Revelation 18 describes a city which it refers to as Babylon. The earliest mention of this city describes a project of building structure reaching to the heavens – the tower of Babel (Gen.11:1-9). The remains of a major tower were unearthed on this site in 1933. The notable event that took place here was the effort to form a single world government with the power to defy God Himself. God broke their power and dispersed their multi-national effort.

   Around 600 B.C. Babylon again ruled the world, connecting all the significant cultures of its time. This too came to an end when it publicly defied God.

   Rev.18:Verse 2 says: “…Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a haunt of every unclean spirit, and a haunt of every unclean and hateful bird.”

   The context of this passage is during the final 3-1/2 years of human history, and this is the context of the analysis to follow.

   More details are brought out about this fall in subsequent verses. Verse 8 speaks of it taking place within one day; Verses 10, 17, and 19 say it happens in a single hour. Fire, is associated with this fall in verses 8, 9, and 18; Violence is mentioned in verse 21. Sickness, mourning, and famine are also related to the area in verse 8.

   Presumably, a massive assault involving a great tonnage of conventional weapons could obliterate a major city in a day. As we will see shortly, this city is highly favored by the wealthy of the world, and it is unthinkable that preparations for such a massive assault would go unnoticed and unopposed by those of power and resources. Only an atomic weapon could do the job thoroughly, without warning, and within a single hour (admittedly I am speculating here, so be careful with this).

   Verse 2: “Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.”

   What did she “pay” to or do to others? If the description of the fall is any clue, then this city (apparently in concert with other world rulers) has been responsible for the shedding of a lot of blood, and has humiliated other cities.

   Verses 21 through 24 describe this fall as permanent.

   city has become demon-infested. The tense of this verb tells us that this was not always the case.

   The birds considered unclean in ancient tradition were the scavengers and the birds of prey. We catch glimpses of such birds in the Bible as they pluck the flesh of corpses’. We also see birds stealing away the word that was sown in the parable of the sower (Mk.4:4,15).

   Vs 3: “For (because) all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

   The reason for the presence of the vile spirits and birds of verse 2 is given in verse 3 as immorality on a global scale. This also explains why the language in verse 1 is all-inclusive; “every” is used for both the spirits and birds. By participating in immorality and sensuality on a global scale, the demons associated with such things have come from over the world to find a home in this city.

   These demonic influences then accelerated the spiritual decline until the conditions of verse 5 were reached: “for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”

   How do kings or governments commit immorality? If they are the ones who define the laws and the cultural morality, how can they do anything wrong?

   In the true and Godly order of things, humans do not define right and wrong. The pretense of doing so is the pretense of being God. For the sake of civil order an imperfect world requires that we set up certain boundaries to deal with violations, but the mandate to walk in love towards God and fellow man (Mt.22:37-40) did not come from here.

   When God gives authority it is an administrative assignment, not a gift of pleasure -- although personal reward does often accompany the proper exercise of responsibility (Gen 2:15, Ezek 34:1-10).

   God raised up prophets and warriors to guide and protect His people during the period of the Judges. Like Gandhi of more modern times, these people focused upon their administrative or protective assignments and neither amassed great personal wealth nor enslaved the people.

   When individuals in power conspire to use their authority for the sake their personal gratifications at the expense of the people to whom they are accountable, they stand in violation of their Godly trusts. A simple form of this is that of an official accepting a bribe to provide a specific judgment or vote.

   A more subtle form involves those within covenants such as fraternities and the Masons. These routinely and openly conspire to network each other into positions of power and wealth. Until recently this very nation has never had a president who was not within the upper echelons of the Masonic order.

   At the global level we have wealthy federal elitists bartering national resources, treaties and wars as they jockey for positions of power and wealth, at the expense of their own people. This is prostitution at the highest level.

   Slightly lower on the food chain – but also mentioned in verse 3 – we find the merchants. These too have become wealthy and as they facilitate the flow of products and pleasures that support the hedonism of powerful and wealthy people. We learn also in this verse that their stock in trade is sensuality. When we review the list of their cargoes in verses 12 and 13, we find it to consist primarily of luxury items.

   The reason for the destruction is given in verses 7 & 8 as pride and self-determination in defiance of God. She and other world-class prostitutes had basically usurped God’s authority to care for the world and made it into a toy for their own gratification. In so doing, she effectively assumed that there was no one – including God – to stop her.

   Why is seeking to acquire power and wealth while ignoring God such a terrible thing that it would deserve such extreme retribution? To ask this question seriously is to reveal the level to which one has become influenced by the same Babylonian mindset.

   Verse 4: “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.’”

   The call to “my people” to come out of her might be interpreted to mean spiritually, physically, or both; the reasons given for leaving however make things a little more clear. Leaving in at least a spiritual sense would involve renouncing and forsaking any involvement in her sins. Within the context of chapter 18 however, the phrase “and receive of her plagues” would almost certainly indicate a physical separation as well. The prospect of remaining in a city being engulfed in a violent flaming holocaust leaves no other option.

   This directive given to God’s people makes the assumption that the subject city and the timing of this directive will be evident to the generation to which it applies. Although the avoidance of the sins has been a standing order for thousands of years, the identity of the city and the timing of the physical exodus warrant further scrutiny.

   Interestingly this command was given concerning the ancient city of Babylon and for similar reasons while she existed (Is.52:11, Jer.50:8, 51:6, 9, 45). However, this passage in Rev. 18 was written about 500 years later, centuries after the destruction of ancient Babylon, and obviously applies to a time when a far more catastrophic destruction would be possible. All considered, it appears we are looking at a time after the dawn of the atomic age.

   The approach I suggest is to first make a list of all the characteristics that could help describe this city that may be found in chapter 18. Then make a list of possible candidate cities from anywhere in the world, and compare the characteristic list against them to see if there are one or more matches. If no match is found, then apparently the time is not yet near.

I am willing to suggest a list of characteristics, but I will leave it up to the reader to edit or add to the list and to evaluate candidates. Here is my list, in approximate textual order:

1. Evil spiritual influences from cultures all over the world: This would be a place where there were no restrictions upon occult or religious practices.

2. A world-wide immoral influence. This would be an exporter of culture, sensations, philosophies, and art capable of wreaking havoc with the moral sensitivities of many. I believe between items 1. and 2. we could categorically eliminate strongly Muslim countries. Although we may disagree with their philosophy, they at least seem to have a strong sense of morality, and they certainly do not tolerate other religions.

3. A seat of global political and/or financial power. Geneva is often used as a place for international agreements, and is well established as a banking hub. The United Nations is an obvious seat of global political influence. London and Luxembourg are powerful trading centers – there are numerous potential candidates here.

4. Global-scale market place for sensual and products (presumably to include entertainment).

5. A very sinful place.

6. A place from which courses of war and destruction has been agreed upon by alliances of nations.

7. A proud place.

8. The market upon which global merchants most depend (verse 11,19).

9. Verses 17 and 19 suggests it would be a seaport.

   I believe many more characteristics could be mined from this chapter, but I have attempted to stay within the more obvious possibilities.