Revelation 18:11-13

“And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore; 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; 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.

• ·        Those who have most indulged themselves in pride and pleasure are the least able to bear calamities. (MH)

• ·        The cause of their mourning:  not their sin, but their punishment – the wealth and merchandise of this city which was suddenly lost (MH)

Ezekiel 17:17  Your riches, wares, and merchandise, your mariners and pilots, your caulkers and merchandisers, all your men of war who are in you, and the entire company which is in your midst, will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin.

Isaiah 23:9  The LORD of hosts has purposed it, to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.

18:14

Revelation 18:9-10

“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, 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.’

• ·        The mourners:  those who had been bewitched by her fornication, and those who had been gainers by her wealth and trade – the kings and the merchants of the earth.  (MH)

• ·        Even Babylon’s friends will stand at a distance from her fall.  Though they had been partakers with her in her sinful pleasures and profits, they were not willing to bear a share in her plagues.  (MH)

Ezekiel 26:17  And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you:  How you have perished…….

Isaiah 21:9  ….”Babylon is fallen, is fallen!  And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”

Revelation 18:8

“Therefore her plagues will come in one day – death and mourning and famine.  And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

• ·        The destruction of commercial Babylon will come suddenly, and with completeness (utterly burned with fire). (DG)

• ·        When destruction comes on a people suddenly, the surprise is a great aggravation of their misery (MH)

Ezekiel 28:2…. Because your heart is lifted up, and you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods.  In the midst of the seas,”  Yet you are a man, and not a god, though you set your heart as the heart of a god.

Zephaniah 2:15  This is the rejoicing city that dwelt securely that said in her heart, ‘I am it, and there is none besides me.”  How has she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down!  Everyone who passes by her shall hiss and shake his fist.