Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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An Angel announces Babylon's Fall : Day 64 
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendour. With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 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. " (Revelation 18.1-3)
A Doom Song for Rome and Babylon
In this chapter, we have a form of prophetic literature common in the Old Testament called "A Doom Song." In this case, an angel shouted out with a loud voice the doom song of the city of Rome.
We have a similar doom song of ancient Babylon. "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendour and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. It will never be inhabited or dwelt in for all generations; no Arab will pitch his tent there, no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. But wild beasts will lie down there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there satyrs will dance. Hyenas will cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces, its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged." (1)
Edom's Doom Song
Here is the doom song of Edom. "
But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plummet of chaos over its nobles. . . .
Thorns shall grow over its strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. And wild beasts shall meet with hyenas, the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, there shall the night hag alight, and find for herself a resting place.
There shall the owl nest and lay and hatch and gather her young in her shadow; yea, there shall the kites be gathered, each one with her mate."
(Isaiah 34:11)
Nineveh's Doom Song
"And he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like the desert. Herds shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the field; the vulture and the hedgehog shall lodge in her capitals; the owl shall hoot in the window, the raven croak on the threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare. This is the exultant city that dwelt secure, that said to herself, "I am and there is none else." What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild beasts! Every one who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist." (Zephaniah 2:13-15)
Poetry of Passion
In spite of their grim foretelling of ruin these passages are all great passionate poetry. We are far from the Christian doctrine of forgiveness, but we are very close to the beating of the human heart.
Illuminated with God's Splendor
In our passage, the angel charged with the message of doom comes with the very light of God upon him, "the earth was illuminated by his splendor". No doubt John was thinking of an Old Testament prophecy, "He brought me to the gate, the gate facing east; and behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory." (Ezekiel 43:1,2) This angel, "So recently he has come from the Presence that in passing he brings a broad belt of light across the dark earth." ( H. B. Swete)
A Home for Demons
Surely the most dramatic part of the picture is the demons haunting the ruins, "a home for demons" The pagan gods banished from their reign disconsolately haunt the ruins of the temples where once their power had been supreme.
Babylon
The wicked city of Babylon contrasts with the heavenly city of Jerusalem. The original readers probably identified Babylon with Rome, but Babylon also symbolizes any system that is hostile to God.
Words to meditate on
How do our lives reflect the holiness and righteousness of God?
Words to pray
"Holy, holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty Merciful and mighty.
All thy works shall praise thy name, In earth and sky and sea." ()
Notes
(1) Isaiah 13:19-22 (2) see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades (3) Charles Haddon Spurgeon (4) John 11:25-26
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
