Revelation 18

The city of man must fall. She has expressed her alluring power even before these words were ever uttered that we have recorded in Genesis 11:4, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” She is the imperial city where men go to make a name for themselves. She is Nineveh, Babylon, and Rome. It is a horrible scandal, but she is also Jerusalem of old, as well as Samaria to her north. She certainly was that great merchant city of Tyre on the seas, but she was also Corinth and Ephesus. Wherever commerce is king and idols are worshiped she is there. She has been Leningrad, London, Paris, and New York. She loves herself and she will not sincerely bow before anyone else.

As the centuries have progressed, she has suddenly become the whole world. When the Puritans came to New England, the leaders thought that their colony would be a new Jerusalem, a city on a hill, an example to all, but interfering in the internal affairs of none. They supposed that other nations, including old England, would see the light, and imitate the good land. What has proceeded from that seed has instead become a one-world city of commerce. Her brand names are everywhere, and with them come her new culture, a way of life marked by the latest technology, moral license, and godlessness. The meaning of all of the individual cities of the world must now yield to this new worldwide city of man.

Yet this Babylon too will fall. No one can say how many more cities like her must come and go. Her idols are impressive, but God has known about her from of old. He is working out His purposes. There is a better city coming, the city of God, and the city of man, the world-wide city of cities, must fall.

Look at what she has become! She is “a dwelling place for demons,” full of every idol and unclean way of thought and life. No nation remains untouched by her. They have all become unclean because she touches the whole world. Along the way she spreads her wealth everywhere. But what do men buy with all their winnings? Nothing that cannot be easily swept away by the Lord.

The church, the people of the Lord, must be different than this city of man. We are the Lord's heavenly kingdom on the earth. We need to come out of the city of man, even though, of necessity, we still live in it throughout the present age. Yet we reject her sinful ways, and we know that God will repay her for what she has done.

The wrath that is coming upon this city of man will be her destruction. She will be paid back double for her murders and her blasphemies. The cup that only Jesus could drink, that cup of God's justice, will be far more than Babylon can handle. Our Lord suffered on the cross, and then said, “It is finished.” But when God's true displeasure comes down on the world-wide city of man, though she thinks of herself as the fruitful queen of the earth, her demise will come all at once.

For centuries she scoffed at the Lord, pretending to honor Him when that brought her wealth, and quickly turning to false gods for her amusement and profit. She lived for bread and circuses, but a fire will destroy her proudest entertainments and objects of devotion. The Lord of hosts will judge her.

The people of the world who loved her wealth, who lived in luxury with her, they will mourn when she burns. They will remember the good times of this great and mighty city, and they will be shocked that her judgment has come upon her in a single hour.

How will they buy and sell without the city of man? She brought exotic goods from far away, and provided outlets for all their produce. From spices to slaves, she had it all. Everything was a product to her with a price, even people, and she bought and sold them like bread. She satisfied the fleshly longings of the rich everywhere, all for a price. When this worldwide city of man burns, merchants all over the earth will weep.

The world will be shocked by this sudden disaster, and people all over the planet will mourn, but heaven will rejoice. The world will see the smoke of her burning, and they will receive the news of her destruction like many must have taken in the shock of the news of the fall of Rome. They will say, “What city was like the great city?” But heaven will not be surprised, and the inhabitants of the world above will not mourn.

Why will heaven rejoice? Justice will have finally come upon the city of man. Babylon was God's agent of judgment against Judah in the sixth century BC, but she was to be judged by God for her own iniquities when her time came. This is what will happen to the world-wide city of man. She had her day of glory, but that day will come to an end. Though the earth will weep, heaven will see the justice of God's ways, and the inhabitants there will celebrate.

Just like that, like a great weight being thrown off the necks of the Lord's suffering servants and cast into the sea, the great city of man will be gone. No more of her music, her art, her manufacturing, her bright lights, her celebrity marriages... And no more of her sorcery that had such a hold on the world. She will not kill one more follower of Jesus Christ.

The Lord has won for Himself a far greater kingdom than the world and the devil could ever have offered Him. He purchased that new world with His blood. He will soon take possession of what He owns. He will not allow any imposter imperial city of evil to stand forever. May Jesus reign in the fullness of His perfect eternal purpose. May His kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.