Revelation 18:19

 “They threw dust on their heads and cried, 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.’

·        They made a grievous outcry (MH)

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

Joshua 7:6  Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and the put dust on their heads.

Job 2:12  And then the raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.

Revelation 18:17-18

 “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 and cried out when they say the smoke of her burning, saying, “What is like this great city?’

·        Even Babylon’s friends will stand at a distance from her fall. (MH)

·        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)

Isaiah 23;14  Wail, you ships of Tarshish!  For your strength is laid waste.

Ezekiel 27:29-31  All who handle the oar, the mariners, all the pilots of the sea will come down from their ships and stand on the shore.  They will make their voice heard because of you; they will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads…….

Revelation 18:15-16

“The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 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!

·        So great is the heat and smoke of her burning that these kings must stand at a distance.   (DG)

·        “With a touch of grim humour he paints them as standing at a safe distance from the conflagration, and contenting themselves with idle lamentations.” (Swete)

Nahum 3:16  You have multiplied your merchants more than the stars of heaven.  The locust plunders and flies away.

Numbers 24:23  …Alas!  Who shall live when God does this?

 

Revelation 18:14

“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.

·        “The combined picture is one of complete abandonment to the wealth of this world and complete disregard of the God who gave it.” (Walvoord)

·        Ultimately, hell will be a place of unfulfilled desire. (DG)

Proverbs 1:31  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

Psalm 81:12  So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their counsels.

 

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.

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.

Revelation 18:7

 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, “I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’

·        The ancient Greek word for render (apodidomi) means literally “to pay a debt” or “to give back that which is due.” God will give to commercial Babylon exactly what she deserves. (DG)

·        This passage presents a three-fold sin. First, self-indulgence (lived luxuriously). Second, pride (glorified herself . . . sits as a queen). Third, avoidance of suffering (am no widow, and will not see sorrow). All these things are characteristic of worldliness and materialism.   (DG)

Isaiah 47:7  And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever’, so that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them.

Jeremiah 50:31  Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one! Says the Lord GOD of hosts; For your day has come, the time that I will punish you.

Revelation 18:6

 “Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.

·        Though private revenge is forbidden, yet God will have His people act under Him, when called to it, in pulling down His and their implacable enemies (MH)

·        The ancient Greek word for render (apodidomi) means literally “to pay a debt” or “to give back that which is due.” God will give to commercial Babylon exactly what she deserves. (DG)

Jeremiah 50:15  Shout against her all around; she has given her hand, her foundations have fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the LORD.  Take vengeance on her, as she has done, so do to her.

Psalm 137:8  O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed, happy the

Revelation 18:5

“For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

·        She had not only forsaken the true God herself, an set up idols, but had drawn all sorts of men into the spiritual adultery, and by her wealth and luxury had retained them in her interest (MH)

·        The sins of commercial Babylon have piled up like a tower - the tower of Babel. (DG)

Genesis 18:20  And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave.

Jonah 1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.