One of the angels said unto John, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Revelation 17:1-6).
The holy Jerusalem is spoken of as the “bride, the Lamb’s wife” and in righteousness and glory she shall shine forth before the nations and their kings during the millennium and in the new heaven and the new earth. Babylon is spoken of as the “great whore” and in filthiness and fornication she shall be associated with the Anti-Christ and shall commit fornication with the kings of the earth during the tribulation period. The holy Jerusalem is the mother of all the “children of promise,” but Babylon is “the mother of harlots,” compare Galatians 4:26-28 with Revelation 17:5. The nations that are saved shall be associated with Christ the Saviour in the holy city (Revelation 21:24-26) in the new heaven and the new earth; while all the nations and their inhabitants who will not hear the voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:3-4) will be associated with the abominable whore in her filthiness and fornication during the reign of the Anti-Christ.
Those “which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” will enjoy citizenship in the holy city where there is nothing that defileth and nothing that worketh abomination or maketh a lie; (Revelation 21:27) while those “whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” shall “wonder after the beast” and be made drunk with the wine of the fornication of the whore (Revelation 13:3; with 17:8 and 3).
Babylon shall fall in the day of judgment. Much shall she glorify herself and live deliciously during the reign of the Anti-Christ; and in the same proportion God shall measure unto her torment and sorrow in the day of His wrath (Revelation 18:7). “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men” (Revelation 18:8-13).
The Holy Spirit mentions twenty-eight different commodities to be merchandised by this great city, the mother of harlots, during the future days of her pride and glory. “Drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,” she shall traffic in the bodies and souls of men. It is no wonder that her judgment shall be swift, even in “one day” and in “one hour” of that day (Revelation 18:8 and 17).
The wicked merchants who will be made rich through her merchandise will “cast dust on their heads,” and cry, weep and wail while the wealthy city burns; but the command of the angel to the heavenly host will be, “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her” (Revelation 18:20).
The time of judgment for the wicked city Babylon will be the time of glory for the holy city of Jerusalem. The God of glory, who shall destroy Babylon in His wrath, shall make Jerusalem “a crown of glory in his hand.” When His wrath is poured out upon the great whore, He shall rejoice over Jerusalem as a “bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride.” His holy city, Jerusalem, shall be given a new name, which will be in keeping with her eternal glory, but the wicked city, Babylon, shall be “thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
