Revelation 18:21

The Finality of Babylon's Fall

21 Then a mighty angel^[a] picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying: In this way, Babylon the great city will be thrown down violently^[b] and never be found again.^[c]

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 They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning: Woe, woe, the great city, where all those who have ships on the sea became rich from her wealth; because in a single hour she was destroyed.

20 Rejoice over her, heaven, and you saints, apostles, and prophets, because God has executed your judgment on her!

21 Then a mighty angel picked up a stone like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying: In this way, Babylon the great city will be thrown down violently and never be found again.

22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again; the sound of a mill will never be heard in you again;

23 the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the voice of a groom and bride will never be heard in you again. [All this will happen] because your merchants were the nobility of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery,

Footnotes

• [a]. Rv 5:2; 10:1
• [b]. Jr 51:59-64
• [c]. Rv 16:20; 18:11,14,22-23