SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/9/2015
9:33 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
More Judgment Lamented
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
18:9-19
Message of the
verses: “9 "And the kings of
the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will
weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance because of the fear of
her torment, saying, ’Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For
in one hour your judgment has come.’ 11
"And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no
one buys their cargoes any more- 12
cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen
and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every
article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and
iron and marble, 13 and cinnamon and
spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine
flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and
slaves and human lives. 14 “The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all
things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will
no longer find them. 15 “The merchants of these things, who became rich from
her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and
mourning, 16 saying, ’Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine
linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and
pearls; 17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every
shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by
the sea, stood at a distance, 18 and
were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ’What city is
like the great city?’ 19 "And they
threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
’Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her
wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’”
We begin this SD by looking at the next mourners who will
appear on the scene and they are “the merchants of the earth.” We are talking about the businessmen of the
earth, the salesmen, and others who provide merchandize for the people around
the world. Now I realize that by this
time the earth will have survived all of the seal and trumpet judgments and
even some of the bowl judgments, but it seems that there will still be some
type of buying and selling going on
during this time.
We can see a list of 28 items or categories of
merchandise that are comprised in the merchants cargoes that they will mourn
over. This list begins with verse twelve
and goes to the end of verse thirteen, ending with human lives. A thought has just occurred to me that may
help us understand the last category “human lives.” Since before that slaves were mentioned
perhaps we are speaking of the terrible tragedy of what has been going on in
our country over the last few years and that is the selling off of baby body
parts from the aborted babies which are being killed in our country and around
the world each and every day, babies who are made in the image of God.
Many of the commodities that are listed were common in
the past and John MacArthur writes that many of them are included on the list
in Ezekiel 27:12-24. “12 “Tarshish was
your customer because of the abundance of all kinds of wealth; with silver,
iron, tin and lead they paid for your wares. 13 “Javan, Tubal and Meshech, they
were your traders; with the lives of men and vessels of bronze they paid for
your merchandise. 14 “Those from Beth-togarmah gave horses and war horses and
mules for your wares. 15 “The sons of Dedan were your traders. Many coastlands
were your market; ivory tusks and ebony they brought as your payment. 16 "Aram was your customer because of the
abundance of your goods; they paid for your wares with emeralds, purple,
embroidered work, fine linen, coral and rubies. 17 “Judah and the land of
Israel, they were your traders; with the wheat of Minnith, cakes, honey, oil
and balm they paid for your merchandise. 18 “Damascus was your customer because
of the abundance of your goods, because of the abundance of all kinds of
wealth, because of the wine of Helbon and white wool. 19 “Vedan and Javan paid
for your wares from Uzal; wrought iron, cassia and sweet cane were among your
merchandise. 20 “Dedan traded with you in saddlecloths for riding. 21 “Arabia
and all the princes of Kedar, they were your customers for lambs, rams and
goats; for these they were your customers. 22 “The traders of Sheba and Raamah,
they traded with you; they paid for your wares with the best of all kinds of
spices, and with all kinds of precious stones and gold. 23 "Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of
Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you. 24 “They traded with you in choice
garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many
colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.”
MacArthur writes that “They are only representative of
the great wealth of Antichrist’s future commercial empire. John Philips writes: ‘What a catalog of opulence! What a vivid picture of great, commercial
city, trafficking in every luxury the heart could desire. This is the world’s great Vanity Fair. It offers articles of adornment and display,
beautiful things to grace the mansions of the world’s millionaires. It deals in exotic spices and perfumes, in
delicacies for the table, in provisions for banquets, in slaves, and in the
souls of men. And Babylon imported all
these things…Babylon demanded for this world’s goods was insatiable; ever it
clamored for more and more.’”
Next we see the merchants now addressing Babylon directly
in verse fourteen: “14 “The fruit you
long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid
have passed away from you and men will no longer find them.” All the things that people long for are now
gone in one short time period that has been described as one hour in different
places in chapter 18. John MacArthur
writes this of the words Luxurious and splendid “(Gk. Lampros, a word that may refer to clothing).”
Now before I get too far into this SD I want to point out
that the lament from Ezekiel 27 which is quoted above is a lament over Tyre.
We can see that there is much lamenting going on by these
leaders and “the merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will
stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning ,
saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple
and sacred, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one
hour such great wealth has been laid waste!”
We can see in the verses we have been looking at there is a great deal
of emotion going on, and the emotion is going on over material things. MacArthur writes “The weeping that begins
then will last for eternity in hell (Matt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51;
25:30). These greedy merchants are the
classic illustration of all those in all times who gain the whole world, but forfeit
their souls (Mark 8:36).”
Verses 17b through 19 speak of another group of
people in this vision who join the
funeral dirge for Babylon: “And every
shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by
the sea, stood at a distance, 18 and
were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ’What city is
like the great city?’ 19 "And they
threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
’Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her
wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’”
We can see that this city seemed to have it all as it was
the head of the political system along with the worship of Antichrist and also
military might, and now we can see it was the one of the important distribution
centers as well. We see those who
carried the merchandise to other places mourning as well, those who ran the
great ships that were on the sea delivering the merchandize around the world
will also mourn.
MacArthur concludes this section by writing “Then, in a
typical ancient expression of gref, the sailors threw dust on their heads’ (cf.
Josh. 7:6; 1 Sam. 4:12; 2 Sam. 1:2; 15:32; Job 2:12; Lam. 2:10; Ezek.
27:30). Like the rulers (vv. 9-10) and
the merchants (vv. 15-16), they too will cry out, ‘Woe, woe, the great city.’ That is an expression of pain, suffering, and
grief, but not of repentance. The sailors
do not mourn over their sins, or those of Babylon, but because of their lost
business, since ‘all who had ships at sea became rich by’ Babylon’s ‘wealth.’ Like the rulers (v. 10) and the merchants (v.
17), the sailors also express amazement at the swiftness of Babylon’s downfall,
exclaiming, ‘In one hour she has been laid waste!’ In an astonishingly short period of time, the
city that was the source of their wealth was destroyed.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I mentioned in an
earlier SD that after reading a book by Dr. David Jeremiah entitled “I Never Thought
I’d See the Day!” that he gives nine things that he never thought he would see
in his lifetime happen in our country that at the end of the book, the last
chapter he says that in order to help us survive these awful things that are
going on we have to give ourselves to the Lord as Romans 12:1-2 tells us. I have also mentioned that when I first
became a believer the man that was mentoring me said that you have to keep your
enfasus on the right sylyable in other words you have to keep your emphases on
the right syllable, keep your priorities in the right place, and that is on the
Lord.
I am reading another book entitled “Before Amen” written
by Max Lucado. In the book he goes over
a prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer to help us understand it better. “Father, You are good. I need help.
Heal me and forgive me. They need
help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, amen.” That is the prayer in his words that is found
in Luke 11:1-4 “1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place,
after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as
John also taught his disciples." 2 And He said to them, "When
you pray, say: ’Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ’Give us
each day our daily bread. 4 ’And forgive
us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And
lead us not into temptation.’"
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to read this book on prayer and
learn the principles that are taught in it so that I can be prepared for what
the Lord has for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Yes” (Genesis 42:7).
Today’s Bible
question: “What is the sting of death?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/9/2015 10:35 AM
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