Read with Me
Revelation 18:17b-20 (HCSB)
And every shipmaster, seafarer, the sailors, and all who do business by sea, stood far off as they watched the smoke from her burning and kept crying out: “Who is like the great city?” They threw dust on their heads and kept crying out, weeping, and mourning:
Woe, woe, the great city,
where all those who have ships on the sea
became rich from her wealth,
for in a single hour she was destroyed.
Rejoice over her, heaven,
and you saints, apostles, and prophets,
because God has executed your judgment on her!
Listen with Me
The final group to mourn the fall of Babylon the Great, the powerful and wealthy Roman Empire, were those who made their living from the sea trade, captains as well as sailors. Even though Rome itself lay inland and lacked a seaport, the nearby port of Ostia, as well as the recently constructed port of Portus about 2 ½ miles to the north, served the great city.
Those seaports received vast quantities of goods, many of which are listed in verses 12 and 13. This international trade supported the owners and operators of huge numbers of ships that sailed throughout the Mediterranean. But now, with the sudden collapse of Rome and all its wealth, those ship owners and operators were cut off from their most lucrative source of income.
Again, the ship owners are depicted as standing far off as they mourn the loss, not so much of the empire itself, but of the wealth they had derived from it. They were not willing to support the empire as it fell for fear of getting caught up in its collapse.
The short parenthetical note in verse 20 is a call for all God’s people to rejoice over the fall of such a powerful enemy of His kingdom. The empire was considered insuperable by nearly everyone. But God is the Almighty God, and nothing can halt His judgment once it has begun to fall.
Pray with Me
Father, the mourning of all these groups is almost palpable. But they are not repentant for their part in supporting and even supplying the sources of Rome’s corruption and ultimately its collapse. They were just “doing business”, and they see themselves principally as victims of Rome’s fall, not as catalysts, which they truly were. They were blinded by their greed. I see these folks around today as well. The things they sell contribute to the moral decay of our nation, or they make people focus on their own desires to the exclusion of Your calling. If our nation falls, sadly these same people will see themselves as victims, not catalysts of the tragedy. Lord, help me to always stay open-eyed, so that I can clearly see any areas where I am a taker not a giver, any areas where I am a corrupter not a sanctifier, so that I can immediately repent and get back on the right path. Amen.