God Has Remembered Her Crimes

For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ” sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.” Therefore, in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. (Revelation 18:6-8, NIV 1984).

My Musings – What is given back to her “for what she has done,” is a three-fold punishment:

A Portion – For her evil deeds (“for her sins are piled up to heaven”) in general.

A Double-Portion – Of her own medicine for the bitterness (“give back to her as she has given”) caused to others.  Paying back double is only mentioned here in the New Testament (and only after the age of grace), whereas the Old Testament (age of the law) often insisted that “the one whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double,” (Exodus 22:9, NIV 1984).  Mixing a double portion refers to the drink’s potency, not necessarily a double amount of the drink.

In Proportion To – A commensurate measure of torture and grief for the “the glory and luxury she gave herself.”

For a season, Babylon may sit as a queen in her arrogance and false sense of security (“I will never mourn”), but when it does come, the judgment for her mountain of sins (“piled up to heaven”) will be certain (“fallen, fallen”), forceful (“mighty is the God who judges her”) and swift (“in one day”). Those who doubt that Christ will come to judge are misconstruing God’s incredible patience for a lack of power or His willingness to bring about justice on an unrepentant world. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is [incredibly] patient with [us], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord {to bring about justice on an unrepentant world] will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare,” (2 Peter 3:9–10, NIV 1984).

As far as the “woman’ is concerned, what are the specific sins will God judge?

For What She Has Done – First is the seductive and evil influence that Babylon will have on the nations of the world (“come out of her, my people”).

For Her Boastful Pride – Second is her pride (“In her heart she boasts”).  She sees herself as a queen who could never be dethroned, and this false confidence and pride could never be accepted by the Lord. “You said, ‘I will continue forever— the eternal queen!’ But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.’ Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day,” (Isaiah 47:7–9, NIV 1984).

For Her Self-Glory and Luxury – A third sin is Babylon’s worship of pleasures and luxury. She will live in “glory and luxury”, while others go without. Possessions and pleasures are more important than the needs of others. John summarized this worldly attitude as “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” (1 John 2:16, NIV 1984).

The phrase, “in one day her plagues will overtake her,” is taken by many to be symbolic rather than literal, meaning that it will come upon her suddenly, as “in one hour” is used later in the text. At the same time, it could also be literal.  As historical Babylon fell in one night, so too could Mystery Babylon fall on a specific day and hour in one great cataclysmic event.  In His Sovereign power and righteousness, God (who spoke the universe into existence) is more than able to bring the whole force of His omnipotence to oppose and judge Babylon’s haughtiness.

Rome on the other hand “was not built in a day,” nor did it fall overnight.  The phrase fall of the Roman Empire was not some cataclysmic event that ended an empire that stretched from the British Isles to Egypt, Iraq and Turkey. There was no straining at the gates, no barbarian horde that dispatched the Roman Empire in one fell swoop. Rather, the Roman Empire was challenged from within and without, changing over the course of hundreds of years until its former glory was unrecognizable.

In The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, historian Edward Gibbon fixes the year that Rome ceased to exist as 476 AD. The year the Germanic Chieftain Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman Empire.  Others disagree and point to the rise of Islam and the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) and the eastern part of the empire in 1453 AD, as a more fitting bookend to the end of the empire.  The fall of Constantinople was the result of the conquest of that city by the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Mehmet II. This event marked the final destruction of the Eastern Roman (“Byzantine”) Empire, and the death of the last Roman Emperor in the east, Constantine XI.

In antiquity, fire (“she will be consumed by fire”) was the standard method for destroying captured cities. Readers in John’s day might have remembered the wide-spread rumor that it was Nero who had burned down Rome in 64 AD, blaming it on the Christians.  Also, during Titus’ brief reign as emperor (79–81 AD), a series of natural catastrophes occurred.  Mt Vesuvius in southern Italy erupted burying the towns of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum in August, 79 AD. Another fire raged for three days and nights in Rome in 80 AD, spreading plague throughout the imperial city.  The Jews viewed these as judgments against Rome during the reign of Titus as divine retribution for the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD, when he was a mere general.

Thus, we see in this brief section on the destruction of a future “Babylon” potential references to both historical Babylon (“in one day”) and ancient Rome (“consumed by fire”) as types of the end times “Babylon.”

“I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.” Here the voice cites Isaiah’s (47:8–9) condemnation of Babylon’s claim that it would never fall. Her boasts are indications of the arrogance in her position and confidence in her security (past, present, and future).  “I sit as queen” contrasts with “a woman clothed with the sun” imagery from Revelation 12:1.

My Advice – On a personal level, “[we] may be sure that [our] sin will find [us] out.” (Numbers 32:23, NIV 1984). Just as surely as “the earth and everything in it will be laid bare,” so shall it be with every sin. Even those we thought we had so cleverly concealed. Yet there is hope in Christ, and Christ alone. When we coem to saving faith in Him, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12, NIV 1984).

What a marvelous picture of repentance and forgiveness. Once we turn from our sins (repent) and turn to Christ (accept His gift), no matter how far we travel “east or west,” we will never come to a place where east becomes west (or west becomes east). It is that far removed. Eternally. Not like removing it as far as the north is from the south. Because eventually, the farther you travel, north will become south or south will become north.

The woman made some pretty arrogant boasts. But for us, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord,” (2 Corinthians 10:17, NIV 1984).

Resources:

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Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Moore, E., Craven, E. R., & Woods, J. H. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Revelation (p. 326-327). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

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Keener, C. S. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary: New Testament (Re 17:15–16). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

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Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 594). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.