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122 lines
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<p id="Chapter18" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 18
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<p id="Re18_1"><a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,'1-24');">Rev 18:1-24</a>. BABYLON'S FALL: GOD'S PEOPLE CALLED OUT OF HER: THE KINGS AND MERCHANTS OF THE EARTH MOURN, WHILE THE SAINTS REJOICE AT HER FALL.
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<p><b>1. And</b>—so <i>Vulgate</i> and ANDREAS. But A, B, <i>Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> omit "And."
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<br><br><b>power</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "authority."
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<br><br><b>lightened</b>—"illumined."
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<br><br><b>with</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "owing to."
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<p id="Re18_2"><b>2. mightily...strong</b>—not supported by manuscripts. But A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> read, "with (literally, 'in') a mighty voice."
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<br><br><b>is fallen, is fallen</b>—so A, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and ANDREAS. But B and <i>Coptic</i> omit the second "is fallen" (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',21,9);">Isa 21:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,8);">Jer 51:8</a>). This phrase is here prophetical of her fall, still future, as <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,4);">Rev 18:4</a> proves.
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<br><br><b>devils</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "demons."
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<br><br><b>the hold</b>—a keep or prison.
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<p id="Re18_3"><b>3. drunk</b>— <a onclick="return mV('Rev',14,8);">Rev 14:8</a>, from which perhaps "the wine" may have been interpolated. They have <i>drunk of her fornication,</i> the consequence of which will be <i>wrath</i> to themselves. But A, B, and C read, "(owing to the wrath of her fornication all nations) have <i>fallen.</i>" <i>Vulgate</i> and most versions read as <i>English Version,</i> which may be the right reading though not supported by the oldest manuscripts. Babylon, the whore, is destroyed before the beast slays the two witnesses (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,7);">Rev 11:7</a>), and then the beast himself is destroyed.
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<br><br><b>the wine</b>—so B, <i>Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic.</i> But A, C, and <i>Vulgate</i> omit.
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<br><br><b>abundance</b>—literally, "power."
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<br><br><b>delicacies</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "luxury." See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/1Ti/1Ti005.html#a1Ti5_11">1Ti 5:11</a>, where the <i>Greek</i> verb "wax wanton" is akin to the noun here. Translate, "wanton luxury." The reference is not to earthly merchandise, but to spiritual wares, indulgences, idolatries, superstitions, worldly compromises, wherewith the harlot, that is, the apostate Church, has made <i>merchandise</i> of men. This applies especially to Rome; but the <i>Greek,</i> and even in a less degree Protestant churches, are not guiltless. However, the <i>principle</i> of evangelical Protestantism is pure, but the <i>principle</i> of Rome and the Greek church is not so.
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<p id="Re18_4"><b>4. Come out of her, my people</b>—quoted from <a onclick="return mV('Jer',50,8);">Jer 50:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,6,45);">51:6, 45</a>. Even in the Romish Church God has a people: but they are in great danger; their only safety is in coming out of her at once. So also in every apostate or world-conforming church there are some of God's invisible and true Church, who, if they would be safe, must come out. Especially at the eve of God's judgment on apostate Christendom: as Lot was warned to come out of Sodom just before its destruction, and Israel to come from about the tents of Dathan and Abiram. So the first Christians came out of Jerusalem when the apostate Jewish Church was judged. "State and Church are precious gifts of God. But the State being desecrated to a different end from what God designed it, namely. to govern for, and as under, God, becomes beast-like; the Church apostatizing becomes the harlot. The true woman is the kernel: beast and harlot are the shell: whenever the kernel is mature, the shell is thrown away" [AUBERLEN]. "The harlot is not Rome alone (though she is pre-eminently so), but every Church that has not Christ's mind and spirit. False Christendom, divided into very many sects, is truly Babylon, that is, confusion. However, in all Christendom the true Jesus-congregation, the woman clothed with the sun, lives and is hidden. Corrupt, lifeless Christendom is the harlot, whose great aim is the pleasure of the flesh, and which is governed by the spirit of nature and the world" [HAHN in AUBERLEN]. The first justification of the woman is in her being called out of Babylon the harlot, as the culminating stage of the latter's sin, when judgment is about to fall: for apostate Christendom, Babylon, is not to be converted, but to be destroyed. Secondly, she has to pass through an ordeal of persecution from the beast, which purifies and prepares her for the transfiguration glory at Christ's coming (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',20,4);">Rev 20:4</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',21,28);">Luk 21:28</a>).
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<br><br><b>be not partakers</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "have no <i>fellowship with</i> her sins."
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<br><br><b>that ye receive not of her plagues</b>—as Lot's wife, by lingering too near the polluted and doomed city.
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<p id="Re18_5"><b>5. her sins</b>—as a great heap.
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<br><br><b>reached</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "reached so far as to come into close contact with, and to <i>cleave</i> unto."
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<p id="Re18_6"><b>6.</b> Addressed to the executioners of God's wrath.
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<br><br><b>Reward</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "repay."
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<br><br><b>she rewarded</b>—<i>English Version</i> reading adds "you" with none of the oldest manuscripts. But A, B, C, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> omit it. She had not <i>rewarded</i> or <i>repaid</i> the world power for some injury which the world power had inflicted on her; but she had <i>given</i> the world power that which was its <i>due,</i> namely, spiritual delusions, because it did not like to retain God in its knowledge; the unfaithful Church's principle was, "<i>Populus vult decipi, et decipiatur.</i>" "The people like to be deceived, and let them be deceived."
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<br><br><b>double</b>—of sorrow. Contrast with this the <i>double</i> of joy which Jerusalem shall receive for her past suffering (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',61,7);">Isa 61:7</a> <a onclick="return mV('Zec',9,12);">Zec 9:12</a>); even as she has received <i>double</i> punishment for her sins (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',40,2);">Isa 40:2</a>).
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<br><br><b>unto her</b>—So <i>Syriac, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS. A, B, and C omit it.
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<br><br><b>in the cup</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,3);">Rev 18:3</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',14,8);">Rev 14:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',17,4);">17:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>filled</b>—literally "mixed."
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<br><br><b>fill to her double</b>—of the Lord's cup of wrath.
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<p id="Re18_7"><b>7. How much</b>—that is in proportion as.
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<br><br><b>lived deliciously</b>—luxuriously: see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev018.html#Re18_3">Rev 18:3</a>, where the <i>Greek</i> is akin.
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<br><br><b>sorrow</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "mourning," as for a dead husband.
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<br><br><b>I sit</b>—so <i>Vulgate.</i> But A, B, and C prefix "that."
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<br><br><b>I...am no widow</b>—for the world power is my husband and my supporter.
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<br><br><b>shall see no sorrow</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "mourning." "I am seated (<i>this long time</i>)...I <i>am</i> no widow...I <i>shall</i> see no sorrow," marks her complete unconcerned security as to the past, present, and future [BENGEL]. I shall never have to mourn as one bereft of her husband. As Babylon was queen of the East, so Rome has been queen of the West, and is called on Imperial coins "the <i>eternal</i> city." So Papal Rome is called by AMMIAN MARCELLIN [15.7]. "Babylon is a former Rome, and Rome a latter Babylon. Rome is a daughter of Babylon, and by her, as by her mother, God has been pleased to subdue the world under one sway" [AUGUSTINE]. As the Jew's restoration did not take place till Babylon's fall, so R. KIMCHI on Obadiah, writes, "When Rome (Edom) shall be devastated, there shall be redemption to Israel." Romish idolatries have been the great stumbling-blocks to the Jews' acceptance of Christianity.
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<p id="Re18_8"><b>8. death</b>—on herself, though she thought herself secure even from the death of her husband.
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<br><br><b>mourning</b>—instead of her feasting.
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<br><br><b>famine</b>—instead of her <i>luxurious delicacies</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,3,7);">Rev 18:3, 7</a>).
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<br><br><b>fire</b>—(See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev017.html#Re17_16">Rev 17:16</a>). Literal fire may burn the literal city of Rome, which is situated in the midst of volcanic agencies. As the ground was cursed for Adam's sin, and the earth under Noah was sunk beneath the flood, and Sodom was burnt with fire, so may Rome be. But as the harlot is mystical (the whole faithless Church), the <i>burning</i> may be mainly mystical, symbolizing utter destruction and removal. BENGEL is probably right in thinking Rome will once more rise to power. The carnal, faithless, and worldly elements in all churches, Roman, Greek, and Protestant, tend towards one common center, and prepare the way for the last form of the beast, namely, Antichrist. The Pharisees were in the main sound in creed, yet judgment fell on them as on the unsound Sadducees and half-heathenish Samaritans. So faithless and adulterous, carnal, worldly Protestant churches, will not escape for their soundness of creed.
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<br><br><b>the Lord</b>—so B, C, <i>Syriac,</i> and ANDREAS. But A and <i>Vulgate</i> omit. "Strong" is the meaning of God's <i>Hebrew</i> name, "EL."
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<br><br><b>judgeth</b>—But A, B, and C read the <i>past</i> tense (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>krinas</i>"), "who <i>hath judged</i> her": the prophetical past for the future: the charge in <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,4);">Rev 18:4</a> to God's people to <i>come out of her</i> implies that the judgment was not yet actually executed.
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<p id="Re18_9"><b>9. lived deliciously</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "luxuriated." The faithless Church, instead of reproving, connived at the self-indulgent luxury of the great men of this world, and sanctioned it by her own practice. Contrast the world's <i>rejoicing</i> over the dead bodies of the two witnesses (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,10);">Rev 11:10</a>) who had tormented it by their faithfulness, with its <i>lamentations</i> over the harlot who had made the way to heaven smooth, and had been found a useful tool in keeping subjects in abject tyranny. Men's carnal mind relishes a religion like that of the apostate Church, which gives an opiate to conscience, while leaving the sinner license to indulge his lusts.
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<br><br><b>bewail her</b>—A, B, C, <i>Syriac, Coptic,</i> and CYPRIAN omit "her."
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<p id="Re18_10"><b>10.</b> God's judgments inspire fear even in the worldly, but it is of short duration, for the kings and great men soon attach themselves to the beast in its last and worst shape, as open Antichrist, claiming all that the harlot had claimed in blasphemous pretensions and more, and so making up to them for the loss of the harlot.
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<br><br><b>mighty</b>—<i>Rome</i> in <i>Greek</i> means <i>strength;</i> though that derivation is doubtful.
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<p id="Re18_11"><b>11. shall</b>—So. B. But A and C read the present, "weep and mourn."
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<br><br><b>merchandise</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "cargo": wares carried in <i>ships:</i> ship-lading (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,17);">Rev 18:17</a>). Rome was not a commercial city, and is not likely from her position to be so. The <i>merchandise</i> must therefore be spiritual, even as the harlot is not literal, but spiritual. She did not witness against carnal luxury and pleasure-seeking, the source of the <i>merchants'</i> gains, but conformed to them (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,7);">Rev 18:7</a>). She cared not for the sheep, but for the wool. Professing Christian merchants in her lived as if this world not heaven, were the reality, and were unscrupulous as to the means of getting gain. Compare <i>Notes,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Zec/Zec005.html#Zec5_4">Zec 5:4-11</a>, on the same subject, the judgment on mystical <i>Babylon's</i> merchants for unjust gain. All the merchandise here mentioned occurs repeatedly in the <i>Roman Ceremonial.</i>
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<p id="Re18_12"><b>12.</b> (See on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Rev/Rev017.html#Re17_4">Rev 17:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>stones...pearls</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "stone...pearl."
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<br><br><b>fine linen</b>—A, B, and C read <i>Greek,</i> "<i>bussinou</i>" for "<i>bussou,</i>" that is, "fine linen manufacture" [ALFORD]. The manufacture for which <i>Egypt</i> (the type of the apostate Church, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',11,8);">Rev 11:8</a>) was famed. Contrast "the fine linen" (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',16,10);">Eze 16:10</a>) put on Israel, and on the New Testament Church (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,8);">Rev 19:8</a>), the Bride, by God (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',132,9);">Psa 132:9</a>).
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<br><br><b>thyine wood</b>—the <i>citrus</i> of the Romans: probably the <i>cypressus thyoyides,</i> or the <i>thuia articulata.</i> "Citron wood" [ALFORD]. A sweet-smelling tree of Cyrene in Lybia, used for incense.
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<br><br><b>all manner vessels</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "every vessel," or "furniture."
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<p id="Re18_13"><b>13. cinnamon</b>—designed by God for better purposes: being an ingredient in the holy anointing oil, and a plant in the garden of the Beloved (<a onclick="return mV('Sgs',4,14);">Sgs 4:14</a>); but desecrated to vile uses by the adulteress (<a onclick="return mV('Pro',7,17);">Pro 7:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>odours</b>—of incense. A, C, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac</i> prefix "and amomium" (a precious hair ointment made from an Asiatic shrub). <i>English Version</i> reading is supported by <i>Coptic</i> and ANDREAS, but not oldest manuscripts.
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<br><br><b>ointments</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "ointment."
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<br><br><b>frankincense</b>—Contrast the true "incense" which God loves (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',141,2);">Psa 141:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mal',1,11);">Mal 1:11</a>).
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<br><br><b>fine flour</b>—the <i>similago</i> of the Latins [ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>beasts</b>—of burden: cattle.
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<br><br><b>slaves</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "bodies."
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<br><br><b>souls of men</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Eze',27,13);">Eze 27:13</a>). Said of <i>slaves.</i> Appropriate to the spiritual harlot, apostate Christendom, especially Rome, which has so often <i>enslaved</i> both <i>bodies</i> and <i>souls</i> of men. Though the New Testament does not directly forbid slavery, which would, in the then state of the world, have incited a slave revolt, it virtually condemns it, as here. Popery has derived its greatest gains from the sale of masses for <i>the souls of men</i> after death, and of indulgences purchased from the Papal chancery by rich merchants in various countries, to be retailed at a profit [MOSHEIM, III, 95, 96].
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<p id="Re18_14"><b>14.</b> Direct address to Babylon.
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<br><br><b>the fruits that thy soul lusted after</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "thy autumn-ripe fruits of the lust (eager desire) of the soul."
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<br><br><b>dainty</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "fat": "sumptuous" in food.
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<br><br><b>goodly</b>—"splendid," "bright," in dress and equipage.
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<br><br><b>departed</b>—supported by none of our manuscripts. But A, B, C, <i>Vulgate, Syriac,</i> and <i>Coptic</i> read, "perished."
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<br><br><b>thou shalt</b>—A, C, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac</i> read, "<i>They</i> (men) <i>shall</i> no more find them at all."
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<p id="Re18_15"><b>15. of these things</b>—of the things mentioned, <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,12,13);">Rev 18:12-13</a>.
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<br><br><b>which</b>—"<i>who.</i>"
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<br><br><b>made rich by</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "derived riches <i>from</i> her."
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<br><br><b>stand afar off for the fear</b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',18,10);">Rev 18:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>wailing</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "mourning."
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<p id="Re18_16"><b>16. And</b>—so <i>Vulgate</i> and ANDREAS. But A, B, and C omit.
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<br><br><b>decked</b>—literally, "glided."
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<br><br><b>stones...pearls</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "stone...pearl." B and ANDREAS read "pearls." But A and C, "pearl."
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<p id="Re18_17"><b>17. is come to naught</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "is desolated."
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<br><br><b>shipmaster</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "steersman," or "pilot."
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<br><br><b>all the company in ships</b>—A, C, <i>Vulgate,</i> and <i>Syriac</i> read, "Every one who saileth to a place" (B has "...to <i>the</i> place"), <i>every voyager. Vessels</i> were freighted with pilgrims to various shrines, so that in one month (A.D. 1300) two hundred thousand pilgrims were counted in Rome [D'AAUBIGNE, <i>Histoire de la Reformation</i>]: a source of gain, not only to the Papal see, but to <i>shipmasters, merchants, pilots,</i> etc. These latter, however, are not restricted to those literally "shipmasters," etc., but mainly refer, in the mystical sense, to all who share in the spiritual traffic of apostate Christendom.
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<p id="Re18_18"><b>18. when they saw</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>horontes.</i>" But A, B, C, and ANDREAS read, <i>Greek,</i> "<i>blepontes,</i>" "looking at." <i>Greek,</i> "<i>blepo,</i>" is to <i>use the eyes,</i> to <i>look:</i> the act of seeing without thought of the object seen. <i>Greek,</i> "<i>horao,</i>" refers to the thing <i>seen</i> or presented to the eyes [TITTMANN].
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<br><br><b>smoke</b>—so B, C. But A reads "place."
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<br><br><b>What city is like</b>—Compare the similar beast as to <i>the beast,</i> <a onclick="return mV('Rev',13,4);">Rev 13:4</a>: so closely do the harlot and beast approximate one another. Contrast the attribution of this praise to God, to whom alone it is due, by <i>His</i> servants (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',15,11);">Exd 15:11</a>). MARTIAL says of Rome, "Nothing is equal to her;" and ATHENAEUS, "She is the epitome of the world."
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<p id="Re18_19"><b>19. wailing</b>—"mourning."
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<br><br><b>that had ships</b>—A, B, and C read, "that had <i>their</i> ships": literally, "<i>the</i> ships."
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<br><br><b>costliness</b>—her costly treasures: abstract for concrete.
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<p id="Re18_20"><b>20. holy apostles</b>—So C reads. But A, B, <i>Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic,</i> and ANDREAS read, "Ye <i>saints and ye</i> apostles."
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<br><br><b>avenged you on her</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "judged your judgment on (literally, exacting it <i>from</i>) her." "There is more joy in heaven at the harlot's downfall than at that of the two beasts. For the most heinous of all sin is the sin of those who know God's word of grace, and keep it not. The worldliness of the Church is the most worldly of all worldliness. Hence, Babylon, in Revelation, has not only Israel's sins, but also the sins of the heathen; and John dwells longer on the abominations and judgments of the harlot than on those of the beast. The term 'harlot' describes the false Church's essential character. She retains her human shape as the <i>woman,</i> does not become a <i>beast:</i> she has the form of godliness, but denies its power. Her rightful lord and husband, Jehovah-Christ, and the joys and goods of His house, are no longer her all in all, but she runs after the visible and vain things of the world, in its manifold forms. The fullest form of her whoredom is, where the Church wishes to be itself a worldly power, uses politics and diplomacy, makes flesh her arm, uses unholy means for holy ends, spreads her dominion by sword or money, fascinates men by sensual ritualism, becomes 'mistress of ceremonies' to the dignitaries of the world, flatters prince or people, and like Israel, seeks the help of one world power against the danger threatening from another" [AUBERLEN]. <i>Judgment,</i> therefore, <i>begins with</i> the harlot, as in privileges <i>the house of God.</i>
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<p id="Re18_21"><b>21. a</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "one."
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<br><br><b>millstone</b>—Compare the judgment on the Egyptian hosts at the Red Sea, <a onclick="return mV('Exd',15,5,10);">Exd 15:5, 10</a>; <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Neh',9,11);">Neh 9:11</a>, and the foretold doom of Babylon, the world power, <a onclick="return mV('Jer',51,63,64);">Jer 51:63-64</a>.
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<br><br><b>with violence</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "with impetus." This verse shows that this prophecy is regarded as still to be fulfilled.
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<p id="Re18_22"><b>22. pipers</b>—flute players. "Musicians," painters and sculptors, have desecrated their art to lend fascination to the sensuous worship of corrupt Christendom.
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<br><br><b>craftsman</b>—artisan.
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<p id="Re18_23"><b>23.</b> What a blessed contrast is <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,5);">Rev 22:5</a>, respecting the city of God: "They need <i>no candle</i> (just as Babylon shall <i>no more</i> have <i>the light of a candle,</i> but for a widely different reason), for the Lord God giveth them light."
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<br><br><b>candle</b>—Translate as <i>Greek,</i> "lamp."
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<br><br><b>bridegroom...bride...no more...in thee</b>—Contrast the heavenly city, with its <i>Bridegroom, Bride,</i> and blessed <i>marriage supper</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',19,7,9);">Rev 19:7, 9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,2,9);">21:2, 9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Isa',62,4);">Isa 62:4-5</a>).
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<br><br><b>thy merchants were</b>—So most of the best authorities read. But A omits the <i>Greek</i> article before "merchants," and then translates, "The great men of...were thy merchants."
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<br><br><b>sorceries</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "sorcery."
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<p id="Re18_24"><b>24.</b> Applied by Christ (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',23,35);">Mat 23:35</a>) to apostate Jerusalem, which proves that not merely the literal city Rome, and the Church of Rome (though the <i>chief</i> representative of the apostasy), but the WHOLE of the faithless Church of both the Old and New Testament is meant by Babylon the harlot; just as the whole Church (Old and New Testament) is meant by "the woman" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',12,1);">Rev 12:1</a>). As to literal <i>city,</i> ARINGHUS in BENGEL says, Pagan Rome was the "general shambles" for slaying the sheep of Jesus. FRED. SEYLER in BENGEL calculates that papal Rome, between A.D. 1540 and 1580, slew more than nine hundred thousand Protestants. Three reasons for the harlot's downfall are given: (1) The <i>worldly greatness</i> of her <i>merchants,</i> which was due to unholy traffic in spiritual things. (2) Her <i>sorceries,</i> or juggling tricks, in which the false prophet that ministers to the beast in its last form shall exceed her; compare "sorcerers" (<a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,8);">Rev 21:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Rev',22,15);">22:15</a>), specially mentioned among those doomed to the lake of fire. (3) Her persecution of (Old Testament) "prophets" and (New Testament) "saints."
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