Revelation 18:12
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,
Revelation 18:12 lists the costly merchandise of Babylon in the chapter foretelling her fall, part of the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 portraying what is yet to take place in the cities. The Babylon whose wealth it describes is the corrupt churches, made Babylon by false teaching, opposition to God's law, exalting the false Sabbath and holding the immortality of the soul. Its treasures of gold and silver were heaped up by fraud and will perish in God's retributive judgments, giving no protection to those who continue in sin in the face of great light while He avenges the oppressed poor who cried to Him. The fulfillment will come in terrible scenes when the Lord arises to shake the earth, when lofty fireproof buildings become ashes, story upon story thrown down by His overturning power, and costly vessels with their gold and silver and human freight sink by one word from Him. The chapter is therefore God's last call of mercy and warning, now to be proclaimed with a loud voice, calling His people still in Babylon to separate from her that they share not her sins nor receive her plagues and be prepared to stand in the great day of God.
Babylon's Fall Foretold
Revelation 18:12 belongs to the chapter describing Babylon's fall, as part of the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled and that will surely be fulfilled. The scenes of the eighteenth chapter portray what is yet to take place in the cities and display God's power in judgment because of sin, as shown in a city recently destroyed. Revelation 18 records the very last call to the churches, the last message of warning that all are to hear and that is now to be given.
The Babylon so portrayed is the churches whose principles have become corrupt. It is mystic Babylon, where in judgment the consequences of false teaching and opposition to God's law are revealed.
The chapter points to a future time when the church has fully reached the condition announced by the second angel. That full condition comes after rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12. Then the chapter's final message calls God's people still in Babylon to separate from her so they will not share her sins or receive her plagues.
Babylon includes the merchants of the earth in corrupt harmony with kings, rulers, and religious teachers. It is made Babylon by exalting the false and spurious Sabbath above the Sabbath the Lord Jehovah blessed and sanctified for the use of man. It is made Babylon also by holding the immortality of the soul, these kindred heresies with rejection of the truth.
Final Call to Proclaim
Revelation 18 records the very last call to the churches, the last message of warning and last call of mercy that all are to hear and that is now to be given. It belongs to the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled, and as present truth for this time it is the last great testing truth and the last work to be done for the world. In mercy God holds back His judgments while waiting for this warning to be sounded to all, because many have not yet heard it. Therefore it must be given more fully, and the truths of Revelation 18 together with those of Revelation 19 should be read and understood by all.
The warning must be given by the workers God has appointed to preach, by His chosen human agencies with a loud voice and with all power and efficiency. It belongs with the proclamation that the seventh-day Sabbath is the seal of the living God and with warning what to expect from the papal power that has made void the law of God at the time when Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp its hand. It must not be silenced nor counted an inferior matter, and other lines of work that disqualify workers from preaching it must be set aside. Minds must not be diverted into lines that would hinder it, so the world is not left in darkness and a people are prepared to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming with stealthy, awful dread.
The chapter points to a future time when the church has fully reached the condition announced by the second angel after rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12. Its final message then calls God's people still in Babylon to separate from her and to come out of her so they will not share her sins or receive her plagues.
Judgment on Wealthy Pride
The list is part of the portrayal of Babylon's costly goods and wealth, and it is not unfolded article by article but left as a general picture of luxurious merchandise under judgment. That wealth centers on treasures of gold and silver gathered by fraud, which give no protection when retribution comes upon those who persist in sin against great light. Human pride goes down to burial with those dishonestly heaped treasures, while God vindicates the widows and orphans who cried to Him in hunger and nakedness under oppression and abuse.
The stroke falls because of the wickedness now present in the world and the breaking of God's law, and in it God's power in judgment on account of sin is displayed. Its events are destructive and overwhelming, like the terrible overthrow that fell upon San Francisco and like the perishing of Sodom in flames of vengeance. Seen beforehand they look like the day of judgment arrived, and for that reason they urge the importance of obeying God's law.
The fulfillment will come in terrible scenes when the Lord rises to shake the earth terribly. Great buildings reared story upon story in the cities will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of divine power, by one word from the Lord and one touch of His mighty power whose dreadfulness cannot be imagined. The most costly structures, though counted fireproof, will become ashes, and vessels that cost immense sums, wrestling with mighty waters, will sink into a watery grave with their treasures of gold and silver and their human freight.
That prospect is meant to make all who grasp it fear and tremble, turn from selfishness and sin, and heed the light. Those who believe prophecy are not to ignore God's special indications or treat them with indifference, nor to look on destruction and then flatter themselves that they will build still greater buildings. Defiant investment of means after feeling His rebuke will be met by God exercising His power to counteract it, and men who have abused privileges and taken advantage of fellow men are to make amends for the wrong done. Those who do not love the light refuse to come to the light lest their deeds be reproved, refuse to follow on to know the Lord, and declare by their attitude that they want their own way and not God's way. The time is right upon them when flattering monuments of human greatness will crumble in the dust even before the last great destruction, and sorrow will come upon the world that no human balm can heal.