Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
The Rejoicing over them in Heaven, Rev 18:20-24
20. Rejoice over her ] Rev 12:12. There may be a reminiscence of Jer 51:48. We cannot tell if the words are those of the angel of Rev 18:1, of the voice of Rev 18:4, or of the seer himself: perhaps the second is most likely.
holy apostles and prophets ] Read, the saints and the apostles and the prophets.
avenged you ] Lit., judged your judgement, condemned her for her condemnation of you. Notice the mention of “apostles” as well as other “saints,” as proving that apostles suffered in Rome; and so confirming the unanimous tradition as to the martyrdom there of SS. Peter and Paul. Notice also (in reference to the theory mentioned on Rev 2:2) St John’s recognition of the latter as an apostle. Whether he had himself been condemned to death at Rome cannot be determined: the tradition to that effect was ancient, but not demonstrably so ancient, nor so wide-spread or so confirmed by scriptural evidence (see on St John’s Gospel Joh 21:18-19).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rejoice over her – Over her ruin. There is a strong contrast between this language and what precedes. Kings, merchants, and seamen, who had been countenanced and sustained by her in the indulgence of corrupt passions, or who had been enriched by traffic with her, would have occasion to mourn. But not so they who had been persecuted by her. Not so the church of the redeemed. Not so heaven itself. The great oppressor of the church, and the corrupter of the world, was now destroyed; the grand hindrance to the spread of the gospel was now removed, and all the holy in heaven and on earth would have occasion to rejoice. This is not the language of vengeance, but it is the language of exultation and rejoicing in view of the fact, that the cause of truth might now spread, without hindrance, through the earth.
Thou heaven – The inhabitants of heaven. Compare the notes on Isa 1:2. The meaning here is, that the dwellers in heaven – the holy angels and the redeemed – had occasion to rejoice over the downfall of the great enemy of the church.
And ye holy apostles – Prof. Stuart renders this, Ye saints, and apostles, and prophets. In the common Greek text, it is, as in our version, holy apostles and prophets. In the text of Griesbach, Hahn, and Tittmann, the word kai (and) is interposed between the word holy and apostle. This is, doubtless, the true reading. The meaning, then, is that the saints in heaven are called on to rejoice over the fall of the mystical Babylon.
Apostles – The twelve who were chosen by the Saviour to be his witnesses on earth. See the notes on 1Co 9:1. The word is commonly limited to the twelve, but, in a larger sense, it is applied to other distinguished teachers and preachers of the gospel. See the notes on Act 14:14. There is no impropriety, however, in supposing that the apostles are referred to here as such, since they would have occasion to rejoice that the great obstacle to the reign of the Redeemer was now taken away, and that that cause in which they had suffered and died was now to he triumphant.
And prophets – Prophets of the Old Testament and distinguished teachers of the New. See the notes on Rom 12:6. All these would have occasion to rejoice in the prospect of the final triumph of the true religion.
For God hath avenged you on her – Has taken vengeance on her for her treatment of you. That is, as she had persecuted the church as such, they all might be regarded as interested in it and affected by it. All the redeemed, therefore, in earth and in heaven, are interested in whatever tends to retard or to promote the cause of truth. All have occasion to mourn when the enemies of the truth triumph; to rejoice when they fall.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven] This is grand and sublime; the fall of this bad city was cause of grief to bad men. But as this city was a persecutor of the godly, and an enemy to the works of God, angels, apostles, and prophets are called to rejoice over her fall.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Rejoice over her, thou heaven; that is, over her ruin, which is not a more proper object for the sorrow and mourning of all her adherents and dependants, than of the joy of all spiritual, heavenly persons, which are the true church, who oppose this antichristian synagogue.
And ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her: you also that were apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, and such as have been exercised as prophets in revealing to men Gods mind and will, do you rejoice, for God hath revenged you upon her, for your doctrine corrupted by her, your rules of worship violated, and some of your blood that hath been spilt, and for all the indignities you have suffered from her.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. holy apostlesSo C reads.But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREASread, “Ye saints and ye apostles.”
avenged you on herGreek,“judged your judgment on (literally, exacting it from)her.” “There is more joy in heaven at the harlot’s downfallthan at that of the two beasts. For the most heinous of all sin isthe sin of those who know God’s word of grace, and keep it not. Theworldliness of the Church is the most worldly of all worldliness.Hence, Babylon, in Revelation, has not only Israel’s sins, but alsothe sins of the heathen; and John dwells longer on the abominationsand judgments of the harlot than on those of the beast. The term’harlot’ describes the false Church’s essential character. Sheretains her human shape as the woman, does not become a beast:she has the form of godliness, but denies its power. Her rightfullord and husband, Jehovah-Christ, and the joys and goods of Hishouse, are no longer her all in all, but she runs after the visibleand vain things of the world, in its manifold forms. The fullest formof her whoredom is, where the Church wishes to be itself a worldlypower, uses politics and diplomacy, makes flesh her arm, uses unholymeans for holy ends, spreads her dominion by sword or money,fascinates men by sensual ritualism, becomes ‘mistress of ceremonies’to the dignitaries of the world, flatters prince or people, and likeIsrael, seeks the help of one world power against the dangerthreatening from another” [AUBERLEN].Judgment, therefore, begins with the harlot, as inprivileges the house of God.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Rejoice over her, thou heaven,…. This is said by the voice from heaven, Re 18:4 which having called upon the saints to come out of Babylon, and to take vengeance on her, now calls upon all good men to rejoice at her ruin, while others were weeping and wailing; not at that, simply considered, but as the justice of God is displayed therein: heaven may be literally understood, which sometimes is addressed when anything of very considerable note and moment is done or spoken of, whether it be something exceeding bad, as in Isa 1:2 or something exceeding great and good, as in Ps 96:11 or else the inhabitants of heaven, either the angels, who as they rejoice at the good and happiness of the saints, so at the confusion and destruction of their enemies; and the Syriac version reads, “heavens and angels”; or else the souls of men departed, particularly the souls under the altar, that have been long crying for vengeance on account of the shedding of their blood, Re 6:9 who may be made acquainted with Rome’s destruction; or rather the true church of Christ upon earth, which in this book often goes by the name of heaven, in opposition to the apostate church, called the earth, because its members, doctrines, and ordinances, are from heaven, and its happiness lies there:
and ye holy apostles and prophets; the Alexandrian copy and Complutensian edition read, “and the saints, and the apostles, and prophets”; making three distinct sorts of persons, of which heaven, or the church, consists: by “saints” may be meant private members of churches, who are sanctified by the Spirit of God, and live holy lives and conversations; and by “apostles”, not the twelve apostles, or persons in such an office as they were, but ordinary ministers of the word, who are sent forth to preach the Gospel, and will be upon the spot at the destruction of Babylon, and will be such as shall have preached and defended the pure apostolic doctrine; and by “prophets” are intended not the prophets of the Old Testament, nor such under the New who had the gift of foretelling things to come, but such who have a gift of interpreting the Scriptures and preaching the Gospel; the same with the two witnesses, who till this time will have prophesied in sackcloth, but shall now put it off, and put on the garments of praise and joy:
for God hath avenged you on her; or “judged your judgment on her”; that is, has executed righteous judgment on her, for all the evils done by her to the saints in ages past, the predecessors of the persons here mentioned, as well as to themselves: vengeance belongs to the Lord, and he will avenge his elect sooner or later.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Rejoice over her ( ‘ ). Present middle imperative of , for which verb see 11:10, used there of the joy of the wicked over the death of the two witnesses, just the opposite picture to this. “The song of doom” (Charles) here seems to be voiced by John himself.
God hath judged your judgment ( ). First aorist (prophetic) active of and cognate accusative , here a case for trial (Exod 18:22; 1Cor 6:7), not a sentence as in 17:1. God has approved the case of heaven.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Hath avenged you on her [ ] . Rev., more literally, hath judged your judgment on her or from her. The idea is that of exacting judgment from [] . Compare the compound verb ejkdikeiv avenge, or exact vengeance from (ch. 6 10). The meaning is either, that judgment which is your due, or what she hath judged concerning you.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
AN ANGELIC VISION OF BABYLON v. 20-24
1) “Rejoice over her, thou heaven,” (euphrainou ep’ aute ourane) “Be glad over her (fall) O heaven;” Rev 12:12. Heaven and creatures of heaven – inclusive of angels and the redeemed in glory, are called to rejoice at the judgment of the great city Babylon, even as they rejoice when sinners repent on earth, Luk 15:7; Luk 15:10; Isa 44:23; Isa 49:13.
2) “And ye holy apostles and prophets,” (kai hoi hagioi) “Even ye saints and apostles and prophets; You prophets are to rejoice also and especially as you see your prophecies of judgment vindicated, Mat 23:34-35; Luk 11:47-50; Rev 19:2.
While hell weeps, heaven rejoices at the triumph of truth over falsehood, right over wrong, the bride over the mistress-harlot and her polluted harem.
3) “For God hath avenged you on her,” (hoti ekrinen ho theos to krima humon eks autes) “Because God has judged her (in retribution) by the return measure she judged you all; The fall, destruction of Babylon because of her sins shall vindicate the words of prophets Elijah, Isaiah, Peter, John, Paul, etc., and witnesses of God whom she had scorned; It appears that God calls upon his saints and prophets to laugh in judgment with him, at those who once scorned, scoffed, and jeered the Son of God, Church of Jesus Christ, her people and righteous conduct, Deu 32:43; Rev 6:10; Rev 11:18.
The Ahabs, the Jezebels, the Judas Iscariots, and the Herods shall have their day of retribution, for God shall bring every secret thing into judgment, Ecc 12:13-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE CALL TO THE HOLY TO REJOICE.
(20) Rejoice over her. . . .Better, Rejoice over her, O heaven, and the saints, and the apostles, and the prophets, because God has judged your judgment on (or, out of) her. The second portion of the chapter closes with this invitation to the saints to rejoice: they are summoned to rejoice because the law of retribution has worked on her. Your judgment (it is said to the saints) is judged on her. This does not mean a judgment which the saints have decreed, but the judgment which Babylon wrought on the holy is now exacted from her (comp. Rev. 18:6, and Rev. 6:10; Rev. 13:10). Heaven, and every class of those whose citizenship has been in heaven, are bidden by the heavenly voice to rejoice The covetous and the worldly mourn; their minds were set upon a material glory, which has slipped away from their grasp. All saintly souls, whose affections have been towards righteousness and the righteous King, can rejoice; for the wealth of holiness is imperishable. and the fall of Babylon is the removal of one vast hindrance to holiness. It has been argued that the verse represents the Apostles to be in heaven, and from this it has been inferred that the twelve must have all died before the Apocalypse was written, and, if so, St. John was not the writer. The verse, however, has no reference whatever to the question: it is not meant to state who have passed into heaven and who have not: it is simply a summons to all who have fought on the side of their Lord to rejoice at the removal of one of the great obstacles to the manifestation of Christs kingdom. Thus do all holy men, whether on earth or heaven, joy when any giant evil is swept away.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Rejoice The divine voice closes its mercantile catalogue with a lofty jubilate. The downfall of Satan’s capital is a just penalty for her sins, and a salvation to the world.
Thou heaven From which this voice chanted its celestial interlude. The ungraceful thou is not in the Greek, which should be rendered, O heaven. The heaven addressed consists of the classes next named in the verse, whose chorister the voice is.
Holy Not an adjective, belonging to apostles, but a noun, saints. The three classes, saints, (or the body of Christians,) apostles, and prophets, are those in and constituting the heaven first named. When John wrote, in the time of Domitian, all the apostles but himself had probably deceased.
Prophets Of whose ancient predictions this voice is a grand reverberation.
Avenged For this Babylon takes in the whole line of antichristic empires, including those under whom the ancient prophets predicted and suffered. Thus this mournful interlude closes in a climax of triumph.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Verdict of Heaven ( Rev 18:20-24 ).
‘Rejoice over her, you Heaven, and you people of God (saints) and you Apostles and you prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her.’
The judgment is not that of the people of God but by the Judge Himself (v. 11). Here the heavenly beings and the Old Testament prophets and the apostles and all the people of God join together in rejoicing. They accept His judgment as righteous for she has been guilty of wholesale murder, especially of God’s people (v. 24). There comes a time when mercy rejected is superseded by judgment, something that He alone can decide, and recognising that this is the case here they are told to rejoice that the murderers of the people of God are no more, and that justice has been done. It would have been wrong for Christians to seek to exact vengeance themselves, but Satan did the work for them, and it is always right that Christians rejoice in what God allows (Rev 17:17), whatever it may be, for they know that what He does is right.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 18:20 . The heavenly voice not John, [3994] to whom this demand is not well adapted [3995] exhorts not only heaven (together with all who dwell therein, Rev 12:12 ), but also all who on earth belong to the Lord, to joy over the city thus perishing. Earthly believers who are exhaustively enumerated by the three categories , , and , [3996] in which the most general conception precedes, and then two particular classes are mentioned, because they, being first attacked by the hatred of the secular power, [3997] have an especial reason to rejoice over the vengeance inflicted by God’s judgment are mentioned besides “heaven,” because it is intended to express that to the entire number of those who belong to the Lord, [3998] the destruction of the city is a joyful proof of the righteousness and glory of their God.
, . . . This fact, upon which the lamentation of the inhabitants of the earth is based, [3999] is the foundation of the joy of all the saints. But also in the phraseology, this diversity of relation is marked; the judgment of God, which the city has incurred, [4000] has brought about a , i.e., an act fulfilled by the , which [4001] is called a judgment of believers ( . ), since this judgment executed in the city, taken upon her ( ), [4002] is the justification and satisfaction of those believers persecuted by the worldly city, but now avenged on it.
[3994] Zll.
[3995] Cf. Rev 12:12 .
[3996] Cf. Rev 11:18 .
[3997] Cf. Rev 18:24 .
[3998] For critical inferences this passage is not adapted. With the same justice with which it would be inferred that John does not belong to the apostles, we may also conclude that he does not belong to the prophets. The state of the case is different, however, in Rev 21:14 .
[3999] Rev 18:10 ; Rev 18:16 ; Rev 18:19 .
[4000] Rev 18:8 : ; the aor., as in this passage, . Rev 18:10 : .
[4001] Cf., on the other hand, Rev 17:1 , where the harlot was designated as the direct object.
[4002] Cf. Rev 6:10 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
I admire this verse. It comes in with a delightful tide of joy, in the midst of the troubled waters. Here there are several sorts of persons called upon to rejoice in her destruction. First, the inhabitants of heaven, meaning the Church now in glory, who, when upon earth, felt and groaned under the oppression of the whore. They, who in another Chapter are described as under the altar in heaven crying out for her destruction, Rev 6:10 .
Secondly. The holy Apostles and Prophets, whose sacred writings the whore hath perverted, to her nefarious trade, in slaying the souls of men.
And, Thirdly. All the faithful of the Lord may be considered as included, because, all the living upon earth, cannot but rejoice that her power is gone.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Ver. 20. Thou heaven ] i.e. The Church on earth.
And ye holy apostles, &c. ] i.e. Ye pastors and teachers, who as ye have been most shot at by her, so now you are especially called to triumph over her, Psa 58:11 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 .] The angel concludes with calling on the heavens and God’s holy ones to rejoice at her fall . Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye saints and ye apostles and ye prophets, for God hath judged your judgment upon her (hath exacted from her that judgment of vengeance which is due to you: see reff.).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 18:20 . This verse interrupts the sequence of 19 and 21 in which the ruin of Rome is illustrated by the dramatic action of the angel. The awkward shift from description to an apostrophe, and the evidently Christian tone of the cry, betray an editor’s hand. His object is to render explicit the moral reasons why Christians should delight in the downfall of the city. He writes in the same triple rhythm as the source, and his hand is to be seen in the whole verse not simply in . The voice from heaven is thus made to pass into a closing apostrophe to heaven and its inhabitants ( cf. Rev 11:18 ), imitated from Jer 51:48 (Heb.). John seems to assume that all had a case against Rome as victims of her cruelty, probably in the main as martyrs and confessors. “Apostles,” omitted in Rev 18:24 , has here (as in Rev 2:2 ) its wider sense (otherwise Rev 21:14 ), but it must include Peter and Paul (Zahn, Einleit . 39, n. 4). . . . = “for God has judged her with your judgment,” i.e. , vindicated you (done you justice, given you your due) by lexacting vengeance upon her. She who once doomed you is now doomed herself ( cf. Rev 16:6 ). . Cf. En. lxii., where the kings and rulers condemned by messiah to eternal torment are to be “a spectacle for the righteous and his elect; they will rejoice over them because the wrath of the Lord of spirits resteth upon them, and his sword is drunk with their blood”; also Isa 30:29 , for the call to exult over a fallen oppressor. A Parisian workman, who was looking down at the corpse of Robespierre, was overheard to mutter, with relief, “Oui, il y a un Dieu”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
over. App-104., with texts.
holy = saints (see Act 9:13) and.
apostles, prophets. App-189.
hath avenged. Literally judged your judgment (App-122 and App-177); i.e. hath folly avenged you. Figure of speech polyptoton. App-6.
on. Greek. ek. App-104. Now has come the time of the avenging Luk 18:7, Luk 18:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] The angel concludes with calling on the heavens and Gods holy ones to rejoice at her fall. Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye saints and ye apostles and ye prophets, for God hath judged your judgment upon her (hath exacted from her that judgment of vengeance which is due to you: see reff.).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
May the Spirit of God take away the veil from our eyes while we read what was revealed to the beloved apostle John! Here we have the prophecy of the destruction of the great anti-Christian system of Babylon, which, being interpreted, is and can be none other than the apostate church of Rome.
18:20-24. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with. violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall he found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that w ere slain upon the earth. Now, after the false church is put away, the true Church of Christ shines out in all her glory and purity.
This exposition consisted of readings from Rev 18:20-24; and Rev 19:1-18.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Rev 18:20. , the holy) These are put before the apostles and prophets, either as it were a genus before the species, or as those, some of whom were slain before the apostles and prophets.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 18:20
(5) AN OUTBURST OF PRAISE
(Rev 18:20)
Rejoice over her.–This language is in direct contrast with the preceding description of the effect on those who made gain out of similar practices. The number of the righteous who will rejoice at the end of spiritual Babylon will include apostles and prophets and all other Christians. The meaning is that God’s judgment in the case will be what the suffering of saints will demand as a just reward.
Commentary on Rev 18:20 by Foy E. Wallace
See Comments on Rev 18:20-24 by Foy E. Wallace as presented in the next group of Verse notes.
Commentary on Rev 18:20 by Walter Scott
HEAVEN REJOICES.
Rev 18:20. – We have had the voice from Heaven heard first in Rev 18:4, and last in Rev 18:20. In this latter reference Heaven is called upon to rejoice. If there is lamentation on earth there is rejoicing in Heaven. The place and inhabitants unite in the song of triumph. There are three classes: saints, apostles, and prophets (R.V. of Rev 18:20). The first term is a general one, and includes believers both of Old and New Testament times; the second refers to those of Christian times (Eph 4:11), and the twelve as well; the third is, of course, the prophets of old. All the three classes mentioned are in Heaven, and there rejoice. God has judged your judgment upon her, that is, the righteous judgment passed upon Babylon by saints, apostles, and prophets – for all had suffered at her hands – is now executed by God Himself.
Commentary on Rev 18:20 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 18:20. The speaker is still the voice from heaven (Rev 18:4) which is bidding the apostles and prophets to rejoice over the downfall of Babylon (union of church and state). It was especially appropriate to congratulate these great servants of God, because they had been foremost in defending the lawful church of the Lord against the encroachments of the apostate church. Now that the conspiracy formed by the union of church and state was thrust down, they had great and just reason to rejoice.
Commentary on Rev 18:20 by Burton Coffman
Rev 18:20
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.
Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints … Of course, the saints and apostles are not yet in heaven, but they will be; and the vision is to encourage all who may yet die in the fires of persecution. The reason for the rejoicing is that, after all, God’s word has been proved true; the righteous shall be saved and the wicked punished, and the universe itself will finally be demonstrated as just. No greater cause of rejoicing could be imagined.
“This is not a song of gleeful rejoicing, but an announcement of the vindication of God’s justice and righteousness.”[59] “How can there be anything but rejoicing when wrong is righted and truth justified?”[60] There comes a time to rejoice over the defeat of evil. When the heartless, bloody Robespierre was finally overthrown in Paris, and he lay wounded, bleeding, and dirty with his jaw shattered by a bullet and hanging down upon his chest, someone approached and after gazing a long time said, “Yes, Robespierre, there is a God.”[61]
“The analogy of this passage shows that this verse is not directed to saints in heaven – nothing is implied as to where these are, or whether they are living or dead.”[62]
And ye apostles and ye prophets … The thought of the martyrdoms of Paul and Peter which had probably already occurred when this was written seems to be in the background here. All of the apostles recognized what their fate at the hands of Rome would be.
For God hath judged your judgment upon her … Rome had burned the saints for the false reason that they had burned Rome; but now God would execute the judgment upon her which she had falsely imposed upon them. The Greek reads literally, “God has judged (upon Rome) your judgment from her.”[63] Of course, this is the primary and immediate application; but it also applies equally well to the end of the age situation when the wicked humanist kings shall burn all religion in their vain destruction of the harlot, only to find their own kingdoms burned as a consequence.
Commentary on Rev 18:20 by Manly Luscombe
20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her! God promises that vengeance belongs to Him. Our God will repay the evil that we suffer. Heaven (angels and martyrs) rejoice. They are not rejoicing because someone is suffering. They are rejoicing because their faithfulness has been vindicated. These Christians remained faithful. They suffered ridicule and scorn for speaking out and objecting to the immorality in the world. Now, their faith in God has been proven to be valid. The Christians have been justified in their faith.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Rejoice: Rev 19:1-3, Jdg 5:31, Psa 48:11, Psa 58:10, Psa 96:11-13, Psa 107:42, Psa 109:28, Pro 11:10, Isa 44:23, Isa 49:13, Jer 51:47, Jer 51:48
and ye: It is peculiarly worthy of remark, that the apostles, who are idolatrously honoured at Rome, and daily worshipped, should be specially mentioned as rejoicing in her fall; as if it “avenged them” on her, for the dishonour cast on their characters, while it vindicated the glory of God. Eph 2:20, Eph 3:5, Eph 4:11, 2Pe 3:2, Jud 1:17
God: Rev 6:10, Rev 19:2, Deu 32:42, Psa 18:47, Psa 94:1, Isa 26:21, Luk 11:49, Luk 11:50, Luk 18:7, Luk 18:8
Reciprocal: Num 31:2 – Avenge Deu 32:43 – avenge Jdg 5:2 – for the avenging 1Sa 2:1 – my mouth 1Sa 28:16 – Wherefore 2Sa 4:8 – the Lord 2Ki 9:7 – I may avenge 2Ch 20:27 – the Lord 2Ch 23:21 – General 2Ch 24:22 – The Lord Job 22:19 – righteous Job 27:23 – clap Job 34:26 – in Psa 5:11 – But Psa 7:7 – So Psa 21:13 – so will Psa 52:6 – righteous Psa 68:3 – But Psa 72:4 – the oppressor Psa 72:14 – precious Psa 79:10 – by the Psa 92:4 – General Psa 97:8 – because Psa 118:15 – voice Psa 137:8 – happy Pro 24:16 – but Pro 29:16 – but Isa 13:3 – them that Isa 14:2 – whose captives they were Isa 14:3 – General Isa 14:4 – How Isa 14:7 – they Isa 34:8 – General Isa 34:13 – an habitation Isa 35:10 – and come Isa 43:14 – For Isa 47:3 – I will take Isa 48:20 – with a voice Isa 49:25 – I will contend Isa 52:8 – with Isa 63:4 – General Jer 11:20 – let Jer 15:15 – remember Jer 20:12 – let me Jer 25:14 – I Jer 26:19 – Thus Jer 51:24 – General Jer 51:26 – desolate for ever Jer 51:35 – The violence Jer 51:56 – the Lord Jer 51:62 – to cut Joe 3:2 – will plead Mic 7:9 – until Mic 7:10 – mine Nah 3:19 – shall Hab 2:8 – the violence Hab 2:17 – because Mat 10:2 – apostles Luk 6:13 – apostles Act 3:21 – holy Rom 3:5 – Is God 2Th 1:6 – General 2Ti 4:14 – reward Heb 3:1 – holy Rev 1:7 – Even So Rev 12:12 – rejoice Rev 12:17 – to make Rev 13:6 – and them Rev 13:15 – cause Rev 16:6 – for they are Rev 17:6 – drunken Rev 18:9 – shall bewail Rev 18:11 – the merchants Rev 21:14 – and in Rev 22:6 – the holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 18:20. The speaker is still the voice from heaven (verse 4) which is bidding the apostles and prophets to rejoice over the downfall of Babylon (union of church and state). It was especially appropriate to congratulate these great servants of God, because they had been foremost in defending the lawful church of the Lord against the encroachments of the apostate church. Now that the conspiracy formed by the union of church and state was thrust down, they had great and just reason to rejoice.
Rev 18:21. Mighty angel is said to indicate the size or weight of the stone that was to be handled. The stone was like great millstones which were heavy, and their weight was such that if they were thrown into the water they would most assuredly sink; nor would such an object float back up to the surface. That is doubtless why Jesus used it in his comparison of the irreparable fate of certain sinners (Mat 18:6). After this mighty angel had cast the stone into the sea he made his explanation of the symbol; it represented the casting down of Babylon. We know it does not mean literal Babylon for that city had not been in existence for centuries (Isa 13:19-22). We know also it does not apply to the religious part of the corrupt institution (though it also was known as Babylon), for that apostate church is not to be destroyed until Jesus comes (2Th 2:8). Hence this can apply only to the Babylon that was composed of church and state. When the stone that represented it was cast into the sea, the angel said that it shall be found no more at all. From the foregoing evidences we are given the divine assurance that there will never be another world-wide union of church and state.
Rev 18:22-23. The enterprises and activities of human interest that are mentioned in these verses have all been considered in this chapter and understood to have a symbolical meaning. In this paragraph they may be used in both symbolical and literal senses. In either sense the announce ment is made that they will never be done again. However, this is not true until we apply it in the light of a proviso that is stated as follows. The phrase in thee is used five times in these two verses, and that is the key to the subject. There is not an interest mentioned that will not continue to be practiced as long as the world stands. But they will not be done “in thee” (Babylon as the union of church and state), for that institution will have gone down never to rise again.
Rev 18:24. This short verse is merely a summing up of the crimes that have been committed by Babylon, on account of which she was doomed to complete overthrow.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 20-22.
(4) The anthem of rejoicing over the fall of Apostate Jerusalem–Rev 18:20-24.
It seems unnecessary to follow the order of line by line comments on these verses, which would involve so much repetition. This last section of the chapter, verses twenty to twenty-four, represented John’s own rhapsody of rejoicing over the avenging judgment of God on Jerusalem, the once faithful city which had turned harlot. In contrast with the wailing of the associates in the harlotries of the city, John was joined in vision to the witnesses and apostles and saints who had been victims of Jerusalem’s murderous wantonness–a united chorus in celebration of the end of the abominations of Jerusalem and the obstructions of Judaism. The Lord foretold this fulfillment in Mat 23:29-38 :
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
This anticipated fulfillment of the Lord’s predictions received and written by John in the Neronic period and represented the Lord’s words, “fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.” In the symbols of this chapter verse twenty-one, the angel casts a great millstone into the sea as a sign of irretrievable doom for Jerusalem. The same symbolism was adopted in Jer 51:63-64 to signify the end of old Babylon:
“And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”
Verses 23-24.
It is appropriate that the end of the symbolic Babylon, Jerusalem should be signified by the same imagery. The symbols meant the total disappearance of both the literal and the figurative Babylons. Verse twenty-three includes the symbols of the crafts of prosperity, of marriages and of merriment, all of which were to be no more; and verse twenty-four reverted to the sins of Jerusalem in the guiltiness of the blood of prophets, and of saints, and all that were slain upon the earth (Mat 23:29-39). In the avenging judgment on Jerusalem the guilt of the blood of these slain ones found retribution.
It is needless to go out of the Neronic period or away from Jerusalem to find the facts of history that meet all the demands of these apocalypses. They do not fit Rome, nor any other city than Jerusalem; where the prophets, apostles and saints were slain. The usual interpretation to bring the apocalypse down through the ages to stage again the historical pageantry of the Roman empire, in the effort to find a future fulfillment, takes all the force out of the words of Christ in Mat 23:1-39; Mat 24:1-51, and robs the apocalypse of its immediate message. The apostate Jerusalem was the object of the visions of Revelation, and all things else in the book were collateral to the implementation of the symbols.
The readers should not fail to consider that all these visions were recorded before the events occurred, therefore bearing a pre-destruction of Jerusalem date; and Revelation takes its place alongside the Lord’s own forecast of Mat 24:1-51, Mar 13:1-37, and Luk 21:1-38, some thirty-seven years before the siege of Jerusalem, the Revelation itself bearing the date of the early part of the Neronic reign, several years previous to A. D. 70, when Jerusalem was besieged and later desolated.
It is evident that the visions of Revelation belong to the ten days period of Roman emperors from Nero to Diocletian, the period of the persecution of the church resulting from the destruction of Jerusalem. It is not a sane interpretation of the apocalyptic symbols to pass over the corresponding events of history then in process-the current events and the contemporary kings of Rome and Judah–in order to link the fulfillment of these symbols to future events which, if they should come to pass, could not provide a more perfect similitude between the symbol and the event that fulfills it than was present in the events of the history surrounding Jerusalem and Judah; and which followed in immediate rapid succession the fall of Jerusalem, Judaism and the Jewish state.
The theories of futurism would revive kingdoms that have perished, and their kings who have turned to dust; and after several thousands of years in an ultra-special sort of resurrection stage a historical pageant to parade them all before the world again in order to meet the demands of a future fulfillment of Revelation. It is not compatible with the announced purpose of the book nor the character of its symbols, the fulfillment of which was accomplished in the corresponding events of that period, and in the experiences of the churches then living–events long ago committed to the annals of history and to the archives of earth’s treasures.
Jerusalem had filled up the measure of its sin of the slain prophets and servants of God and the rejection of the Son of God, the Saviour of man. It had therefore to expiate the guilt incurred by Israel and officially accepted by the officials of the nation: His blood be upon our heads and upon the heads of our children. With this vision the judgment on Jerusalem was completed and sealed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 18:20. The judgment of God upon the guilty city is supposed to have taken place. While it is a source of lamentation to the wicked, it is a joy to the righteous, and they are now summoned to experience that joy.
For God hath judged your judgment upon her. The meaning is that that judgment on the wicked which the righteous have passed is regarded as executed for them by God Himself.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, 1. That as Babylon’s ruin was matter of great grief and sorrow to the fore-mentioned mourners who merchandised and traded with her; so it is matter of great joy and rejoicing to all spiritual and heavenly-minded persons, which are the true church, who are commanded to rejoice at it. Rejoice over her, O heaven; that is, ye angels in heaven, or ye saints, that are of an heavenly disposition. And all ye holy apostles and prophets; that is, all faithful ministers who succeed them, who are endued with the same spirit, and teach the same pure and holy doctrine with them.
Note, 2. The cause of this rejoicing declared: For God hath avenged them upon her. The church does not, the saints of God dare not, rejoice at Babylon’s calamity as such, but as an act of divine vengeance God will be avenged on Babylon for the doctrine of the gospel corrupted by her, and for the rules of worship violated by her, and for all the barbarities and indignities which his church and people have suffered from her: God will revenge the wrongs of his people, when through want of power they cannot, and through his prohibition they may not, avenge themselves.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
God’s people, in contrast to the worldly minded, are told to rejoice over the punishment of sin. Just so, the readers of the book could rejoice because the ultimate victory of good and righteousness had been assured. Remember, the wicked had earlier celebrated the death of the two witnesses. ( Rev 11:10 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 18:20-24. The Rejoicing in Heaven over the Fall of Rome.
Rev 18:20. judged your judgement: vindicated the cause of the Christian Church against Rome.
Rev 18:21. took up a stone: a symbolical action to represent the utter destruction of the city (cf. Jer 51:63 f.). As this stone is flung into the deep, so shall Babylon vanish (Swete).
Rev 18:22. The sound of merriment and revelry is stilled: no sounds will in the future come from its industrial life, or domestic labour. The stillness of death will be over everything. For the imagery cf. Eze 26:13, Jer 25:10.
Rev 18:24. all that have been slain: the language of this passage is hyperbolical. Rome could not be held responsible for all the martyrdoms that had occurred in the history of Israel. The seer, however, is referring principally to the martyrdoms of his own day, and as Rome was mistress of the world and responsible for its good government, the loss of the lives sacrificed throughout the Empire lay at her door (cf. Mat 23:35).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
18:20 Rejoice over her, {12} [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
(12) The other consequence on the ruin of Babylon, is the exultation or rejoicing of the godly in heaven and in earth as was noted in this verse.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Heavenly rejoicing over Babylon’s fall 18:20
In contrast to the earth-dwellers, God’s people will rejoice when Babylon falls (cf. Rev 11:10). The songs in Rev 19:1-5 may be their response to this invitation. Heaven rejoiced over the fall of ancient Babylon too (Jer 51:48-49). [Note: Hughes, p. 194.] What causes bitter mourning on earth brings great exultation to heaven.
The speaker is evidently the angel (Rev 18:4; cf. Rev 12:12). Saints are all believers. Apostles, who died as martyrs, and prophets are special groups of saints (cf. Rev 11:18). The similar exhortation in Rev 12:12 suggests that all these believers are now in heaven. The reason for this merry-making is that God has pronounced a verdict in their favor. He has vindicated them by punishing their oppressors (cf. Rev 19:2-3). This seems more likely than the interpretation that they should rejoice because God was punishing their enemies in kind.
Believers characteristically have greater interest in glorifying God and helping other people than they do in hoarding earthly treasures for themselves (Mat 6:19-34; Mat 22:34-40). The desire of unbelievers to accumulate wealth for themselves has resulted in untold opposition to the gospel and God’s servants throughout history (cf. Rev 6:9-11).