Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.”
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 12, 13 Of her fornication, whereby God was provoked to wrath.
Of her fornication, whereby God was provoked to wrath.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–13 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is…
8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Ver. 8. And there followed another angel] Martin Luther with his book De Captivitate Babylonia, which when Bugenhagius first read, he rashly censured for the most pestilent book that ever was written; but upon better deliberation he retracted his former sentence, and became a means to convert many others.
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Of the wine of the wrath] Of the intoxicating, enraging wine, that sets men a madding after her:
" Nam Venus in vinis, ignis in igne furit."
There is a story of Walter Mapes, sometime Archdeacon of Oxford, who relating the pope’s gross simony, {a} concludes his narration thus, Sit tamen Domina materque nostra Roma baculus in aqua fractus: et absit credere quae vidimus. Rome had ravished this man out of his wits.
{a} The act or practice of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, or emoluments; traffic in sacred things. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8–13 The apostle is shown, that other messengers of God…
The apostle is shown, that other messengers of God should come forth, during the reign of antichrist, that should declare his ruin as certainly as if it were already effected.
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city: these words are taken from Isa 21:9, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath brokers unto the ground. So Jer 51:8, Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. There is no doubt but both the prophets spake of that Babylon into which the Jews were carried captive; but that Babylon was typical of another Babylon, called here the
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great city, and great Babylon, Rev 16:19; 17:5; 18:10,21; and the mother of harlots, Rev 17:5. There neither is, nor ever was, any city in the world to whom these things could agree, but to Rome, rightly enough called the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth, Rev 17:5, both in respect of carnal filthiness there tolerated to make the bishop of Rome a revenue, and spiritual whoredom, which is idolatry: called also Sodom and Egypt, Rev 11:8, the former of which was famous for beastly lusts, the latter for idolatry, and oppression of God’s Israel. The ruin of old Babylon is denounced by the prophet, Isa 21:9, because of her idolatry in image worship, for which the new Babylon is every whit as famous.
Because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: the word translated wrath, though it oft so signifies, yet should rather be here translated poison, as we translate it, Deu 32:33; Job 20:16. The LXX. in those texts use the same word that is here used, θυμος; so the sense is, with the poisonous wine of her idolatry, intimating to us the venomous condition of Romish superstitions and idolatries, to entice ignorant people to be in love with them; as harlots use with their philters, or poisoned cups, to make men in love with them. If we better approve of our translation of the term wrath, the wine of the wrath of her fornication signifieth her fornication which brings wrath upon them that join with her in it.
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William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 12, 13 Here we have the second angel’s proclamation, denouncing the…
Here we have the second angel’s proclamation, denouncing the fall of Babylon, whose fall is in the prophecy threatened, and in the threatening ingeminated, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; to show the certainty of her downfall.
And it is observable how this comes in immediately after the restoring of the gospel, mentioned in the foregoing verses, I saw an angel fly, having the everlasting gospel to preach, Rev 14:6. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, Rev 14:8.
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Whence learn, That it is the zealous and faithful preaching of the gospel which is the ruin of antichrist, and the means of his downfall and destruction: this is the breath of the Lord’s mouth, by which he is consumed: Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
Quest. What is here meant by Babylon?
Ans. All agree that literal Babylon is not here meant, which was the chief city of Chaldea, but spoken figuratively, and it is generally agreed that by Babylon is Rome here intended: some will have it Rome Pagan, under the heathen emperors, others Rome Papal, under the antichristian tyranny, and that she is paralleled with Babylon for her idolatry and cruelty, yea, far exceeding her in both, for in her is found the blood of the prophets, of the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth, Rev 18:24.
Observe next, Her ruin declared in the present tense, is fallen; as if already accompolished; and ingeminated, is fallen, is fallen; which repetition denotes both the certainty of her fall, and the joy which the church should express upon that occasion: though Babylon be never so great, yet she shall fall, she shall assuredly fall; and it is the church’s duty to pray, that as it is in the prophecy, so it may be in the history, that Babylon is fallen, and to express the highest joy upon that great occasion.
Observe lastly, the cause of Babylon’s ruin is here assigned, she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Where note, 1. That by fornication her errors, idolatries, and false worship, are understood.
Note, 2. That these are compared to wine upon several accounts. Is wine pleasant to the palate? so is idolatry to corrupt nature, which is hugely pleased with a pompous worship and a sensual religion. is wine inflaming: so is idolatry; inflaming themselves with idols, Isa 57:5 Does the wine deceive, and insensibly steal upon the drinker, and intoxicate him ere he is aware of it: so doth error and idolatry grow upon persons by insensible degrees; and accordingly, Rev 13:14 the beast is said to deceive them that dwell on the earth: in a word, as persons drunk with wine are altogether incapable of counsel and advice from their best friends, in like manner such as are drunk with error and idolatry, with the wine of the whore’s fornication, are besotted, benumbed, will not acknowledge their error, nor receive instruction.
Note, 3. That this wine, as sweet as it is, is called the wine of wrath, partly because it inflames them that are drunk therewith with rage and cruel fury against sincere worshippers, and partly because it brings the wrath of God upon them that drink it: little do idolaters think of this, because it is a worship of their own invention, it pleases them because it feasts their outward senses, it is grateful as wine unto them; but they forget that it is wine mixed with wrath, even with the wrath of God, the dregs of which shall be wrung out, and all idolaters shall drink them up.
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Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v13 Here we have the vision of the harvest and…
Here we have the vision of the harvest and vintage, introduced with a solemn preface. Observe,
I. The preface, Rev 14:13. Here note, 1. Whence this prophecy about the harvest came: it came down from heaven, and not from men, and therefore it is of certain truth and great authority. 2. How it was to be preserved and published - by writing; it was to be a matter of record, that the people of God might have recourse to it for their support and comfort upon all occasions. 3. What it principally intended, and that is, to show the blessedness of all the faithful saints and servants of God, both in death and after death: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth, etc. Here observe, (1.) The description of those that are and shall be blessed - such as die in the Lord, either die in the cause of Christ, or rather die in a state of vital union with Christ, such as are found in Christ when death comes. (2.) The demonstration of this blessedness: They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. [1.] They are blessed in their rest; they rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. [2.] They are blessed in their recompence: Their works follow them; they do not go before them as their title, or price of purchase, but follow them as their evidence of having lived and died in the Lord; and the memory of them will be pleasant, and the reward glorious, far above the merit of all their services and sufferings. [3.] They are happy in the time of their dying, when they have lived to see the cause of God reviving, the peace of the church returning, and the wrath of God falling upon their idolatrous cruel enemies. Such times are good times to die in; they have Simeon's desire: Now, Lord, let thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And all this is ratified and confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit witnessing with their spirits and with the written word.
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II. We have the vision itself, represented by a harvest and a vintage.
1. By a harvest (Rev 14:14, Rev 14:15), an emblem that sometimes signifies the cutting down of the wicked, when ripe for ruin, by the judgments of God, and sometimes the gathering in of the righteous, when ripe for heaven, by the mercy of God. This seems rather to represent God's judgments against the wicked: and here observe,
(1.) The Lord of the harvest - one so like unto the Son of man that he was the same, even the Lord Jesus, who is described, [1.] By the chariot in which he sat - a white cloud, a cloud that had a bright side turned to the church, how dark soever it might be to the wicked. [2.] By the ensign of his power: On his head was a golden crown, authority to do all that he did and whatsoever he would do. [3.] By the instrument of his providences: In his hand a sharp sickle. [4.] By the solicitations he had from the temple to perform this great work. What he did, he was desired to do by his people; and, though he was resolved to do it, he would for this thing be sought unto by them, and so it should be in return to their prayers.
(2.) The harvest-work, which is, to thrust the sickle into the corn, and reap the field. The sickle is the sword of God's justice; the field is the world; reaping is cutting the inhabitants of the earth down and carrying them off.
(3.) The harvest-time; and this is when the corn is ripe, when the measure of the sin of men is filled up, and they are ripe for destruction. The most inveterate enemies of Christ and his church are not destroyed till by their sin they are ripe for ruin, and then he will spare them no longer; he will thrust in his sickle, and the earth shall be reaped.
2. By a vintage, Rev 14:17. Some think that these two are only different emblems of the same judgment; others that they refer to distinct events of providence before the end of all things. Observe, (1.) To whom this vintage-work was committed - to an angel, another angel that came out from the altar, that is, from the holiest of all in heaven. (2.) At whose request this vintage-work was undertaken: it was, as before, at the cry of an angel out of the temple, the ministers and churches of God on earth. (3.) The work of the vintage, which consists of two parts: - [1.] The cutting off, and gathering, the clusters of the vine, which were now ripe and ready, fully ripe, Rev 14:18. [2.] Casting these grapes into the wine-press (Rev 14:19); here we are told, First, What was the wine-press: it was the wrath of God, the fire of his indignation, some terrible calamity, very probably the sword, shedding the blood of the wicked. Secondly, Where was the place of the wine-press - without the city, where the army lay that came against Babylon. Thirdly, The quantity of the wine, that is, of the blood that was drawn forth by this judgment: it was, for depth, up to the horses' bridles, and, for breadth and length, a thousand and six hundred furlongs (Rev 14:20); that is, say some, 200 Italian miles, which is thought to be the measure of the holy land, and may be meant of the patrimony of the holy see, encompassing the city of Rome. But here we are left of doubtful conjectures. Perhaps this great event has not yet had its accomplishment, but the vision is for an appointed time; and therefore, though it may seem to tarry, we are to wait for it. But who shall live when the Lord does this?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–13 And there followed another angel,.... A "second", as the…
And there followed another angel,.... A "second", as the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, and the Syriac version add; and the Arabic version reads, "and the second angel followed"; another set of Gospel ministers, who will immediately follow upon the former, proclaiming the fall of Babylon, which will be brought about through the preaching of the everlasting Gospel. Some think the Waldenses and Albigenses are here designed, who gave a great blow to Babylon, and laid a foundation for her ruin. Others have thought that Luther, and the reformers of his times, are intended, who gave a deadly blow to Babylon, and she has been falling ever since: but to me it appears, that a set of ministers in the spiritual reign of Christ are meant, who will not only signify the fall of Babylon to be certain, and near at hand, but will live to see and declare her actual fall, as follows:
saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city; which is to be understood not of the world in general, which will not now be come to an end, for all nations of the world are distinguished from this Babylon in the next clause, and is only represented as a city, though a great one; nor of Babylon in Chaldea, which was fallen many hundreds of years before this vision; nor is there any likelihood of its being restored, nor any reason to believe that it will ever more be the seat of empire over all the nations and kings of the earth, as the Babylon mentioned in this book is, Rev 17:5 though undoubtedly the allusion is to that Babylon, and the very words are used which express the fall of it, and are taken from it; see Isa 21:9 but this is to be understood of Rome, which all along in this book is called the great city; see Rev 11:8 and not of Rome Pagan, for that is fallen already; and the account of the fall of that is given before, at the opening of the sixth seal, and the casting the dragon out of heaven, upon the war there, between Michael and him, though Mr. Daubuz is of opinion that this is here meant; but of Rome Papal, called Babylon the great, Rev 16:5 and so the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions, read here; and the Romish antichrist is so called, because that city was famous for its pride and haughtiness, for its tyranny and cruelty, and for its idolatry; and indeed its name, which signifies "confusion", well agrees with the Papacy, which is a confused mixture of Judaism, Paganism, and Christianity: so Rome is called Babel in some ancient writings of the Jews (o), where some copies read "Babel", others read "Rome"; and Tertullian, who wrote long before the appearance of the Romish antichrist, says (p), with our John, Babylon is a figure of the Roman city: and of this it is said, that it "is fallen, is fallen"; which words are repeated for the certain confirmation of it, as matter of fact; for the fall of antichrist will certainly be in the spiritual reign of Christ, in the Philadelphian church state; See Gill on Rev 3:9 now will Babylon come in remembrance before God, and he will pour out the vials of his wrath upon her, and will give men an aversion to her; and through the preaching of the Gospel she will fall, just as the walls of Jericho fell at the sounding of the rams' horns: the reason of which fall will be,
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because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication: by her "fornication" is meant the idolatry of the church of Rome; so the idolatry of Israel and Judah is often expressed in the Old Testament by fornication and whoredoms; see Jer 3:6 and the wine of it designs the alluring methods used to draw into it; such as the riches and honours, and pleasures of this world, promised to men, and the great appearances of holiness and religion, the deceivableness of unrighteousness, the miracles, signs, and lying wonders done by them, by which men are made sottish and stupid, and induced to believe a lie; just as wine intoxicates, and inclines and excites to lust: and by "the wrath" of it is meant either the heat of lust unto it, or the wrath of God against them which is stirred up by it; and now the aggravation of her sin is, that she not only drinks of this wine herself, or commits idolatry, being instigated to it by the allurements of it, though she hereby incurs the displeasure and wrath of God, but she draws all nations into the same idolatrous practices.
(o) Zohar in Numb. fol. 103. 4. & Raya Mchimna, apud ib. in Exod. fol. 49. 3. (p) Adv. Judaeos, c. 9. & Adv. Marcion. l. 3. c. 13.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8–13 And another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen -…
And another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen - With the overthrow of Babylon, that of all the enemies of Christ, and, consequently, happier times, are connected. Babylon the great - So the city of Rome is called upon many accounts. Babylon was magnificent, strong, proud, powerful. So is Rome also. Babylon was first, Rome afterwards, the residence of the emperors of the world. What Babylon was to Israel of old, Roman hath been both to the literal and spiritual "Israel of God." Hence the liberty of the ancient Jews was connected with the overthrow of the Babylonish empire. And when Rome is finally overthrown, then the people of God will be at liberty. Whenever Babylon is mentioned in this book, the great is added, to teach us that Rome then commenced Babylon, when it commenced the great city; when it swallowed up the Grecian monarchy and its fragments, Syria in particular; and, in consequence of this, obtained dominion over Jerusalem about sixty years before the birth of Christ. Then it began, but it will not cease to be Babylon till it is finally destroyed. Its spiritual greatness began in the fifth century, and increased from age to age. It seems it will come to its utmost height just before its final overthrow. Her fornication is her idolatry; invocation of saints and angels; worship of images; human traditions; with all that outward pomp, yea, and that fierce and bloody zeal, wherewith she pretends to serve God. But with spiritual fornication, as elsewhere, so in Rome, fleshly fornication is joined abundantly. Witness the stews there, licensed by the Pope, which are no inconsiderable branch of his revenue. This is fitly compared, to wine, because of its intoxicating nature. Of this wine she hath, indeed, made all nations drink - More especially by her later missions. We may observe, this making them drink is not ascribed to the beast, but to Babylon. For Rome itself, the Roman inquisitions, congregations, and Jesuits, continually propagate the idolatrous doctrines and practices, with or without the consent of this or that Pope, who himself is not secure from their censure.
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Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8–13 Verse 8. Babylon is fallen, is fallen] This is…
Verse 8. Babylon is fallen, is fallen] This is generally understood to be a prediction concerning Rome; and it is certain that Rome, in the rabbinical writings, is termed Babylon.
That great city] Among the same writers this city is styled קרתא רבתא karta rabbetha, the great city; and רומי רבתא Romi rabbetha, the great Rome. But which Rome is meant? Pagan or Papal Rome? Some parts of the description apply best to the former.
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The wine of the wrath of her fornication.] There is an allusion here to a custom of impure women, who give philtres or love potions to those whom they wish to seduce and bind to their will; and these potions are generally of an intoxicating nature, greatly inflaming the blood, and disturbing the intellect.
Fornication and adultery are frequently used in Scripture as emblems of idolatry and false worship.
The wine of the wrath is another expression for the envenomed or poisoned cup given by such women.
No nation of the earth spread their idolatries so far as the ancient Romans; they were as extensive as their conquests. And papal Rome has been not less active in disseminating her superstitions. She has given her rituals, but not the everlasting Gospel, to most nations of the earth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 13 Rev 14:8. And there followed another angel — As…
Rev 14:8. And there followed another angel — As the admonitions of the first angel had not the proper effect upon the kingdom of the beast, a second angel is commissioned to proclaim the fall of the capital city, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city — By Babylon is meant Rome, including the antichristian kingdom, the papal hierarchy seated there. Rome, considered in this light, is called Babylon, upon many accounts. Babylon was magnificent, strong, proud, powerful. So was Rome also. Babylon was first, Rome afterward, the residence of the emperors of a great part of the world. What Babylon was to Israel of old, Rome hath been both to the literal and spiritual Israel of God. Hence the liberty of the ancient Jews was connected with the overthrow of the Babylonish empire. And when Rome is finally overthrown, then the people of God will be at liberty. Whenever Babylon is mentioned in this book, the great is added, to teach us that Rome then commenced Babylon when it commenced the great city; when it swallowed up the Grecian monarchy and its fragments, Syria in particular; and, in consequence of this, obtained dominion over Jerusalem, about sixty years before the birth of Christ. Then it began, but it will not cease to be Babylon, till it is finally destroyed. Its spiritual greatness began in the fifth century, and increased from age to age. It seems it will come to its utmost height just before its final overthrow. Her fornication is her idolatry, invocation of saints and angels, worship of images, human traditions, with all that outward pomp, yea, and that fierce and bloody zeal, wherewith she pretends to serve God. But with spiritual fornication, as elsewhere, so in Rome, fleshly fornication is joined abundantly. Witness the stews there, licensed by the pope, which are no inconsiderable branch of his revenue. This is fitly compared to wine, because of its intoxicating nature. Of this wine she hath, indeed, made all nations drink — More especially by her later missions. We may observe, this making them drink is not ascribed to the beast, but to Babylon. For Rome itself, the Roman inquisitions, congregations, and Jesuits, continually propagate their idolatrous doctrines and practices, with or without the consent of this or that pope, who himself is not secure from their censure. But, as Bishop Newton observes, though Rome, with the antichristian power above described, was evidently here intended, it would not have been prudent to predict and denounce its destruction in open and direct terms; it was for many wise reasons done thus covertly under the name of Babylon, the great idolatress of the earth, and enemy of the people of God in former times. By the same figure of speech that the first angel cried, that the hour of his judgment is come, this second angel proclaims that Babylon is fallen; the sentence is as certain as if it was already executed. For greater certainty too it is repeated twice, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; as Joseph said, Gen 41:32, that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, because the thing was established by God. The reason then is added of this sentence against Babylon; because she made all nations drink of the wine of her wrath, or rather, of the inflaming wine, of her fornication — Hers was a kind of Circean cup with poisoned liquor, to intoxicate and inflame mankind to spiritual fornication. St. John, in these figures, copies the ancient prophets. In the same manner, and in the same words, did Isaiah foretel the fate of ancient Babylon, (Isa 21:9,) Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and Jeremiah hath assigned much the same reason for her destruction, (Jer 51:7,) Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. As by the first angel calling upon men to worship God, we understand the opposers of the worship of images in the eighth and ninth centuries, so by this second angel proclaiming the fall of mystic Babylon or Rome we understand particularly Peter Valdo, and those who concurred with him among the Waldenses and Albigenses; who were the first heralds, as I may say, of this proclamation, as they first of all, in the twelfth century, pronounced the Church of Rome to be the apocalyptic Babylon, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth; and for this cause not only departed from her communion themselves, but engaged great numbers also to follow their example, and laid the first foundation of the Reformation. Rome then began to fall; and as the ruin of Babylon was completed by degrees, so likewise will that of Rome; and these holy confessors and martyrs first paved the way to it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8–13 And there followed another angel - That is, in…
And there followed another angel - That is, in the vision. It is not necessary to suppose that this would, in the fulfillment, succeed the other in time. The chapter is made up of a number of representations, all designed to illustrate the same general thing, and to produce the same general effect on the mind - that the gospel would be finally triumphant, and that, therefore, the hearts of the troubled and the afflicted should be comforted. The representation in this verse, bearing on this point, is, that Babylon, the great enemy, would fall to rise no more.
Babylon - This is the first time that the word “Babylon” occurs in this book, though it is repeatedly mentioned afterward, Rev 16:19; Rev 17:5; Rev 18:2, Rev 18:10, Rev 18:21. In reference to the literal Babylon, the word is used, in the New Testament, in Mat 1:11-13; Act 7:43; 1Pe 5:13. See Intro. to 1 Peter, section 2. Babylon was a well-known city on the Euphrates (for a full description of which see the notes on Isaiah, analysis of chapters 13 and 14), and was, in the days of its pride and glory, the head of the pagan world. In reference to the meaning of the word in this place, it may be remarked:
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(1) That the general characteristics of Babylon were, that it was proud, haughty, insolent, oppressive. It was chiefly known and remembered by the Hebrew people as a power that had invaded the Holy Land; that had reduced its capital and temple to ruins; that had destroyed the independence of their country, subjecting it to the condition of a province, and that had carried away the inhabitants into a long and painful captivity. It became, therefore, the emblem of all that was haughty and oppressive, and especially of all that persecuted the church of God.
(2) The word must be used here to denote some power that resembled the ancient and literal Babylon in these characteristics. The literal Babylon was no more; but the name might be properly used to denote a similar power. We are to seek, therefore, in the application of this, for some power that had the same general characteristics which the literal Babylon had.
(3) In inquiring, then, what is referred to here by the word “Babylon,” we may remark:
(a) that it could not be the literal Babylon on the Euphrates, for the whole representation here is of something future, and the literal Babylon had long since disappeared, never, according to the prophecies, to be rebuilt. See the notes on Isa 13:20-22.
(b) All the circumstances require us to understand this of Rome, at some period of its history: for Rome, like Babylon, was the seat of empire, and the head of the pagan world; Rome was characterized by many of the same attributes as Babylon, being arrogant, proud, oppressive; Rome, like Babylon, was distinguished for its conquests, and for the fact that it made all other nations subject to its control; Rome had been, like Babylon, a desolating power, having destroyed the capital of the Holy Land, and burnt its beautiful temple, and reduced the country to a province. Rome, like Babylon of old, was the most formidable power with which the church had to contend. Yet.
(c) it is not, I suppose, Rome considered as pagan that is here meant, but Rome considered as the prolongation of the ancient power in the papal form. Alike in this book and in Daniel, Rome, pagan and papal, is regarded as one power, standing in direct opposition to the gospel of Christ, resisting its progress in the world, and preventing its final prevalence. See the notes on Dan. 7. When that falls, the last enemy of the church will be destroyed, and the final triumph of the true religion will be speedy and complete. See Dan 7:26-27.
(d) So it was understood among the early Christians. Mr. Gibbon, speaking of the expectations of the early Christians about the end of the world, and the glory of the literal reign of the Messiah, says, “While the happiness and glory of a temporal reign were promised to the disciples of Christ, the most dreadful calamities were denounced against an unbelieving world. The edification of the New Jerusalem was to advance by equal steps with the destruction of the mystic Babylon; and as long as the emperors who reigned before Constantine persisted in the profession of idolatry, the epithet of Babylon was applied to the city and to the empire of Rome,” vol. i. p. 263.
Is fallen - That is, an event appeared in vision as if a mighty city fell to rise no more.
Is fallen - This is repeated to give emphasis to the declaration, and to express the joyousness of that event.
That great city - Babylon in its glory was the largest city of the world. Rome, in its turn, also became the largest; and the expression used here denotes that the power here referred to would be properly represented by cities of their magnitude.
Because she made all nations drink of the wine - This language is probably taken from Jer 51:7; “Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of the wine, therefore the nations are mad.” Babylon here, in accordance with the usual custom of the sacred writers when speaking of cities (see the notes on Isa 1:8), is represented as a female - here a female of abandoned character, holding in her hand a cup of wine to attract her lovers; that is, she allures and intoxicates them. This is a beautiful image to denote the influence of a great and corrupt city, and especially a city corrupt in its religion and devoted to idolatry and superstition, and may well be applied either to Babylon or Rome, literal or mystical.
Of the wrath - There seems an incongruity in the use of this word here, and Prof. Stuart proposes to render it “the inflammatory wine of her fornication”; that is, inebriating wine - wine that excited the passions and that led to uncleanness. He supposes that the word here used - θυμός thumos - means “heat, inflammation,” corresponding to the Hebrew חמה chēmaah There are no instances, however, in the New Testament in which the word is used in this sense. The common and proper meaning is mind, soul, then mind agitated with passion or under the influence of desire - a violent commotion of mind, as wrath, anger, indignation (Robinson, Lexicon). The ground of the representation here seems to be that Yahweh is often described as giving to the nations in his wrath an intoxicating cup so that they should reel and stagger to their destruction. Compare Jer 25:15; Jer 51:7. The meaning here is, that the nations had drunk of that cup which brought on the wrath of God on account of her “fornication.” Babylon is represented as a harlot, with a cup of wine in her hand, and the effect of drinking that cup was to expose them to the wrath of God, hence, called “the wine of the wrath of her fornication” - the alluring cup that was followed by wrath on account of her fornication.
Of her fornication - Due to her fornication. The word “fornication” here is used to denote spiritual uncleanness; that is, pagan and superstitious rites and observances. The term is often used in the Scriptures as applicable to idolatry and superstition. The general meaning here is, that Rome - papal Rome - would employ all forms of voluptuous allurements to bring the nations to the worship of the beast and his image, and that the “wrath” of God would be poured out on account of these abominations. The design of this verse also is to impart consolation by the assurance that this great enemy - this mighty, formidable, persecuting power - would be entirely overthrown. This is everywhere held up as the brightest hope of the church, for with this will fall its last great enemy, and the grand obstruction to the final triumph of the gospel on earth will be removed.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 12, 13 Another Angel,...saying:...She is fallen, she is fallen, that great…
Another Angel,...saying:...She is fallen, she is fallen, that great Babylon. By Babylon, as observed before, may very probably be signified all the wicked world in general, whom God will punish and destroy after the short time of this mortal life: or may be signified every great city, and perhaps Rome returned to idolatry in the time of antichrist, a little before the end of the world: or may be signified the idolatry of heathen Rome, in the fourth age [century], when the Christian religion, under Constantine and his successors, began to triumph over paganism, i.e. according to those interpreters followed by Alcazar, Bossuet, P. Alleman, &c. which exposition Dr. Hammond thus expresseth: "the whole impure city of heathen Rome, under the title of Babylon, that old idolatrous city that had lain so heavy upon the people of God....should speedily be destroyed, for advancing the heathen worship." (Witham) --- It is probable that here by the great Babylon is meant the city of the devil; that is, the universal society of the wicked: as Jerusalem is taken for the city and the Church of God. (Challoner)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8–13 another--So Vulgate. But A, B, Syriac, and ANDREAS add,…
another--So Vulgate. But A, B, Syriac, and ANDREAS add, "a second"; "another, a second angel."
Babylon--here first mentioned; identical with the harlot, the apostate Church; distinct from the beast, and judged separately.
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is fallen--anticipation of Rev 18:2. A, Vulgate, Syriac, and ANDREAS support the second "is fallen." But B, C, and Coptic omit it.
that great city--A, B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic omit "city." Then translate, "Babylon the great." The ulterior and exhaustive fulfilment of Isa 21:9.
because--So ANDREAS. But A, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "which." B and Coptic omit it. Even reading "which," we must understand it as giving the reason of her fall.
all nations--A, B and C read, "all the nations."
the wine of the wrath of her fornication--the wine of the wrath of God, the consequence of her fornication. As she made the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication, so she herself shall be made drunk with the wine of God's wrath.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13 2. Second angel defines the object of these war…
2. Second angel defines the object of these war manifestoes—Babylon, Rev_14:8.
8. Babylon… fallen—Or, with the elegant inversion of the Greek: Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great. It is the prophetic future-preterite. Here first occurs in the apocalypse the name of “great BABYLON.” It carries our thought back to the Babel built by the survivors of the flood on the plains of the Euphrates, where was first developed in history, under Nimrod, the type of mighty but godless nationality. It next appears in sacred history under one of the greatest princes of antiquity, Nebuchadnezzar, as the conqueror and leader into captivity of beloved Jerusalem. Then commenced the antithetical typology which is unfolded in the apocalypse. Babylon was then the great profane empire city, hostile to the city of God, in which a false religion dominates the world and persecutes the followers of Jehovah. But Babylon is now transferred westward and impersonated in Rome. And this new Babylon first is dragon or pagan, and then, semi-Christianized, is bestial or papal. It was first anti-God, and so anti-Christ; it is now specifically anti-Christ. And under the victorious career of Christ it must finally fall; fall embracing in itself all the profane traits of its typical national predecessors; fall followed by the destruction of all Babylonianism, secular and ecclesiastical.
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Wine of the wrath of her fornication—A very pregnant expression. Her fornication is at once a seductive wine and a destructive wrath; wine to the appetite, wrath upon the soul and body.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 10, 12, 13 Angels of Warning, Rev_14:8-11
Angels of Warning, Rev_14:8-11
8. another angel] The correct text is another angel a second.
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Babylon … that great city] Read Babylon the great as in Rev_17:5. See also Rev_18:10; Rev_18:18; Rev_18:21 where we have “Babylon the great city,” “the great city” (meaning Babylon), and “the great city Babylon.” The omission of city here makes the presumption less that “the great city” of Rev_11:8, Rev_16:19 is the same.
is fallen, is fallen] Isa_21:9.
because she made] Read, which hath made.
the wine of the wrath of her fornication] There is a blending of the two views: she makes them drink of the cup of her fornication, Rev_17:2, and she is made, and they are made with her, to drink of the cup of God’s wrath: Rev_14:10, Rev_16:19. In Rev_18:6, as in Jer_51:7, from which the image is taken, there is, as here, a combination of the two.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 12, 13 (8) And there followed . . .—The gospel angel…
(8) And there followed . . .—The gospel angel is followed by the angel that proclaims the downfall of Babylon. Better, And another, a second, angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has given all the nations to drink of, &c. The second angel follows on the first: the doom of the world-city, the metropolis of the empire of the world-power, follows the proclamation of the gospel. The principles of Christ’s gospel must undermine the world-power; the fall of some Babylon principle has almost always succeeded the age of spiritual revival. Pagan Rome goes down before the gospel. Civil freedom follows the wake of religious freedom, for Babylon belongs not to one age. Pagan Rome was Babylon to St. John; papal Rome was often Babylon to a later age. Dante, Savanarola, Tauler, Luther, felt her to be so in the days when their eyes were enlightened; but Babylon was not on the Euphrates alone: she has reared palaces on the Seine, and on the Thames, Tiber, and on the Bosphorus. She may yet erect her power in more imposing form; but faith in that gospel which is the power of God, will cast her down along with everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The influence of Babylon is declared in this: that she has given all nations to drink of deadly wine—the wine alike of her sin and of her doom, of her fornication and of the wrath which will overtake it. Babylon, then, is clearly an emblem of some principles which have been more or less accepted by all nations, and which will more or less involve all in the consequences of her fall. (Comp. Rev_16:19; Rev_16:17, where the features of this Babylon are more fully developed.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8–13 And there followed another angel, saying; and another, a…
And there followed another angel, saying; and another, a second angel, followed. That is, of course, the second of the three who here make their appearance in close connection. Each new scene is unfolded by its own special messenger. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, which made, etc. The second "is fallen" is omitted in a, C, etc., but is inserted in A, P, some cursives, versions, and Fathers. Omit "city." Babylon is the type of the world power. Like so much of the Apocalypse, the image is supplied by the Book of Daniel. There the kingdom is spoken of as great. (Dan_4:30; cf. also Isa 14) In its oppression of the Jewish nation, Babylon is a type of the world power which persecutes the Church of God. At the time when St. John wrote, this power was preeminently possessed and wielded by Rome, and that empire may thus be intended as the immediate antitype of Babylon. But the description is also applicable to the persecuting power of the world in all ages, and its denial of and opposition to God. Babylon is representative of the world, as Jerusalem is of the true Church of God. Alford observes, "Two things are mingled:
(1) the wine of her fornication, of which all nations have drunk; (Rev_17:2) and
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(2) the wine of the wrath of God, which he shall give her to drink. (ver. 10 and Rev_16:19) The latter is the retribution for the former; the former turns into the latter; they are treated as one and the same." The description seems taken from Jer_51:7, Jer_51:8, "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord"s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed." Again is the figure of fornication used to depict idolatry and general unfaithfulness towards God (see on ver. 4).
The voice of the second angel: the judgment of Babylon.
I WHAT IS MEANT BY "BABYLON"? There can be scarce any doubt that the name points to:
1. Persecuting Rome. She is spoken of under this pseudonym because it was not safe to write, or in any way openly utter, words which might be construed as treasonable to the empire. There were laws sharp and stern, and accusers only too willing to bring those laws into action, which would involve in ruin and death those who spoke or wrote such open word. Therefore under this disguise, penetrable enough by the Christian Church, the name of Rome, her cruel and relentless persecutor, was concealed. Because also she stood in the like hateful relation to the Church of God as in ages gone by Babylon had stood to the Church of her day. Babylon had been of old, as Rome was now, the ruthless ravager and the bloodthirsty destroyer of God"s people. And as the judgment of God was denounced and came upon Babylon because of her crimes against God"s Church, so now like judgment had been denounced, and was about to come upon Rome for her crimes against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Babylon had been one of the world wide empires, so now Rome occupied the same pre-eminence. None could compare with Babylon, in the days of her greatness, for wealth or power or glory; and so, when St. John wrote this book, none could compare, in any of these respects, with Rome. And there is yet, perhaps, another purpose in this name here given to Rome the purpose to recall to the mind of the suffering Church the certainty of the coming judgment on Rome, by the fact that such judgment had come on Babylon.
2. All persecutors. The mind of God to such is shown by what he did to Babylon of old. He would have us learn that he will ever do the like to those who sin in like manner. Did ever any persecuting power find that it bad done wisely and well? Let the records of history reply from Egypt down to Spain.
3. And all idolaters. Idol worship was not a merely intellectual preference for one form of religion rather than another; had it been only that it would not have brought down upon it so many awful judgments, nor have been branded with so foul a name. But it was a system of abominations; it was "earthly, sensual, devilish." It was a religion that laid no constraint on the passions, no bridle upon the will; that left man to his likings so only as the ceremonial of idolatry was observed. And every religion that leaves man thus has an idol. A creation of the mind, if not of the hands, instead or God, is idolatry in substance, whatever it may be in name.
II IN WHAT SENSE COULD BABYLON BE SAID TO HAVE FALLEN?
1. Rome had fallen in a very real way when St. John thus wrote. For there had been a great moral fall. Rome had a noble past. God had raised her up to great power, had endowed her with magnificent qualities, and made her the mother of many noble sons. In the unfolding of the great drama of Divine providence, she had a high and honourable part to fill, and none who know her history can deny that for a long time she fulfilled the wilt of God. But an evil spirit took possession of her, and then she became what is here said. Cruelty and lust, pride and oppression, and whatever was unclean and abominable, found welcome and home in her. "Fallen" was the absolutely true and righteous verdict that could alone be given concerning her. But there was to be an outward fall corresponding to this inward one. And it is spoken of as already come, because:
2. It was already decreed. The sentence had gone forth, and was but awaiting execution.
3. It had begun. An empire that had become the prey and prize of one successful general after another; that might be won and lost any day at the caprice of bribed bands of soldiers, had lost all stability, and was already "as a bowing wall and a tottering fence.
4. But chiefly because it was so soon to be accomplished. To the quickened vision of the seer, the barbarian nations were already plunging over her borders, and wasting and destroying on every hand. Rome was to him as if already in the deadly grip of those fierce hordes who should one day crush out her life. The vision was so vivid to him that he speaks of it as actual, real, and present. And in all these senses the judgment of God is gone out against ungodly men. "Condemned already" is our Lord"s word for such; and "is fallen, is fallen," is St. John"s. Oh for the quickened vision to make all this real to godly men, that they might labour and pray more in order to "snatch brands from the burning;" and to ungodly men, that they might "flee from the wrath to come"!
III THE GROUNDS OF THIS AWFUL JUDGMENT. It was no arbitrary sentence, nor one that had been hastily or without righteous reason pronounced. Yea, there had come to be imperative necessity for it, and it would have been unrighteous had it been withheld.
1. Rome had come to be one mass of corruption. St. John adopts the prophetic style, and speaks of the "wine of her fornication," by which he means that she had come to "work," not "all uncleanness" alone, but all manner of godless abomination besides, "with greediness;" as with greedy grip the drunkard grasps the wine cup. Rome had become a "putrefying sore." Let Tacitus tell.
2. And she was the seducer of others. Holding the position she did, she could not but be a fountain of influence for all cities and lands that came under her wide reaching rule. And she had corrupted them all; she had "made all nations drink of the wine," etc. And he who branded forever the name of Jeroboam the son of Nebat because he "made Israel to sin," has here again declared his wrath against all, whether nations or individuals, who do the like. And:
3. The cup of sin becomes the cup of wrath. Such is the Divine law. This is the meaning of the condensed sentence, "the wine of the wrath," etc. The wine of her sin, and the wine of God"s wrath upon it, are drunk out of the same cup. "In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red... but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them". (Psa_75:8) "Our pleasant vices," Shakespeare tells us, become our scourge; and life is full of proof that so it is. At the bottom of every cup of sin there is "wrath." Ah! what need have we all to offer continually the prayer, "Give us a heart to love and dread thee, and diligently to live alter thy commandments"! S.C.
A further vision of triumph.
Again "another angel a second follows the first, and with a separate message. It is brief, but pregnant. The earnest desire of the good is satisfied. That which shall sustain the "patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus," is here. It is an authoritative declaration of the final fall of the antagonistic kingdom, be that whatever it may. "Babylon" ever symbolizes the oppressor of Jerusalem the antagonistic kingdom that opposes and oppresses the true Israel of God. Babylon is "great;" Babylon has power over "all nations," for she compels their acceptance of her corruption; Babylon makes all nations to join her in her degradation and impurity and unfaithfulness. But she is "fallen is Babylon the great." From this prophetic word the Church, struggling against the oppression of a Babylonish yoke struggling to free the nations from Babylonish corruption, deceit, and wrath, which is rum cannot but derive the deepest consolation.
I IT IS A PLEDGE OF DIVINE COOPERATION. For the puny arm of the feeble flock cannot grapple with the great and mighty nation that can compel obedience. But God is above all.
II IT IS THE SATISFACTION OF THE CHURCH"S UTMOST DESIRE CONCERNING EVIL. For it is its uttermost destruction. The Church is ever to be comforted by the assured hope of the conquest of all evil.
III IT IS THE ASSURANCE OF THE CHURCH"S FINAL DELIVERANCE FROM ALL OPPOSING AND OPPRESSING POWER. And as such
IV IT IS THE TRUEST ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE CHURCH TO "PATIENCE to "keep the commandments of God," and to the maintenance of "the faith of Jesus. R.G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 12 And the third angel followed them, saying with a…
Rev_14:9-12
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image.
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Soul prostitution and soul loyalty
I. Soul prostitution.
1. The prostitution of the soul to wrong is an alarming crime.
2. The prostitution of the soul to wrong always incurs lamentable suffering. The metaphors here are borrowed from the sacred books of the Hebrew people, and they convey the idea of suffering of an alarming kind, suggesting--
(1) A consciousness of Divine antagonism. Wine of the wrath of God. In the sense of malignant passion there is no wrath in Him who is love. But it is a psychological fact that the man who suffers because he has done another an injury, has a consciousness that the one he has offended is angry with him, and this consciousness is the chief element in his suffering.
(2) A sense of intense agony. Shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. Brimstone adds intensity to the heat and fury to the flames of fire. My punishment is greater than I can bear, said Cain. A guilty conscience has its Tartarus or Gehenna within itself.
(3) A state of constant restlessness. They have no rest day nor (and) night. There is no rest in sin. The wicked are like the troubled sea.
II. Soul loyalty. Here is the patience of the saints. What is patience? It is not insensibility. Some people are lauded for their patience who should be denounced for their stoicism and indifference. Patience implies at least two things.
(1) The existence of trials. Patience lives only in difficulty and danger, in storms and tempests.
(2) The highest mental power. Mans highest power of mind is seen not in unsurpassed mechanical inventions, or the sublimest productions of art, not in the most baffling and confounding strategies of bloody war, but in the successful effort to govern all the impulses and master all the boisterous passions of the human soul. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.--
Hell
I. We affirm there is a hell; punishments finite in degree, but infinite in duration.
1. Scripture gives no countenance to this absurd opinion, that the wicked shall have no part in resurrection and judgment (Rom_3:4-5; 2Co_5:10; Rev_20:12-13; Rev_20:15; Joh_5:28-29).
2. Scripture clearly affirms that the punishment of the damned shall not consist of annihilation, but of real and sensible pain (Mat_26:24; Mat_11:24). Scripture-images of hell, which are many, will not allow us to confine future punishment to annihilation. It is a worm, a fire, a darkness; they are chains--weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
3. It appears by Scripture that future punishment will be eternal (Mat_25:41; Mar_9:44; Mat_18:8; Rev_20:10).
II. If the doctrine of eternal punishment imply a contradiction, it must either regard man, the sufferer of the pain, or God, who threatens to inflict it.
1. The nature of man hath nothing incongruous with that degree and duration of punishment of which we speak.
2. Let us attend now to objections taken from the nature of God. A man, who opposeth our doctrine, reasons in this manner. Which way soever I consider a Being supremely perfect, I cannot persuade myself that He will expose His creatures to eternal torments. All His perfections secure me from such terrors as this doctrine seems to inspire. In short, when I consider God under the idea of an equitable legislator, I cannot comprehend how sins committed in a finite period can deserve an infinite punishment.
(1) Observe this general truth. It is not probable God would threaten mankind with a punishment, the infliction of which would be incompatible with His perfections.
(2) Take each part of the objection drawn from the attributes of God, and said to destroy our doctrine, and consider it separately. The argument taken from the liberty of God would carry us from error to error, and from one absurdity to another. For, if God be free to relax any part of the punishment denounced, He is equally free to relax the whole. The difficulty taken from the goodness of God vanisheth when we rectify popular notions of this excellence of the Divine nature. Goodness in men is a virtue of constitution which makes them suffer when they see their fellow creatures in misery, and which excites them to relieve them. In God it is a perfection independent in its origin, free in its execution, and always restrained by laws of inviolable equity and exact severity. Justice is not incompatible with eternal punishment. It is not to be granted that a sin committed in a limited time ought not to be punished through an infinite duration. It is not the length of time employed in committing a crime that determines the degree and the duration of its punishment, it is the turpitude and atrociousness of it. The justice of God, far from opposing the punishment of the impenitent, requires it. Were we to examine in this manner each part of the objection opposed against our doctrine, we should open a second source of solutions to answer it.
(3) The doctrine of degrees of punishment affords us a third. There is an extreme difference between a heathen and a Jew; there is an extreme distance between a Jew and a Christian; and a greater still between a Christian and a heathen. The gospel-rule is, Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Take this principle which Scripture establisheth in the clearest manner; press home all its consequences; extend it as far as it can be carried; give scope even to your imagination till the punishments which such and such persons suffer in hell are reduced to a degree that may serve to solve the difficulty of the doctrine of their eternity; whatever system ye adopt on this article, I will even venture to say whatever difficulty ye may meet with in following it, it will be always more reasonable, I think, to make of one doctrine clearly revealed a clue to guide through the difficulties of another doctrine clearly revealed too, than rashly to deny the formal decisions of Scripture. I mean to say, it would be more rational to stretch the doctrine of degrees too far, if I may venture to speak so, than to deny that of their eternity.
(4) The fourth source of solutions is a maxim from which a divine ought never to depart, and which we wish particularly to inculcate among those who extend the operations of reason too far in matters of religion. Our maxim is this. We know, indeed, in general, what are the attributes of God, but we are extremely ignorant of their sphere, we cannot determine how far they extend. We know, in general, God is free, He is just, He is merciful. But we are too ignorant to determine how far these perfections must go, because the infinity of them absorbs the capacity of our minds. Apply this to our subject. The idea of hell seems to you repugnant to the attributes of God, you cannot comprehend how a just God can punish finite sins with infinite pain; how a merciful God can abandon His creature to eternal miseries. Your difficulties have some probability, I grant. Your reasons, I allow, seem well grounded. But dost thou remember the attributes of God are infinite? Remember, thy knowledge is finite. You think future punishment inconsistent with the attributes of God, but your notion of inconsistence ought to vanish at the appearance of Scripture-light.
III. Observe the quality and the duration of the punishments of hell.
1. The quality of the punishments of hell is expressed in these terms--smoke, torment. These metaphorical terms include five ideas. Privation of heavenly happiness, sensation of pain, remorse of conscience, horror of society, increase of crime.
2. It remains only that we consider the length and duration of them. But by what means shall we describe these profound articles of contemplation? Can we number the innumerable and measure that which is beyond all mensuration? Can we make you comprehend the incomprehensible? And shall we amuse you with our imaginations? (J. Saurin.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv8–13 8–12. There followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen.…
8–12. There followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen. As a result of the great gospel revival shown in verses 6, 7, the city of sin, here called Babylon, but called “spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified” (11:8) shall fall. The wine of wrath of her fornication. This Babylon was a city of fornication, of unholy alliance with the world, wedded to the prince of this world instead of to Christ, and made the nations sin with her, or drink her wine. Wine of wrath. So called either because her wrath was manifested in persecution against those who refused to drink, or because the wine of God's wrath shall be poured on her (see verse 10).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 Rev_14:13. Blessed are the dead.—This relieves anxiety concerning all…
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Rev_14:13. Blessed are the dead.—This relieves anxiety concerning all who are taken out of the warfare before the victory is fully won. They will share all the rewards, and their life-witness and service will be in no wise forgotten. Recall the fear with which St. Paul deals in the epistle to the Thessalonians, that those who died before Christ came would be placed under some special disadvantages.
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Rev_14:14. Son of man.—So figured as presiding over the final judgment of humanity. The visions of a harvest and a vintage (Rev_14:15-20), typify the time, now nigh at hand, in which God will gather in His own, and will trample His enemies in the winepress of His wrath.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rev_14:13-16
Rev_14:13. The Harvest of the Earth for Keeping.—This is the link between the earlier and later visions of this chapter. Many of the Lord’s redeemed ones had already been gathered in, out of their earth-persecutions. Many were still left under the fiery trial. But they were keeping steadfast and faithful, while the gospel was being proclaimed unto “every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” They are to be cheered and encouraged by the vision of the hour when the angel may declare that the earth-story is complete, and the judgment of God has come. In that day evil, however mighty it may seem to have grown, will fall, suddenly, irretrievably, even as Babylon fell in the day of its pride. In that day the patience of the saints will gain its full recognition. The Divine acceptance comes to the “sheep of the right hand,” “they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” But this final day of God’s judgment is no present thing; it is a vision of the far-away. It may even be turned wrongly, and made a discouragement to Christian souls, for it may seem as if all the blessedness of that day were reserved for those saints who were alive when the great judgment-trumpet should be sounded. The writer checks himself to say a gracious and comforting word to those who might be troubled with such thoughts and fears. The harvest of the earth is a long-continued process. The angel of the harvest is the death-angel, as well as the angel of ingathering for those who are “alive and remain at the coming.” Therefore this comforting word may be spoken—nay, write it down, for it is certain; write it down, for the saints of all the ages will want the gracious assurance. Not only blessed are the dead which have died in the Lord, whom you have seen in vision harping in the glory, and singing their new song, but blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, from this very hour right away to the judgment day. “Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.” They are all stored safe in the garner of God, until the harvest of the earth is complete. Then, having given this comforting assurance, the writer can return upon his visions of the end of all earthly things—his visions of the harvest-day of God. It must prove to be a double harvest. Christ Himself will see to the ingathering of the saints. His angels will execute His will upon those who have refused His gospel, kept their sin, and worked against all the gracious purposes of His love.
I. The first-fruits of God’s harvest of the earth.—“The dead which die in the Lord.” We may think of heaven as the great storehouse, granary, of God. His harvest is the harvesting of years. His grain ripens in all the ages. The reaper we call death cuts down the golden grain; but no stalk is lost—every one is borne into the garner, and safely treasured there until the harvest work is complete. It is but a resting time for the saints; they never pass out of God’s memory and regard. “Their works do follow them,” and all will be taken into due account in the great day of Divine appraisement. It is a most helpful way in which to think of our dead, and of our own dying. They are but first-fruits of harvest, carried in early to God’s barn. They are only waiting awhile, until the day when the earth-fields can be swept once for all, and God’s harvest of the earth be complete.
II. The remainder of God’s harvest of the earth.—A day must come when the arresting hand must be placed on the earth’s story, the stalks may no longer stand in the earth-fields. All must be gathered in. That is presented in symbol in the visions of the angel offering the sickle to the Son of man, reminding Him that the harvest is almost over-ripe, and must at once be reaped. Of this we are assured: the succession of the dying will not be continuous. The number of Christ’s redeemed ones will one day be completed. And what He will do for them in the great forever they shall know when the last stalk has fallen before the reaper.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev_14:13. The Blessedness of the Dead.—What this text means in its fulness of application no one now knows. But its suggestions are manifest and manifold.
I. God’s saints, at death, enter into rest.—Rest—not, indeed, from service, but from labour—which implies the disagreeable, exhausting, discouraging side of toil. In the higher sense of service they rest not day nor night, serving God in His temple. But the hindrances without and within all cease, and the service is unmixed delight.
II. Their works do follow them.—This, in a threefold sense, is true:
1. Follow them in witnessing to their fidelity.
2. Follow them in contributing to their reward.
3. Follow them in perpetuating their influence for good.—Anon.
Dying in the Lord.
I. What is it to die in the Lord?—One has said that it “implies a previous living with Him.” Living with Him involves the exercise of certain elements. These are found in Rev_14:12.
1. Faith: “The faith of Jesus.” No man can live with or die in the Lord without faith in Him. With it he can live and die triumphantly.
2. Obedience: “They that keep the commandments of God.” Living with God is obeying God. The obedience of faith—the obedience that is vitally connected with faith—enters into the preparation for a happy death, or death in the Lord.
II. Why are those who die in the Lord blessed or happy?—
1. The happiness of contemplation. The Christian has a bright prospect. He can look forward, not to a dark uncertainty, but to the pleasures of home. When dying, one said, “I wish I had the power of writing or speaking, for then I would describe to you how pleasant a thing it is to die.” Another, “I have experienced more happiness in dying two hours this day than in my whole life.”
2. The happiness of release from toil, sorrow, pain. Rest—“That they may rest from their labours.” Christians are not free from trials; it is not according to the Divine plan that they should be. But those trials cannot pass beyond the gate of death; and when the Christian passes into the beyond he leaves his trials.
3. The happiness of being with Christ after death. The psalmist said, “In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Again, “I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness.” Paul said, “I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Great joy here, but fulness of joy with Christ.—Anon.
“The Blessed Dead.”—No book is fuller than this Apocalypse of the struggles and victories of the Church on earth; but it also opens a door into heaven. It shows that heaven is not all future, but, as it were, contemporary with present history, and bound to it by the closest ties. Messengers pass and repass; tidings come and go; and the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne presides alike over time and eternity.
I. The answer which the text gives to the question, How is the heavenly blessedness attested?—We all profess to believe in the reality of heaven; but why?
1. There is the evidence from, miracle, or the presence of the supernatural in the form of power. This great apostle heard a voice from heaven. But before this, John had looked on One whose life was crowded with miracle. He had witnessed His risen glory as He came back from heaven, and His ascension glory as He returned to heaven. If miracle could vouch for heaven, its existence was confirmed.
2. The testimony is, in itself, Divinely credible. Its internal character vouches for its authority.
3. There is a living and. experimental evidence of the reality of heaven. It is written in living epistles, written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God.
II. How is the heavenly blessedness secured?—
1. The doctrine here is that the title to heaven depends on faith “in the Lord.”
2. But there is also a preparation for the heavenly state by holy obedience. “They rest from their labours,” implying that they prove their faith by works.
III. How is the heavenly blessedness enjoyed?—
1. Heaven is the rest of the worker. It is not sloth, torpor, or inactivity; but while there is no apathy there is rest to the body and the spirit. No more out in the billows, toiling in rowing, when the wind is contrary, but in smooth water, and with the ripple breaking on the shore.
2. Heaven is the continued influence of the work. “Their works do follow them.” Every moral act, truly good, will last for ever. The simplest act of self-denial for Christ’s sake, the mother’s faintest prayer, record themselves in the soundingboard of eternity, and never die away.—John Cairns, D.D.
Rev_14:15. The Harvest of the Earth.—The expression is a singular and, indeed, a striking one. As his fields are to the farmer, so, we are permitted to think, the whole earth is to God. The farmer works for a harvest of his fields and trees, and God may be thought of as working for the harvest of the whole earth. God’s work in the world is like ploughing, sowing, weeding the fields. God’s work has its reward when He carries home the last loaded wain, and His garner is filled with the good corn of the earth of humanity. Can we follow out the figure, and find in it the suggestion of helpful truths?
I. God prepared the earth for His seeding.—Scientific men may wrangle over the ages and order of creation. It is enough for us to know that, at a given time, God had prepared the earth to be the scene of a moral trial for a new race of beings. It is full of interest to inquire into all the mystery of nature. Of its study man never tires. But it is of far greater interest to observe in how marvellous a way the earth was adjusted and adapted to the beings who were to be placed upon it. The relativity of creation to a being with five senses, and these particular five senses, has never yet been shown with the precision and fulness that it demands. The farmer cleans, and ploughs, and manures, and harrows, and ridges, his fields, in precise adaptation to the crop that he intends to grow upon it; and earth is the prepared field of God, made ready for His sowing.
II. God seeds His prepared earth with men.—Scattering the seed all over the earth, that man’s probation may be carried on under every varying condition of soil, and landscape, and climate, and relationship. God keeps on seeding the earth with men; every seed with a great possibility in it; every seed set where its possibility may freely unfold, and where the God provided influences all tend to the nourishment of all its best possibilities. Men, men everywhere, are the seed of God. They are quick with Divine life, and sown in the earth to grow into a harvest for God.
III. The harvest God seeks from His seeding is character.—God sows His earth with moral beings, in the hope of reaping moral character. But what is moral character? It is the proper fruitage of the earth-experience of moral beings. But can we understand it a little more fully than that? A moral being is one that can recognise a distinction between good and evil, and, when the distinction is seen, can choose for itself which it will have, the good or the evil. But a moral being must be put into such circumstances as will offer it the choice between good and evil. And substantially the test amounts to this: good is doing what is known to be the will of the Creator; evil is doing the will of the moral being himself, when that is known to be not the will of the Creator. The picture-scene in the Garden of Eden is the typical trial of moral beings. But what we need, for our present purpose, to see with clearness, is that when, under enticement of the senses, the moral being has chosen the evil, he is said to have fallen, but he has really started the possibility of moral character, which is the issue of the conflict in which the will, biassed by the indulgence of the senses, is brought back to the choice and obedience of God’s will, and recovered from all the sad experiences and conditions resulting from the choice of evil. The story of a life is the story of that conflict. It is the growth, through the long months, of God’s seed into the “full corn in the ear” of established moral character. It is the unfolding of what God would gather in from His seeding of men, the righteousness of the accepted will of God. One thing only does man take through the great gates—the character that he has gained. It is the full ear that heads the stalk, and ripens for the reaper.
IV. God has anxious times while His seed of men is growing into His harvest of character.—Every blade that breaks the earth in the farmer’s field has to fight for its life with varied foes: insects, worms, mildew, rust, living creatures, varying temperatures, crowding weeds; the growth of every blade to stalk and ear is a hard-won victory. The stalk can do its best, and be its best, only at the cost of unceasing struggle and watchfulness. And the field of earth is but a type of the world of men. Every character is the product of a stern experience, the issue of a hundred fights; a triumph from an unceasing struggle. Think of each man’s life-story, and this is true. Think of the histories of nations, and this is true. Think of the story of humanity as if it were the story of one man, and it is God’s Adam, planted in God’s earth, and growing amid the thousandfold influences for good and evil, through all the long ages, and showing at last the golden grain of moral character, rich and ripe, that can be gathered into God’s garner, as the glorious reward of His toil; For over every phase and feature of the struggle in every man out of which character is born, God presides. The problem of each man’s dealings with his surroundings—helpful be they, or injurious—God is intensely interested in. He is anxious as the farmer is anxious over his growing blades. He is anxious as the parent is anxious over the unfolding of character in his child. He may let the struggle alone. He may interfere. But we may be sure that He is deeply concerned. We speak of the “making of a man,” or the “making of a nation.” The one thing of profoundest interest to God is the making of characters in His great earth-fields. Be it so; then a fact of infinite sadness has to be faced. The issue is disappointing, for God’s harvest-hope of reaping character from His sowing of men is only partially fulfilled.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v13 Ecc 5:15. - Rev 14:13.
Ecclesiastes
NAKED OR CLOTHED?
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Ecc 5:15. - Rev 14:13.
It is to be observed that these two sharply contrasted texts do not refer to the same persons. The former is spoken of a rich worldling, the latter of ‘the dead who die in the Lord.’ The unrelieved gloom of the one is as a dark background against which the triumphant assurance of the other shines out the more brightly, and deepens the gloom which heightens it. The end of the man who has to go away from earth naked and empty-handed acquires new tragic force when set against the lot of those ‘whose works do follow them.’ Well-worn and commonplace as both sets of thought may be, they may perhaps be flashed up into new vividness by juxtaposition; and if in this sermon we have nothing new to say, old truth is not out of place till it has been wrought into and influenced our daily practice. We shall best gather the lessons of our text if we consider what we must leave, what we must take, and what we may take.
I. What we must leave.
The Preacher in the context presses home a formidable array of the limitations and insufficiencies of wealth. Possessed, it cannot satisfy, for the appetite grows with indulgence. Its increase barely keeps pace with the increase of its consumers. It contributes nothing to the advantage of its so-called owner except ‘the beholding of it with his eyes,’ and the need of watching it keeps them open when he would fain sleep. It is often kept to the owner’s hurt, it often disappears in unfortunate speculation, and the possessor’s heirs are paupers. But, even if all these possibilities are safely weathered, the man has to die and leave it all behind. ‘He shall take nothing of his labour which he can carry away in his hand’; that is to say, death separates from all with whom the life of the body brings us into connection. The things which are no parts of our true selves are ours in a very modified sense even whilst we seem to possess them, and the term of possession has a definite close. ‘Shrouds have no pockets,’ as the stern old proverb says. How many men have lived in the houses which we call ours, sat on our seats, walked over our lands, carried in their purses the money that is in ours! Is ‘the game worth the candle’ when we give our labour for so imperfect and brief a possession as at the fullest and the longest we enjoy of all earthly good? Surely a wise man will set little store by possessions of all which a cold, irresistible hand will come to strip him. Surely the life is wasted which spends its energy in robing itself in garments which will all be stripped from it when the naked self ‘returns to go as he came.’
But there are other things than these earthly possessions from which death separates us. It carries us far away from the sound of human voices and isolates us from living men. Honour and reputation cease to be audible. When a prominent man dies, what a clatter of conflicting judgments contends over his grave! and how utterly he is beyond them all! Praise or blame, blessing or banning are equally powerless to reach the unhearing ear or to agitate the unbeating heart. And when one of our small selves passes out of life, we hear no more the voice of censure or of praise, of love or of hate. Is it worth while to toil for the ‘hollow wraith of dying fame,’ or even for the clasp of loving hands which have to be loosened so surely and so soon?
Then again, there are other things which must be left behind as belonging only to the present order, and connected with bodily life. There will be no scope for material work, and much of all our knowledge will be antiquated when the light beyond shines in. As we shall have occasion to see presently, there is a permanent element in the most material work, and if in handling the transient we have been living for the eternal, such work will abide; but if we think of the spirit in which a sad majority do their daily tasks, whether of a more material or of a more intellectual sort, we must recognise that a very large proportion of all the business of life must come to an end here. There is nothing in it that will stand the voyage across the great deep, or that can survive in the order of things to which we go. What is a man to do in another world, supposing there is another world, where ledgers and mills are out of date? Or what has a scholar or scientist to do in a state of things where there is no place for dictionaries and grammars, for acute criticism, or for a careful scientific research?
Physical science, linguistic knowledge, political wisdom, will be antiquated. The poetry which glorifies afresh and interprets the present will have lost its meaning. Half the problems that torture us here will cease to have existence, and most of the other half will have been solved by simple change of position. ‘Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away’; and it becomes us all to bethink ourselves whether there is anything in our lives that we can carry away when all that is ‘of the earth earthy’ has sunk into nothingness.
II. What we must take.
We must take ourselves. It is the same ‘he’ who goes ‘naked as he came’; it is the same ‘he’ who ‘came from his mother’s womb,’ and is ‘born again’ as it were into a new life, only ‘he’ has by his earthly life been developed and revealed. The plant has flowered and fruited. What was mere potentiality has become fact. There is now fixed character. The transient possessions, relationships, and occupations of the earthly life are gone, but the man that they have made is there. And in the character there are predominant habits which insist upon having their sway, and a memory of which, as we may believe, there is written indelibly all the past. Whatever death may strip from us, there is no reason to suppose that it touches the consciousness and personal identity, or the prevailing set and inclination of our characters. And if we do indeed pass into another life ‘not in entire forgetfulness, and not in utter nakedness,’ but carrying a perfected memory and clothed in a garment woven of all our past actions, there needs no more to bring about a solemn and continuous act of judgment.
III. What we may take.
‘Their works do follow them.’ These are the words of the Spirit concerning ‘the dead who die in the Lord.’ We need not fear marring the great truth that ‘not by works of righteousness but by His mercy He saved us,’ if we firmly grasp the large assurance which this text blessedly contains. A Christian man’s works are perpetual in the measure in which they harmonise with the divine will, in the measure they have eternal consequences in himself whatever they may have on others. If we live opening our minds and hearts to the influx of the divine power ‘that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure,’ then we may be humbly sure that these ‘works’ are eternal; and though they will never constitute the ground of our acceptance, they will never fail to secure ‘a great recompence of reward.’ To many a humble saint there will be a moment of wondering thankfulness when he sees these his ‘children whom God hath given him’ clustered round him, and has to say, ‘Lord, when saw I Thee naked, or in prison, and visited Thee?’ There will be many an apocalypse of grateful surprise in the revelations of the heavens. We remember Milton’s noble explanation of these great words which may well silence our feeble attempts to enforce them-
‘Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavour
Stood not behind, nor in the grave were trod,
But as faith pointed with her golden rod,
Followed them up to joy and bliss for ever.’
So then, life here and yonder will for the Christian soul be one continuous whole, only that there, while ‘their works do follow them,’ ‘they rest from their labours.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv8–11 (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
angel
(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
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angel
(See Scofield Heb 1:4).
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv8, 13 Of this effect and result of the Reformation and…
Of this effect and result of the Reformation and of the fall of spiritual Babylon the next angels made announcement:
v. 8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
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v. 9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand,
v. 10. the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb;
v. 11. and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
v. 12. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
The voice of the second angel is like a resonance or echo of that of the first: And a second angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is great Babylon, who of the wine of the wrath of her fornication made all nations drink. That was the effect of the Reformation: it brought about the exposure and the fall of spiritual Babylon, of Rome, the seat of Anti-Christ. And this judgment came upon the Roman Church because she had introduced such abominations of idolatry into the temple of God, the Pope cult and the saint cult and the cult of good works and other methods by which God’s honor was taken from Him. Wherever the missionaries of the Roman Church had come, they had spread this adulterous idolatry, by which men left the love of Jesus Christ as the only Savior and trusted in the intercession of various saints. In many cases the very idols of the heathen nations were Christianized by giving them the names of saints, while the old idolatry proceeded as before.
The third angel pronounced the sentence of God upon the kingdom of Anti-Christ: And the third angel followed them, saying with a powerful voice, If any one worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out unmixed into the cup of His anger, and he shall be tortured with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb. This is the curse and the punishment of God upon those that deliberately, willfully, maliciously, worship Anti-Christ and his hierarchical system, and willingly yield to having his impress or sign fastened upon them. He is not speaking of those that have been deluded by the outward pomp of the Roman Church and are members there, although in their hearts they cling to Jesus, their Savior. He is speaking of the willing servants of Anti-Christ. These shall feel the full wrath of God at the idolatry with which they have identified themselves; they shall be made to drink the cup of God’s anger, like strong, unmixed wine. And their end will be the torments of hell, to be tortured with fire and brimstone in the very presence of the holy angels and of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. That fact will increase their torture a thousand fold, that they will be able to see the bliss of heaven, but will not be able to share it, Luk 16:23.
The torture of hell will be an eternal torment: And the smoke of their torment will arise forever and ever, and they will not have relief day and night that have worshiped the beast and his image, and if anyone has received the mark of his name. This simple statement overthrows all the false dreams of sectarians that are trying to lull men to sleep by preaching a final dissolution. The torment of hell will be a physical torment; but, the bodies of the damned having been rendered immortal, their torture will never have an end; the horrible pain will never cease, the fire will burn forever, and yet will never consume. Such is the fate of those that have sold themselves to Anti-Christ as his servants and thus have become partakers of his sin and of his damnation. All the more impressive, then, is the word which is added: Here is the patience of the saints, that keep the precepts of God and the faith of Jesus. In this way the patient steadfastness of the saints is manifested, namely, that they, in spite of all the blandishments of Anti-Christ, adhere simply to the will of God, whose highest commandment is this, that we believe in His Son Jesus Christ and have salvation in Him.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 9, 11, 13 Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great
The angel speaks of Babylon having been destroyed as if it had fallen. AT: "Babylon the great has been destroyed" (See: Metaphor)
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Babylon the great
"Babylon the large city" or "the important city of Babylon." This was probably a symbol for the city of Rome, which was large, wealthy, and sinful. (See: Symbolic Language)
who persuaded
Babylon is spoken of as if it were a person, instead of a city filled with people. (See: Metonymy)
to drink the wine of her immoral passion
This is a symbol for participating in her sexually immoral passion. AT: "to be sexually immoral like her" or "to get drunk like her in sexual sin" (See: Symbolic Language)
her immoral passion
Babylon is spoken of as if it were a prostitute who has caused other people to sin along with her. This may well have a double meaning: literal sexual immorality and also the worship of false gods. (See: Personification and Metaphor)
translationWords
angel
Babylon
wine
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 9, 12, 13 14:8 Babylon is probably a cryptic designation for Rome…
14:8 Babylon is probably a cryptic designation for Rome (see 16:19; 17:5-9); it represents earthly power and corruption. The coming of God as judge (14:7) includes the end of earthly powers.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.