There are many other places where a stone might be thrown (see Jeremiah 51:63). But here it is said to be thrown into the sea,
into depths far away from the shore. This angel has thrown this stone a considerable distance!
The sea
is significant for the following reasons:
What is thrown into the sea is lost from sight, completely gone, as it sinks beneath the waves. In fact, given the relatively limited technology of 2,000 years ago (no deep-sea diving!), what was thrown into the sea was not retrievable (Micah 7:19). Babylon would be forever gone.
As we learned from previous chapters, the great prostitute known as Babylon was the brainchild of the frustrated dragon in his attempt to make war on the offspring of the woman (Revelation 12:12, Revelation 12:17). In his effort to achieve his goal, the dragon summoned a beast from
the sea
(Revelation 13:1). The sea is in Scripture descriptive of all that isunder the earth
(Exodus 20:4), including thebottomless pit
mentioned in Revelation 9:1 and Revelation 11:7, and thus is descriptive of the home of the demons of hell (Isaiah 27:1; 2 Peter 2:4). By throwing the stoneinto the sea,
this mighty angel indicates that Babylon must return whence she came.It is further worth noting that
Babylon
had enticed the nations through trade carried out on thesea
(Revelation 18:17, Revelation 18:19). It is ironic that the very means Babylon used to entice and enrich now functions as her grave.
21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;