And there followed another angel
A "second", as the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition,
and the Syriac version add; and the Arabic version reads, "and
the second angel followed"; another set of Gospel ministers, who
will immediately follow upon the former, proclaiming the fall of
Babylon, which will be brought about through the preaching of the
everlasting Gospel. Some think the Waldenses and Albigenses are
here designed, who gave a great blow to Babylon, and laid a
foundation for her ruin. Others have thought that Luther, and the
reformers of his times, are intended, who gave a deadly blow to
Babylon, and she has been falling ever since: but to me it
appears, that a set of ministers in the spiritual reign of Christ
are meant, who will not only signify the fall of Babylon to be
certain, and near at hand, but will live to see and declare her
actual fall, as follows: saying, Babylon is fallen, is
fallen, that great city;
which is to be understood not of the world in general, which will
not now be come to an end, for all nations of the world are
distinguished from this Babylon in the next clause, and is only
represented as a city, though a great one; nor of Babylon in
Chaldea, which was fallen many hundreds of years before this
vision; nor is there any likelihood of its being restored, nor
any reason to believe that it will ever more be the seat of
empire over all the nations and kings of the earth, as the
Babylon mentioned in this book is, ( Revelation
17:5 Revelation
17:18 ) though undoubtedly the allusion is to that Babylon,
and the very words are used which express the fall of it, and are
taken from it; see ( Isaiah 21:9 ) but this
is to be understood of Rome, which all along in this book is
called the great city; see ( Revelation
11:8 ) ( 16:19 ) (
17:18 ) and not of
Rome Pagan, for that is fallen already; and the account of the
fall of that is given before, at the opening of the sixth seal,
and the casting the dragon out of heaven, upon the war there,
between Michael and him, though Mr. Daubuz is of opinion that
this is here meant; but of Rome Papal, called Babylon the great,
( Revelation 16:5 ) (
Revelation 18:2 ) and
so the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic
versions, read here; and the Romish antichrist is so called,
because that city was famous for its pride and haughtiness, for
its tyranny and cruelty, and for its idolatry; and indeed its
name, which signifies "confusion", well agrees with the Papacy,
which is a confused mixture of Judaism, Paganism, and
Christianity: so Rome is called Babel in some ancient writings of
the Jews F15, where some copies read "Babel",
others read "Rome"; and Tertullian, who wrote long before the
appearance of the Romish antichrist, says {p}, with our John,
Babylon is a figure of the Roman city: and of this it is said,
that it "is fallen, is fallen"; which words are repeated for the
certain confirmation of it, as matter of fact; for the fall of
antichrist will certainly be in the spiritual reign of Christ, in
the Philadelphian church state; (See Gill on
Revelation 3:9) now will Babylon come in remembrance
before God, and he will pour out the vials of his wrath upon her,
and will give men an aversion to her; and through the preaching
of the Gospel she will fall, just as the walls of Jericho fell at
the sounding of the rams' horns: the reason of which fall will
be, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her
fornication:
by her "fornication" is meant the idolatry of the church of Rome;
so the idolatry of Israel and Judah is often expressed in the Old
Testament by fornication and whoredoms; see ( Jeremiah 3:6
) ( Ezekiel
23:2 Ezekiel 23:3
) and the wine of it designs the alluring methods used to draw
into it; such as the riches and honours, and pleasures of this
world, promised to men, and the great appearances of holiness and
religion, the deceivableness of unrighteousness, the miracles,
signs, and lying wonders done by them, by which men are made
sottish and stupid, and induced to believe a lie; just as wine
intoxicates, and inclines and excites to lust: and by "the wrath"
of it is meant either the heat of lust unto it, or the wrath of
God against them which is stirred up by it; and now the
aggravation of her sin is, that she not only drinks of this wine
herself, or commits idolatry, being instigated to it by the
allurements of it, though she hereby incurs the displeasure and
wrath of God, but she draws all nations into the same idolatrous
practices.