Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead

Once more they cried out, “Hallelujah! The smoke of her goes up forever and ever.”

(Rev. 19:3).

Cultural anthropologists, especially those who happen to be social Darwinists, tend to regard the birth of cities as a great step forward in human development. They believe that moving out of caves into municipalities was a good thing and represented progress. The Bible, however, sees things quite differently. Genesis asserts that the first city was built by Cain, the first murderer, to help him cope with loneliness and guilt (see Gen. 4:17). As the biblical narrative unfolds, the conviction deepens that cities are a breeding ground for idolatry, injustice, immorality, and violence. Think of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Pithom and Raamses, Nineveh, and Rome to name only a few. But more than any other city, Babylon stands as the quintessential symbol of wickedness. She epitomizes the “City of Man.”  

Babylon is not a city. She is the city…. No one can rival her. Not even Rome. Not because of her historical greatness, but because of what she represents mythically. All the cities of the world are brought together in her; she is the synthesis of them all…. Babylon, Venice, Paris, New York – they are all the same city, only one Babel always reappearing. (Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City. 1970. pp. 20-21). 

Although the Bible has much to say about Babylon, our focus here is on her ultimate destiny as spelled out in Revelation 17-19. John personifies her as a gaudy streetwalker, a hooker. He calls her, in the language of the King James Bible, “The Great Whore”. In the tradition of Jezebel, her passion is money, sex, and power. Wearing purple and scarlet clothing and adorned in garish jewelry, she is seated on a seven-headed beast which is covered with blasphemous names. She has a history of sexual relations with all the kings of the earth.

Living in luxury, she practices sorcery and is involved in human trafficking. Her name is written on her forehead for all to see: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” Above all, she hates Christians and is drunk with the blood of the saints. (see 17:1-6; 18:1-3, 9-19, 23). Bruce Metzger summarizes the truth about her identity: “Babylon is allegorical of the idolatry that any nation commits when it elevates material abundance, military prowess, technological sophistication, imperial grandeur, racial pride, and any other glorification of the creature over the Creator” (quoted in Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael J. Gorman, p. 130). 

Although Babylon appears to be invincible, don’t be fooled. She will soon be destroyed and replaced. Her demise is told in one short sentence. She and her allies “will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them” (17:14). The fall of Babylon elicits wails of sorrow from all those who profited from her economy and shared in her wicked practices. Kings, merchants, and sailors raise loud lamentation as they watch the city burn. (18:9-19). Their grief, however, is not for the city, but for themselves and the financial loss they will now experience. The grand finale of Babylon’s destruction comes when an angel takes a great millstone and throws it into the sea, saying, “Babylon, the great city, will be thrown down as violently as I have thrown away this stone, and she will disappear forever.” (18:21 NLT).

It is of vital importance for us to understand Babylon and her ultimate destiny because this is the “city” where you and I are constrained to live. As disciples of Jesus, our citizenship is in the City of God, but during this life we must live as exiles in the wicked City of Man. Here, we discover that we are aliens, pilgrims, and sojourners. Peter speaks to this reality when he urges us to live in reverent fear throughout the time of our exile (see I Pet. 1:1,17; 2:11-12; 5:13). In other words, we live in Babylon, but we are not Babylonians! Learning to embrace this reality is what Christian discipleship is all about.

We can summarize the message of Revelation 17-19 in four great exhortations:  

Babylon is seductive, so be careful.

Don’t be fooled by the glitzy allure and sexy packaging. Underneath her fancy dress and industrial-strength mascara, Babylon is nothing but a cheap hooker. She may flirt with you and pretend to care, but don’t believe it. She only wants to use you and abuse you. And more than that, she wants your children! Those who live in Babylon are expected to practice child sacrifice, that is, to offer up their children to the gods of money, celebrity, sports, education, beauty, success, etc. So, don’t be taken in by her charms! The book of Proverbs paints a graphic picture of what it is like to be caught in her web of seduction: “So she seduced him with her pretty speech and enticed him with her flattery. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter… little knowing it would cost him his life.” (Prov. 7:21-23 NLT).

Babylon is cruel, so be brave.

Despite appearing to be a place of cultural sophistication, intelligence, and love of the fine arts, Babylon is a vicious monster. She gets what she wants through intimidation, bribery, and violence. Although she professes to be tolerant and open-minded, she will cancel anyone who stands in her way or challenges her authority, especially Christians. In Babylon, those who practice groupthink, compromise their principles, and keep their opinion to themselves will survive, but lose their souls in the process. So, be strong and courageous, and stand for truth.

Babylon is doomed, so come out of her.

The command to “come out” has both a literal and a metaphorical meaning. Because the coming destruction of the city will be total and irreversible, God’s people must run for their lives, like Lot fleeing Sodom, lest they be consumed in the city’s judgment. “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues” (18:4). But the command is also a warning not to share in the filth and sin that characterize life in the City of Man (see II Cor. 6:17-18). As followers of the Lamb, the redeemed are to be in the world without becoming worldly. Whoever is a friend of Babylon makes himself an enemy of God (see Jam. 4:4).  

Babylon will be replaced, so shout Hallelujah!

When Babylon is finally destroyed and thrown into the depths of the sea, all of heaven erupts in song, a sort of celebratory dirge. But rather than singing Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead, they break out in the original Hallelujah Chorus. The word ‘hallelujah’ occurs only here in the New Testament, and it appears four times (19:1,3,4,6). It transliterates a Hebrew term meaning ‘praise God’. With the removal of the great prostitute, the bride of Christ can finally make her appearance. “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.” (Rev. 19:6-7).

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