Revelation 18:20-24: in context

John sees the final fall of Babylon, the great city that symbolizes the corrupt world-system opposed to God. An angel takes a stone like a great millstone and throws it into the sea, declaring that so Babylon will be thrown down, with violence, and found no more. All the sounds of her life, music, craft, the voices of bride and groom, are silenced forever. And the reason for her judgment is given: in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. The city that shed the blood of God's people is judged at last.

The fall of Babylon is the final judgment of the corrupt world-system, and it is also God's vindication of those it wronged. Babylon had been a place of corruption, deception, and bloodshed; in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, of the innocent slain. And now she is judged, thrown down like a millstone into the sea, never to rise. The injustice and bloodshed did not go unanswered forever; God judged the corrupt power at last, and in doing so vindicated his martyred and wronged people. Rejoice over her, heaven and saints, the vision says, for God has judged your judgment on her; the judgment of Babylon is the vindication of those she oppressed. This is an assurance for a world full of injustice, corruption, and unanswered wrong. We look at the world and see corrupt powers that seem to prosper, injustice that goes unpunished, the blood of the innocent that seems to cry out unheard, oppressors who are never brought to account. And it can seem that the corruption and bloodshed will never be answered, that the wicked will prosper forever and the wronged never be vindicated. The fall of Babylon answers otherwise: God will finally judge the corrupt powers, hold the shedders of innocent blood to account, and vindicate his wronged people. The injustice of the world will not go unanswered forever; there is a final reckoning. How long, the martyrs cry beneath the altar, until you judge and avenge our blood? And the answer, in the fall of Babylon, is that God will. This does not license us to take vengeance ourselves; vengeance belongs to God, who will repay. But it assures us that God's justice, though it may seem long delayed, is certain; that the corrupt powers will be judged, the innocent blood avenged, the wronged vindicated. Leave room for God's wrath, Paul says; for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay. We entrust the final reckoning to God, who will judge the corrupt and vindicate the wronged. This calls us to trust God's final justice when we see injustice and corruption that seem to go unanswered. The fall of Babylon assures us that God will finally judge the corrupt powers and vindicate those they wronged, that the injustice and bloodshed of the world will not go unanswered forever. And when we see corruption prosper and injustice go unpunished, we may trust that there is a final reckoning, that God will judge the corrupt and avenge the innocent blood and vindicate his wronged people, so that we neither despair that the wicked will triumph forever nor take vengeance into our own hands, but entrust the final justice to the God who judged Babylon and will judge all the corrupt powers of the earth, vindicating those they wronged.

When I see corrupt powers that seem to prosper, injustice that goes unpunished, and the blood of the innocent that seems to cry out unheard, do I despair that the wicked will triumph forever, and can the fall of Babylon, thrown down never to rise because in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, assure me that God will finally judge the corrupt powers and vindicate those they wronged, so that I neither despair nor take vengeance into my own hands but entrust the final justice to the God who will judge the corrupt and avenge the wronged?