The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Merchants” it comes from the Greek Word “emporos” which means “merchants.”
John witnesses Babylon’s dramatic collapse and the world’s mourning over her lost luxury. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Revelation 18.
John describes another angel coming down from heaven, having great power, the earth being lightened with his glory, crying mightily with a strong voice, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird,” describing how the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the “merchants,” “emporos” in Greek, of the earth have grown rich through the abundance of her delicacies. John hears another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities,” describing how she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her, the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her bewailing her, and lamenting for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” John describes the merchants of the earth weeping and mourning over her, since no man buys their merchandise any more, listing extensively the luxurious goods once traded there, gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet, thyine wood, ivory, brass, iron, marble, cinnamon, odors, ointments, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, beasts, sheep, horses, chariots, and even the souls of men, describing shipmasters and sailors also weeping, casting dust on their heads, crying, “Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate,” closing with a mighty angel taking up a stone like a great millstone, and casting it into the sea, declaring, “Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”
This chapter’s extensive catalog of Babylon’s luxurious trade goods, culminating startlingly with even the souls of men listed among the merchandise, exposes how thoroughly commercial systems can commodify even human dignity itself when pursued without any genuine moral restraint. The urgent call, come out of her my people, that you not partake of her sins, offers a timeless warning against becoming entangled in corrupt systems, however materially prosperous and comfortable they might genuinely appear.
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