We have already read of thunderings and lightnings coming from the throne of God in Revelation 4:5; 8:5; 11:19. They are fitting expressions of the power and majesty of God and the awesome nature of his judgments, for these are among the phenomena on earth that most fill men with awe and wonder.
John describes the division of the great city into three parts. What city is he speaking of? Twice in the book, the phrase ‘great city’ refers to Jerusalem (11:8; 21:10), the first time to the earthly Jerusalem standing for the centre of religious opposition to the Lord and the second time to the heavenly Jerusalem representing the church as it comes down from heaven prepared as a bride. The second reference has no connection with this passage. Seven times the phrase refers to Babylon (14:8; 17:18; 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21) and significantly, most of these references come from chapters 17 and 18, to which this passage in chapter 16 is an introduction. In addition, there are two other references to ‘Babylon, the great’ (17:5; 18:2), and one here in 16:19 to ‘great Babylon’. Babylon wins on numbers, but more significantly, 14:8 which is the closest reference, uses the term of Babylon. The objection to this interpretation is that Babylon is mentioned separately in the verse and seems to be a different city, though the latter could be no more than an explanation of the former. Also the phrase ‘and the cities of the nations’ (or Gentiles) makes these cities distinct from ‘the great city’ mentioned before. This might imply that it is not ‘of the nations’ and therefore is more likely to be Jerusalem, but it may be that there is no such contrast and that the great city is one of the cities of the nations, singled out for special consideration. It would be strange if Jerusalem was mentioned here without being named, at the start of a long section on the fall of Babylon, when Babylon is also called by the same name more frequently and closer to this verse. However, both Jerusalem (11:13) and Babylon are names used figuratively, and both stand for concerted opposition to God orchestrated by the devil.