Sunday School Notes: Revelation 18:9-17a

⁹ And the kings of the earth will weep, mourning over her [i.e., Babylon, the great prostitute], those committing sexual immorality and living luxuriously with her, when they see the smoke of her fire. ¹⁰ Standing from afar on account of fear of her torment, they say, “Woe, woe, the great city! Babylon the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” ¹¹ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her because no-one buys their cargo any more, ¹² cargo of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls, and cloth of fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every scented wood and every iron vessel and every vessel of most rare wood and copper and iron and marble, ¹³ and cinnamon and spice and incenses and perfume and frankincense, and wine and oil and fine wheat flour and grain and cattle and sheep and horses and carriages and bodies [i.e., slaves[, even souls of men. ¹⁴ And the fruit of your soul’s passion has left you, and the luxuries and splendors–let them leave you, and they shall no longer ever find them. ¹⁵ Their [i.e., the cargo’s] merchants who became rich from her will stand from a distance on account of fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, “Woe, woe, woe the great city, the one adorned with fine linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearl. ^17a For in one day, the totality of this wealth has been made desolate.

In verse 3 we were told that the kings of the earth had been intimately involved with the great prostitute (i.e., Babylon). The weeping of the earth’s rulers here might be over seeing the object of their pleasure destroyed, but the text doesn’t allow us to feel sorry for them.

• First, she was their harlot. The relationship between the kings and the woman was not based on mutual affection. It was a business transaction to satisfy shared needs for power, wealth, and identity.
• Second, the kings gained “luxurious” or “sensuous” living out of their close association with the woman. Her destruction means the loss of these things. The weeping of the kings is not the weeping of a distraught husband over the death of his beloved wife. It’s the sorrow of rulers seeing their wealth and power going up in smoke. There is no feeling of sadness for the woman herself.

When God’s judgment comes upon “Babylon,” all those who invested themselves in the ungodly culture she represents will suffer her loss. Not only will these rulers eventually be judged directly when the reaping occurs (see 14:17-20–yes, Revelation chronology means we’ve already seen the reaping of the godless, and we will see it again later), but here they also suffer indirectly as the system they rely upon comes crashing down.

We can debate whether the fall of culture is something we have seen, are seeing, or whether it’s a future event to which God’s judgment over the years is leading. What’s certain is there’s a lesson here for the church that ties into verses 4 and 5: Avoid close worldly associations lest you be tainted with the sin of the ungodly culture and suffer when her judgment comes.

The kings of the earth are “standing far off.” The tense of the Greek verb indicates that the kings were already standing, watching from afar as Babylon comes crashing down. So they managed to avoid being caught up in the destruction, and can only watch in horror as their world is reduced to ashes. They stand afar to avoid being caught up in Babylon’s judgment. But we know the time for their judgment is coming. Our justice often fails, but no-one ever escapes God’s justice.

That their coming judgment is just can be seen from what they say as they look upon the burning city. Do they call upon the Lord in repentance, asking forgiveness for their association with the woman? Do they cry out to God for mercy, confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior? No! Instead, they lament in shock at how rapidly judgment has come. It’s interesting that they acknowledge that what they’re seeing is judgment (v. 10). Surely this would strike their hearts with the fear of God? You would think they’d be on their knees crying out for salvation. But like the “rest of mankind” after the first six trumpets, or those after the fourth bowl, who cursed God and refused to give Him glory, these rulers are consumed with what they’ve lost and the speed at which everything happened. They don’t even give a second thought to One who is bringing judgment and their relationship with Him.

As we’ve noted previously, time references in Revelation are rarely, if at all, literal. A “single hour” should not, therefore be taken as the actual amount of time it takes for Babylon to fall. Since an hour was the shortest named division of time in first century, we should understand this to be saying that this all takes place very quickly, corresponding with Peter’s teaching that the Day of the Lord will come like “a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10).

Our attention then turns to the merchants of the earth who, like the kings, are mourning the loss of Babylon. For them, it’s not so much the loss of power and prestige, but the loss of business. John’s account of what he sees is relatively straight-forward in terms of interpretation. These salesmen were “in bed” with Babylon to the extent that her demise spell their financial ruin. Like the kings, their weeping is not so much for the city itself out of empathy and pity, but for their own loss now that she’s gone. They don’t care for her, only what she could do for them. This is the nature of all false religion. Every religious and philosophical system in the world is looking for want we can get out of it. Christianity, on the other hand, is all about what God has done for us. The promises we have are not based on our works, as if we will only attain those things if we’re good enough. They are based upon God’s sovereign decree of salvation, and it is God who will not only adopts us as His own, but who blesses us simply because we are His children.

The merchants’ concern now is that “no-one” will buy their cargo any more. There are those who hold to the position that “Babylon” here only represents first century Rome, and has no application to any other time period. If that’s the case, verse 11 presents a problem. Rome was indeed a major city in the first century, and the loss of business with Rome would indeed be a major loss. However, there were other big cities at that time (Corinth, Ephesus, as well as cities in other parts of Europe and Africa). If Rome fell, there would be other places to sell their cargo, so their concern would be unfounded. It makes better sense to see “Babylon” as representing Rome, and whatever ungodly city or culture is dominant at any particular point in church history. This is not simply the collapse of a single city, but of a society.

Verses 12 and 13 give us a shopping list of the various things the merchants sold. I’m sure we could find symbolism in all of them, but I’m not sure that’s necessary. These are simply the kinds of goods merchants would trade in John’s day. A couple of items are worth our attention. We note that the merchants sold purple, scarlet, and gold, along with precious stones and pearls. Earlier we were told that the woman (i.e., Babylon) wore these very things. This indicates the strong relationship between the merchants and this city. Also, many of these same items are listed in Ezekiel 26-28, talking about the wealth of the city Tyre. This city fell under God’s judgment and was destroyed, with people weeping over its demise.

The last item on the list is also worth mentioning: “slaves, that is, human souls.” The Greek word translated “slaves” is actually the word for a body (sōma). A similar phrase is used in Ezekiel 27:13, and from the context it’s clearly talking about slaves. Why use this idiom and not the word for “slave”? Perhaps the intention is to make clear a connection between God’s judgment of Tyre and the judgment of spiritual Babylon. There may also be an underlying comment on the way “Babylon” treats such people, stripping them of their humanity. John here reminds us that these were human beings worthy of dignity, not to be sold into slavery.

Were the merchants wrong to trade with Babylon in the first place? This is a pertinent question since we live in the midst of this culture, and so a certain amount of cultural engagement is inevitable. I don’t think the warning to the church here is to avoid all contact with the culture, or the godless city. The merchants didn’t simply want to do business with Babylon. Verse 14 describes Babylon to the merchants as “the fruit of your soul’s passion.” Theirs was an intimate connection with the city. The merchants bought 100%, body and soul, into the culture she represented. As Christians, we need to be alert and not sacrifice our identity in Christ for having a good name in the world and a seat at Babylon’s table.

Verse 15 says the merchants weep and mourn from afar. Like the kings, they don’t want to be affected by Babylon’s torment and share her affliction. Given the relationship was self-centered, of course this would be the case. While Babylon thrived, they wanted all they could get from her. Now she is under judgment, they grieve for their loss of revenue, but stay away lest they suffer with her. Also like the kings, they are deceived if they think they will not soon face the wrath of God for themselves.

Finally we have the lament of the merchants in verses 16 and 17. I detect both astonishment and fear in their words. Astonishment that this great city, with all it had in terms of power, influence, and wealth, could be reduced to nothing in an hour. As before, this “hour” is not literal, but represents a very short space of time. As for fear, they stand far off and watch because they recognize that if she fell that quickly, so could they. But does this drive them to their knees in repentance? No! Along with the kings, these merchants are earth-dwellers, branded with the mark of the beast, showing in their reaction how worthy they are of the judgment they will receive.

We’ll continue in chapter 18 next time, starting at the second half of verse 17.