Revelation 18 -
VERSE 9. And the
kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with
her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her
burning, 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying,
Alas, alas that great city BabyIon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy
judgment come. 11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and
mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.
(Excerpt taken from
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)
p 720 -- A Fitting
Retribution. - The infliction of the very first plague must result in a
complete suspension of traffic in those articles of luxury for which Babylon is
noted. And when the merchants of these things, who are to a great extent
citizens of this symbolic city, and who have been made rich by their traffic in
these things, suddenly find themselves and their neighbors smitten with
putrefying sores, their traffic suspended, and vast stores of merchandise on
hand, but none to buy them, they lift up their voices in lamentation for the
fate of this great city; for if there is anything which will draw from the men
of this generation a sincere cry of distress, it is that which touches their
treasures. And there is a fitness in this retribution. They who but a short
time before had issued a decree that the saints of God should neither buy nor
sell, now find themselves put under the same restriction by a far more
effectual process.
The question may
arise how persons involved in the same calamity can stand afar off and lament,
etc.; but it must be remembered that this desolation is brought to view under a
figure, and the figure is that of a city visited with destruction. Should calamity
come upon a literal city, it would be natural for its inhabitants to flee from
that city if they had opportunity, and standing afar off, lament its fall; and
just in proportion to their terror and amazement at the evil impending, would
be the distance at which they would stand from their devoted city. Now the
figure the apostle uses would not be complete without a feature of this kind;
and so he uses it, not to imply that people would literally flee from the
symbolic city, which would be impossible, but to denote their terror and
amazement at the descending judgments.
*
VERSE 12. The
merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine
linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner
vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass,
and iron, and marble, 13. And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments,
and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and
sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Babylon's
Merchandise. - In these verses we have an enumeration of great Babylon's
merchandise, which includes everything
p 721 -- pertaining
to luxurious living, pomp, and worldly display. All kinds of merchantile
traffic are brought to view. The declaration concerning "slaves and souls
of men" may pertain more particularly to the spiritual domain, and have
reference to slavery of conscience by the creeds of these bodies, which in some
cases is more oppressive than physical bondage.
VERSE 14. And the
fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which
were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more
at all.
Gluttony Rebuked. -
The fruits here mentioned are, according to the original, "autumnal
fruits;" and in this we find a prophecy that the "delicacies of the
season," upon which the luxurious gormand so sets his pampered appetite,
will be suddenly cut off. This, of course, is the work of the famine, which is
the result of the fourth vial. Chapter 16:8. And we may be even now having a
premonition of this destruction in the phylloxera of the vineyards, the
"scales" and moths, and other recent enemies to vegetation.
In this connection
we can hardly forbear glancing at the general aspect of the times in respect to
the remarkable physical phenomena everywhere manifesting themselves as they
seem so plainly to indicate that all the courses of nature are disturbed, and that
the earth itself is waxing old in anticipation of the time when it shall vanish
away.
Within a few years
past, how many unnatural visitations of earthquake and fire, storm and flood,
have wrought ruin in different localities, and awakened forebodings of fear in
the hearts of men in general. Witness the Chicago fire, the Baltimore fire, the
Toronto fire, and the destruction by earthquake and fire of San Francisco,
Valparaiso, and Kingston; the floods of the Ohio, the Mississippi, and other
Western rivers; the devastating floods of Europe; the famines of China and
Russia and the plague in India; the cyclones and tidal waves, sweeping away the
proudest works of man, and hurling thousands of human beings into untimely
graves.
*******
And how many, many
more of these tragedies have befallen us all the way up to 2016. Today as I write this there are flood waters
here in the USA that are overwhelming. Storms have killed men, women, and
children. In Dubai, United Arab Emirates near Iran there was an awful high rise
fire just last night. We have out of control fires and they made this headline-
'Australia fires: Bushfires rage in Victoria, South Australia, Western
Australia'. And this- 'Expect floods, storms, and famine: El Niño
is poised to wreak havoc in 2016 A strong El Niño is being blamed for all sorts
of extreme weather in South America, Europe, and the United States this
year.'
Things have not
gotten better, nor will they. Some blame the worsening conditions on something
called climate change, which is our abuse through pollution and disregard for
nature that has altered the world's climate and this supposedly has initiated
the bizarre weather worldwide. Science wants to explain things away and they
will. Knowing that the worse things get the closer it is to our Savior's return
brings me hope.
All I can say is,
'Come, Lord Jesus, come!'
In His name always!
Amen.
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