Babylon Study • Connected to God’s Image and the Ten Commandments
Having examined Babylon’s name and her description as a mother, we now follow what she holds and what others receive from her.
What Is Inside the Cup?
Revelation describes the woman wearing purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls. In her hand is a golden cup containing abominations and the uncleanness of her sexual immorality. Read Revelation 17:4.
The material of the cup and its contents are described separately. Its gold does not make what it contains holy.
That detail gives us something to examine: Are we paying attention to what is being offered, or allowing its presentation to determine our judgment?
The Wine and Those Who Drink
Revelation 17:2 describes those dwelling on the earth becoming drunk with the wine associated with her sexual immorality. Verse 6 then describes the woman herself as drunk with the blood of the saints and the witnesses of Jesus. Read Revelation 17:1–6.
Keep both descriptions in view: what others drink from her, and what she herself is drunk with.
In Revelation 18:3, the Greek οἴνου — oinou, from οἶνος — oinos (G3631), means wine. The surrounding wording connects that wine with her sexual immorality. The verse also identifies kings who participate with her and merchants who become wealthy through her luxury. Read Revelation 18:3 alongside the Greek text.
The account brings drinking, unfaithfulness, and enrichment together.
Babylon’s Cup in Jeremiah
This description leads us back to an earlier passage:
“Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken”
— Jeremiah 51:7, ASV, excerpt
The verse continues by describing the nations drinking her wine and becoming mad.
Notice the placement of the cup. In Jeremiah, Babylon is described as a cup in the hand of YHWH (יהוה). In Revelation, the woman holds a cup. The shared imagery connects the passages, while the wording preserves different relationships.
Jeremiah also places this description between a command to flee Babylon and an announcement of her sudden fall. Being described as an instrument in God’s hand does not remove her accountability. Read Jeremiah 51:6–9, 24.
The Cup Returns in Judgment
Revelation 18:6 returns to the cup Babylon mixed, now in connection with repayment according to her deeds. What she has done to others is brought into her judgment. Read Revelation 18:6–8.
Before that judgment, God’s people are called to come out so that they do not share in her sins and plagues. Read Revelation 18:4–5.
Our examination therefore includes participation: What am I receiving, what am I supporting, and what am I passing to others?
Threads to Follow
Merchants and their gain: Examine what is bought and sold in Revelation 18:11–13.
Wine in other passages: Compare Babylon’s wine with the wine at Cana, preserving the source, setting, and outcome of each.
The call to leave: Follow Jeremiah 51:6, 45 alongside Revelation 18:4.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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