Now remember, in chapter 17, we were given a picture of the religious system of the end time called “Mystery Babylon.” Here in chapter 18, we’re getting a picture of the political economic system of the end time called “Babylon the great.” These two systems share much in common. They share the same name: Babylon. They share the same satanic power. They are alike in that they both are under the rule of the Antichrist. They are both ruling like queens and filled with blasphemy. They both hate the saints and shed their blood. They both are associated with the kings of the earth in what is called “fornication.” They both come under the definitive judgment of God and are destroyed. But with that, the similarities end, and there are marked differences between Mystery Babylon of chapter 17 and Babylon the great of chapter 18.

Religious Babylon, as I said, is called “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth,” where as commercial Babylon is called “the great Babylon” and “Babylon the great.” The one is described under the symbol of a harlot woman seated upon the beast of government, and the other is presented as a mighty city.

The seventeenth chapter presents ecclesiastical Babylon as a woman, a whore, a mother. The eighteenth chapter presents commercial Babylon as a habitation, a great city, a mighty city, a marketplace, and even a burning city.

The woman of 17 is described as guilty of religious abominations. The city of 18 is abominable because of its system of commerce. The manner of their destruction also is different. The woman is destroyed by the political power through which she has come to reign so arrogantly. But the city is destroyed by an act of God.

And so, I want to emphasize to you that I believe Babylon of chapter 17 is a religious system, and Babylon of chapter 18 is a commercial system. And they will coexist in the first half of the seven-year tribulation. But at the midpoint, the Antichrist will not tolerate that coexistence. He will not tolerate the divided loyalties between commerce and religion. He will not tolerate anything other than the worship of himself. And so, at the midpoint, the system that is religious is destroyed, totally devastated, consumed, burned with fire, and one system remains, and that is commercial Babylon in which the Antichrist rules and himself is worshiped as God.