Christ will appear at the time of the destruction of material Babylon. Revelation 18:1 says, “After these things I saw another Angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illumined with His glory.” This Angel is Christ, coming down out of heaven, with whose glory the earth is illumined. In His appearing Christ will come as an angel sent by God. In the Old Testament several times Christ was the angel sent by God. In Genesis 22:11-12, Exodus 3:2-6, Judges 6:11-24, and Zechariah 1:11-12; 2:3, 8-11, and 3:1-7, we read of the angel of the Lord. As we study the context of all these references to the angel of the Lord, we see that the angel of the Lord is actually the Lord Himself. In the book of Revelation Christ is revealed at least three or four times as an angel sent by God to fulfill God’s commission (7:2; 8:3; 10:1; 18:1). Here Christ appears in this way.
In 10:1 Christ was still clothed with a cloud, and in 14:14 He was sitting on the cloud, whereas His glory here in 18:1 shines over the earth, indicating that His coming back to earth is closer than the coming mentioned in 10:1 and 14:14. He will come down out of heaven firstly in the cloud secretly, then He will come on the cloud openly, and eventually He will shine over the earth to destroy Babylon the Great, the city of Rome, with great authority. At this time He will take full possession of the earth, and the earth will become His kingdom. Therefore, the fall of material Babylon will transpire at the appearing of Christ.
In 18:3 the aspects of religious and material Babylon are both mentioned. This verse says, “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her luxury.” “The nations have drunk of the wine...and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her...” refers to the religious aspect, whereas “the merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her luxury” refers to the material aspect. It is the Roman religion, not the Roman Empire, that has made all nations drunk with her religious, devilish wine. Likewise, it is the city of Rome, not the Roman Church, that has enriched the merchants of the earth by the power of her luxury. Therefore, in one verse the religious aspect and the material aspect are covered.
Verse 4 says, “And I heard another voice out of heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues.” Since Babylon the Great is twofold, to come out of her means to come out of both religious Babylon and material Babylon. This is proved by the pronoun “her” in this verse. The antecedent of this pronoun is the Babylon of two aspects revealed in verses 2 and 3.
Verses 6 through 8 speak of Babylon’s pride and destruction. She prides herself on being a queen, not a widow. As such a one, she thinks she will never see sorrow. But when the time of judgment comes, the Lord will destroy her and give her much torment and sorrow. In one day her plagues will come, and she will be utterly burned with fire.
In verse 2 we see the fall of material Babylon. This verse says, “And He cried with a strong voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” In 14:8 an angel said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great,” and in this verse Christ cries out with the same words. This indicates that Babylon will have two falls, the fall of religious Babylon and the fall of material Babylon. The fall of religious Babylon will transpire at the beginning of the great tribulation, and the fall of material Babylon will transpire at the end of the great tribulation. Chapter eighteen relates the fall of material Babylon, not of religious Babylon.
Verse 2 says that Babylon has become “a dwelling place of demons and a hold of every unclean spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” This verse contains references to the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah and quotations from them. In condemning literal Babylon Jeremiah used expressions like this. Eventually, the city of Rome will be condemned and cursed just as ancient Babylon was. For this reason, the city of Rome will no longer be a fit dwelling place for human beings. Rome is a most interesting city, and tourists enjoy visiting there. However, the day is coming when no one will go there because it will be filled with demons, unclean spirits, and unclean and hateful birds. This is a sign that it will be ugly and abominable in the eyes of God. Material Babylon, the city of Rome, will become hateful in the eyes of God because it has been the source of both devilish politics and devilish religion. In the Roman Empire we see the devilish politics, and in the Roman Catholic Church, the devilish religion. These devilish things have been in power for at least two thousand years and have damaged and poisoned mankind throughout the earth. Therefore, God will intervene to judge the city of Rome and render it unfit to be a place for people to live in. As a result of the condemnation and curse pronounced upon ancient Babylon, it became unfit for human habitation. The same will be true of material Babylon.