Revelation 18, verses 9 to 13, slaves, and the souls of men

 

Revelation 18:9 ¶  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 Babylon, 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: 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 odours, 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.

This Babylon does business in slaves and souls. This is important as modern ‘First World’ countries do not openly engage in slavery as a business although there are estimated to be between 30 and 40 million slaves in other parts of the world and human sexual slavery and labor slavery, both also called human trafficking, is thought to be growing in the western countries, as well. Slavery exists in the form of legal slavery where criminals are used to work for the state as in ‘chain gangs’ in the Southern United States although I daresay you would find few inmates actually in chains while they work on the road crews anymore. Slavery, with people as a commodity, must return, at least in the beast’s kingdom. Other things listed could be said to be types until you get to slaves and souls of men and then you have a problem with types. Souls of men can easily be a reference to Rome and the Vatican but slaves? The word slave is used on Jeremiah 2:14 to show the connection between some servants and slaves. We must be looking at conditions near the end of history that we cannot understand now. Human trafficking is a growing problem around the world from sexual slavery to labor slavery. The globalist elite, as we were made painfully aware in the Jeffrey Epstein scandals still unfolding, are inextricably enmeshed in this phenomenon.

Both Rome and Jerusalem are a good distance from the sea but not so far that a great cataclysm involving them could not be seen from the sea. We must remember that English people could hear and see evidence of fighting in World War One as the battlefront in France was so close to them that an officer could have breakfast at his club in London in the morning and eat supper in the trenches in the evening. It will not be advisable to be anywhere near this city just as you would want to avoid Sodom and Gomorrah during their “rain of ruin.”

Genesis 14, verses 1 to 12, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled

 

Genesis 14:1¶ And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. 3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. 7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. 8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; 9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.   11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Amraphel was a king of Shinar, which, remember, is the plain of Mesopotamia where Babel/Babylon was built. In the 1800’s scholars identified him with Hammurabi, a famous Babylonian king, noted for a legal code that archaeologists found. Jewish Rabbinic sources from the Middle Ages identify him with Nimrod. Some modern scholars have elected even another candidate. However, we only know from the Bible that he was allied with the other kings mentioned in their assistance of the king of Elam in retaining his power over the cities of Canaan which rebelled, interestingly enough, in the thirteenth year of their submission. Here is one example, as I mentioned earlier, of a period where Egypt did not exercise suzerainty over Canaan.

Arioch was thought a century ago to be a king who reigned contemporaneously with Hammurabi, over the Sumerian city, Larsa. Chedorlaomer, listed as the king of Elam here who ruled over Canaanite cities and is here, with his allies attempting to reestablish control. Tidal, king of nations, as he must reign over multiple people groups, is listed as another ally. These kings over small but growing empires are trying to bring back under authority kings over cities that would have been no more militarily mighty than the modern mayor of small town could hope to be, if that mayor had armed citizens to fight for him. It wouldn’t have taken a very large and expensive expedition to teach these people a lesson.

While others were disunited and weak the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) joined together to oppose this conquering force. The battle was joined and the rebellious kings and their forces fled with the kings leading Sodom and Gomorrah’s forces falling in battle. So, Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities, were plundered and along with their goods, Lot and his possessions, possibly his family, too, were taken.

Remember, the king of an ancient city was also its high priest. I want to add another point here that will be significant in the next passage. Diarchy, where two kings ruled at the same time, was known in the ancient world, the most famous of which was the city-state of Sparta in Greece. It is possible that this condition existed in at least some city-states of the Ancient Near East because a second king of Sodom is mentioned in the next passage, in addition to the one that fell in battle. It is likely then that one king was a religious figure and one went to war and held administrative functions as is what happened early in Rome.

            Warfare against a city included warfare against its gods and its religion. Nothing was spared. But, these kings are more intent on reestablishing authority than on complete destruction. There are two worlds fighting here, the world of empires and control over different peoples versus the world of petty kings/priests over a specific location, what we would today consider to be nothing more than a small town with walls, a religion and gods of its own with family gods as well.

Revelation 18, verses 4 to 8, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her

 

Revelation 18:4  And I heard 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. 5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Persecution, early as per the account in Acts, and divine revelation late according to Eusebius, drove the Christians from Jerusalem before the destruction of the temple during the general, and future Roman emperor, Titus’s siege and conquest during the rebellion of the Jews in 70AD. But here is another declaration of the translation of the church as I have reported in my comments on chapter 4 was held by many early church leaders as happening before the terrible destruction to come. God’s people are removed.

Notice for verse 7, this cross reference.

Isaiah 47:1 ¶  Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2  Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3  Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. 4  As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5  Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 6  I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

    7 ¶  And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8  Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9  But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10  For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. 11  Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12  Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13  Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14  Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. 15  Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.

Genesis 13, verses 14 to 18, all the land which thou seest

 

Genesis 13:14 ¶  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18  Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Abram is the physical progenitor of the Jewish people, the Arab, and others as well as the spiritual ancestor of all Christians and he and his seed were promised a dwelling place on earth.

15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

God states that eventually Abram’s descendants will be innumerable and not able to be counted. The question asks itself whether or not this is referring to only Abram’s seed by the promise of descendants through a barren Sarai or does this include any and all of his descendants, his seed?

This is a physical promise of physical territory, land. This is a grant, a promise, and a covenant of land given to the descendants of a man who has pleased his Creator. This will become an important issue in a few chapters, one we must sort out to understand God’s future plans. The Bible leaves no question who receives this physical promise.

Genesis 25:5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

            However, before we get into a shouting match about whose land is whose let us also consider that Paul said this promise was from God through Abraham to Christ who will return to claim it all at the end of human-centered history.

Galatians 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

            So, we have two applications to this passage; a physical, literal one where the land grant is made through Abraham to Isaac and his descendants, the Jews. It was a promise to them specifically as it narrowed down in time, and a spiritual application to the Jewish and Christian Messiah to come who would then claim and rule the earth from that territory.

Again, Abram builds an altar to the Lord.

Revelation 18, verses 1 to 3, Babylon the great is fallen

 

Revelation 18:1 ¶  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 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. 3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Calling this city Babylon the great is very interesting and seems to indicate that this is a euphemistic name for a city that we may know by another name. This city is so influential at the time of the end and so powerful that all nations have participated in her wickedness. Certainly, one wonders at any city today that has that much control and power. Rome of the first century ruled the Mediterranean world but most certainly did not rule China or the civilizations in what we call the Americas today. In fact, the city of Rome ceased being the capital of the empire, with the idea of a capital reflecting the way we think not the way they did, in the fourth century AD as Constantinople, the Emperor Constantine’s glory came into being.  What will have to happen for Rome to rule the world if Babylon the great is Rome? The Vatican surely has no influence over Red China or Islamic nations. What do you think will be the circumstances at the end of history that would cause this? I am tempted to think of New York, USA but with a Pope being photographed kissing the Koran one can imagine an alliance between the Vatican and some in the Islamic world, a world almost as diverse in its belief as Christians are. However, there is a prophesy of a Mahdi, an Islamic messiah who will, I have read, “break the cross.”

With the revolutionary faith of the last two centuries, an ideology of universal collectivism also known as communism, socialism, Marxism, or globalization sweeping all traditional authority and tradition away around the world, we can only try to imagine a city from which the world will be ruled in the latter days.

The concept in modern geography and urban studies of a “Global City”, power city, world city, or alpha city is interesting here with New York, London, and Tokyo all listed as the hubs of a global economic and power network. Even more interesting is that some commentators refer to Babylon’s goddess Ishtar as being the goddess of immigrants and liberty depicted as holding a torch much like the modern version of Ishtar and Isis that sits in New York Harbor called Lady Liberty. Other commentators say that the most important temple in ancient Babylon was the Shining House or translated also as the White House. The question would be which power city sits on seven hills or are those mountains a metaphor for something else? Look up Global City on the internet for more details.

One thing that is clear is that this Babylon is a merchant city and a wellspring of luxury items. It has made the world rich so one can think of cities like New York or London as banking and finance centers, not Rome.

Genesis 13, verses 5 to 13, the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly

 

Genesis 13:5 ¶  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 8  And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9  Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

Genesis 13:10 ¶  And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13  But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

Abram and Lot were too wealthy to share the land. There was constant conflict. So, Lot made the fateful decision to pitch his tent toward Sodom as many modern-day Christians have done in leaving their home and family to go reside in a city where there were “more opportunities.” I am sure many a sermon has been started with the question, “have you pitched your tent toward Sodom?”

Genesis 13:13 has 13 words in it. Interesting, isn’t it? Thirteen is the number of rebellion, some commentators of the Bible say.

Sodom represented all that was standing in opposition to God in the ancient world and was a symbol of wickedness.

Ezekiel 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50  And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

Cattle does not necessarily mean beef cows, as in our modern speech. The Bible defines cattle as livestock of all kinds.

Exodus 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Cattle is often used to refer to sheep.

Genesis 30:40  And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.

When we picture Israel, Jordan, and Syria today we picture an arid, desert landscape with little greenery and lots of rocks. But keep in mind that the earth has been constantly drying out since the Flood of Noah and things were different during the times of Genesis than they are now. One source noted that, “Land-use studies throughout the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Mid-East show the prevalence of crops and forests, which were suited to cooler, wetter climates in the period before 1000 B.C.”[1]

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[1] Msgr Charles Pope, “What was the Climate and Weather of Israel like at the time of Jesus?” http://blog.adw.org/2014/07/what-was-the-climate-and-weather-of-israel-like-at-the-time-of-jesus/ (accessed 2.1.2020).

Revelation 17, verses 7 to 18, and the Lamb shall overcome them

 

Revelation 17:7 ¶  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. 8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 9  And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

The beast that ascends from the bottomless pit carries the woman. If this represents the Roman Empire and then Church it is supported by Satan, controlled by the Beast. The word for mountain is elsewhere also used for mount and hill.

Revelation 17:10  And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

This is almost impossible to figure out as there have been dozens of Roman Emperors and dozens of Popes since the time of John and many communist dictators in the last century. When these events occur five of these kings are dead, one is ruling, and there is another to come for a brief period. The beast comes from the seven kings, and is the eighth king, emperor, dictator, or pope before he goes to the Lake of Fire. The ten horns, or kings, will rule under the authority of the beast for a short, short time, all in agreement to be in subjection to this eighth king, the beast that ascended from the bottomless pit, Abaddon.

Revelation 17:14 ¶  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. 18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

2Thessalonians 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming

Here is a classic metaphor for waters being a type of peoples. We can now go back and perhaps see the word sea as a mass of humanity and pay particular attention to earth as a metaphor in the following verses.

Revelation 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Revelation 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

The beast’s ten kings turn on the city that ruled over them, perhaps the Roman Church, and the true nature of the beast is brought out. We need to discuss again, which city, rules over the kings of the earth and if it is Rome, why would Rome be considered as ruling over the earth when its influence is diminishing, it seems?