Revelation 18:9-24

As we continue to read in chapter 18, we should be reminded that whatever we hate also reveals what we truly love.  If we live for the priorities and values of this world we reveal that we hate the priorities and values of God. 

The mournful losses we are about to read about are not for the city, but for the instrument that gave the people what they wanted.  They mourn for their own loss.  Their life is about themselves, not others.

⁹ “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, ¹⁰ standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

Just as it was written in Isaiah 47, the judgment is sudden.

¹¹ “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: ¹² merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. ¹⁴ The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. ¹⁵ The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, ¹⁶ and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! ¹⁷ For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance ¹⁸ and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like this great city?’

¹⁹ “They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’

All those who entrusted their security for life in the economy of the city have nothing.  There is no commerce.  The kings of the earth and now the merchants and sailors stand afar off in fear of the torment of the fall. 

²⁰ “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”

²¹ Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. ²² The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. ²³ The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. ²⁴ And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

Verse 21 indicates that there will be no record of her; 22 that there will be no rejoicing over her or rebuilding of her; 23 that there will be no more redemption offered for her; and 24 that there are no redeemed in her.

This world is a Vanity Fair as described in the poem so-named by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.  The only reality is the One True living God and His offer of salvation in Jesus our Messiah.