Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 18:20

"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her." — Revelation 18:20 (ASV)

THE CALL TO THE HOLY TO REJOICE.

Rejoice over her...—Better, Rejoice over her, O heaven, and the saints, and the apostles, and the prophets, because God has judged your judgment on (or, out of) her. The second portion of the chapter closes with this invitation to the saints to rejoice: they are summoned to rejoice because the law of retribution has worked on her. Your judgment (it is said to the saints) is judged on her. This does not mean a judgment that the saints have decreed, but the judgment that Babylon inflicted on the holy is now exacted from her (Compare to Revelation 18:6, Revelation 6:10, and Revelation 13:10).

Heaven, and every class of those whose citizenship has been in heaven, are invited by the heavenly voice to rejoice. The covetous and the worldly mourn; their minds were set upon a material glory, which has slipped away from their grasp. All saintly souls, whose affections have been towards righteousness and the righteous King, can rejoice, for the wealth of holiness is imperishable, and the fall of Babylon is the removal of one vast hindrance to holiness.

It has been argued that the verse represents the Apostles as being in heaven, and from this it has been inferred that all twelve must have died before the Apocalypse was written, and, if so, St. John was not the writer. The verse, however, has no reference whatever to the question: it is not meant to state who have passed into heaven and who have not. It is simply a summons to all who have fought on the side of their Lord to rejoice at the removal of one of the great obstacles to the manifestation of Christ’s kingdom. Thus, all holy people, whether on earth or in heaven, rejoice when any giant evil is swept away.