Revelation Chapter 18 Verses 6-8

6 Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draught for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, ‘A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,’ 8 so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

God commands that Rome be punished and that vengeance be exacted. To whom is this command directed? We know it is not directed to the church because the church is commanded in Romans 12:19 not to seek vengeance. Some argue the command is directed to the 10 horns in 17:16 who would “hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Others argue the command is directed toward the angel who is acting on God’s behalf as his instrument of But one thing is certain: Vengeance does not belong to man, it belongs to God. God said in Deuteronomy 32:35 that “vengeance is mine, and recompense.” In Romans 12:19, we read, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” That verse contains both a command and a promise. The verse that commands us not avenge ourselves is the same verse that promises us there will be vengeance. We see the same thing in the Old Testament about ancient Babylon:

Psalm 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Jeremiah 50:29 Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the LORD, Against the Holy One of Israel.

The double punishment in verse 6 may come from the double repayment that was often exacted under the old law. (Exodus 22:4, 7, 9) A more likely explanation is that it refers simply to a balancing of the scales — not in the sense that the scales become even but rather in the sense that Rome would be placed on those scales in the same position that Rome had placed the church. We see this idea in Isaiah 40:2, Isaiah 61:7, Jeremiah 16:18, Jeremiah 17:18, and Zechariah 9:12. Verse 7 seems to confirm this view — “As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning.”

Verses 6-8 teach us at least two lessons about the judgment of Rome. The first lesson is that a man sows what he reaps. In Galatians 6:7 Paul writes, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

A second important lesson that we learn from Rome’s fall is that all human pride will one day be humiliated. “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Rome’s supreme sin was pride. Ezekiel 28:2-7 could have been penned about any of the Roman emperors we have considered —

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

In verse 7 Rome boasts that she will never see the very thing that God said she would see — “A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see.” Rome’s pride (like all pride) caused Rome to feel that it had no need for God. Rome was all that Rome needed! Rome was full of pride and thought it would never and could never fall, and Rome was not the last nation to feel that way.

Pride is one of seven things that God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19, and the pride that God hates is the arrogance of those who feel they have no need of God. God’s punishment for pride in the Old Testament was to inflict extreme humiliation, and that is what God promises Rome. “When pride comes, then comes shame.” (Proverbs 11:2) Rome would plummet from her glory to her destruction quickly and her destruction would be total and complete. Rome’s affluence, pride, and gaiety would be replaced by death, mourning, and famine.

We are reminded of a similar pronouncement regarding Babylon in Isaiah 47:7-11 —

You said, “I shall be mistress for ever,” so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end. 8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children”: 9 These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments. 10 You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.” 11 But evil shall come upon you, for which you cannot atone; disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate; and ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you know nothing.

Both Babylon and Rome were filled with pride, and both later had to eat their boastful words.   

Isaiah 14 presents a vivid picture of the Babylonian king going into the underworld after his destruction to be greeted by other fallen nations. Rome and its godless emperors would one day make a similar trip and receive a similar greeting.

Is Revelation relevant today? Yes, very much so. One way in which it is particularly relevant is that it reminds us that history repeats itself. Egypt, Babylon, and Rome — all great enemies of God and God’s people, and all judged by God. What other cities have taken or will take their place on that list?

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