“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her” (Revelation 18:8).

We’ve come full circle. The story began with Babylon coming to its end (16:19). Then one of the Vial angels told John that he was going to show what led to its demise (17:1). The story wove through chapter 17, then 13 and finally into this chapter. Here we return to the plagues.

“And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:19).

The warning of these plagues was one reason believers were called to get out of Babylon (18:4).

“One day” is similar to “one hour” (18:10, 17, 19). It does not express duration of time but figuratively reveals abruptness.[1] What does she experience? The immediate implication is that she becomes a widow and loses her children. Exactly what she had said would not happen – came true.

“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,” (vs 8)

Literal Babylon came to its end with Cyrus killing Belshazzer. The timing of “one day” suggests that “suddenly, in an instant”[2] apostate Babylon ceases.

John is inspired to begin this verse with “therefore.” “On account of” (dia touto) is a common prophetic expression that addresses cause.

“death, and mourning, and famine;” (vs 8)

Note the marked contrast given in this trilogy.

Babylon’s end is also Rome’s end.[3] This is the end of the papacy – the Roman Catholic Church.

“and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” (vs 8)

This echoes 17:16 where the ten horns (ten kingdoms of this world) “shall … burn her with fire.” In 16:19 Babylon was the object of God’s “cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.” We see this fascinating flow of judgment.

• Wine of God’s wrath (internal divine judgment) (16:19)

• Burning with fire (external judgment) (18:8)

This imagery is one of total loss – “ceasing to exist!” (Isaiah 34:8).

Burning with fire, whether God’s “final act” or after capture of a city in the ancient world, was the last act to rid all traces of the enemy’s memory.

Noah was promised that the earth would never be destroyed again by water (Genesis 9:15), the “rainbow promise.” But – it is in His blueprint to burn, totally annihilate, the earth with its unrepentant people (II Peter 3:10, 12). This imagery of Babylon (“she”) being “utterly” burned – represents God’s final act in ridding the universe of sin. There will be nothing left of Satan and his rebellion except for the scars of Christ. The universe will be “clean.”

“One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of his crucifixion. Upon his wounded head, upon his side, his hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet, beholding Christ in his glory, ‘He had bright beams coming out of his side; and there was the hiding of his power.’ [Hab. 3:4 …] That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God, – there is the Saviour's glory, there ‘the hiding of his power.’ ‘Mighty to save,’ through the sacrifice of redemption, he was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised God's mercy. And the tokens of his humiliation are his highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth his praise, and declare his power.”[4]

A wonderful contrast to those scars will be the vast throngs of the redeemed. They will be the judicial witnesses throughout eternity of Christ’s greatness.

The queen of Babylon, who loses all, now stands in another contrast to the King of the universe, who has gained all – His kingdom. A stunning, wonderful, elevating and never-ending theme to immerse the mind in and engross the imagination is the final outcome.

“Who judges her is a reminder that God is the ultimate judge. He may use agents to inflict that punishment as in 17:16-17, but the divine side of it is the ultimate reality.”[5]

“Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you” (Jeremiah 27:14-15).

Rome comes to its end by God’s mighty power.[6] The circle is now complete.

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