18:3 fornication with her. Note Jeremiah 51:7 and Revelation 17:4. This aspect of her wickedness applies mainly to her character as the “Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth,” with all her false evolutionary pantheistic religious systems and the ungodly practices of their cultures.

18:3 abundance of her delicacies. Ancient Babylon, beginning with Nimrod and brought to its zenith under Nebuchadnezzar, was also the mother of human covetousness and desire for wealth and luxuries. That same spirit infected many of the Jewish exiles there, as well as the trading partners of the Babylonians in other nations, and in every age and nation since, there have been some men who have been able to accumulate great wealth and even greater power than kings and emperors. Paul charged that covetousness was really idolatry (Ephesians 5:5, Colossians 3:5), and warned that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (I Timothy 6:10). Perhaps today, more so than ever in history, the real power of the nations rests in the hands of international financiers, industrial barons, shipping magnates and other men of great wealth who can manipulate governments almost like puppets. All of this wealth and power will finally be centered in Babylon the Great, after its installation as the world’s great center—not only its geographical and population center, but also its center of finance, trade, communication, culture and government. See notes on Zechariah 5:5-11.