Revelation Chapter 18
VERSE 14 “The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.”
AND THE FRUIT OF YOUR SOUL’S DESIRE (margin): Just as the kings directly addressed Babylon in Verse 10, so also the merchants directly address her, but NOT regarding judgment. The capitalists don’t care about moral issues like judgment! They pity Babylon’s loss of loot: — “the fruit of your soul’s desire.”
HAS GONE FROM YOU: Babylon, which used to have all the money, art, talent, manuscripts, jewels, and everything else of worldly worth it desired during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, is now concerned with more practical matters: how to survive!
This is why Jezebel is into face-painting (2 Kings 9:30)…
“Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.”
...and into harlot-playing mode. (Isaiah 23:15-17)
“Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: “Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.”
AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE LUXURIOUS AND SPLENDID HAVE PASSED AWAY FROM YOU: Note the mind of the capitalists’ woe. All they want is wealth; nothing else is of concern. They loved Babylon because she reflected their own selfishness and greed. Their interest in her wanes quickly when she loses these ornaments. Their addressing her personally (as “you”) shows that she continues to exist.
AND YOU WILL NO LONGER FIND THEM: The capitalists seem quite sure that Babylon’s glory days are gone. This disturbs them BECAUSE they must invent new channels for their greed. The reliable old order has crumbled.
Brother Shallieu’s thoughts on Verse 14
“And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.”
The “merchants” would be the businessmen in the nominal Church in one capacity or another: financiers, contractors, etc.
Not only will the merchants be involved, but there will be hatred toward them as well as toward the religious leaders. In the French Revolution the clergy, the political leaders, the nobility, and the wealthy were all ferreted out for punishment by the masses. If it were not for the promises of the Kingdom, this picture would be very dark indeed.
The various articles of commerce enumerated do not require particular consideration. Since the meaning is generalized, treating the items too specifically would get the picture out of focus. The whole is calculated to convey, in the most impressive manner possible, some idea of the splendor, luxury, abundance, self-indulgence, and excess of all kinds of which the Church has become the recipient. A vast number of other individuals have also been enriched but at the expense and impoverishment of the nation’s belonging to the Roman Catholic persuasion.
Nor is it necessary to accommodate the various particulars to the several kinds of spiritual merchandise that enrich the popes, cardinals, bishops, abbots, priests, and other retainers.
Why not?
Because the list of merchandise is not the spiritual benefits the Church purchases for itself but the earthly benefits. The goods are temporal, NOT spiritual—even as Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16).
If one ponders each item recorded for sale to the Church, in what way could spiritual benefits be acquired by a worldly Church from the “merchants of the earth”?
The apostate Church was able to purchase for itself the rich store of goods itemized in Verses 12 and 13 through the sale or barter of its own (unlisted) imaginary spiritual wares, fabrications, and fascinating allurements: impostures, dispensations, indulgences, absolutions, masses for the dead, simony, and the sale, viewing, or handling of relics considered most sacred. Other purported gifts and favors attracted “slaves,” men and women, to become servants of the Church and devote their minds, bodies, and souls as unto God. These served as non-salaried monks, nuns, maids, butlers, and so on.
“In the church of All Saints, at Wittenberg [sic], were shown a piece of Noah’s Ark—a small portion of soot from the furnace of the Three Young Men [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 3:20)—Ed.]—a bit of the manger in which our Savior was laid—hair from the beard of the great [St.] Christopher; and nineteen thousand other relics of greater or less value. At Schaffhausen was shown the breath of St. Joseph, which Nicodemus had received into his glove. In Wurttemberg, a vendor of indulgences was seen selling his wares, and having his head adorned with a large feather, plucked from the wing of the archangel Michael. But there was no occasion to go to a distance in quest of these precious treasures. Persons with hired relics travelled the country, and hawked them about . . . those travelling hawkers paid a fixed sum to the owners, and also gave them so much per centage on their returns.”
9. H. Merle D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1872), p. 9.
“Indulgences, in the Romish church [emphasis added], are a remission of the punishment due to sin, granted by the church, and supposed to save the sinner from purgatory.
“According to the doctrine of the Romish church, all the good works of the saints, over and above those which were necessary towards their own justification, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury.
The keys of this were committed to St. Peter, and to his successors, the popes, who may open it at pleasure, and, by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one in whom he is interested from the pains of purgatory.
Such indulgences were first invented in the eleventh century, by Urban II. as a recompence [sic] for those who went in person upon the glorious enterprise of conquering the Holy Land. They were afterwards granted to those who hired a soldier for that purpose; and in process of time were bestowed on such as gave money for accomplishing any pious work enjoined by the pope.
The power of granting indulgences has been greatly abused in the church of Rome. Pope Leo X., in order to carry on the magnificent structure of St. Peter’s, at Rome, published indulgences, and a plenary remission to all such as should contribute money towards it. Finding the project take, he granted to Albert, elector of Mentz, and archbishop of Magdeburg, the benefit of the indulgences of Saxony, and the neighboring parts, and farmed out those of other countries to the highest bidders: who, to make the best of the bargain, procured the ablest preachers to cry up the value of the ware.
The form of these indulgences was as follows: —
‘May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by his authority, that of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and of the most holy pope, granted and committed to me in these parts, do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they have been incurred; then from all thy sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever they may be: even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of the holy see, and as far as the keys of the holy church extend.
I remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory on their account: and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the church, to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism: so that when you die, the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be opened; and if you shall not die at present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.’
We move on to Verse 15 in our next post.
VERSE 14 “The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.”
AND THE FRUIT OF YOUR SOUL’S DESIRE (margin): Just as the kings directly addressed Babylon in Verse 10, so also the merchants directly address her, but NOT regarding judgment. The capitalists don’t care about moral issues like judgment! They pity Babylon’s loss of loot: — “the fruit of your soul’s desire.”
HAS GONE FROM YOU: Babylon, which used to have all the money, art, talent, manuscripts, jewels, and everything else of worldly worth it desired during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, is now concerned with more practical matters: how to survive!
This is why Jezebel is into face-painting (2 Kings 9:30)…
“Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.”
...and into harlot-playing mode. (Isaiah 23:15-17)
“Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years, it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: “Take a harp, go about the city, you forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.” And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth.”
AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WERE LUXURIOUS AND SPLENDID HAVE PASSED AWAY FROM YOU: Note the mind of the capitalists’ woe. All they want is wealth; nothing else is of concern. They loved Babylon because she reflected their own selfishness and greed. Their interest in her wanes quickly when she loses these ornaments. Their addressing her personally (as “you”) shows that she continues to exist.
AND YOU WILL NO LONGER FIND THEM: The capitalists seem quite sure that Babylon’s glory days are gone. This disturbs them BECAUSE they must invent new channels for their greed. The reliable old order has crumbled.
Brother Shallieu’s thoughts on Verse 14
“And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.”
The “merchants” would be the businessmen in the nominal Church in one capacity or another: financiers, contractors, etc.
Not only will the merchants be involved, but there will be hatred toward them as well as toward the religious leaders. In the French Revolution the clergy, the political leaders, the nobility, and the wealthy were all ferreted out for punishment by the masses. If it were not for the promises of the Kingdom, this picture would be very dark indeed.
The various articles of commerce enumerated do not require particular consideration. Since the meaning is generalized, treating the items too specifically would get the picture out of focus. The whole is calculated to convey, in the most impressive manner possible, some idea of the splendor, luxury, abundance, self-indulgence, and excess of all kinds of which the Church has become the recipient. A vast number of other individuals have also been enriched but at the expense and impoverishment of the nation’s belonging to the Roman Catholic persuasion.
Nor is it necessary to accommodate the various particulars to the several kinds of spiritual merchandise that enrich the popes, cardinals, bishops, abbots, priests, and other retainers.
Why not?
Because the list of merchandise is not the spiritual benefits the Church purchases for itself but the earthly benefits. The goods are temporal, NOT spiritual—even as Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16).
If one ponders each item recorded for sale to the Church, in what way could spiritual benefits be acquired by a worldly Church from the “merchants of the earth”?
The apostate Church was able to purchase for itself the rich store of goods itemized in Verses 12 and 13 through the sale or barter of its own (unlisted) imaginary spiritual wares, fabrications, and fascinating allurements: impostures, dispensations, indulgences, absolutions, masses for the dead, simony, and the sale, viewing, or handling of relics considered most sacred. Other purported gifts and favors attracted “slaves,” men and women, to become servants of the Church and devote their minds, bodies, and souls as unto God. These served as non-salaried monks, nuns, maids, butlers, and so on.
“In the church of All Saints, at Wittenberg [sic], were shown a piece of Noah’s Ark—a small portion of soot from the furnace of the Three Young Men [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 3:20)—Ed.]—a bit of the manger in which our Savior was laid—hair from the beard of the great [St.] Christopher; and nineteen thousand other relics of greater or less value. At Schaffhausen was shown the breath of St. Joseph, which Nicodemus had received into his glove. In Wurttemberg, a vendor of indulgences was seen selling his wares, and having his head adorned with a large feather, plucked from the wing of the archangel Michael. But there was no occasion to go to a distance in quest of these precious treasures. Persons with hired relics travelled the country, and hawked them about . . . those travelling hawkers paid a fixed sum to the owners, and also gave them so much per centage on their returns.”
9. H. Merle D’Aubigne, History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century (New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1872), p. 9.
“Indulgences, in the Romish church [emphasis added], are a remission of the punishment due to sin, granted by the church, and supposed to save the sinner from purgatory.
“According to the doctrine of the Romish church, all the good works of the saints, over and above those which were necessary towards their own justification, are deposited, together with the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, in one inexhaustible treasury.
The keys of this were committed to St. Peter, and to his successors, the popes, who may open it at pleasure, and, by transferring a portion of this superabundant merit to any particular person for a sum of money, may convey to him either the pardon of his own sins, or a release for any one in whom he is interested from the pains of purgatory.
Such indulgences were first invented in the eleventh century, by Urban II. as a recompence [sic] for those who went in person upon the glorious enterprise of conquering the Holy Land. They were afterwards granted to those who hired a soldier for that purpose; and in process of time were bestowed on such as gave money for accomplishing any pious work enjoined by the pope.
The power of granting indulgences has been greatly abused in the church of Rome. Pope Leo X., in order to carry on the magnificent structure of St. Peter’s, at Rome, published indulgences, and a plenary remission to all such as should contribute money towards it. Finding the project take, he granted to Albert, elector of Mentz, and archbishop of Magdeburg, the benefit of the indulgences of Saxony, and the neighboring parts, and farmed out those of other countries to the highest bidders: who, to make the best of the bargain, procured the ablest preachers to cry up the value of the ware.
The form of these indulgences was as follows: —
‘May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon thee, and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by his authority, that of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, and of the most holy pope, granted and committed to me in these parts, do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they have been incurred; then from all thy sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever they may be: even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of the holy see, and as far as the keys of the holy church extend.
I remit to you all punishment which you deserve in purgatory on their account: and I restore you to the holy sacraments of the church, to the unity of the faithful, and to that innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism: so that when you die, the gates of punishment shall be shut, and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be opened; and if you shall not die at present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.’
We move on to Verse 15 in our next post.
