Revelation 14:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."

NIV: A second angel followed and said, " ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."

NASB: And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.'

CSB: And another, a second angel, followed, saying, "It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath."

NLT: Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, 'Babylon is fallen — that great city is fallen — because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.'

KJV: And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

NKJV: And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

Another angel appears in John's vision and announces the fall of Babylon. The Bible depicts Babylon as the center of Satanic activity from the days following Noah's flood until its fall at the end of the tribulation. Babylon is notorious for its idolatry, blasphemy, and immorality. The book of Daniel reveals its idolatry in the case of Nebuchadnezzar's command to worship a giant image (Daniel 3:1–7) and its blasphemy and immorality in the case of Belshazzar (Daniel 5).

Jeremiah 50:38 describes Babylon as "a land of images, and they are mad over idols." Further in Jeremiah 51:7 we read: "Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad." Babylon is used, in the Bible, both as a literal place and culture and as a symbol of a godless, wicked worldview.

In Scripture, then, "Babylon" is as much a reference to the world's ungodly and sinful nature as anything else. The Satanic system called Babylon is precisely what the beast and the false prophet promote, but it is doomed to destruction. According to Revelation 14:8 its end will be double destruction—both in this world, and in the world to come.

Revelation 14:6–13 reports what three angels announce. The first angel declares God's imminent judgment on Babylon, but first he proclaims the eternal gospel throughout the world. It appears that God gives earth's inhabitants one last chance to repent before He executes His judgment. The second and third angels pronounce judgment on the kingdom of the beast and his worshipers. Revelation 15:1—18:24 fills in the details of the predicted judgments. A voice from heaven encourages those who obey God and maintain steadfast in faith in Christ. The voice pronounces blessing upon those who lay down their lives for Christ.

This chapter distinguishes two groups of people: those who believe in Jesus during the tribulation and those who worship the beast. John sees the Lamb, Jesus, and the 144,00 sealed Jewish servants of God standing together on Mount Zion. The scene anticipates the end of the tribulation with the 144,000 celebrating their victory over the beast. Heaven, too, celebrates their triumph. The eternal good news of salvation reaches the ends of the earth, calling upon everyone to turn to God or face His judgment and announcing the collapse of commercial Babylon and the eternal punishment of the beast, whose image so many unbelievers worshiped. This impending judgment is cause for believers to stay loyal to the Lord. Many believers will face martyrdom, but their temporary suffering does not compare with the eternal suffering worshipers of the beast will experience. When Christ returns to earth, the destruction of the wicked will be so complete that blood will flow so high it will reach a horse's bridle.

This chapter continues a segment of Revelation which deviates from the chronological account of the end times. These events occur at the end of the tribulation, when Christ returns to defeat all the remaining wickedness on earth. This event is given more details in chapter 19. In Acts 14:19–22 we learn that Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged the believers by saying believers must endure many tribulations before they enter the kingdom. Revelation 14 and 15 offer similar encouragement to stay loyal to Christ in the face of persecution. Chapter 16 resumes a step-by-step account of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''