Revelation 18:6-10

Verse 6-8 “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”

Babylon is about to receive her reward. What a reward! She is going to get double the trouble, torment, and sorrow that she gave others. The equivalent of the amount that she glorified herself, lived in the lap of luxury, and tormented others, she will now get back in spades. The way God repeats the word “doubled” makes me wonder if He doubles it several times over. She has proudly thought that she was above being punished for her wickedness, that she was untouchable from other’s attempts to bring her down (yes, this is definitely the attitude Americans have, but the Vatican has some arrogancy problems too), but now she will not act as a queen lording it over others, she will act as a mourning widow. She will see her own death and destruction come upon her and her children in one day. There will be plagues, famine, death, and mourning as she is completely annihilated with fire. This is the judgment that God has pronounced upon her, and it is the ten horns who will carry out this command for God, unbeknownst to them. They are the ones who will, in one day, completely burn her with fire. Again it would seem since this judgment from God is initiated by the ten and not supernatural in application that it is most likely a nuclear holocaust.

Verse 9-10 “And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

The leaders of all of the rest of the nations will wail and lament for what comes upon Babylon when they see her destruction is complete and thorough. Given that the beast will become the object of worship for the world, and the Vatican will no longer be the religious headquarters for a large percentage of the world, it is unlikely that the kings of the earth would wail over its demise. While many of the leaders of the world talk and act as if they hate America (we will assume for the moment that America is Babylon), still everyone depends upon America to be there when they need them. It is like a child who resents a parent’s interference in their lives, but is distraught beyond words if something happens to the parent, so that the parent is no longer there to run to when things go badly for them. America is the one who shows up to fight others’ wars. America is the one who arrives when devastation hits. Who is going to come help them when the helper is gone? Where can they go for a better life, when the one place on earth where that is possible is suddenly destroyed? I do not see people lamenting over the Vatican for those reasons should this happen. Nor do I see the Catholic church suddenly ceasing to exist should the Vatican be bombed, and this is definitely the end of Babylon. The destruction that we will see Babylon suffer can not possibly describe what would transpire should they blow up Vatican City. Nor do I see the world wailing over the demise of a newly created city of Babylon in Iraq. While an interesting city no doubt, should it actually be built, it cannot possibly cause the emotional outpouring of grief that this will cause. America is everyone’s one last hope for freedom, success, riches, etc. The smoke of her burning will be seen from afar as America is so big, it will cause quite a smoke filled sky. It is not just the city that will be destroyed, it will most likely be the entire country. Babylon was never just a city, it was always a city/state or city/nation entity. People are said to be standing far off from her. That is exactly how the rest of the world stands from America, far off. Her destruction comes in the space of one hour. That is more than enough time for a number of nuclear explosions to devastate her.