And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived luxuriously with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
Revelation 18 shows the fall of Babylon through the eyes of those who profited by her. Verse 9 opens the mourning: rulers who shared her life watch the smoke rise, and one event brings tears on earth and joy in heaven.
The chapter before this describes ten kings turning on Babylon and burning her. The mourners here are a different group.
"The kings of the earth" who weep over her ruin (Rev. 18:9) must be carefully kept apart from the ten rulers who carry out her overthrow. They are the more distant rulers of the earth, "who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her." Her glitter has attracted and trapped them. But their distance has kept them from feeling the weight of her oppressive hand as much as those nearer to the seat of her power.
The verse describes a two-way deal. A church chased the world's rulers, and the rulers were glad to be chased.
Love of display, which the Roman Church boasts of, is her argument and her appeal to the senses. The nations will bow before this god. But the kings of the earth, the leaders, are more guilty and more deliberate, as suits their position. They give themselves up to her flattery. The Church hugs the world for whatever numbers and wealth she can get, and the world gladly welcomes her embrace.
The Greek word behind the phrase also stands in Babylon's own boast in verse 7. It means more than comfort, and it carries arrogance.
There are quite a few words in the Greek New Testament carrying the idea of luxury. Streniao (Rev. 18:7, 9) speaks of "insolent luxury." The new Interlinear Greek Testament translates it "luxuriated." … The New Testament utterly condemns all of this.
They stand far off and watch. What strikes them is how quickly it came.
"The kings of the earth" lead the general mourning. They were the most intimate with her, and so they feel her loss more than others. … They mourn over her and are unable to prevent her ruin. … Standing far off, they watch the terrible burning of that mighty system of evil. They had been closely tied to it, and inside it they had lived and indulged in luxury. They tremble and fear at how awful and how sudden the judgment is: "for in a single hour your judgment has come."
In their lament they give Babylon grand titles. Their fear is better founded than they know.
The kings of the earth who have indulged themselves in luxurious evil with the woman Babylon will be shocked and will mourn the loss of this source of illicit gain and pleasure (v. 9). They themselves will not yet have fallen under the approaching judgment of God. … Little do they realise that Babylon's torment is a forewarning of what awaits them. They speak of Babylon as "the great city" and "the strong city." That is man's estimate. But she was built in independence of God, and He reduces her greatness to nothing and her strength to weakness.
Earth wails in verse 9. Heaven answers with a different sound.
In Revelation 18 there was universal earthly sorrow. The kings of the earth who had committed fornication with her lamented. The merchants she had made rich were wailing. Indeed, no class was free from her traps. Everyone who had dealt with her was full of sorrow over Babylon. But heaven was called to rejoice.
Their grief is real. But they measure it only by what they have lost.
The kings of the earth, the merchants and the sailors mourn the fall of Babylon, and we are not surprised. They judged Babylon by what she was to them — they had lived luxuriously with her. How could they see clearly enough to know her, and to see her with the mind of heaven? God "remembered her iniquities," but they remembered her as one "in which all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth." So they mourn while heaven rejoices. … But it is sad when saints admire the "costliness" that heaven has already judged.
- Partners. The mourning kings are distant rulers whom Babylon's glitter drew in. They are not the ten kings who burn her.
- Pact. Their sin was a mutual embrace. A church traded on display to gain wealth and numbers, and rulers gave themselves to her flattery.
- Pleasure. The Greek word for their shared living means insolent, arrogant luxury. The New Testament condemns it outright.
- Panic. They stand far off, unable to save her, shaken by how fast it came. It is fear, not repentance. They never see that her torment warns of their own.
- Perspective. They weep because they judged Babylon by what she gave them. Heaven rejoices because it judged her long ago. Believers who still admire her "costliness" are looking with the wrong eyes.
standing afar off, through fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour thy judgment is come.
Revelation 18 records how the world reacts to Babylon's fall. Verse 10 gives the first cry: kings who shared her luxury now watch her burn from a safe distance.
Ten other kings hate this woman and drive her downfall. The mourners in verse 10 are not those men:
"The kings of the earth" lead the general mourning. They were the most intimate with her, and so they feel her loss more than others. Do not confuse these kings, or chiefs, with the ten kings who hate the woman. The first group mourns over her and cannot prevent her ruin. The second group are the prime movers in her political downfall (Rev. 17:16).
Their grief has a clear cause. They lament a partner who had built them up while building herself up:
The kings are appalled by the violence of her overthrow, and they are afraid to stand up in her defence. Yet most of them still lament the fall of a power that had usually advanced itself by advancing rulers.
Both titles are compliments, and both are man's verdict rather than God's:
They speak of Babylon as "the great city" and "the strong city." That is man's estimate. But she has built herself up in independence from God, and He reduces her greatness to nothing and her strength to weakness. At the first Babylon men boasted of making a name for themselves, and that city was left a ruin (Gen. 11:1-9). The second Babylon will come to a similar humiliating end.
Sudden collapse is not the same as sudden decision. One writer pictures how God brought down earlier world empires:
It was because God worked in the background. While these world empires still enjoyed rest and peace, the carpenter sawed through the beams and pillars unseen. The mason moved the cornerstone. The architect undermined the hidden foundations, and no one noticed. Here and there the singing of the saw, the vibrating of the roof, and tremors of the ground spread fear and anxiety. Afterwards, blind trust and calm returned. Then came the day when all this undermining work was finished, and everything fell to ruins at once.
The merchants later use the same words, but they fill them differently:
The kings in their lament say, "In a single hour your judgment has come." The merchants say that in that same hour her great riches were laid waste. Putting the two statements together, we learn two things. The judgment of Babylon destroys her earthly prosperity. And the stroke of vengeance from the hand of the Almighty is sudden and unexpected.
They stand far off "in fear of her torment." Heaven and earth also count the hour differently:
The angel says that Babylon's plagues come in one day, but the nations speak of her judgment coming in one hour. They little realize that Babylon's torment is a forewarning of what awaits them.
The damage reaches far past the city itself:
Babylon will have spread its roots wide and woven itself into almost every social fibre of the life of the nations. So her fall will spread dismay and confusion everywhere. It will also leave human governments unstable and powerless.
They weep, but no word of their cry admits she deserved it. Their measure is themselves:
The kings of the earth, the merchants, and the sailors mourn the fall of Babylon, and we are not surprised. They judged Babylon in reference to themselves — they had lived luxuriously with her. How could they have the clear sight to know her, and to see her with the mind of heaven? God "remembered her iniquities." But they remembered her as one "in which all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth." So they mourn, while heaven rejoices.
The kings keep their distance on the day of burning. There is a wiser time to do the same thing:
When the judgment of God falls upon her, the kings, merchants, ship-masters and sailors "stand far off" for fear of her burning, and lament her overthrow. May we now "stand far off" from her, and keep near to Him to whom the true Church belongs.
- Greatness — "Great" and "strong" are man's words for her. God reduces her greatness to nothing and her strength to weakness, as He did with the first Babylon.
- Undermined — The collapse takes one hour. God had been loosening the foundations for a long time, while everything above still looked secure.
- Interlaced — She had grown into every fibre of national life. So her fall spreads dismay everywhere and leaves human governments powerless.
- Self-measured — The kings weep for what they lost, not for what she was. They judged her only in relation to themselves, so they mourn while heaven rejoices.
- Distance — They stand far off only when it is too late, and her torment is a forewarning of their own. Stand far off from her now and keep near to Christ.