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The Revelation of St. John the Divine · Chapter I. Analysis of the Chapter · Part 55

16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, 537these shall hate the whore, and shall 538make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and 539burn her with fire.

16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast. Ver. 3. The ten powers or kingdoms represented by those horns. See Notes on ver. 12. ¶ These shall hate the whore. There seems to be some incongruity between this statement and that which was previously made. In the former (ver. 12‒14), these ten governments are represented as in alliance with the beast; as “giving all their power and strength” unto it; and as uniting with it in making war with the Lamb. What is here said must, therefore, refer to some subsequent period, indicating some great change in their feelings and policy. We have seen the evidence of the fulfilment of the former statements. This statement will be accomplished if these same powers, represented by the ten horns, that were formerly in alliance with the Papacy, shall become its enemy, and contribute to its final overthrow. That is, it will be accomplished if the nations of Europe, embraced within the limits of those ten kingdoms, shall become hostile to the Papacy, and shall combine for its overthrow. Is anything more probable than this? France (see Notes on ch. xvi.) has already struck more than one heavy blow on that power; England has been detached from it; many of the states of Italy are weary of it, and are ready to rise up against it; and nothing is more probable than that Spain, Portugal, France, Lombardy, and the Papal States themselves, will yet throw off the yoke for ever, and put an end to a power that has so long ruled over men. It was with the utmost difficulty, in 1848, that the Papal power was sustained, and this was done only by foreign swords; the Papacy could not probably be protected in another such outbreak. And this passage leads us to anticipate that the period will come—and that probably not far in the future—when those powers that have for so many ages sustained the Papacy will become its determined foes, and will rise in their might and bring it for ever to an end. ¶ And shall make her desolate and naked. Strip her of all her power and all her attractiveness. That is, applied to Papal Rome, all that is so gorgeous and alluring—her wealth, and pomp, and splendour—shall be taken away, and she will be seen as she is, without anything to dazzle the eye or to blind the mind. ¶ And shall eat her flesh. Shall completely destroy her—as if her flesh were consumed. Perhaps the image is taken from the practice of cannibals eating the flesh of their enemies slain in battle. If so, nothing could give a more impressive idea of the utter destruction of this formidable power, or of the feelings of those by whom its end would be brought about. ¶ And burn her with fire. Another image of total destruction. Perhaps the meaning may be, that after her flesh was eaten, such parts of her as remained would be thrown into the fire and consumed. If this be the meaning, the image is a very impressive one to denote absolute and total destruction. Comp. Notes on ch. xviii. 8.

17 For 540God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, 541until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will. That is, in regard to the destruction of this mighty power. They would be employed as his agents in bringing about his designs. Kings and princes are under the control of God, and, whatever may be their own designs, they are in fact employed to accomplish his purposes, and are instruments in his hands. See Notes on Is. x. 7. Comp. Ps. lxxvi. 10. ¶ And to agree. See ver. 13. That is, they act harmoniously in their support of this power, and so they will in its final destruction. ¶ And give their kingdom unto the beast. Notes, ver. 13. ¶ Until the words of God shall be fulfilled. Not for ever; not as a permanent arrangement. God has fixed a limit to the existence of this power. When his purposes are accomplished, these kingdoms will withdraw their support, and this mighty power will fall to rise no more.

18 And the woman which thou sawest is 542that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

18. And the woman which thou sawest. Ver. 3. ¶ Is that great city. Represents that great city. ¶ Which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Rome would of course be understood by this language in the time of John, and all the circumstances, as we have seen, combined to show that Rome, in some form of its dominion, is intended. Even the name could hardly have designated it more clearly, and all expositors agree in supposing that Rome, either as Pagan or as Christian, is referred to. The chapter shows that its power is limited; and that, although for purposes which he saw to be wise, God allows it to have a wide influence over the nations of the earth, yet, in his own appointed time, the very powers that have sustained it will become its foes, and combine for its overthrow. Europe needs but little farther provocation, and the fires of liberty, which have been so long pent up, will break forth, and that storm of indignation which has expelled the Jesuits from all the courts of Europe; which has abolished the Inquisition; which has more than once led hostile armies to the very gates of Papal Rome, will again be aroused in a manner which cannot be allayed, and that mighty power, which has controlled so large a part of the nations of Europe for more than a thousand years of the world’s history, will come to an end.

CHAPTER XVIII. ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER.

This chapter may be regarded as a still further explanatory episode (comp. Anal. to ch. xvii.), designed to show the effect of pouring out the seventh vial (ch. xvi. 17‒21) on the formidable Antichristian power so often referred to. The description in this chapter is that of a rich merchant-city reduced to desolation, and is but carrying out the general idea under a different form. The chapter comprises the following points:—

(1) Another angel is seen descending from heaven, having great power, and making proclamation that Babylon the great is fallen, and is become utterly desolate, ver. 1‒3.

(2) A warning voice is heard from heaven, calling on the people of God to come out of her, and to be partakers neither of her sins nor her plagues. Her torment and sorrow would be proportionate to her pride and luxury; and her plagues would come upon her suddenly; death, and mourning, and famine, and consumption by fire, ver. 4‒8.

(3) Lamentation over her fall—by those especially who had been connected with her; who had been corrupted by her; who had been profited by her, ver. 9‒19. (a) By kings, ver. 9, 10. They had lived deliciously with her, and they would lament her. (b) By merchants, ver. 11‒17. They had trafficked with her, but now that traffic was to cease, and no man would buy of her. Their business, so far as she was concerned, was at an end. All that she had accumulated was now to be destroyed; all her gathered riches were to be consumed; all the traffic in those things by which she had been enriched was to be ended; and the city that was more than all others enriched by these things, as if clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, was to be destroyed for ever. (c) By ship-masters and seamen, ver. 17‒19. They had been made rich by this traffic, but now all was ended; the smoke of her burning is seen to ascend, and they stand afar off and weep.

(4) Rejoicing over her fall, ver. 20. Heaven is called upon to rejoice, and the holy apostles and prophets, for their blood is avenged, and persecution ceases in the earth.

(5) The final destruction of the city, ver. 21‒24. A mighty angel takes up a stone and casts it into the sea as an emblem of the destruction that is to come upon it. The voice of harpers, and musicians, and pipers would be heard no more in it; and no craftsmen would be there, and the sound of the millstone would be heard no more, and the light of a candle would shine no more there, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride would be heard no more.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A ND after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the543earth was lightened with his glory.

1. And after these things. After the vision referred to in the previous chapter. ¶ I saw another angel come down from heaven. Different from the one that had last appeared, and therefore coming to make a new communication to him. It is not unusual in this book that different communications should be intrusted to different angels. Comp. ch. xiv. 6, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18. ¶ Having great power. That is, he was one of the higher rank or order of angels. ¶ And the earth was lightened with his glory. The usual representation respecting the heavenly beings. Comp. Ex. xxiv. 16; Mat. xvii. 2; Lu. ii. 9; Ac. ix. 3. This would, of course, add greatly to the magnificence of the scene.

2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 544Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is 545become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

2. And he cried mightily. Literally, “he cried with a strong great voice.” See ch. x. 3. ¶ Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. See Notes on ch. xiv. 8. The proclamation here is substantially the same as in that place, and no doubt the same thing is referred to. ¶ And is become the habitation of devils. Of demons—in allusion to the common opinion that the demons inhabited abandoned cities, old ruins, and deserts. See Notes on Mat. xii. 43‒45. The language here is taken from the description of Babylon in Is. xiii. 20‒22; and for a full illustration of the meaning, see Notes on that passage. ¶ And the hold of every foul spirit—φυλακὴ. A watch-post, station, haunt of such spirits. That is, they, as it were, kept guard there; were stationed there; haunted the place. ¶ And a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. That is, they would resort there, and abide there as in a cage. The word translated “cage” is the same which is rendered “hold”—φυλακὴ. In Is. xiii. 21, it is said, “and owls shall dwell there;” and in Is. xiv. 23, it is said that it would be a “possession for the bittern.” The idea is that of utter desolation; and the meaning here is, that spiritual Babylon—Papal Rome (ch. xiv. 8)—will be reduced to a state of utter desolation resembling that of the real Babylon. It is not necessary to suppose this of the city of Rome itself—for that is not the object of the representation. It is the Papacy, represented under the image of the city, and having its seat there. That is to be destroyed as utterly as was Babylon of old; that will become as odious, and loathsome, and detestable as the literal Babylon, the abode of monsters is.

3 For 546all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the 547merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the 548abundance of her delicacies.

3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. See Notes on ch. xiv. 8. This is given as a reason why this utter ruin had come upon her. She had beguiled and corrupted the nations of the earth, leading them into estrangement from God, and into pollution and sin. See Notes on ch. ix. 20, 21. ¶ And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Spiritual adultery; that is, she has been the means of seducing them from God and leading them into sinful practices. ¶ And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The word rendered “abundance” here, means commonly power. It might here denote influence, though it may also mean number, quantity, wealth. Comp. ch. iii. 8, where the same word is used. The word rendered delicacies—στρήνους—occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly means rudeness, insolence, pride; and hence revel, riot, luxury. It may be rendered here properly luxury, or proud voluptuousness; and the reference is to such luxuries as are found commonly in a great, a gay, and a splendid city. These, of course, give rise to much traffic, and furnish employment to many merchants and sailors, who thus procure a livelihood, or become wealthy as the result of such traffic. Babylon—or Papal Rome—is here represented under the image of such a luxurious city; and of course, when she falls, they who have thus been dependent on her, and who have been enriched by her, have occasion for mourning and lamentation. It is not necessary to expect to find a literal fulfilment of this, for it is emblematic and symbolical. The image of a great, rich, splendid, proud and luxurious city having been employed to denote that Antichristian power, all that is said in this chapter follows, of course, on its fall. The general idea is, that she was doomed to utter desolation, and that all who were connected with her, far and near, would be involved in her ruin.

4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 549Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

4. And I heard another voice from heaven. He does not say whether this was the voice of an angel, but the idea seems rather to be that it is the voice of God. ¶ Come out of her, my people. The reasons for this, as immediately stated, are two: (a) that they might not participate in her sins; and (b) that they might not be involved in the ruin that would come upon her. The language seems to be derived from such passages in the Old Testament as the following:—“Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing,” Is. xlviii. 20. “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity,” Je. li. 6. “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord,” Je. li. 45. Comp. Je. l. 8. ¶ That ye be not partakers of her sins. For the meaning of this expression, see Notes on 1 Ti. v. 22. It is implied here that by remaining in Babylon they would lend their sanction to its sins by their presence, and would, in all probability, become contaminated by the influence around them. This is an universal truth in regard to iniquity, and hence it is the duty of those who would be pure to come out from the world, and to separate themselves from all the associations of evil. ¶ And that ye receive not of her plagues. Of the punishment that was to come upon her—as they must certainly do if they remained in her. The judgment of God that was to come upon the guilty city would make no discrimination among those who were found there; and if they would escape these woes they must make their escape from her. As applicable to Papal Rome, in view of her impending ruin, this means, (a) that there might be found in her some who were the true people of God; (b) that it was their duty to separate wholly from her—a command that will not only justify the Reformation, but which would have made a longer continuance in communion with the Papacy, when her wickedness was fully seen, an act of guilt before God; (c) that they who remain in such a communion cannot but be regarded as partaking of her sin; and (d) that if they remain, they must expect to be involved in the calamities that will come upon her. There never was any duty plainer than that of withdrawing from Papal Rome; there never has been any act attended with more happy consequences than that by which the Protestant world separated itself for ever from the sins and the plagues of the Papacy.

5 For her sins have 550reached unto heaven, and God hath 551remembered her iniquities.

5. For her sins have reached unto heaven. So in Je. li. 9, speaking of Babylon, it is said, “For her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.” The meaning is not that the sins of this mystical Babylon were like a mass or pile so high as to reach to heaven, but that it had become so prominent as to attract the attention of God. Comp. Ge. iv. 10, “The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” See also Ge. xviii. 20. ¶ And God hath remembered her iniquities. He had seemed to forget them, or not to notice them, but now he acted as if they had come to his recollection. See Notes on ch. xvi. 19.

6 Reward552her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.

6. Reward her even as she rewarded you. It is not said to whom this command is addressed, but it would seem to be to those who had been persecuted and wronged. Applied to mystical Babylon—Papal Rome—it would seem to be a call on the nations that had been so long under her sway, and among whom, from time to time, so much blood had been shed by her, to arise now in their might, and to inflict deserved vengeance. See Notes on ch. xvii. 16, 17. ¶ And double unto her double according to her works. That is, bring upon her double the amount of calamity which she has brought upon others; take ample vengeance upon her. Comp. for similar language, Is. xl. 2, “She hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” “For your shame ye shall have double,” Is. lxi. 7. ¶ In the cup which she hath filled. To bring wrath on others. Notes, ch. xiv. 8. ¶ Fill to her double. Let her drink abundantly of the wine of the wrath of God—double that which she has dealt out to others. That is, either let the quantity administered to her be doubled, or let the ingredients in the cup be doubled in intensity.

7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, 553I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

7. How much she hath glorified herself. Been proud, boastful, arrogant. This was true of ancient Babylon, that she was proud and haughty; and it has been no less true of mystical Babylon—Papal Rome. ¶ And lived deliciously. By as much as she has lived in luxury and dissoluteness, so let her suffer now. The word used here and rendered lived deliciously—ἐστρηνίασε—is derived from the noun—στρῆνος—which is used in ver. 3, and rendered delicacies. See Notes on that verse. It means properly, “to live strenuously, rudely,” as in English, “to live hard;” and then to revel, to live in luxury, riot, dissoluteness. No one can doubt the propriety of this as descriptive of ancient Babylon, and as little can its propriety be doubted as applied to Papal Rome. ¶ So much torment and sorrow give her. Let her punishment correspond with her sins. This is expressing substantially the same idea which occurs in the previous verse. ¶ For she saith in her heart. This is the estimate which she forms of herself. ¶ I sit a queen. Indicative of pride, and of an asserted claim to rule. ¶ And am no widow. Am not in the condition of a widow—a state of depression, sorrow, and mourning. All this indicates security and self-confidence, a description in every way applicable to Papal Rome. ¶ And shall see no sorrow. This is indicative of a state where there was nothing feared, not withstanding all the indications which existed of approaching calamity. In this state we may expect to find Papal Rome, even when its last judgments are about to come upon it; in this state it has usually been; in this state it is now, notwithstanding all the indications that are abroad in the world that its power is waning, and that the period of its fall approaches.

8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly 554burned with fire: for 555strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

8. Therefore. In consequence of her pride, arrogance, and luxury, and of the calamities that she has brought upon others. ¶ Shall her plagues come in one day. They shall come in a time when she is living in ease and security; and they shall come at the same time—so that all these terrible judgments shall seem to be poured upon her at once. ¶ Death. This expression, and those which follow, are designed to denote the same thing under different images. The general meaning is, that there would be utter and final destruction. It would be as if death should come and cut off the inhabitants. ¶ And mourning. As there would be where many were cut off by death. ¶ And famine. As if famine raged within the walls of a besieged city, or spread over a land. ¶ And she shall be utterly burned with fire. As completely destroyed as if she were entirely burned up. The certain and complete destruction of that formidable Antichristian power is predicted under a great variety of emphatic images. See ch. xiv. 10, 11; xvi. 17‒21; xvii. 9, 16. Perhaps in this so frequent reference to a final destruction of that formidable Antichristian power by fire, there may be more intended than merely a figurative representation of its final ruin. There is some degree of probability, at least, that Rome itself will be literally destroyed in this manner, and that it is in this way that God intends to put an end to the Papal power, by destroying that which has been so long the seat and the centre of this authority. The extended prevalence of this belief, and the grounds for it, may be seen from the following remarks:—(1) It was an early opinion among the Jewish rabbies that Rome would be thus destroyed. Vitringa, on the Apocalypse, cites some opinions of this kind; the Jewish expectation being founded, as he says, on the passage in Is. xxxiv. 9, as Edom was supposed to mean Rome. “This chapter,” says Kimchi, “points out the future destruction of Rome, here called Bozra, for Bozra was a great city of the Edomites.” This is, indeed, worthless as a proof or an interpretation of Scripture, for it is a wholly unfounded interpretation; it is of value only as showing that somehow the Jews entertained this opinion. (2) The same expectation was entertained among the early Christians. Thus Mr. Gibbon (vol. i. p. 263, ch. xv.), referring to the expectations of the glorious reign of the Messiah on the earth (comp. Notes on ch. xiv. 8), says, speaking of Rome as the mystic Babylon, and of its anticipated destruction: “A regular series was prepared [in the minds of Christians] of all the moral and physical evils which can afflict a flourishing nation; intestine discord, and the invasion of the fiercest barbarians from the unknown regions of the north; pestilence and famine, comets and eclipses, earthquakes and inundations. All these were only so many preparatory and alarming signs of the great catastrophe of Rome, when the country of the Scipios and Cæsars should be consumed by a flame from heaven, and the city of the seven hills, with her palaces, her temples, and her triumphal arches, should be buried in a vast lake of fire and brimstone.” So even Gregory the Great, one of the most illustrious of the Roman pontiffs, himself says, acknowledging his belief in the truth of the tradition: Roma à Gentilibus non exterminabitur; sed tempestatibus, coruscis turbinibus, ac terræ motu, in se marcescet (Dial. ii. 15). (3) Whatever may be thought of these opinions and expectations, there is some foundation for the opinion in the nature of the case. (a) The region is adapted to this. “It is not Ætna, the Lipari volcanic islands, Vesuvius, that alone offer visible indications of the physical adaptedness of Italy for such a catastrophe. The great Apennine mountain-chain is mainly volcanic in its character, and the country of Rome more especially is as strikingly so almost as that of Sodom itself.” Thus the mineralogist Ferber, in his Tour in Italy, says: “The road from Rome to Ostia is all volcanic ashes till within two miles of Ostia.” “From Rome to Tivoli I went on fields and hills of volcanic ashes or tufa.” “A volcanic hill in an amphitheatrical form includes a part of the plain over Albano, and a flat country of volcanic ashes and hills to Rome. The ground about Rome is generally of that nature,” pp. 189, 191, 200, 234. (b) Mr. Gibbon, with his usual accuracy, as if commenting on the Apocalypse, has referred to the physical adaptedness of the soil of Rome for such an overthrow. Speaking of the anticipation of the end of the world among the early Christians, he says: “In the opinion of a general conflagration, the faith of the Christian very happily coincided with the tradition of the East, the philosophy of the Stoics, and the analogy of nature; and even the country, which, from religious motives, had been chosen for the origin and principal scene of the conflagration, was the best adapted for that purpose by natural and physical causes; by its deep caverns, beds of sulphur, and numerous volcanoes, of which those of Ætna, of Vesuvius, and of Lipari, exhibit a very imperfect representation,” vol. i. p. 263, ch. xv. As to the general state of Italy, in reference to volcanoes, the reader may consult, with advantage, Lyell’s Geology, book ii. ch. ix.‒xii. See also Murray’s Encyclopædia of Geography, book ii. ch. ii. Of the country around Rome it is said in that work, among other things: “The country around Rome, and also the hills on which it is built, is composed of tertiary marls, clays, and sandstones, and intermixed with a preponderating quantity of granular and lithoidal volcanic tufas. The many lakes around Rome are formed by craters of ancient volcanoes.” “On the road to Rome is the Lake of Vico, formerly the Lacus Cimini, which has all the appearance of a crater.”

The following extract from a recent traveller will still further confirm this representation:—“I behold everywhere—in Rome, near Rome, and through the whole region from Rome to Naples—most astounding proof, not merely of the possibility, but the probability, that the whole region of central Italy will one day be destroyed by such a catastrophe [by earthquakes or volcanoes]. The soil of Rome is tufa, with a volcanic subterranean action going on. At Naples the boiling sulphur is to be seen bubbling near the surface of the earth. When I drew a stick along the ground, the sulphurous smoke followed the indentation; and it would never surprise me to hear of the utter destruction of the southern peninsula of Italy. The entire country and district is volcanic. It is saturated with beds of sulphur and the substrata of destruction. It seems as certainly prepared for the flames, as the wood and coal on the hearth are prepared for the taper which shall kindle the fire to consume them. The divine hand alone seems to me to hold the element of fire in check by a miracle as great as that which protected the cities of the plain, till the righteous Lot had made his escape to the mountains” (Townsend’s Tour in Italy in 1850). ¶ For strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. That is, God has ample power to bring all these calamities upon her.

9 And the 556kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

9. And the kings of the earth. This verse commences the description of the lamentation over the fall of the mystical Babylon (see the Analysis of the chapter). ¶ Who have committed fornication. That is, who have been seduced by her from the true God, and have been led into practical idolatry. Notes on ch. xiv. 8. The kings of the earth seem to be represented as among the chief mourners, because they had derived important aid from the power which was now to be reduced to ruin. As a matter of fact, the kings of Europe have owed much of their influence and power to the support which has been derived from the Papacy, and when that power shall fall, there will fall much that has contributed to sustain oppressive and arbitrary governments, and that has prevented the extension of popular liberty. In fact, Europe might have been long since free, if it had not been for the support which despotic governments have derived from the Papacy. ¶ And lived deliciously with her. In the same kind of luxury and dissoluteness of manners. See ver. 3, 7. The courts of Europe, under the Papacy, have had the same general character for dissoluteness and licentiousness as Rome itself. The same views of religion produce the same effects everywhere. ¶ Shall bewail her, and lament for her. Because their ally is destroyed, and the source of their power is taken away. The fall of the Papacy will be the signal for a general overturning of the thrones of Europe. ¶ When they shall see the smoke of her burning. When they shall see her on fire, and her smoke ascending towards heaven. Notes on ch. xiv. 11.