BIG IDEA:
THE CERTAINTY OF THE FALL OF BABYLON DEMANDS MORAL SEPARATION AND DISPLAYS THE APPROPRIATENESS OF JUDICIAL RECOMPENSE
INTRODUCTION:
Daniel Akin: In this chapter we observe the world weeping over the death of a prostitute. However, this prostitute was using others just as others were also using her. The people of this world were glad to let her use them because they became drunk with the passion of her sexual immorality (18:3, 4, 9). In fact, she made them rich, provided them a life of luxurious living (18:3, 9). But with her death all was lost. All she gave them was suddenly, in a moment, taken away. When it was too late, they saw that the prostitute, this worldly system of desires and idols, was a deceptive mirage. Sensual pleasures, material possessions, a life of luxury, and the promises of power and satisfaction were completely, suddenly, utterly, and eternally destroyed. Sin is deceptive. It will destroy and it will be destroyed. Security is not found in this world. Security is found only in Christ.
Revelation 18 is a requiem, a funeral dirge, a song of lamentation and sorrow over the demise and destruction of Babylon. Ladd notes that the Old Testament “background for this section is found in the prophetic dirges over the fall of Tyre (Ezek 26–28) and of Babylon (Isa 13–14; 21; Jer 50–51)” (Commentary, 235). It is a song that has been sung through the ages by those who gave their all to this world, only to be sadly disappointed with the results.
John Walvoord: there are a number of reasons to believe the judgment of chapter 18 is subsequent to that of chapter 17, and not two parts of the same event—although the two are described in similar terms. . .
It seems that chapter 17 deals with the religious aspect and chapter 18 with the political and economic aspects of Babylon.
Kendell Easley: MAIN IDEA: When God destroys the final product of civilization, a great wicked city, its commerce and culture will vanish forever because it enticed people away from true religion and holiness and into false religion and impurity.
Robert Mounce: A major poetic feature in this section is the repeated sets of three lines. Rome has become a home for demons, a haunt for evil spirits, and a haunt for unclean birds (v. 2). Nations drink her adulterous wine, kings commit adultery with her, and merchants grow rich from her excessive luxuries (v. 3). The voice from heaven issues the order to give back to her what she has given, to pay her back double, and to mix her a double portion (v. 6). The plagues that overtake her are death, mourning, and famine (v. 8). Those who listened to this prophecy as it was read must certainly have been caught up in the rhythmic excitement of these passages, to say nothing of the message itself.
John MacArthur: Although those judgments [of Daniel’s seventieth week] will be worldwide in scope, they will focus particularly on Antichrist’s world empire of Babylon. That empire will involve both a religious and a commercial aspect. At the midpoint of the Tribulation, Antichrist will destroy the false Babylonian religious system, which will be absorbed into commercial Babylon. Religion will not cease to exist, but will be restricted to the worship of Antichrist. The Babylon in view in chapter 18 is Antichrist’s worldwide commercial empire, which will rule the world during the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. That Antichrist will be able to build the greatest commercial empire the world has ever known in the midst of the devastating judgments of the Tribulation reveals his incredible power.
God’s destruction of commercial Babylon is the theme of chapter 18. It is thus a very somber chapter; it is a requiem, a dirge for the funeral of humanity. With the destruction of the satanic last and greatest human empire, the stage is set for the triumphant return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Charles Swindoll: At the end of Revelation 17 we learned that “Babylon” is the “great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth,” the end-times capital of a godless worldwide empire under the Antichrist. That future Mecca of me-theism and Vegas of vanity will be the mother of evil and of all forms of false religion. Like Paris, she represents a lifestyle of high culture. Like Jerusalem, she’s a crossroads of world religion. Like Washington, she’s teeming with political power. In fact, if you were to take all the powerful cities of the world and merge them into one grand megalopolis, you’d have “Babylon.” The identification of the actual city in the coming Tribulation is less important than the fact that it will be the nerve center of the Antichrist’s final world system, which is directly opposed to God and His people.
I. (:1-3) ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FALL OF BABYLON
A. (:1) Reliability of the Angelic Proclamation of the Fall of Babylon
- Messenger from Heaven
“After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven,”
Buist Fanning: In this vision John sees a glorious and mighty angel, different from the interpreting angel (one of the seven bowl angels) who guided him in chapter 17 (e.g., 17:1, 7, 15). Here the angel descends from heaven (cf. 10:1; 20:1) to proclaim the effects of Babylon’s judgment by God (vv. 2–3). This impressive messenger possesses “great authority” and “glory” that lights up the earth, reinforcing the credibility of his proclamation.
- Messenger with Great Authority
“having great authority,”
Grant Osborne: in contrast to the beast, this angel has two characteristics.
- First, he possesses ἐξουσίαν μεγάλην (exousian megalēn, great authority), compared to the derived authority of the beast (from the dragon, 13:2, and from God, 13:5).
- Second, ἡ γῆ ἐϕωτίσθη ἐκ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ (hē gē ephōtisthē ek tēs doxēs autou, the earth was illumined with his glory), while the members of the false trinity do not possess “glory” in the Apocalypse. In fact, no celestial being, angelic or demonic, has “glory” in the book except here. Therefore, it is likely that the angel reflects the glory of God, implying he has come directly from the divine presence.
- Messenger with Great Glory
“and the earth was illumined with his glory.”
Daniel Akin: Having come from God’s presence, he radiates the glory of God.
John MacArthur: He will make his dramatic appearance onto a darkened stage, for the fifth bowl will have plunged the world into darkness (16:10). Manifesting the flashing brilliance of a glorious heavenly being against the blackness, the angel will be an awe-inspiring sight to the shocked and terrified earth dwellers.
Sola Scriptura: Glory (dosa) is a term usually descriptive of the Godhead. Rarely are angelic beings assigned this characteristic (Ezek 9:3 and Heb 9:5). In both cases, a cherub is described. This suggests that the descending angel is high in rank. His very person lights up the earth. The descent of this angel is important.
B. (:2) Reality of the Fall of Babylon
- Startling Declaration
“And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying,
‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!’”
Tony Garland: The angel serves as a divine herald, announcing that which is about to take place. He signals that an event of great importance is about to transpire (Rev. 5:2+; 10:3+; 14:15+). . .
The word order is reversed in the Greek to emphasis her fall: It is fallen, it is fallen, Babylon the great. The time has finally arrived for the predicted destruction of Babylon to find fulfillment. . .
She is called great because of her power and commercial splendor, but also because she thought herself to be great. She was built on pride (Isa. 13:19; Jer. 50:29; Dan. 4:30).
Robert Mounce: The aorist tense denotes the certainty of future fulfillment. It is the prophetic way of declaring that the great purpose of God in triumphing over evil is a fait accompli.
- Surprising Desolation – Reduced to Demonic Habitation
Buist Fanning: According to Old Testament imagery, when a city is completely destroyed it is no longer suitable for human habitation but will become a haunt for savage creatures and possibly evil spirits (Isa 13:21–22; 34:11–15; Jer 50:39; 51:37; Zeph 2:14). So Babylon is seen as “a dwelling place of demons” (cf. Jer 9:10; also Bar 4:35) and a “haven” for every kind of “unclean spirit” (i.e., demons; cf. Luke 4:33; 9:42; Rev 16:13), “unclean bird” (regarded as undesirable due to the strictures of Lev 11:13–19 or because they are symbolic of demonic beings that prey at night), and “unclean and detestable beast” (savage animals, hated because of the danger they pose; e.g., jackals, hyenas). These creatures typify a great city laid waste.
Robert Mounce: It is a prophetic picture of absolute desolation where the proud achievements of the human race become the demonic haunts of unclean and detestable creatures.
J. Hampton Keathley, III: In verse 2 we get a clear picture of the demonic source, power, and control of this system as it rises up in the last days. The worldwide movement and conspiracy of the last days will involve a multitude of organizations, the super-rich in many countries, but it will not be the product of mere human ingenuity, but of satanic agency.
a. Dwelling Place of Demons
“And she has become a dwelling place of demons”
Craig Keener: Becoming a dwelling place of demons is a suitable judgment for a power once mobilized by demons (Rev 16:14; see 9:20) (Revelation, 423).
b. Prison of Every Unclean Spirit
“and a prison of every unclean spirit,”
John MacArthur: It was in the vicinity of Babylon that 200 million formerly bound demons were released at the sounding of the sixth trumpet (9:13–16). They, along with the demons released from the abyss at the sounding of the fifth trumpet (9:1–11), those cast from heaven with Satan (12:4, 9), and those previously on earth, will be confined in Babylon. God will, so to speak, gather all the rotten eggs into one basket before disposing of them.
c. Prison of Despised Vultures
“and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.”
C. (:3) Reason for the Fall of Babylon:
Widespread Participation in the Immorality and Sensuality of Her Prostitution
Daniel Akin: Sexual immorality is often a picture of spiritual adultery. It communicates a love affair with the idols of this world. The nations are drunk in their passion for these idols. The kings or rulers of the earth have crawled into bed with these god-substitutes. The merchants of the earth were seduced by the alluring power of her luxurious lifestyle. The peoples of the earth consort with the whore of wealth unaware of her infections and fatal diseases. The idols of this life have cast a spell over the human race, and we bow and worship.
- Nations
“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality,”
Buist Fanning: In keeping with a structure repeated several times in this chapter (cf. vv. 7b–8, 23), the angel’s observations about Babylon’s desolate condition (v. 2b–c) are followed by a statement (v. 3) of why she deserved such a horrible judgment (“because,” ὅτι; v. 3a).
- Kings
“and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her,”
Kendell Easley: In the last days this will mean that earth’s leaders follow the Antichrist sea monster and worship him (13:8). Throughout the centuries political leaders around the world, more often than not, have followed the “harlot of civilization assisted by false religion” to enhance both their own agendas and their own pleasures.
- Merchants
“and the merchants of the earth have become rich
by the wealth of her sensuality.”
G.K. Beale: The reference is not to literal immorality (Greek porneia; see on 2:14, 20; 14:8; 17:2; 18:9), but to acceptance of Babylon’s religious and idolatrous demands in return for economic security (cf. 2:9; 13:16-17). The OT allusion is to Isa. 23:17, where Tyre is said to “play the harlot with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth.” That Tyre is in mind is clear from the repeated reference to the Ezekiel 26–28 pronouncement of Tyre’s judgment in vv. 9-22 and the specific allusion to Isa. 23:8 in v. 23. The merchants who cooperated with Babylon became wealthy, but economic security would be removed from the faithful who lived in Babylon but were not “of Babylon,” those who refused to cooperate with her idolatry. To drink here refers to one’s willingness to commit to idolatry in order to maintain economic security. Once one imbibes, the intoxicating influence removes all desire to resist Babylon’s destructive influence, blinds one to Babylon’s own ultimate insecurity and to God as the source of real security, and numbs one against any fear of a coming judgment (for these metaphorical meanings of “drink” see above on 14:8). Babylon will be judged for this seductive activity. As the chapter will reveal, coercing the nations to trust in her purported economic resources, as she herself does, is an expression of pride and a form of idolatry for which also condemnation occurs (see on vv. 7, 23).
Tony Garland: While kings wield political power, merchants wield great financial power. With rare exception, world leadership has generally been immersed in a tangled web of political, religious, and commercial interests which are impossible to isolate from one another.
J. Hampton Keathley, III: “Sensuality” is the Greek strhnos, a word meaning “arrogant or unrestrained luxury.” Here is an important lesson. Commercial Babylon, with its worship of money and power, will promote and push unrestrained luxury, sensuality, and pleasure designed to develop an all-consuming power over the masses via their uncontrolled lust patterns. Babylon will promote the philosophy that happiness, significance, security, and fulfillment are attained by the abundance of the things people possess, in travel and luxury, in comfort and pleasure, etc. Frankly, this sounds exactly like America and much of the world today.
II. (:4-8) APPEAL FOR SEPARATION AND ADVOCACY OF JUDICIAL RECOMPENSE
A. (:4-5) Call for Moral Separation from Babylon to Escape Inevitable Judgment
- (:4) Call For Separation
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying,”
Buist Fanning: The command to God’s people is, “come out from her” (ἐξέλθατε . . . ἐξ αὐτῆς; v. 4b), a pattern of instruction seen first in Genesis 19:12–22 (Lot commanded to escape Sodom before God’s judgment falls) and repeated in Jeremiah 50:8–10; 51:6–10, 45–48 (Israel must flee Babylon before her fall at the hands of a devastating invasion by opposing nations). In both of those Old Testament books, the command to “come out” is quite literal, but similar texts in Isaiah 48:20–22 and 52:11–12 appear to be metaphorical (cf. 2 Cor 6:17), referring to rejection of the spiritual and moral values of the surrounding culture. This seems to be the point here as well, although the impending judgment (parallel to the setting in Jer 50–51) is quite literal in this context. The goal of this spiritual and moral exodus is similar to Jeremiah also: to escape complicity with Babylon’s “sins” (cf. Eph 5:11; 2 John 11) and the “plagues” of judgment that such evil is about to bring upon her (v. 4c).
Sola Scriptura: This voice is not specially identified, but since the people belong to the voice, it must be Christ who speaks. This conclusion is also supported by the fact that the voice refers to God (the Father) in verse 5).
a. Escape While You Can
“Come out of her, my people,”
Daniel Akin: Share in her sins and you share in her punishment. Stay with her and you will suffer with her. Her sins are piled up to heaven. They have reached heaven’s doorstep. God is fully aware of what the sins and iniquities are and who has committed them. Jeremiah 51:9 clearly is in the background of this oracle:
We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches as far as the clouds.
The time for healing is past. The time for fleeing is now.
G.K. Beale: Christians are not being called to withdraw from economic life or from the world in which they live, but they may be ostracized because of their refusal to compromise. They are to remain in the world to witness (11:3-7) and to suffer for their testimony (6:9; 11:7-10; 12:11, 17; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24), but they are not to be of the world (14:12-13; 16:15). . .
One of the lessons of these verses is that Christians should be in the world but not of it. To be “of” the world means that we have compromised our values to share in the world’s present wealth and advantages, but at the cost of also inheriting a share in its coming judgment. The worldliness both outside and inside our churches is always making godly standards appear odd and sinful values seem normal, so that we are tempted to adopt what the world considers to be “normal.” How do we practically avoid such contamination while we are holding down jobs, buying houses and cars, making prudent financial plans for retirement, and so on?
b. Entanglement in Her Sins Leads to Certain Judgment
1) Avoid Sin
“that you may not participate in her sins”
J. Hampton Keathley, III: “So that” points to the purpose and reason for separation which is twofold:
(1) “So that you may not participate in her sins.” “Participate” is the verb, sunkoinwnew, “to fellowship with, partake, be connected with,” or even, “be a partner with.” The simple noun form, koinwnos, is used in Luke 5:10 of those who were fishing partners with Simon in his fishing business. Rather than becoming partners with the Babylonian world system, we are to be partners with the Lord Jesus in His enterprise on earth. Literally, the Greek says “the sins of her” pointing to particular or specific sins, the sins of commercialism, the things which caused universal covetousness, destruction of the divine institutions, increase in crime, violence, and the search for happiness in luxurious living.
(2) “And that you might not receive of her plagues.” “Plagues” has the article which points to some specific plagues, those of chapter 16 and the seventh bowl judgment. The warning is simply that those who fall in with the system will experience the results of misery and loss in their own lives.
2) Avoid Judgment
“and that you may not receive of her plagues;”
- (:5) Certainty of Judgment
a. No Minimizing Enormity of Iniquities
“for her sins have piled up as high as heaven,”
John MacArthur: Piled is from kolla?, which literally means “to glue together,” or “to join.” Babylon’s sins will pile up like a new Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:3–4), but unlike the ancient tower, her sins will reach as high as heaven. Then the angel adds that God has remembered her iniquities (cf. 16:19). He will take note of them as He did that earlier monument to man’s sinful, arrogant, prideful rebellion at Babel. The blessed truth is that God says of believers, “I will not remember your sins…. I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Isa. 43:25; Jer. 31:34). But for defiant, unrepentant Babylon there will be no forgiveness, only judgment.
b. No Escaping Divine Accountability
“and God has remembered her iniquities.”
Tony Garland: Not that God could forget a single one of her iniquities, but that He now considers the sum total of their weight and the need to respond in righteous judgment. As the iniquity of the Amorites finally reached its full height (Gen. 15:16), the guilt of Babylon now requires God’s intervention in order to be true to His righteous character. “And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (Rev. 16:19+). Babylon had thought her wickedness would not be taken into account: “You have said, ‘No one sees me’” (Isa. 47:10).
B. (:6-7) Call for Judicial Recompense to Match Her Wicked Deeds
Buist Fanning: What the Lord desires is judicial recompense against Babylon according to the measure—and above the measure—that she meted out to others in her oppression and sin. The command to “render to her as she too has rendered” (v. 6a–b) calls for equivalent payback, but the next two clauses appear to exact an additional penalty: “Pay her double” and “mix her a double portion” (vv. 6c–d). . . The purpose seems to be to display how serious the violation is and to deter future offences.
George Ladd: The idea of rendering double for one’s deeds is an Old Testament idiom indicating punishment in full measure (Jer 16:18; 17:18) (Commentary, 238).
- (:6) Punishment in Full Measure
a. Equivalent Pay Back
“Pay her back even as she has paid,”
b. Full Pay Back
“and give back to her double according to her deeds;
in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.”
Daniel Akin: Her sin demands righteous retribution because of her “self-glorification, sensuous luxury, and prideful arrogance, the very opposite of humble dependence on the Lord and sacrificial love within a community (e.g. Prov. 29:23; Isa. 5:15; 1 Pet. 5:6)” (Duvall, Revelation, 234). Her boast recalls ancient Babylon’s boast in Isaiah 47:7-8:
You said, “I will be the mistress forever.” You did not take these things to heart or think about their outcome. So now hear this, lover of luxury, who sits securely, who says to herself, “I exist, and there is no one else. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.”
Because of her boast, she will receive “in one day” the plagues of “death and grief and famine. She will be burned up with fire.” All of this is a certainty because “the Lord God who judges her is mighty” (see Isa 47:9). No one and nothing can prevent her certain destruction. Her pride truly is her downfall.
John Walvoord: The enormity of Babylon’s sin now brings the enormity of God’s judgment. The Greek verb here means literally “to pay a debt” or “to give back that which is due.” It is the law of retribution sometimes called lex talionis. Divine justice exacts the “eye for an eye” and the “tooth for a tooth.”
But the voice John hears demands that the law of retribution be doubled in payment of Babylon’s hideous sins. She mixes a “cup” of sin that the nations will drink down to the full, so she is given a double cup of divine judgment to drink (cf. 14:10).
- (:7) Punishment Based on Crimes of Self-Glorification and Self-Sufficiency
a. Appropriate Recompense for Self-Glorification
1) The Sin
“To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously,”
John MacArthur: Three sins call for Babylon’s judgment. First, she was proud; she glorified herself. God, who said, “I will not give My glory to another” (Isa. 42:8), hates pride (Prov. 6:16–17; James 4:6). Second, she pursued self-gratification; she lived sensuously. The Bible pronounces those who do so to be dead even while they live (1 Tim. 5:6). Third, she was guilty of self-sufficiency, of presumptuously overestimating her power; she said in her heart, “I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.” That proud boast echoes that of ancient Babylon, who said “I will be a queen forever…. I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children” (Isa. 47:7, 8; cf. Ezek. 27:3; 28:2; Zeph. 2:15). Yet God’s devastating reply was that “these two things shall come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They shall come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells” (Isa. 47:9).
G.K. Beale: The political and economic arrogance noted in v. 7b is emphasized as the cause for her sudden destruction.
2) The Sentence
“to the same degree give her torment and mourning;”
b. Appropriate Recompense for Self-Sufficiency
“for she says in her heart,”
1) Exalted Status
“I sit as a queen”
2) Economic Sufficiency
“and I am not a widow,”
Tony Garland: Her haughty boastfulness is so great that she believes herself to be immune from God’s judgment. Not is the double negative, οὐ μὴ [ou mē], the strongest negation possible. She is absolutely convinced she will not see sorrow for her ways. She believes she is secure (Isa. 47:8-9a).
3) Emotional Security
“and will never see mourning.”
Kendell Easley: The last part of verse 7 begins a new sentence, letting us know of the arrogant self-sufficiency of Babylon. Even the ancient Greeks had known that the greatest sin of all was pride (Greek hybris). There are three related statements:
- I sit as queen as the mistress of the world, the finest city of all time.
- I am not a widow, because all the world’s kings are my lovers.
- I will never mourn for I am emphatically in control of my destiny.
These thoughts are modeled on old Babylon’s pride, exposed in Isaiah 47:7–9:
You said, “I will continue forever—the eternal queen!” But you did not consider these things or reflect on what might happen. Now then, listen, you wanton creature, lounging in your security and saying to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or suffer the loss of children.” Both of these will overtake you in a moment, on a single day: loss of children and widowhood.
C. (:8) Certainty of Severe Judgment on Babylon
J. Hampton Keathley, III: THE BASIS OF THE APPEAL FOR SEPARATION (5-8)
This appeal is substantiated upon three spiritual laws or principles:
(1) The Law of Remembrance (verse 5). God’s actions in history with Babylon teach us this system cannot escape—judgment must come. The principle is God does not ignore or forget sin. He permits the increment or build up of sin, but eventually judgment must come. The first Babel conspiracy attempted to build a tower into the heavens (Gen. 11:4); this last Babylon conspiracy piles up her sins to heaven in defiance of God and God remembers. Judgment is inevitable and so believers must flee.
(2) The Law of Retribution (verse 6). Because of the enormity of her sin and because of the holy character of God—judgment is doubled. The thing judged here is the system. The final judgment of unbelievers does not come until the great white throne of Revelation 20.
(3) The Law of Retaliation (verses 7-8). She has assumed the position of queen; she has glorified herself and so to the same degree that she has rebelled against God, He retaliates in holy and righteous indignation to dethrone her.
- Speed of Judgment
“For this reason in one day her plagues will come,
pestilence and mourning and famine,”
John Walvoord: Like the church at Laodicea, Babylon’s wealth has brought a sense of false security (3:17). . . The fact that her judgment comes in one day, emphasized in the Greek by being placed first in the sentence, is reminiscent of the fall of Babylon in Daniel 5, which fell in the same hour that the finger traced its condemning words on the wall. Before morning, the ancient power of Babylon had been destroyed. In a similar way, the rich fool of Luke 12:16–20 lost his barns and his soul in one night. When it is time for God’s judgment, it descends with unwavering directness.
Albert Mohler: God administers justice through rendering judgment warranted by the crimes committed (Ps 137:8; Jer 50:29; cf. Isa 40:2). The language of paying back double constitutes a metaphor for rendering a full recompense. Babylon unjustly condemned God’s people to death, and now God condemns her accordingly. God will bring about her destruction in one day because, as the mighty Judge, he is able to accomplish it (Rev 18:8).
- Severity of Judgment
“and she will be burned up with fire;”
- Strength of Judgment
“for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”
Buist Fanning: Her supposed invincibility is put in perspective by v. 8c that cites the surpassing might and power of the “Lord God” who is her judge. This is the reason (ὅτι) that her desolation will come so swiftly and surely.
Sola Scriptura: Explains how the judgment of God can be so successful against the boast of the harlot/city. She thought she was invincible because of her protection and position with the composite dragon-beast. God is stronger!
John MacArthur: Babylon’s doom is certain and cannot be avoided for the Lord God who judges her is strong. No one can frustrate God’s plans, or keep Him from accomplishing what He purposes to do. Job said to God, “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Despite the “plans [that] are in a man’s heart … the counsel of the Lord, it will stand” (Prov. 19:21). “For the Lord of hosts has planned,” declared Isaiah, “and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isa. 14:27). A chastened and humbled Nebuchadnezzar affirmed that God “does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (Dan. 4:35). God Himself declares that “there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it? … My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure” (Isa. 43:13; 46:10). All the power of wicked men and demons will not be enough to deliver Babylon from God’s judgment.