Does Babylon Need a Seaport?

Many Bible and prophecy teachers insist that “Babylon the Great” in Revelation 18 must have a seaport for verses 17-19 to be fulfilled.

The primary argument given is that because it says the shipmasters, every passenger & sailors, and all who make their living by the sea stood at a distance and saw the smoke of her burning, of course they had to be in a seaport to do that, or at least close enough to see it happening.

Maybe a couple hundred years ago that would be the only possible way a person could conceive of this happening. However, we know that today, the entire world could see the smoke of her burning from any distance on a number of different electronic devices–and in real time!

“Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth.” Clearly, it isn’t only talking about the people in the ships, but every one that was involved in the shipping business.

Notice it says “Every shipmaster, all the passengers & sailors, all who make their living by the sea. Think about that for a minute, so all of them from the whole Earth are in the Seaport at one time? No, because at any given time, ships would be all around the Earth. They would never be in or near the same seaport at the same time.

Let’s look at the broader context:

Verses 17-18 don’t stand by themselves, they literally stand with two other groups that are described first.

• The kings of the Earth
• The merchants of the Earth who stand along with every shipmaster, passenger, sailor and all those who trade by the sea are standing at a distance

The comparison chart shows that all three groups witnessed the same event from a distance:

Notice the kings of the Earth and the merchants of the Earth were standing at a distance. They wouldn’t usually be in ships in a seaport. The kings of the earth and the merchants of the Earth would be all around the world. Yet, all of them are said to be standing at a distance.

The immediate and broader context doesn’t require a seaport and it would be impossible for all who are mentioned to be in the vicinity of Babylon the Great. This assumption was made without any supporting Biblical evidence. Babylon does not need a seaport for Revelation 18 to be fulfilled.