In verses 9 through 19 we have the weeping over Babylon. Verse 9 says, “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her, shall weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning,” and verse 11 says, “And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore.” The international merchants who have made great profit from this wealthy city will weep when they see it under God’s judgment.
Verses 12 and 13 list the cargo sold by the merchants of the earth. Since the cargo in these verses consists of various material things, Babylon the Great in this chapter is proved to be the material one. The cargo is of seven categories: from gold to pearls, ornament; from fine linen to scarlet, clothing; from thyine wood to marble, furniture and decoration; from cinnamon to frankincense, spice; from wine to sheep, food; horses and carriages, transportation; and bodies and souls of men, employment. Of the cargo carried by Babylon, the first item is gold, and the last is the souls of men. Souls of men are men themselves sold for employment. This not only depicts the coming Babylon, but also today’s world. People sell their whole being to their employers. Many are selling their soul, their life, themselves, to their occupation, neglecting God and their eternal destiny.
This list of the cargo proves that the city of Rome will be a city of capitalism, not of communism. Capitalism will prevail in Rome until material Babylon is destroyed.
Verse 20 says, “Rejoice over her, O heaven and saints and apostles and prophets, because God has judged your judgment upon her.” While many will weep over the destruction of Babylon, others will rejoice over it. Those on earth will weep, but those in heaven will rejoice. We shall certainly be among the rejoicing ones in heaven. Furthermore, I believe that we shall witness the destruction of Babylon. As her smoke goes up, we shall rejoice.
In verses 21 through 24 we find the declaration of Babylon’s absolute destruction. Verse 21 says, “And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and shall be found no more at all.” Perhaps the destruction of Babylon will be accomplished by a great earthquake that will cause the entire city to sink into the sea. Because this is the destiny of Babylon, you must advise your friends not to live there.
In 19:1-4 we have the praise in heaven over the judgment upon the great prostitute. In verses 1 through 3 we have a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, praising God and saying, “Hallelujah!” Although chapter eighteen concerns the judgment upon material Babylon, the praise in these verses in chapter nineteen is not mainly related to material Babylon, but to religious Babylon. The reason for this is that throughout the centuries both aspects have been mingled together. Until A.D. 476 Rome was the center of politics. In the centuries following that time it has been the center of religion. The Roman Catholic Church came into power in the sixth century, and by the end of the sixth century the papal system was completely established. Of the past nineteen centuries, in the first five we see the predominance of the Roman Empire and in the last fourteen, of the Roman Catholic Church. When the time comes for the fall of Babylon, the religious aspect will be destroyed first and the material aspect later. The praise in heaven is not mainly related to the destruction of material Babylon, but to the destruction of religious Babylon, because in God’s eyes the religious aspect is more hateful than the material aspect. Today we care little for material Rome, but we are very troubled by religious Rome. How happy we shall be to see the fall of religious Babylon!
Revelation 19:4 says, “And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who sits upon the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah!” After the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven says, “Hallelujah,” the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures say, “Amen, Hallelujah!” The “Amen” comes first because some hallelujahs have been spoken already. The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures say “Amen” to these hallelujahs and then add more hallelujahs of their own. In 1967 the Lord showed us how to call upon His name. At the same time we began to see that we should praise Him continually. Our meetings in 1967 and 1968 were filled with amens and hallelujahs. Religious people condemned us for this, and a small part of religious Babylon rose up against us. I simply do not know why. They oppose our praising the Lord with amens and hallelujahs. But the book of Revelation indicates that praising the Lord in this way will be the practice in the future. What will be practiced in heaven in the future may also be practiced by us today on earth.
If we believe the Bible, then we must accept the book of Revelation. If we do not have this book, then the Bible has no conclusion. The Nicene Creed, formulated in A.D. 325 at a council convened under the authority of the Emperor Constantine, is widely accepted throughout Catholicism and Protestantism. At the time of this council seven books of the New Testament—Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation—had not yet been fully recognized. They were officially recognized in A.D. 393 at the Council of Carthage. Hence, the Nicene Creed was probably formulated without the book of Revelation.
To many Christians, the book of Revelation is foreign. As far as many Christians are concerned, it is almost as if this book were not in the Bible. Even if they do read it, they cannot understand it. This is due to the subtlety of the enemy. No other book in the Bible has suffered as much from Christian opinion as the book of Revelation. For this reason, in 22:18 and 19 the Lord Jesus said, “I testify to every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.” We must be careful not to add anything to or take anything from the words of the prophecy of this book. Nevertheless, throughout the centuries most Christians have taken away from this book. Although the book of Revelation is printed in the Bible, in the experience of many, this book has actually been taken away from them. This is the reason so many Christians are missing God’s blessing. From the time the Lord first opened this book to us, what blessing there has been! I believe that all these messages will cause a great turn and a further step in all the churches. Great blessing will be bestowed upon the churches.
There are a number of expositions on the book of Revelation. Because most of these writings do not follow a sound principle in expounding this book, most of what they say is not accurate. In order to rightly interpret the book of Revelation we need to be familiar with the entire Bible. As we have pointed out, nearly every symbol in this book is a reference to a symbol in the Old Testament. Thus, we must know the origination of the symbol in the Old Testament and then trace the development of it in the New Testament. Take the example of the lampstand in Revelation 1. It is first mentioned in Exodus 25 and then in Zechariah 4. If we would know the significance of the lampstand in Revelation, then we must consult Exodus 25 and Zechariah 4. Furthermore, we also need to understand the development of this matter of the lampstand in the book of Revelation. This is the way to understand this book.
Another illustration of the proper way to understand Revelation is the matter of the beast in chapter thirteen. If we would know what this beast is, we must go to Daniel 7, for the beast in Revelation 13 is both a reference to the beast revealed in Daniel 7 and a development of that beast.
If we study the first mention of any symbol and then trace its development, we shall have the right interpretation of it. We must follow this basic principle in studying the book of Revelation. However, many expositions of this book violate this principle. Praise the Lord that He has shown us the basic principles. All the interpretations the Lord has given us are according to these principles and are fully supported by history. Therefore, for example, we have been made very clear about the Roman Empire, the Roman Church, and Antichrist. We have seen that Antichrist will be a double character; he will be both the seventh Caesar and the eighth Caesar. As the eighth Caesar he will have the body of the seventh and the spirit of the fifth. Thus, he will be an extraordinary figure. If we understand this clearly, then we shall know where we are and what will happen in the near future.