Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 18

And after these things. After the vision referred to in the previous chapter.

I saw another angel come down from heaven. Different from the one that had last appeared, and therefore coming to make a new communication to him. It is not unusual in this book that different communications should be entrusted to different angels. Compare to Revelation 14:6, 8-9, 15, 17-18.

Having great power. That is, he was one of the higher rank or order of angels.

And the earth was lightened with his glory. The usual representation respecting the heavenly beings. Compare to Exodus 24:16; Matthew 17:2; Luke 2:9; Acts 9:3.

This would, of course, add greatly to the magnificence of the scene.

And he cried mightily. Literally, "he cried with a strong great voice." See Revelation 10:3.

Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. See Barnes on Revelation 14:8.

The proclamation here is substantially the same as in that place, and no doubt the same thing is referred to.

And is become the habitation of devils. Of demons—in allusion to the common opinion that the demons inhabited abandoned cities, old ruins, and deserts. See Barnes on Matthew 12:43-45.

The language here is taken from the description of Babylon in Isaiah 13:20-22; and for a full illustration of the meaning, see Barnes on Isaiah 13:20 and following.

And the hold of every foul spirit—fulakh. A watch-post, station, haunt of such spirits. That is, they, as it were, kept guard there; were stationed there; haunted the place.

And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. That is, they would resort there and abide there as in a cage. The word translated "cage" is the same which is rendered "hold"—fulakh. In Isaiah 13:21, it is said, and owls shall dwell there; and in Isaiah 14:23, it is said that it would be a possession for the bittern.

The idea is that of utter desolation. The meaning here is that spiritual Babylon—Papal Rome (Revelation 14:8)—will be reduced to a state of utter desolation resembling that of the real Babylon.

It is not necessary to suppose this of the city of Rome itself, for that is not the object of the representation. It is the Papacy, represented under the image of the city and having its seat there. That is to be destroyed as utterly as was Babylon of old; that will become as odious, and loathsome, and detestable as the literal Babylon, the abode of monsters is.

The habitation of devils (Revelation 17:2; Isaiah 34:11, 14; Jeremiah 50:39; Jeremiah 51:37).

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (See Barnes on Revelation 14:8).

This is given as a reason why this utter ruin had come upon her. She had beguiled and corrupted the nations of the earth, leading them into estrangement from God, and into pollution and sin (See Barnes on Revelation 9:20-21).

And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Spiritual adultery; that is, she has been the means of seducing them from God and leading them into sinful practices.

And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The word rendered "abundance" here, commonly means power. It might here denote influence, though it may also mean number, vanity, wealth .

The word rendered delicacies—strēnos—occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means rudeness, insolence, pride; and hence revel, riot, luxury. It may be rendered here properly luxury or proud voluptuousness.

The reference is to such luxuries as are commonly found in a great, gay, and splendid city. These, of course, give rise to much traffic and furnish employment to many merchants and sailors, who thus procure a livelihood or become wealthy as the result of such traffic.

Babylon—or Papal Rome—is here represented under the image of such a luxurious city; and of course, when she fails, those who have thus been dependent on her and who have been enriched by her, have occasion for mourning and lamentation. It is not necessary to expect to find a literal fulfillment of this, for it is emblematic and symbolic.

The image of a great, rich, splendid, proud, and luxurious city having been employed to denote that Antichristian power, all that is said in this chapter follows, of course, on its fall. The general idea is that she was doomed to utter desolation, and all who were connected with her, far and near, would be involved in her ruin.

And I heard another voice from heaven. He does not say whether this was the voice of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God.

Come out of her, my people. The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two:

1. that they might not participate in her sins; and
2. that they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her.

The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following: Isaiah 48:20, Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing.Jeremiah 51:6, Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity.Jeremiah 51:45, My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord. .

That ye be not partakers of her sins. For the meaning of this expression, see Barnes on 1 Timothy 5:22.

It is implied here that by remaining in Babylon they would lend their sanction to its sins by their presence, and would, in all probability, become contaminated by the influence around them. This is a universal truth in regard to iniquity, and hence it is the duty of those who would be pure to come out from the world, and to separate themselves from all the associations of evil.

And that ye receive not of her plagues. This refers to the punishment that was to come upon her—a punishment they would certainly share if they remained in her. The judgment of God that was to come upon the guilty city would make no discrimination among those who were found there; and if they wished to escape these woes, they had to make their escape from her.

As applicable to Papal Rome, in view of her impending ruin, this means:

1. that there might be found in her some who were the true people of God;
2. that it was their duty to separate wholly from her—a command that not only justifies the Reformation but also would have made a longer continuance in communion with the Papacy, when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God;
3. that those who remain in such a communion must be regarded as partaking of her sin; and
4. that if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon her.

There never was any duty clearer than that of withdrawing from Papal Rome; there never has been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world separated itself forever from the sins and the plagues of the Papacy.

For her sins have reached unto heaven. So in Jeremiah 51:9, speaking of Babylon, it is said, For her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies. The meaning is not that the sins of this mystical Babylon were like a mass or pile so high as to reach to heaven, but that it had become so prominent as to attract the attention of God. Compare Genesis 4:10, The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. See also Genesis 18:20.

And God hath remembered her iniquities. He had seemed to forget them, or not to notice them, but now he acted as if they had come to his recollection. See Barnes on "Revelation 16:19".