July 13, 2025 • 12 mins
What happens when God finally says "enough" to a seemingly invincible empire? Revelation 18 delivers the devastating answer as divine judgment crashes down on Babylon (Rome), the superpower that had been persecuting early Christians.
The dramatic proclamation "Babylon is fallen!" would have sent shockwaves through the first readers of Revelation. Pastor Brandon walks us through this pivotal chapter where God's justice transforms an untouchable empire into "a home for demons" and "a hideout for every foul spirit." The message rings with urgency as God calls His people to "Come away from her," warning believers not to participate in Babylon's corruption or share in her judgment.
Through vivid imagery of world leaders and merchants mourning from a distance as Rome burns, we witness the complete reversal of fortune that happens "in a single moment." Pastor Brandon brilliantly compares this to Muhammad Ali's historic victory over the seemingly unbeatable George Foreman – a powerful reminder that no opponent is truly invincible. The chapter culminates with heaven's rejoicing while earth mourns, as a mighty angel hurls a millstone into the sea, symbolizing Babylon's permanent destruction.
What does this ancient text mean for us today? When our problems loom large and enemies seem unbeatable, Revelation 18 offers life-changing perspective. "The enemy is so big when he's so close," Pastor Brandon explains, encouraging us to step back and see our challenges through God's eyes. Financial difficulties, family struggles, career setbacks – all are dwarfed when placed alongside God's limitless power. Join us as we discover how Jesus calls us out of chaos and prepares us for tomorrow's climactic revelation of our victorious King!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 0 (00:00):
Well, hello everybody .
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown podcast with your host
, pastor Brandon.
Today.
Revelation chapter 18, andtoday's title is Jesus Calls Us
Out of Chaos.
Jesus Calls Us Out of Chaos.
Today is the second part ofthis two-part chapter, really,
(00:20):
when yesterday talks about howGod has finally had enough of
Rome and he's telling thispersecuted church the fact that
he is going to bring justice,and today we get to hear all
about it.
So, if you have your Biblesready, want to open up with me
to Revelation, chapter 18.
While you're doing that, asalways if you're new around here
, take just a moment to like,share and subscribe to the
YouTube channel and the podcast.
(00:42):
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
and make sure you're going tothe Bible Breakdown Discussion,
because there's an amazing groupof people doing a wonderful job
and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find.
Well, if you've been with us,one of the things we've been
talking about over and overagain is that the goal of this
podcast is to relay the messagethat the first church, the early
(01:06):
church, would have had with thebook of Revelation, and the
overall goal of the book ofRevelation would have been that
Jesus wins, jesus is victorious,and we see that over the
chapters, how these bad thingsare happening.
However, god is constantlycoming through over and over
again, and one of the thingsthat we see in this is we see
(01:27):
that, as he is speaking to theseseven churches, he is
encouraging them because they'rereceiving all of this backlash
from Rome, from Jerusalem, fromall these other places, and they
are encouraged to compromise,to really give worship to the
emperor, and they're holdingstrong.
And we're seeing how God issaying like yesterday we talked
(01:47):
about how God was saying inchapter 17 that there was going
to be this time when Rome wasgoing to win for a season, but
when the time was right, god wasgoing to bring justice.
And so, as we saw how it wassaying, all of these things, all
of these short seasons whereRome was winning, was going to
come to a head, and then,finally, god was going to bring
(02:09):
justice.
And this is the beginning ofthe climax.
The next chapter, tomorrow,will be the climax, but this is
leading into it where God isfinally destroying Rome and once
again, also remember that inthe context, when it says over
and over again, it's talkingabout Babylon.
The original readers would haveknown exactly who John was
(02:29):
talking about, and knowing thathe's talking about Rome.
So here we go.
Chapter 18, verse 1 says thisAfter all this, I saw another
angel coming down from heavenwith great authority, and the
earth grew bright with hissplendor.
He gave a mighty shout Babylonis fallen, he says.
(02:49):
She has become a home fordemons.
She is a hideout for every foulspirit, a hideout for every
foul vulture, for every foul anddreadful animal, for all.
The nations have fallen Becauseof the wine of her passionate
immorality.
The kings of the world havecommitted adultery with her.
(03:10):
Because of her desires forextravagant luxury, the
merchants of the world havegrown rich.
Then I heard another voicecalling from heaven Come away
from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins oryou will be punished with her,
for her sins are piled as highas heaven, and God remembers her
(03:31):
evil deeds.
Do to her as she has done toothers.
Double her penalty for all herevil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror forothers, so brew twice as much
for her.
She glorified herself and livedin luxury, so match it now with
torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart.
I am queen on my throne.
(03:53):
I am no helpless widow.
I have no reason to mourn.
Therefore, these plagues willovertake her in a single day
Death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumedby fire.
For the Lord, god who judgesher, is mighty.
And the kings of the world, whocommitted adultery with her and
(04:14):
enjoyed her great luxury, willmourn for her as they see the
smoke rising from her charredremains.
They will stand at a distance,terrified by her great torment,
and they will cry out howterrible, how terrible for you,
oh Babylon, you great city.
In a single moment, god'sjudgment came on you.
The merchants of the world willweep and mourn for her.
(04:36):
There is no one left to buytheir goods.
She bought great quantities ofgold, silver, jewels and pearls,
fine linen, purple, silk,scarlet, claw, things made of
fragrant, fine wood, ivory goodsand objects made of expensive
(04:59):
wood and bronze and iron andmarble.
She also bought cinnamon, spiceincense, myrrh, frankincense,
wine, olive oil, fine flour,wheat, cattle, sheep, horses,
wagons and bodies, that is,human slaves.
The fancy things that you loveso much are gone, they cry.
All your luxuries and splendorare gone forever, never to be
yours again.
The merchants who becamewealthy by selling her these
(05:23):
things will stand at a distance,terrified by her great torment.
They will weep and cry out howterrible, how terrible for that
great city.
She was clothed with finestpurple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold andprecious stones and pearls.
In a single moment, all thewealth of the city is gone.
And all the captains of themerchant ships and their
(05:45):
passengers and sailors and crewswill stand at a distance and
they will cry out as they watchthe smoke ascend and they will
say where is another city asgreat as this?
They will weep and throw duston their heads and show their
grief and they will say where isanother city as great as this?
They will weep and throw duston their heads and show their
grief and they will cry out howterrible, how terrible for that
great city.
The ship owners became wealthyby transporting her great wealth
(06:06):
on the seas and a single momentit is all gone.
Rejoice over her fate, o heavenand people of God, and apostles
and prophets, for at last Godhas judged her for your sakes.
Then a mighty angel picked up aboulder the size of a huge
millstone and threw it into theocean and shouted Just like this
, the great city of Babylon willbe thrown down with violence
(06:30):
and will never be found again.
The sound of harps and singersand flutes and trumpets will
never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades willever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill willnever be heard in you again.
The light of a lamp will nevershine in you again.
The happy voices of brides andgrooms will never be heard in
(06:51):
you again.
For your merchants were thegreatest in the world and you
world, and you deceive thenations with your sorceries.
In your streets flowed theblood of the prophets, of God's
holy people, and the blood ofpeople slaughtered all over the
world.
Wow, so what we just saw was isGod declaring justice over a
(07:16):
city that the early church wouldhave thought was invincible.
So think about for a momentsomething or someone in your
life or a story you've heard ofof someone that seemed
invincible.
Like I remember I don't know ifyou follow boxing very much,
but there was the what's calledthe rumble in the jungle, where
you had George Foreman andMuhammad Ali who are going to
fight, and at the time it lookedlike and time has changed so
(07:40):
much now that it seemsimpossible, but it looked like
that George Foreman wascompletely unbeatable, and
Muhammad Ali was just being ledto the slaughter he had already
lost his title and he was tryingto get back to that place and
it just looked like this wasjust one of those things where
George Foreman was going to hitthe stratosphere and just keep
going.
He seemed completely unbeatableAt that point.
(08:03):
He wasn't a Christian yet andhe just had this look like he's
going to kill somebody, right.
And so that night people werereally worried about Muhammad
Ali.
And then, as the fight went onand as I mean, george Foreman
was just, he was chasingMuhammad Ali and he was doing
all this stuff All of a suddenyou start to notice wait a
minute, muhammad Ali is actuallydoing pretty good.
(08:25):
He's actually looking like he'sgot a game plan.
George Foreman is starting tolook a little bit more human.
And then, as the fight went on,eventually George Foreman lost
in devastating fashion.
Muhammad Ali won and it wasthis wonderful thing.
And over the course of thefight, george Foreman went from
this invincible-looking justhuman specimen, like barely even
(08:47):
human, more like a robot, towhere he started looking more
and more beatable until he hitthe canvas.
And what this chapter is doingis it is doing that with the
city of Rome, that it's saying,yes, rome, if you remember
yesterday's chapter, it looksinvincible.
As a matter of fact, it looksso invincible that other nations
are coming under the protectionof Rome and giving Rome its
(09:09):
power.
And wow, this looks prettyunbeatable until you get to
chapter 18.
And then you go oh, no, no, no,it may pretty unbeatable until
you get to chapter 18.
And then you go oh, no, no, no,it may look unbeatable to you
and to you, persecuted church ofthe early church.
Yes, physically this city isunbeatable for you, but it is
nothing compared to God.
And now we get to see just howfar it has fallen.
(09:31):
And so to the early church.
Excuse me, the lesson would beJesus calls us out of the chaos
and reminds us that he isvictorious.
And can I tell you, the lessonis still the same for us today.
Many times we will look at thedifferent things in our life and
it would just seem impossible.
And the reason why is becausethe enemy is so big when he's so
(09:56):
close, if you think about it.
When you are right in themiddle of a problem, it seems so
big.
We can lose perspective, whichis why it's important for us to
step back from our problems manytimes and remember God's
faithfulness.
And I want to tell you, nomatter how big that enemy is in
your life, it is not bigger thanour Lord.
(10:20):
And so I want to encourage youtoday to take a moment and to
put your life in perspective andto realize that, no matter how
big the enemy is, god wants topull you out of the chaos so you
can get the perspective and seeyes, it is a financial
difficulty.
Yes, your kids are goingthrough a financial difficulty.
Yes, your kids are goingthrough a difficult season.
Yes, your marriage is goingthrough a difficult season.
Yes, it is really hard to finda job that will supply you what
(10:43):
you need to take care of yourfamily.
Yes, of course, we're notdownplaying those needs.
What we're doing is we areenlarging our view of God to see
that, compared to God, isnothing.
So we can trust him in thosehard times.
Let's pray together right now,god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, lord, that, justlike you would, we're
encouraging the early church tomake sure they see Rome as it
(11:05):
really is, which is big but notbigger than you.
I pray you will help us to dothe same for you.
Help us to remember that,compared to you, our biggest
enemy is nothing.
Help us, lord, to draw on thattoday so that we can face every
one of our battles withconfidence.
We celebrate you today InJesus' name.
We pray Amen and amen.
(11:27):
I cannot wait to get to tomorrow, where we see the climax and
our God arise.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow.
But first, I almost forgotRomans 1.
Not Romans.
How excited am I?
I am so excited about tomorrow.
Let me see if I can get throughthis.
Revelation 1, verse 7.
Say it with me, please.
Look, he comes with the cloudsof heaven and everyone will see
(11:49):
him.
I want to show you exactly whatour king looks like tomorrow,
chapter 19.
Well, hello everybody .
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown podcast with your host
, pastor Brandon.
Today.
Revelation chapter 18, andtoday's title is Jesus Calls Us
Out of Chaos.
Jesus Calls Us Out of Chaos.
Today is the second part ofthis two-part chapter, really,
(00:20):
when yesterday talks about howGod has finally had enough of
Rome and he's telling thispersecuted church the fact that
he is going to bring justice,and today we get to hear all
about it.
So, if you have your Biblesready, want to open up with me
to Revelation, chapter 18.
While you're doing that, asalways if you're new around here
, take just a moment to like,share and subscribe to the
YouTube channel and the podcast.
(00:42):
Make sure you leave us afive-star review on the podcast
and make sure you're going tothe Bible Breakdown Discussion,
because there's an amazing groupof people doing a wonderful job
and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find.
Well, if you've been with us,one of the things we've been
talking about over and overagain is that the goal of this
podcast is to relay the messagethat the first church, the early
(01:06):
church, would have had with thebook of Revelation, and the
overall goal of the book ofRevelation would have been that
Jesus wins, jesus is victorious,and we see that over the
chapters, how these bad thingsare happening.
However, god is constantlycoming through over and over
again, and one of the thingsthat we see in this is we see
(01:27):
that, as he is speaking to theseseven churches, he is
encouraging them because they'rereceiving all of this backlash
from Rome, from Jerusalem, fromall these other places, and they
are encouraged to compromise,to really give worship to the
emperor, and they're holdingstrong.
And we're seeing how God issaying like yesterday we talked
(01:47):
about how God was saying inchapter 17 that there was going
to be this time when Rome wasgoing to win for a season, but
when the time was right, god wasgoing to bring justice.
And so, as we saw how it wassaying, all of these things, all
of these short seasons whereRome was winning, was going to
come to a head, and then,finally, god was going to bring
(02:09):
justice.
And this is the beginning ofthe climax.
The next chapter, tomorrow,will be the climax, but this is
leading into it where God isfinally destroying Rome and once
again, also remember that inthe context, when it says over
and over again, it's talkingabout Babylon.
The original readers would haveknown exactly who John was
(02:29):
talking about, and knowing thathe's talking about Rome.
So here we go.
Chapter 18, verse 1 says thisAfter all this, I saw another
angel coming down from heavenwith great authority, and the
earth grew bright with hissplendor.
He gave a mighty shout Babylonis fallen, he says.
(02:49):
She has become a home fordemons.
She is a hideout for every foulspirit, a hideout for every
foul vulture, for every foul anddreadful animal, for all.
The nations have fallen Becauseof the wine of her passionate
immorality.
The kings of the world havecommitted adultery with her.
(03:10):
Because of her desires forextravagant luxury, the
merchants of the world havegrown rich.
Then I heard another voicecalling from heaven Come away
from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins oryou will be punished with her,
for her sins are piled as highas heaven, and God remembers her
(03:31):
evil deeds.
Do to her as she has done toothers.
Double her penalty for all herevil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror forothers, so brew twice as much
for her.
She glorified herself and livedin luxury, so match it now with
torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart.
I am queen on my throne.
(03:53):
I am no helpless widow.
I have no reason to mourn.
Therefore, these plagues willovertake her in a single day
Death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumedby fire.
For the Lord, god who judgesher, is mighty.
And the kings of the world, whocommitted adultery with her and
(04:14):
enjoyed her great luxury, willmourn for her as they see the
smoke rising from her charredremains.
They will stand at a distance,terrified by her great torment,
and they will cry out howterrible, how terrible for you,
oh Babylon, you great city.
In a single moment, god'sjudgment came on you.
The merchants of the world willweep and mourn for her.
(04:36):
There is no one left to buytheir goods.
She bought great quantities ofgold, silver, jewels and pearls,
fine linen, purple, silk,scarlet, claw, things made of
fragrant, fine wood, ivory goodsand objects made of expensive
(04:59):
wood and bronze and iron andmarble.
She also bought cinnamon, spiceincense, myrrh, frankincense,
wine, olive oil, fine flour,wheat, cattle, sheep, horses,
wagons and bodies, that is,human slaves.
The fancy things that you loveso much are gone, they cry.
All your luxuries and splendorare gone forever, never to be
yours again.
The merchants who becamewealthy by selling her these
(05:23):
things will stand at a distance,terrified by her great torment.
They will weep and cry out howterrible, how terrible for that
great city.
She was clothed with finestpurple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold andprecious stones and pearls.
In a single moment, all thewealth of the city is gone.
And all the captains of themerchant ships and their
(05:45):
passengers and sailors and crewswill stand at a distance and
they will cry out as they watchthe smoke ascend and they will
say where is another city asgreat as this?
They will weep and throw duston their heads and show their
grief and they will say where isanother city as great as this?
They will weep and throw duston their heads and show their
grief and they will cry out howterrible, how terrible for that
great city.
The ship owners became wealthyby transporting her great wealth
(06:06):
on the seas and a single momentit is all gone.
Rejoice over her fate, o heavenand people of God, and apostles
and prophets, for at last Godhas judged her for your sakes.
Then a mighty angel picked up aboulder the size of a huge
millstone and threw it into theocean and shouted Just like this
, the great city of Babylon willbe thrown down with violence
(06:30):
and will never be found again.
The sound of harps and singersand flutes and trumpets will
never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades willever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill willnever be heard in you again.
The light of a lamp will nevershine in you again.
The happy voices of brides andgrooms will never be heard in
(06:51):
you again.
For your merchants were thegreatest in the world and you
world, and you deceive thenations with your sorceries.
In your streets flowed theblood of the prophets, of God's
holy people, and the blood ofpeople slaughtered all over the
world.
Wow, so what we just saw was isGod declaring justice over a
(07:16):
city that the early church wouldhave thought was invincible.
So think about for a momentsomething or someone in your
life or a story you've heard ofof someone that seemed
invincible.
Like I remember I don't know ifyou follow boxing very much,
but there was the what's calledthe rumble in the jungle, where
you had George Foreman andMuhammad Ali who are going to
fight, and at the time it lookedlike and time has changed so
(07:40):
much now that it seemsimpossible, but it looked like
that George Foreman wascompletely unbeatable, and
Muhammad Ali was just being ledto the slaughter he had already
lost his title and he was tryingto get back to that place and
it just looked like this wasjust one of those things where
George Foreman was going to hitthe stratosphere and just keep
going.
He seemed completely unbeatableAt that point.
(08:03):
He wasn't a Christian yet andhe just had this look like he's
going to kill somebody, right.
And so that night people werereally worried about Muhammad
Ali.
And then, as the fight went onand as I mean, george Foreman
was just, he was chasingMuhammad Ali and he was doing
all this stuff All of a suddenyou start to notice wait a
minute, muhammad Ali is actuallydoing pretty good.
(08:25):
He's actually looking like he'sgot a game plan.
George Foreman is starting tolook a little bit more human.
And then, as the fight went on,eventually George Foreman lost
in devastating fashion.
Muhammad Ali won and it wasthis wonderful thing.
And over the course of thefight, george Foreman went from
this invincible-looking justhuman specimen, like barely even
(08:47):
human, more like a robot, towhere he started looking more
and more beatable until he hitthe canvas.
And what this chapter is doingis it is doing that with the
city of Rome, that it's saying,yes, rome, if you remember
yesterday's chapter, it looksinvincible.
As a matter of fact, it looksso invincible that other nations
are coming under the protectionof Rome and giving Rome its
(09:09):
power.
And wow, this looks prettyunbeatable until you get to
chapter 18.
And then you go oh, no, no, no,it may pretty unbeatable until
you get to chapter 18.
And then you go oh, no, no, no,it may look unbeatable to you
and to you, persecuted church ofthe early church.
Yes, physically this city isunbeatable for you, but it is
nothing compared to God.
And now we get to see just howfar it has fallen.
(09:31):
And so to the early church.
Excuse me, the lesson would beJesus calls us out of the chaos
and reminds us that he isvictorious.
And can I tell you, the lessonis still the same for us today.
Many times we will look at thedifferent things in our life and
it would just seem impossible.
And the reason why is becausethe enemy is so big when he's so
(09:56):
close, if you think about it.
When you are right in themiddle of a problem, it seems so
big.
We can lose perspective, whichis why it's important for us to
step back from our problems manytimes and remember God's
faithfulness.
And I want to tell you, nomatter how big that enemy is in
your life, it is not bigger thanour Lord.
(10:20):
And so I want to encourage youtoday to take a moment and to
put your life in perspective andto realize that, no matter how
big the enemy is, god wants topull you out of the chaos so you
can get the perspective and seeyes, it is a financial
difficulty.
Yes, your kids are goingthrough a financial difficulty.
Yes, your kids are goingthrough a difficult season.
Yes, your marriage is goingthrough a difficult season.
Yes, it is really hard to finda job that will supply you what
(10:43):
you need to take care of yourfamily.
Yes, of course, we're notdownplaying those needs.
What we're doing is we areenlarging our view of God to see
that, compared to God, isnothing.
So we can trust him in thosehard times.
Let's pray together right now,god.
Thank you so much for today.
Thank you, lord, that, justlike you would, we're
encouraging the early church tomake sure they see Rome as it
(11:05):
really is, which is big but notbigger than you.
I pray you will help us to dothe same for you.
Help us to remember that,compared to you, our biggest
enemy is nothing.
Help us, lord, to draw on thattoday so that we can face every
one of our battles withconfidence.
We celebrate you today InJesus' name.
We pray Amen and amen.
(11:27):
I cannot wait to get to tomorrow, where we see the climax and
our God arise.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow.
But first, I almost forgotRomans 1.
Not Romans.
How excited am I?
I am so excited about tomorrow.
Let me see if I can get throughthis.
Revelation 1, verse 7.
Say it with me, please.
Look, he comes with the cloudsof heaven and everyone will see
(11:49):
him.
I want to show you exactly whatour king looks like tomorrow,
chapter 19.
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