Revelation 16:18 Commentary and Bible Study

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. The final plague is marked by an earthquake unequalled by any earthquake that has ever taken place in the history of the world. Though the noises come from heaven, the earthquake is unmistakably on the earth. Earthquakes are further examples of the hostility of the earth, an environment originally created to be entirely beneficial to man but which since the curse had become a source of danger and death. An earthquake of such immense proportions would immediately bring down the cities of the world in a disaster from which they could not recover. But are we to think of this as a literal earthquake at the end of the world? Could this be symbolic language to describe the shaking and collapse of the nations of the world and their cities in other ways? If we look at other eschatological prophecies, we find that earthquakes are spoken of there also. This is true of Christ’s prophecy repeated three times in the gospels (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11) describing the events that will lead up to the end of the world. In these literal passages, it is undoubtedly literal earthquakes that Christ speaks of, just as he refers to literal wars and literal persecution. Revelation 6:12, presents a similar scene. There too, a final great earthquake is spoken of, accompanied by the darkening of the sun and the moon. Revelation 16:18 is obviously parallel to Revelation 6:12, for both are dealing with the very end of world history. If this earthquake is not literal, it is a description of something that is at least as destructive. The view that this is a literal is supported by the comparison between this and all previous earthquakes that have taken place in history, which are without doubt physical earthquakes.The scale of this destruction is tremendous. The great city is divided into three. There does not appear to be any further significance to this than that the destruction is one which from which the city cannot recover. The earth is struck in such a way that not just one, but all the cities of the world fall. This is an irrecoverable destruction and man will see it and quake as chapter 18 tells us.The wide extent of this judgment is shown by the fact that all the cities of the world fall. But one city, Babylon, is singled out for special treatment, as the primary centre of opposition to God. Longstanding indeed have been her sins, for she represents the world in its opposition to God throughout history. Babylon does not stand for Roman Catholicism or the papacy alone, for these are simply individual manifestations of false religion. She is more than any one of the kingdoms of this world, with their various false religions and governments; she is the sum total of them all. Babylon is a beast which has reared its head in various forms, now a leopard, then a bear, and then again a lion. It has appeared in history as the Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek and the Roman empires, and will appear in a final form which amalgamates all of them. It represents the world, which every believer has faced in one form or another, a world which tries to conform the believer to its mould, which uses flattery and threats to ensnare him and which he is forbidden to love. Babylon fittingly symbolises the world for historical Babylon was once the physical centre of a world empire, from where power was administered. Now she is remembered because her time has come. God’s patience is exhausted. All will be taken into consideration.There is the only appropriate way to treat her. She must drink undiluted the cup of the wrath of God. That cup will be placed into her hands and she must drink. No amount of cunning or craftiness can now deliver her. Men believe that by subterfuge they can put off forever being held accountable for their sins. This is all self-deception for a cup will be placed in her hands which she cannot refuse.Earthquakes often cause powerful tsunamis that swamp lower lying shores. In the more extreme cases, they cause changes to the level of the land. The islands of the world are here said to disappear, presumably as they sink due to these two effects, and the mountains are removed. The mountains which have been raised by tectonic forces are now disappear again, as changes take place with great rapidity. The emphasis on one physical element after another, suggests that these are literal physical changes. This is fitting as a judgment for atheistic man who trusts only in what he can touch and see. It would be surprising if the physical world was not included in God’s final judgment of mankind. This description suggests momentous disruptions to the physical world before the elements finally dissolve. If so, those still alive will witness the end.