Mystery Babylon the Great is first introduced in Rev 14:8 as “Babylon the Great has fallen.” Before she is discussed, we are told she is fallen.

She is a fount of crazy immorality

She has forced immorality on the nations. She “has made ALL the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.” Rev 14:8 WEB, emphasis added. As ancient Babylon made all of the would be brides into sexual immorality, so Mystery Babylon forces ALL nations into immorality.

As was discussed earlier, she is evidently a mystery religion, a religion that is either secret or semisecret. See the previous post, “Mystery Religions: An Overview.” Evidently Mystery Babylon is sits on a substrata of seven other religions. It has always been common for mystery religions to superimpose themselves on other public religions. Even on Christianity.

Mystery Babylon is a business entity: religio-commercial

The language of the book of Revelation concerning Mystery Babylon seems to come from two primary sources. Old Testament prophecies concerning ancient Babylon and her wealth and power, and the Old Testament prophecies concerning ancient Tyre and Sidon. These were Phoenician trade cities which dominated east-west trade in the ancient world for many centuries. Also they were worshipers of the ancient Baal and Asherah cults. It was the Phoenicians who established Carthage, Rome’s final contender for domination of the ancient world.

The images that we see from the Old Testament are those of wealth and power and large scale business enterprises which span both many nations and continents.

She is the ruler of the kings of the earth, Rev 17:18

Actually it is common for the business face of society to direct the government face of society. Commerce and agriculture and mining produce the wealth of nations. Kings depend on that wealth.

Babylon makes OTHERS rich

“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
Rev 18:3 WEB

She does not conquer the kings of the earth. She seduces and uses them.

Babylon is the seller of all manner of wickedness

Demons work in her (1Tim 4:1), and “ … she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!” Rev 18:2 WEB.

Wealth and prosperity falls when Babylon falls

Like Tyre of old, she is not all of international commerce, but she seems to be the one who makes it work. So when Mystery Babylon falls, and it does fall WITHIN history, it speaks as if it is end of all prosperity.

“The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more; ”
Rev 18:11

Thus we are looking at things which will reach their conclusion just before the end of this present universe.

First, because of sin, the church falls/is “overcome.” Then Mystery Babylon falls. Lastly the man of lawlessness and the mystery of Lawlessness fall at the Second Coming of Christ.

WEB is the World English Bible, a copyright free revision
of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901