C. Judgment of Babylon/Rome (18:1-24)

In The Aeneid Virgil voiced the Roman dream of an everlasting empire (1.272-90; 12.828-23). Contrary to Virgil’s assumptions of an eternal destiny, John composed ch. 18 as a dirge lauding the demise of the supposedly eternal city. The chapter contains three laments (vv.10, 16, 19) and three pronouncements (vv.1-3, 4-8, 21-24). Each lament contains a double woe, a remembrance, and a statement citing the swiftness of Babylon’s fall. The three laments use the words “weep,” “mourn” or “mourning,” and “cry” (vv.9, 19, 15, 16, 19). Kings, merchants, and sailors voice the laments. Irony tinges John’s use of repetition as he announces that the great city (vv.10, 16, 18, 19, 21) fell in one hour (vv.10, 17, 19). Anyone who has marveled at the beauty and grandeur of the Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum should appreciate John’s gall in describing Rome as a foul prison (v.2). Evil so encases Rome that John calls his people to withdraw from Roman society so that they will not share in her sins (v.4). John so disagreed with Roman beliefs, norms, and behavior that he sought to separate the saints from ethical compromise with and assimilation into pagan society. The church in Revelation is to be a people of God who are a holy, consecrated alternative to the inferior values of the dominant pagan society—a church against culture. The church is to be a holy people. The church’s ethic emerges from her essence as God’s people. As Leon Hynson proclaims, “The church is called to help heal the world and this is carried on through the spiritual renewal of persons and the improvement of societies” (Hynson, 45). The contemporary church cannot withdraw from society as John advocated.

Any institution that misuses wealth, power, and pleasure resembles Babylon. Not only does John judge Babylon, but he implores his people to avoid being enticed and then entrapped by the illusion that prosperity and power protect persons and institutions from the ultimate demands of God’s justice. That message has contemporary relevance. The seductive powers of wealth, social status, and culture threaten the church because they are subtle deceivers that blur the distinction between the values of God and the values of the world.