What is the meaning of Revelation 18:6? Give back to her as she has done to others “Give back to her as she has done to others”. • The speaker is a heavenly voice (Revelation 18:4–5) calling for divine justice against “Babylon,” the corrupt world system that has oppressed God’s people (Revelation 17:6). • The verse echoes the biblical principle that “whatever a man sows, he will reap” (Galatians 6:7). Babylon will reap the same cruelty, greed, and idolatry it has sown. • The idea of measured retribution runs through Scripture—Jer 50:29 commands, “Repay her according to her deeds,” and Obadiah 1:15 promises that “as you have done, it shall be done to you.” • In Revelation, God Himself administers the payback, assuring believers that vengeance is His (Romans 12:19). pay her back double for what she has done “...pay her back double for what she has done”. • Doubling signals intensified justice, not unfair excess. In Mosaic Law, deliberate theft required double restitution (Exodus 22:4), underscoring full accountability. • Isaiah 40:2 uses the same concept when Judah “has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins,” meaning her punishment fully matches her guilt. • Babylon’s sins—commercial exploitation (Revelation 18:3), moral corruption (Revelation 17:2), and bloodshed (Revelation 18:24)—are so extensive that doubled repayment is the fitting, literal response of divine holiness. • This phrase assures persecuted saints that God’s justice will be thorough, not partial or symbolic. mix her a double portion in her own cup “...mix her a double portion in her own cup”. • The “cup” consistently pictures God’s wrath poured out on the wicked—see Psalm 75:8, Jeremiah 25:15, and Revelation 14:10. • Babylon once held a “golden cup full of abominations” (Revelation 17:4) that she forced the nations to drink. Now, the very vessel she used becomes the instrument of her downfall. • Doubling the mixture ratchets up the certainty and severity of judgment: the wrath will be undiluted (Revelation 16:19). • The imagery guarantees that Babylon cannot escape; she must swallow the consequences she brewed for others. summary Revelation 18:6 promises precise, intensified, and inescapable justice. God will repay Babylon in exact proportion—indeed, double measure—for her exploitation, idolatry, and persecution of the saints. The passage reassures believers that the Judge of all the earth will settle every account, returning upon the wicked the very cup of wrath they poured out on others. |
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