In Isaiah, chapter twenty-one, verse nine, Babylon, the foe of God’s people, would fall, its reliance on their gods shattered; it first took place in the early days of the Old Testament, before the Son of Man, when Sennacherib smashed their idols, except for Bel and Nebo in chapter forty-six, verses one through two, “Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.”
The apostle John heard the same words in his visions, as in Revelation fourteen, verse eight, and chapter eighteen, verses one to two, respectively, prophesying that the end-time Babylon, a symbol of all that opposes Christ and His people in this world, would be destroyed. At that time, Christ will complete the redemption of His people. Believers must pray for the descent and destruction of end-time Babylon.
The name “Babylon” originates from “Babel,” which symbolizes in those days, system of beliefs, sorcery, astrology, and rebellion against God.
Babylon the great is portrayed primarily in its commercial and political dimensions. Some believe Babylon here represents a literal city or city-state that embodies the ungodly aspects of the city, described in this chapter. Others believe it represents the whole ungodly world system brought under the antichrist’s rule. Here, her commercial system is destroyed; In Revelation nineteen, her political system is judged by God at the end of the tribulation.
But when Isaiah is about to speak, his complaint is stifled in his mouth. He sees part of the cavalcade which he had beheld before, and now it is no longer silent, but reports what has been accomplished.