Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 18:1

"After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory." — Revelation 18:1 (ASV)

So magnificent is the event about to be enacted that a dazzling angel of glory bears the divine news. Perhaps we can associate this glory with the Shekinah glory that, in Ezekiel’s vision, departed from the temple because of Israelite harlotry (Ezekiel 11:23) but later returned to the restored temple (Ezekiel 43:2).

In words similar to those of the prophets who encouraged the people of God as they faced ancient Babylon, the angel announces that Babylon the Great, Mother of all the earthly prostitute cities, has fallen (cf. Isaiah 21:9; 23:17; Jeremiah 51:8 with Rev 14:8; 18:2), using words reminiscent of the judgment announced against ancient Babylon (Isaiah 13:19–22; Isaiah 34:11; Jeremiah 50:39). “Demons” (GK 1228) are associated elsewhere with idolatry (see comments on 9:20 and 16:14). The “haunt” (GK 5871) is a watchtower; the evil spirits, watching over fallen Babylon like night birds or harpies waiting for their prey, build their nests in the broken towers that rise from the ashes of the city. She who was a great city has become a desert.

The prostitute city will be judged because of her surfeit of fornication (v.3).

The thought of 17:2 is expanded as we hear echoes of the judgments on ancient Tyre and Babylon. One of the great sins of Babylon was her luxury (cf. 18:7, 9). Because wealth may lead to pride, the prophets and John view surfeit as a manifestation of Babylon (Revelation 18:7; cf. Ezekiel 28:4–5, 16–18).