywhere, and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out as they looked at the smoke from the burning of her and said, ‘What city is like the great city?’ 19 And they threw dust upon their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and said, ‘Too bad, too bad—the great city, in which all those having boats at sea became rich by reason of her costliness, because in one hour she has been devastated!’
If the Scripture is not talking about the original Babylon the great, who is it that God is speaking about?
Any city that patterns itself after Babylon could be that place which God is speaking of.
Babylon sat on a major waterway and was a commercial center. It took on a major building project to become a celebrated people throughout the earth. The people of Babylon were prideful, and they even challenged the authority of God. Take for example Los Angeles California, now look at New York city could they fit that definition? How about Singapore or even London England? Are we given any other clues about who this great city would be?
20 “Be glad over her, O heaven, also YOU holy ones and YOU apostles and YOU prophets, because God has judicially exacted punishment for YOU from her!” 21 And a strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: “Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again. 22 And the sound of singers who accompany themselves on the harp and of musicians and of flutists and of trumpeters will never be heard in you again, and no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again, and no sound of a millstone will ever be heard in you again, 23 and no light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; because your traveling merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, for by your spiritistic practice all the nations were misled. 24 Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
Notice that the Scripture indicates that nations were misled by her and that the blood of the prophets would be counted against her, all who have been slaughtered on the earth was contributed to her. She also practiced spiritism.
Could this be an organization? Could it be a community or even a country? Try praying to God and see if God will give you an answer so that you too can flee from Babylon the Great.
Writingwithlogos.com – Last Revised 1/21/25