These verses describe the last part of John's vision of what will happen at the end of time. Babylon is a global powerbase of politics and commerce which will eventually so constrain the world's leaders, that they will destroy it; albeit as the unwitting agents of God (Revelation 17:16-18) … only to find that there is nothing left (Revelation 18:9-11). It will be God's final judgement on the world.
The scene in John's vision of the future moves from earth to heaven. The corrupt global government and trade system has been destroyed by those who supported it (Revelation 17:14-18); but they also destroyed the infrastructure of communication and civilisation (Revelation 18:9-11).
After God has been victorious over the corrupt world, the crowd in heaven look at God's faithful people. It seems as though all nature has one great last shout to echo the 'Hallelujah' of victory. Crashing waves and majestic waterfalls blend with thunder like a mighty orchestra and choir to proclaim the 'Hallelujah' of Sovereignty. God is the undisputed Lord and Master of everything. He is almighty because He has all power and all authority to achieve whatever He chooses.
The hallelujah chorus has rung through heaven, for God has taken His final action against the devil-inspired world government, and an angel has announced the wedding of the Lamb of God (Jesus) to all those who love Him, the Church. It is a wonderful moment for John. In his vision, the pain of the past is gone and the glorious anticipation of being united with Christ excites his heart. So, he falls at the feet of the angel in worship, but is rebuked (Revelation 22:8-9).
What a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ! We can only imagine the joy, awe and relief John experienced. After the multiple revelations of plagues of judgement on the unbelieving world, the Lord Jesus is now seen at the gates of heaven: a warrior king on a white horse. Whereas, in Revelation 6:2, the first horseman of the apocalypse is bent on evil conquest, Jesus is a just warrior.
Before John's vision moved towards its climax, the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ as the light of the heavenly city, the scene is set on earth. The Warrior King, Jesus Christ, emerges from heaven to confront the world rulers (Revelation 19:11-16). They have been incited to fight the Lord by the beast, the Antichrist, with the false prophet performing miraculous signs as evidence that his false religion can be trusted (Revelation 19:20), and Jesus Christ must be rejected as the Sovereign Ruler of everything.
The previous verse identifies the combatants in the battle to end all battles: "Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army." (Revelation 19:19) In other words the Antichrist and the world's rulers will amass their forces to fight against the Lord Jesus Christ and His angels. This is not the church fighting the world.
John's vision of the end of time, the last of the Last Days, is coming to its climax. So far, the beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet have been consigned to the lake of fire, which is Hell (Revelation 19:20).
These verses have attracted a variety of interpretations. Many seek to fit the events in Revelation into a chronological order. The thousand years reign of Christ, associated with the banishment of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3), is a pivot point for many.
The third chapter before the end of the Bible, is an inverse mirror of the third chapter of Genesis. In Genesis 3:1-6, Satan appears as a snake to tempt Eve to disobey God. The result was catastrophic for all humanity.
