Revelation 18 begins with God’s judgment on the queen of ungodliness, that seat of Satan’s earthly kingdom. Known as Babylon she had been a world influencer and as an extension of Satan’s intentions swayed the world in ways of great wickedness. God was neither surprised nor pleased at her sin and her rigorously held rebellion. So, when her corruption had reached its full measure God judged her.
The foremost drinkers of Babylon’s wine were the kings of the earth, and these possessed a certain togetherness with this mother of evil. That togetherness was a pleasure to them, but when their lives were on the line they got out of town. Judgment sent them packing, but they eventually stopped their running, turned around and saw the smoke of Babylon burning. Standing far off they wept, they wailed, not over the vice they so loved, but over its permanent loss.
This 18th chapter is being told to John the Apostle by a voice from heaven. That narrator of prophecy moved on from the debauched kings turning his tellings to another cast of souls on the earth: the merchants.
Tears all around the world
Moaning merchants
The narration moves on to another sniffing and teary eyed group: the merchants.
“11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her…” (Revelation 18:11a–ESV)
Why do they cry?
“…since no one buys their cargo anymore,” (Revelation 18:11b–ESV)
You might have figured, accurately I would add, that money had something to do with it. From antiquity goods have traveled the world at the direction of the enterprising. If there is money to be made merchants will connect buyers and sellers. Here where the curtains of an end-times scene are pulled back. Spread before us is a market scene.
So many things were sold around the world. Look at verses 12 and 13.
“12 cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.” (Revelation 18:12-13–ESV)
This list is comprehensive and with the exception of slaves it is comprised of good, legitimate things. The pleasures of men were not insulated from the effects of sin. In some manner pleasures became the playground for humanity. When we fell from God’s intentions the good use of pleasure followed right alongside us as we bumped and jostled out of the Garden of Eden into a new world. This new world was not going to be so good.
Bottom line here: the goods themselves were not bad but they were exploited by untamed hearts. That became bad; quickly bad.
What can be made of the variety?
God set up the earth to be a pleasant place. There are things on the earth that have a natural sparkle. Other things add a sparkle to people. Beyond the sense of sight there are things to pleasure the sense of smell and taste as is seen in incense, cinnamon and spice. Flour and wheat, cattle and sheep satisfy hungers and metals can be fashioned into chariots with horses to pull them. All these things are good, and they were given not as accidents or off-shoots of an exuberant creation. They were the very fabric of what God set in place for people to revel in, to enjoy, to live with.
Humanity went from pleasant to painful. If a little is good imagine what a lot will be like. People look at the pleasures offered and say, “Mine!” Some hoard to save up for a rainy day. Some live in luxury and waste, but rather than take what God put on the earth and revel in it offering thanks to God our sinful inclinations turn the good to bad, the ripe to rot and aroma like cinnamon becomes a stink like sulfur.
As part of this bad trip note what the merchant’s list concludes with: slaves, human souls. While the kings and the Babylonians may have figured they were so much higher than the slave they, too, were slaves to sin. They were slaves to their passions and pleasures and there is neither rainbow nor pot of gold when pleasures and passions are chased. Chase that rather than God and and you end up with a mouthful of gravel. God considers it adultery and the end game of that is disease and death. That is what Babylon got.
Broad strokes of humanity were harmed by Babylon’s destruction. In the Fall of 2017 the sexual intentions of powerful men, both gay and straight, were called to the fore. People in places of power go on a pleasure hunt and do so with people around them. Women and men (though Kevin Spacey, type behaviors are less common or so far less reported) are touched, groped, and more as pleasure-hunts play out.
So why do I raise the situation of Kevin Spacey right here? Well, he in a position of power abused that power over less well placed men in his industry. There were 5 seasons of House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey and as soon as these accusations hit Netflix canceled season 6. Megan Cerullo in her November 7, 2017 article published in The New York Daily News said that the cancellation of this show will take thousands of jobs from Baltimore. She quoted another article from CNN Money mentioning the impact of this cancellation on caterers, dry cleaners, transport companies, and others involved in the production of this show. She pointed out that Season 4 employed 2,700 “cast, crew and extras” and engaged 2,000 local businesses.
So as the title implies a house of cards is fragile. Many are effected by the choices of a few.
As the world winds down Babylon had wound up. Her styles and power had been a powerhouse of the world economy, but since the power beneath the economy was built on the sand of wickedness it was eventually cancelled. House of Cards: Cancelled. Babylon: Cancelled. People: Affected.
Like a Butterfly Effect the things thought small and hidden, part of Babylon-local rose to the kingdom of heaven. Eventually God said, “Enough!” All came a tumbling down. The variety of verses 12 and 13 demonstrate the breadth of humanity effected by judgment on Babylon.
Be a butterfly effect for good
In 1996 my first child was born and by the time she was two we would be out on surprisingly long walks. Sometimes we would take an umbrella if it was raining but more often than not it would just be Pendleton Road, a dad and a daughter. Curiosity would lead our talks down other trails and one of them was bugs. The earthworms would be floating and wriggling if we had our umbrellas along having been chased from the soil by rain’s soak. If there were no umbrella’s we would sometimes make lists. One list we made was the list of “bad bugs” and two decades later some of these will still make her screech.
Butterflies we generally placed on the “good bug” list. To see one flutter-by is to experience a warm-day pleasure. Evil has no corner on the market held by the butterfly-effect. Good deeds and purposeful spread of godliness also sends out an impact into the world. Life lived in the manner of God does not go unnoticed in our world and by living well, living godly others see, take note and also change. A metamorphosis from wicked to good by the power of God takes place all around us. Some will spurn what they see in us while others will gravitate toward it.
James 5 has had wonderful insights into Revelation 18. The 20th verse of that chapter is as follows: “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20–NIV) A multitude of sins will not be committed by a person who commits their lives to Christ. Their past, present and future sins will be covered by God’s grace and the earth will not experience the downsides of sins skipped. The pyramid of goodness will derive from a Butterfly Effect of God-directed goodness. Do it!
Beauty lost
“14 The fruit for which your soul longed
has gone from you,
and all your delicacies and your splendors
are lost to you,
never to be found again!” (Revelation 18:14–ESV)
I think we would be remiss to simply package the merchant’s moans as money lost. The merchant’s were not merely motivated toward money mountains, but I think also took pleasure in the providing of an experience.
To point out my meaning let us think of ourselves. Have you ever derived pleasure from the twinkle in another’s eye? Have you seen people rejoice in unveiling a great wedding cake or maybe a painting to another? What about a meaningful gift given? Or a musician duo called back for an encore? One Christmas I gave one of my daughters an iPod. Do you know what happened? Quiet tears. It was unexpected and highly valued. I liked that.
This theme is echoed in reality TV like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Cake Boss. When Ty Pennington would say, “Bus driver, move that bus!!” some type of joy would hit for a lot of people. Something good had been done for the living of those families. Buddy Valastro has an eloquence with cake-art. While his show Cake Boss is clearly reality TV behind the whole production is the reality of his passion. It is a passion to make amazing cakes and he takes pleasure in how his work is received.
Something is generated between people in those moments. There are souls satisfied and perhaps back of this is what Jesus meant by saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35–ESV) While the merchants of Revelation 18 were not doing their deeds to be like Christ they were demonstrating the truths God spoke. Those words of Christ were less a command and more an announcement. Those with the spirit of giving experience that truth.
These merchants were making money through their trade and it cannot be supposed that the trade was God-honoring, God-interested or in the least God-focused. BUT…there was satisfaction in some of their moments. When they moaned over Babylon’s demise it partly was because the good twinkle of people pleased was done. It was closed off. The destruction of their vitality will never be found again. Another example, that is, of Babylon’s bad global effect.
Don’t let this goodness in the merchants overwhelm the reality of their choices though. Pockets of good may have been in their lives, but pockets don’t make the pants. In fact, pockets are but holes in the bigger reality of those pants. The merchants bigger reality was anti-God jiving more with Babylon’s depravity than anything else.
Wasted wealth has the merchants running scared
15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,
16 “Alas, alas, for the great city
that was clothed in fine linen,
in purple and scarlet,
adorned with gold,
with jewels, and with pearls!
17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” (Revelation 18:15-17–ESV)
So the merchants did derive pleasure from giving, but not to be like Christ. The good thing, the beauty of giving was merely experienced. They liked it but remained self-devoted.
Look here at how they stand. They stand far away. There is nothing that they can do to help Babylon and indeed are fearful of her destruction. Clearly evident to them is the rapidity with which the global force of Babylon was upended. Terms of wealth are what make all the difference to the merchants and they see the wealth destroyed in a short time.
Hopefully you see a similarity to the kings. The kings who had consorted with Babylon’s vice had not been swept up by God’s first great cleansing. The winds of destruction that befell Babylon blew the kings far, far away. The merchants, too, stood similarly far off. The merchants identified with the Babylonian hungers and while they did not revel in the inner courts they supplied those courts and surely saw the writing on the wall.
They did not deal the drugs, but they brought them. The long-waged US war on drugs is not only interested in users, but also in the dealers and suppliers. Up and down this chain of trouble fight the narcotics officers. The suppliers and the dealers are aware of the risk. The suppliers are at the top of that food chain. Similarly the merchants that fed Babylon the goods and services she badly wanted did not feel safe.
The ships, trains and aeroplanes1 nearing their destinations would have been hastily called back from their ports, depots and landing strips. Those were terminal destinations. The merchants seeing this stood far off and worried, “will we be next?”
Don’t be a malignant merchant
The earth’s time has not run out. Babylon has yet to put on her God-offending crown. The mark of the beast is not yet stamped on the members of the world class. Even so pleasures are offered by Satan’s taint and our own deceitful desires. We must make sure that we do not roll wheelbarrows of impurity down the streets of our hearts. When we see others who take pleasure in their corruption we should be sure not to offer anything up to help them in their poisonous propositions. Don’t peddle sin, and don’t take pleasure in it.
If you find the bad pockets in your heart ask God to sew them shut and cleanse you from illicit indulgences. Take your pleasures from the world as God has offered them. Influence those around you in a similar manner. By following the plan of God you will put your steps back on the track to a Paradise Regained. God has already regained it for us. He stands ready and active holding out his offer. Go there. It is the best place you can be, but the offer is time limited. “Choose you this day,” goes the saying. Will you?
Leave a Reply