CLAIM: The fall of Babylon will have its ultimate fulfillment during the time of the Second Coming. The fall of Babylon in 539 BC, at the hands of the Persian army, was a partial fulfillment in Jeremiah 50. However, many of the specific details of this prophecy were not fulfilled at that time. John quoted Jeremiah 51, three times in Revelation 18 in reference to the future judgment of Babylon. Thus, in both passages, there are many elements of the prophetic proclamation that point to a future scenario in which Babylon is violently opposed and harshly judged by the Lord.
Babylon has been a heap for over 1000 years. The specific details are “debatable”. It is said that its end will be like Sodom and Gomorroh, meaning it’s utter desolation, not the manner in which it is destroyed. In this way, people debate the fulfillment of this passage, all the while the entire passage is entirely fulfilled up to our day, in that not even the local natives make their camp there, or pasture their flocks there. Only the wild animals of the desert inhabit it (other than a few modern government buildings for tourism, and the recent attempt to rebuild by the former Iraqi dictator).