18:1-3 God Calls His People out of Babylon: Just before probation closes and the seven last plagues are poured out, “another angel” cries “mightily” and “the earth” is “lightened with his glory.” This angel represents a gracious message of salvation. It is the final and most powerful warning given to the world. It is so strong that every person on earth is forced to choose sides in the conflict between Christ and Satan. God’s people, energized by the Holy Spirit, take this message to the world with “great power.”

They provide a marvelous demonstration of God’s character of self-sacrificing love as they plead with the people to choose God and “worship Him,” reinforcing the first angel’s message of Revelation 14:6-7. They give the warning that “Babylon the great is fallen” repeating the second angel’s message of Revelation 14:8. They fervently implore God’s people who are still in Babylon to “come out of her” (vs. 4) and “be not partakers of her sins.” She has chosen to reject God, and her time of punishment is at hand when she will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God,” which is the third angel’s message of Revelation 14:9-11.

When this angel gives his loud cry, the “Christian” churches of the world have joined themselves to Babylon. The angel declares that they have “fallen,” and describes them as “the habitation of devils,” “the hold of every foul spirit” and as “a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” They have become spiritually, morally and doctrinally corrupt. They have rejected the Holy Spirit and embraced the most vile sins, chosen false doctrines over pure Biblical truth and have turned to spiritualism for wisdom and advice. Evil angels, posing as the spirits of dead loved ones, lead them astray; Satan himself appears as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), even going so far as to impersonate Christ. Thus, the churches will have cast aside their Biblical foundations are deceived.

18:4-8 The mighty call, “Come out of her my people,” strengthens as Babylon is reaching the height of her power, the time when she has the universal support of the kings of the earth. In contrast of God’s people who are showing His character of love to the world, the churches of Babylon have begun to persecute God’s commandment-keeping people. They demand the strict enforcement of the Sunday law and call for a death decree upon those who will not obey this man-made edict rather than God’s commandment. God’s people, who are still scattered among many denominations, see the contrast between those who give this message and those who persecute them. They recognize the voice of their Saviour as He calls them out of Babylon.

In Daniel’s time, after seventy years of captivity, God’s people were called to leave their comfortable homes, come out of Babylon and return to Israel. Jeremiah 51:6. When the call is given to come out of spiritual Babylon, God’s people who are in churches will reject Bible truth and approve of sin must give up their comfortable traditions and unBiblical doctrines and come out. Christ says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27.

Babylon views herself as a “queen” ruling over the kings of the earth and no longer powerless. She says I “am no widow;” she sees her rise to power and deems herself secure in heaven’s favor, but her “sins have reached unto heaven.” It is time for God’s judgments to fall.

The seven last plagues now fall on Babylon, the great city, and on all its inhabitants, those who have received the mark of the beast. See Revelation 16. The terms “one hour” (vss. 10, 17, 19) and “one day” (vs. 8) indicate that the plagues are sudden and only last a relatively short time before Babylon is completely destroyed.

18:9-24 In the rest of the chapter the angel depicts the destruction of Babylon in an allegorical manner, borrowing most of his imagery from portions of Isaiah 47, Jeremiah 50-51, and Ezekiel 26, 27.

The “Kings” and governments of the earth thought Babylon would establish God’s kingdom on this earth and solve the problems facing the world. Now they see all that they have worked for destroyed. They “lament” that his dream of an earthly utopia, which would not require dependence on God but only on an external display of surface piety, will never become reality.

The merchants watch the world crash down around them and their riches go up in smoke. They “weep and mourn” and destruction of the financial system which has provided them with riches and luxury at the expense of the less fortunate. The silver and gold, the grand houses and treasure—the gain of a lifetime has all become worthless. A righteous and upright character is the true treasure obtained in this life. The merchants have scorned as worthless the gold of a righteous character, and they have esteemed as priceless the material treasures of this world. Now they are left with nothing.

The multitudes see that they have been deluded by the religious leaders and rulers and taken advantage of by those in control of business. The glory, the glitter, and the promise of ease and luxury have faded to bitter disappointment. The splendor of this glorious new world under the combined power of church and state is seen to mask an inner evil and decay. When the people realize that the leaders they trusted have deceived them, and that they are now eternally lost, they “shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate…and burn her with fire.” Revelation 17:16.

“With violence” Babylon is “thrown down;” its destruction is complete. The sights and sounds of life are gone. She has been punished for her deceptions, for the souls she has lured to destruction, and for all the pain, misery, and suffering she has inflicted on the “prophets” and the “saints.”