Revelation 19:2

 “For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot, who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.”

·        They praise Him for the truth of His word, and the righteousness of His providential conduct, especially in this great event – the ruin of Babylon (MH)

·        This section is really the climax of Revelation 18. In Revelation 18, Babylon’s friends mourned her fall; but here, God’s people celebrate it. (DG)

Deuteronomy 32:41  If I whet My glittering sword and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me.

Jeremiah 51:48  Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the LORD.

Revelation 19:1

 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia!  Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!

·        Their prayers are now turned into praises, their hosannas end in halleluiahs.  (MH)

·        Alleluia . . . Alleluia . . . Alleluia: This wonderful word, borrowed from Hebrew, occurs four times in Revelation 19, but nowhere else in the New Testament. It belongs here - because God’s people rejoice without restraint at His victory over Babylon.  (DG)

Genesis 16:10  Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”

Psalm 19:1  The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

Revelation 18:24

 “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

·        The extent of this charge is an indication that this great city is symbolic of the world system at large. There is no one literal city that is responsible for all who were slain on the earth.  (DG)

·        God takes the persecution of His people as a personal offense. Those who attack His people really attack Him.  (DG)

Jeremiah 51:49  As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.

2 Kings 9:7  You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

Revelation 18:23

 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore.  For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.

·        Sorcery is the ancient Greek word pharmakia, which means, “to prepare drugs.” The lure of commercial Babylon is like a drug addiction, fed by deceptive advertising. (DG)

·        The Babylonian system (since time began) had caused millions to offend the Lord and miss their opportunity for Heaven!  (JB)

Isaiah 23:8  Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are the honorable of the earth?

Nahum 3:4  Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, the mistress of sorceries, who sells nations through her harlotries, and families through her sorceries.

Revelation 18:22

 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore.  No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.

·        In graphic and poetic language, John describes how the industry and commerce of Babylon come to an end. (DG)

·        Pipers--flute players. "Musicians," painters and sculptors, have desecrated their art to lend fascination to the sensuous worship of corrupt Christendom.  (JFB)

Jeremiah 51:64  Then you shall say, ‘Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her.  And they shall be weary.

Revelation 18:21

 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.

·        Reminds us of what Jesus said in Matthew 18:6: But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. This applies to Babylon in Revelation 18, because she led others into sin. It is a terrible thing to sin unto yourself; it is even more terrible to lead others into sin.  (DG)

·        Will this fall hurt us? We will only be hurt to the extent that we invest ourselves in the mentality of commercial Babylon’s materialism and worldliness. (DG)

Isiah 51:63  Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.

Judges 9:53  But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.

Revelation 18:20

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”

·        Should God’s people rejoice when judgment comes? Yes, but we don’t rejoice in the destruction in judgment. Rather, we rejoice in the righteous resolution God’s judgment brings.  (DG)

·        The joy and triumph there was both in heaven and earth at the irrecoverable fall of Babylon (MH)

Isaiah 44:23  Sing, O heavens, for the LORD has done it!......

Jeremiah 51:48  Then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing joyously over Babylon; for the plunderers shall come to her from the north, says the LORD.