Revelation 18:21

The Doom of Babylon

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.

Revelation 18:21 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 18:21

And a mighty angel
Not Christ, nor one of the ministering spirits, but some man or set of men, perhaps the same with him in ( Revelation 18:1 )

took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea;
just as Jeremiah took a stone and bound it to his book after he had read it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, as a sign and token of the destruction of old Babylon, ( Jeremiah 51:63 Jeremiah 51:64 ) ( Exodus 15:5 ) ( Nehemiah 9:11 )

saying, thus with violence shall that great city be thrown down, and
shall be found no more at all;
which is expressive of the utter destruction of Rome, and of the violence, force, and power with which it will be destroyed, and of the suddenness and swiftness of its destruction, and of the irrecoverableness of its state and condition.

Revelation 18:21 In-Context

19 Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been destroyed.”

20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.

22 And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.

23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”