18:4 Another voice from heaven instructed God's people to separate themselves from the system that the city symbolizes so they would avoid getting caught in her judgment. The being speaking is evidently an angel who speaks for God (vv. 4, 5; cf. 11:3; 22:7-8). He called God's people to leave a city (cf. Jer. 50:8; 51:6-9, 45), but beyond that to forsake the enticements of the idolatry, self-sufficiency, love of luxury, and violence that the city symbolizes. The people addressed are faithful believers living in the Tribulation. Unless they separate from her sins, they will be hurt by the judgment coming on her, but if they do separate, they will enjoy protection (cf. 12:14; Matt. 24:16). They should not have the attitude of Lot's wife who hankered after another worldly city that God destroyed (cf. Gen. 19:26; Luke 17:32).
18:5 Another reason for abandoning Babylon and Babylonianism is that God is about to judge her. Her sins, like the bricks used to build the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:3-4), have accumulated so they finally reach heaven. She has exhausted God's patience (cf. Jer. 51:9).598God has noticed and remembered her sins, and because He is righteous, He must judge them.
18:6 The angel further called on God's enemies whom He will use to pay Babylon back fully for its wicked deeds, pride, and self-indulgent conduct (cf. 17:16-17; Jer. 50:29). This is a call for God's application of the lex talionis, the law of retaliation (cf. Matt. 7:2; Gal. 6:7-8). To pay back double is a way of saying to pay back fully (cf. v. 7; Exod. 22:4, 7, 9; Isa. 40:2; 61:7; Jer. 16:18; 17:18; Zech. 9:12).599Babylon had persecuted and murdered the saints (v. 24; 19:2). The cup she used to seduce others will become the instrument of her own punishment (cf. v. 3; 14:10).
"This is not a prayer for personal vengeance by the persecuted saints, but a heavenly interpretation of the divine response to cruelty committed by wicked persons who have passed the point of no return in their moral choices. The last hour has now struck, and it is too late for repentance. This is a judicial pronouncement against a sinful civilization that has reached the ultimate limit of evil."600
18:7 Luxurious living provides another reason for Babylon's judgment. Her claims of superiority and self-sufficiency echo those of ancient Babylon (cf. Isa. 47:7-9; Ezek. 27:3; 28:2; Zeph. 2:15). They also recall the words of the Laodicean church (3:17).
18:8 The "one day"may very well be literal (cf. Dan. 5:1, 3-5, 3). It also expresses suddenness, as does the "one hour"in verses 10, 16, and 19. Likewise we could interpret the burning literally. Rebuilt Babylon and the cities that are the centers for this worldwide network of political, commercial activity will evidently burn up in the great earthquake (16:18-19). She will collapse suddenly, not decline gradually. The strength of the Lord God will accomplish this destruction, but He will use means (17:16-17).
Three groups of people mourn Babylon's destruction in these verses: kings (vv. 9-10; cf. Ezek. 26:15-18), merchants (vv. 11-13, 15-17a; cf. Ezek. 27:36), and sea people (vv. 17b-19; cf. Ezek. 27:29-36).
18:9 World government leaders will mourn when they see the collapse of the system that has sustained them and enabled them to live luxuriously. Committing fornication with her is a way of expressing sharing in Babylon's luxury (cf. Ezek. 26:16; 27:30-35).601Evidently fire will be the main cause of the city's destruction (cf. vv. 8, 18; 14:11; 17:16; 19:3). The smoke of her burning, the evidence of her fall, is what caused these rulers misery (cf. Gen. 19:28; Isa. 34:10; Ezek. 28:18).
18:10 Babylon will fall quickly, in "one hour"(v. 10, cf. v. 19; Jer. 51:8; Ezek. 27). These kings mourn because they have lost their power suddenly. These rulers must be different from the 10 kings who destroy the city (17:16). These woes are an exclamation of sorrow; the earlier ones in the book are announcements of doom (8:13; 12:12).602Doubling the woes increases the perception of the strength of the sorrow. This city was strong, but its Judge is stronger.
18:11 The merchants also lament over the destruction of this system further indicating that this is a different system than the religious one symbolized in chapter 17. The collapse of economic Babylon results in merchants being unable to buy and sell goods. They sorrow over the loss of customers and profits that its destruction causes. However the city itself is a treasure that they also regret losing (cf. Ezek. 27:25-31).603The wailing of the merchants is greater than that of the kings and sea people in this context because their loss is greater. They bemoan the loss of customers, but they previously denied the right to buy and sell to anyone who did not have the mark of the beast (13:17).
18:12-13 The variety of the goods John listed suggests how extensive trade will be at this time in history. The market is the world. Most of the items listed were luxuries in John's day (cf. Isa. 23; Ezek. 16:9-13; 27:12-24). There are seven categories into which these 29 items fall. These categories are precious metals and gems, clothing, furnishings, spices, food, animals and implements, and people. People are even buying and selling other human beings.
"Persons are bought and sold' (and even traded!) by athletic teams; and our great corporations more and more seek to control the lives of their officers and workers. As people become more enslaved to luxury, with more bills to pay, they find themselves unable to break loose from the system.'"604
18:14 The fruit (Gr. opora, lit. ripe autumn fruit) these merchants so desire is no longer available (cf. Jer. 40:10, 12; Jude 12). "Luxurious"and "splendid"refer to food and clothing respectively.605The merchants will also lose their luxurious possessions. People will not be able to find the treasures they once collected. The Greek construction of the last clause indicates that these things will never ever return.606
18:15 Again the merchants bewail their fate. Selfishness and greed characterize these individuals. They too, like the kings, stand at a distance viewing the destruction of the city (cf. vv. 10, 17).
18:16 The description of the city here is very similar to that of the harlot in 17:4. One city is in view in both chapters. This dirge begins and ends the same way as that of the kings in verse 10 did. However the merchants bewail the city's lost opulence and splendor whereas the kings grieved over its broken strength.
18:17 The first clause of this verse concludes the mourning of the merchants. It expresses the reason for their sorrow.
The second part of this verse begins the description of the mourning of sea people. The four groups of sea people represent helmsmen (Gr. kybrnetes), passengers (pas ho epi topon pleon), sailors (nautai), and those who work the sea (ten thalassan ergazontai) such as fishermen and divers for pearls.607These too stand at a distance watching the city burn. Perhaps these sea people are of special interest because they represent distributors of goods.
18:18 They also lament because of the collapse of this great commercial empire. Their question echoes the one about Tyre in Ezekiel 27:32.608The implied answer is that no city can match Babylon in its material greatness.
18:19 Throwing dust on one's head symbolized great grief in the Old Testament (cf. Josh. 7:6; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12; Lam. 2:10). People earlier behaved similarly over Tyre's demise (Ezek. 27:30). These sea people also echo the laments and repeat the behavior of the kings (v. 10) and the merchants (vv. 15, 16-17).
"How do wesee the luxury of this world? Do we see it as it really is? Can we use it without getting it into our hearts? How would you feel if the luxuries in your life which you have come to consider necessities suddenly went up in smoke?
"Would it break your heart if you saw the things of this world go up in smoke? Or is your heart in heaven, fixed on Christ?"609
In contrast to the earth-dwellers, God's people will rejoice when Babylon falls (cf. 11:10). The songs in 19:1-5 may be their response to this invitation. Heaven rejoiced over the fall of ancient Babylon too (Jer. 51:48-49).610What causes bitter mourning on earth brings great exultation to heaven.
The speaker is evidently the angel (v. 4; cf. 12:12). Saints are all believers. Apostles, who died as martyrs, and prophets are special groups of saints (cf. 11:18). The similar exhortation in 12:12 suggests that all these believers are now in heaven. The reason for this merry-making is that God has pronounced a verdict in their favor. He has vindicated them by punishing their oppressors (cf. 19:2-3).611
Believers characteristically have greater interest in glorifying God and helping other people than they do in hoarding earthly treasures for themselves (Matt. 6:19-34; 22:34-40). The desire of unbelievers to accumulate wealth for themselves has resulted in untold opposition to the gospel and God's servants throughout history (cf. 6:9-11).
