SEVEN FINAL VISIONS (2-1) | THE ANGEL FROM HEAVEN (REVELATION 18:1-3)
1. Revelation
a) John wrote Revelation while a prisoner on the Island of Patmos, approximately 85-95 A.D. Its purpose is to give encouragement and hope for all Christians to continue watching for the return and triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also is to warn of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure on that Last Day.
b) John wrote that Revelation is special because,“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).
c) A brief view of the Book of Revelation. It gives you some basic understanding of the book of Revelation.
2. Babylon Is Fallen
Revelation 18:1-3
18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
3. The Angel From Heaven
Revelation 18:1-3
a) Great authority
i) The angel John saw had "great authority and his glory illumined the earth" (Revelation 18:1). He signifies the authority of Christ which is over all the earth and greater than any earthly power.
b) Babylon
i) The angel cries out the first song; It begins, "Babylon the great, is fallen, fallen!" (Revelation 18:2). “Babylon the Great” was the name written on the forehead of the abominable woman who rode on the dragon (Revelation 17:5).
ii) Babylon was an ancient city, capital of the Chaldean superpower. When Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the kingdom, he destroyed Jerusalem and took captive its people including Daniel (Daniel 1:1-2). Later Nebuchadnezzar’s son Balshazzar reigned. He dishonoured God, so Babylon fell at the hands of the Medes and the Persians (Jeremiah 50-51, Daniel 5). During the times of Israel there had been a succession of super powers: Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman. The name “Babylon the Great” symbolizes the antichristian kingdom which, at the time John saw and recorded his visions, was embodied in the Roman empire.
c) A haunt of every unclean spirit
i) This kingdom is portrayed, in the rest of the angel’s song, as full of demonic influence, immorality and corruption (Revelation 18:2-3).
Revelation 18:1-3
18 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
3. The Angel From Heaven
Revelation 18:1-3
a) Great authority
i) The angel John saw had "great authority and his glory illumined the earth" (Revelation 18:1). He signifies the authority of Christ which is over all the earth and greater than any earthly power.
b) Babylon i) The angel cries out the first song; It begins, "Babylon the great, is fallen, fallen!" (Revelation 18:2). “Babylon the Great” was the name written on the forehead of the abominable woman who rode on the dragon (Revelation 17:5).
ii) Babylon was an ancient city, capital of the Chaldean superpower. When Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the kingdom, he destroyed Jerusalem and took captive its people including Daniel (Daniel 1:1-2). Later Nebuchadnezzar’s son Balshazzar reigned. He dishonoured God, so Babylon fell at the hands of the Medes and the Persians (Jeremiah 50-51, Daniel 5). During the times of Israel there had been a succession of super powers: Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman. The name “Babylon the Great” symbolizes the antichristian kingdom which, at the time John saw and recorded his visions, was embodied in the Roman empire.
c) A haunt of every unclean spirit
i) This kingdom is portrayed, in the rest of the angel’s song, as full of demonic influence, immorality and corruption (Revelation 18:2-3).
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