An angel was flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to the wicked, “Fear God, the Creator,
give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come.”  Another angel followed “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,” the great enemy, God’s great enemy, because she made the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.” When God’s judgment comes it seems only natural or characteristic of God, that it would include even His great enemies. In chapters 17 and 18 this judgment upon God’s great enemy, Babylon, is described. In Chapter 17 it is described from God’s vantage point. In Chapter 18 from man’s.

One of the angels who had the seven bowls spoke to John. “Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the
great harlot” not any harlot, the great harlot, “who sits on many waters with whom the kings committed im-
morality, and the wicked became drunk of the wine of her immorality.” Who is the great harlot? She will be
identified. John is carried away “in the Spirit,” he shall see judgment from God’s vantage point. This is what he sees. A woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names having seven heads and 10 horns.
The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. How beautiful she is to appear! But we know, things aren’t always as they seem. In her hands is a gold cup, full of abominations and unclean things of her immorality and on her forehead a name “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” God knows the real nature of this woman. She is the mother of harlots, the great harlot, an abomination to the Lord, she is Babylon the great, the great enemy of God. She is descriptive of the great enemy Satan. The harlot whom John sees is Babylon the great. But remember the words of 14:8. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon.” This woman, harlot, or whatever is fallen. John goes on to tell us how. He sees the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses of Jesus, and beginning to understand the real nature of this woman, he marvels greatly at the mighty nature of her wickedness. But John apparently hasn’t learned yet that things aren’t always what they seem. The angel asks him “Why do you marvel?” And then John is told the real explanation of the woman on the beast. The beast John saw was and is not and is about to come out of the abyss to go to destruction. This beast is a far cry from the one who was and is and will come, the living, eternal One. I think John now really begins to understand. The ones who marvel at this beast are the wicked. John realizes that he need not marvel at this creature. The angel continues to describe the nature of the beast. “Here is wisdom” as in 13:9, 18, 14:12, here is something John should take note of. The seven heads are seven mountains which are seven kings. Maybe John should marvel! But wait. Of these kings, five have fallen, one is, and one comes to reign for just a little while. They aren’t any kind of powerful kings at all. The beast is like an eighth king, he also goes to destruction. John doesn’t need to marvel at this beast. The ten horns are ten kings without a kingdom and they have power to reign for just one hour. They aren’t really anything at all. They give what little power they do have to the beast. John now knows that he doesn’t have to marvel at this beast. He realizes that the beast is nothing more than a spooky, rubber mask. It looks scary but it really can’t harm anyone. These kings, this beast, whatever you want to call them, wage war against the Lamb. But the King of kings, the Lord of Lords and His chosen and faithful are the ones who overcome. This would have been a great assurance to John. But remember, the purpose of this chapter is to show that God will judge His great enemy Babylon. In the preceding verses, He showed John the real nature of His creature and now He shows how His judgment comes. The waters that the harlot sits on are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. She really does appear to have power. but the ten horns and the beast will hate the harlot and they will make her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire. God puts it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose of final judgment. He uses these wicked to carry out His purposes. The great harlot is punished by the very ones she committed her sins with. Her sin brings about its own punishment. God uses the sin of the wicked to bring about their punishment, and that is how God judges the wicked. And the woman whom John saw is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. We can be sure who the woman is.

And now another angel comes to earth, and the whole earth is illumined with his glory. John saw how Babylon is judged from God’s vantage point, that is looking at the real nature of Babylon and using her very sins to bring about her punishment, and now John will see how Babylon is judged from man’s vantage point. The angel cried out with a mighty voice. “Fallen, Fallen is Babylon the great.” She becomes a gross, ugly
place, a dwelling place for, demons, unclean spirits, and unclean birds. All the nations, the kings of the
earth, and the merchants have sinned with her. And they are going to be affected by the punishment of this
evil city. First, the righteous are summoned, “Come, do not participate in her sins so that you do not receive her plagues.” Babylon’s sin has piled up, high as heaven. God sees that these sins must be punished.
She is to be paid back according to the deeds she had done. To the degree she glorified herself - to the
same degree she receives torment and mourning. Because she exalted herself highly, one day her plagues will come, pestilence, mourning and famine will come and she will be burned up because God who judges is strong - God pays her back accordingly. And as I said those who committed sins with her, will feel the effects of her punishment. The kings of the earth weep and lament, and stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment. They cry “Woe, Woe, to the great and strong city Babylon, judgment came in one hour.” They know how easily God can judge their sins. The merchants of the earth weep and mourn. No one buys their cargoes anymore. They feel the direct result. They became rich from her, and they too stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment. They cry out also for they too realize how easily God can judge their sins. And finally the shipmasters and all who whork with them cry out “What is like the great city?” They throw dust on their heads and weep and mourn. Their cry is the same as that of the kings and merchants. They too realize how easily God can punish their sins. All these groups weep and mourn because of the effect that the punishment of Babylon has on them. When judgment is viewed from man’s view point, the most noticeable thing is how it directly effects man. This one thing John clearly points out. But the faithful, rejoice!! The saints, the apostles, the prophets are thrilled because God pronounced judgment. This is the answer they’ve been waiting for. Hallelujah! for it is here. The lesson that can be learned here is not that man should be concerned with how judgment of sin will effect him but that man should be concerned with whether or not he is counted among the faithful so that no matter what judgment occurs or what the consequences are, he can rejoice because he is among the faithful.

And a strong angel took up a great millstone and threw it into the sea. Here is the judgment of Babylon. As
the millstone was thrown down, so will Babylon and it will not be found any longer. Music will be heard no
longer, craftsman will be found no longer, the sound of the mill will be heard no longer, the light of the lamp
will shine no longer, and the voice of the bride and groom will be heard no longer. All that the great city
of Babylon ever had or was ceases and is found no more. The reason for this was because of its evil nature, the nations were deceived, and prophets and saints were slain.

In summary, Chapter 17 shows us how God looks at sin and tells us that there must be judgment. In Chapter
18 we see how man becomes involved with sin and how he is concerned with the effects of sin and how it is important for him to be considered among the faithful. We also learned in these chapters that sin definitely
brings about its own punishment and just as important that the judgment that comes is deserved. But I do not desire to end this intro on that note. The thing which excites me the most is not that Babylon will be punished and all that, but the verse in Chapter 17. “The Lamb, because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and those who are with Him, called, chosen, and faithful, will overcome them.” Praise the Lord! We shall overcome.!