The Great Garage Sale of the Harlot City Text: Revelation 18:11-20
Introduction: The Tears of the Ticker Tape
We come now to the stock market report from Hell. In the previous section, we saw the final, definitive fall of Babylon the Great. As I have argued throughout this series, the great harlot city is none other than first-century, apostate Jerusalem, the city that was supposed to be the bride of Jehovah but instead prostituted herself to the kings of the earth. She made a devil's pact with the beast, which was pagan Rome, in order to put the Messiah to death. "We have no king but Caesar," they cried. And God, in His terrible judgment, gave them exactly what they asked for. The beast they rode upon turned and devoured them in the cataclysm of A.D. 70.
Now, in our text, the camera pans away from the smoke and ruin to focus on a particular group of mourners. We have heard the lament of the kings of the earth, who used her for their political ends. We will hear the lament of the sea captains, who profited from her trade. But here, in the center, we have the merchants, the brokers, the international traders. Their grief is perhaps the most revealing of all. They do not weep for the loss of a holy city. They do not mourn the destruction of the Temple. They do not shed tears over the slaughter of human beings. They are weeping because the stock market has crashed. They are mourning because their great cash cow has been barbecued.
This passage is a divine critique of a certain kind of commerce, a certain brand of materialism that is inextricably linked to the harlot's apostasy. The Bible is not against wealth. Abraham was a wealthy man. The Proverbs encourage diligent labor that leads to increase. But the Bible is fiercely against a love of wealth that supplants the love of God. The Bible is against an economic system built on luxury, exploitation, and idolatry. And that is precisely what we see here. The merchants weep because their idol has been smashed, and with it, their portfolios. Their tears are the tears of pure, unadulterated greed. And their lament stands in stark contrast to the joy that is commanded in Heaven.
We must pay close attention, because the spirit of the harlot city is not confined to the first century. Every generation, every nation, and every heart is tempted to build its own Babylon, to create a system of commerce that promises luxury and security apart from God. And every such Babylon is destined for the same fiery end.
The Text
"And the merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo 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 precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and amomum and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargo of horses and carriages and human beings and human lives. And the fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were splendid and shining have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, crying and mourning, 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; 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, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, crying and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who have ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.”
(Revelation 18:11-20 LSB)
The Harlot's Shopping List (vv. 11-13)
The lament begins with a detailed inventory of the harlot's consumption.
"And the merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo 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 precious wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and amomum and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargo of horses and carriages and human beings and human lives." (Revelation 18:11-13 LSB)
The merchants weep because their consumer base has been liquidated. Their mourning is entirely self-interested. This is not the grief of a friend; it is the panic of a stockbroker whose prize company has just gone bankrupt. The long list of cargo that follows is a picture of opulent, decadent luxury. This is not a list of necessities. This is the stuff of kings and empires, of high-end, conspicuous consumption.
The list is meticulously structured, moving from the most precious materials to the mundane, and ending with the most sinister. It begins with precious metals and gems, the basis of wealth. It moves to luxurious fabrics, the clothing of royalty and priests, a bitter irony given that Jerusalem's priesthood had become utterly corrupt. Then we have expensive, imported woods and materials for fine furniture and art. After that, spices and perfumes, used not just for pleasure but for pagan religious rites. Then comes the foodstuffs, but even these are the best of the best: fine wine, oil, flour, and livestock. This was a city that feasted while the Messiah went hungry.
But the list takes a dark turn at the very end. After the horses and chariots, the instruments of war and power, we find the final, damning entry: "human beings and human lives." The Greek is literally "bodies and souls of men." This is the slave trade. The entire glittering economy of the harlot city, this whole system of luxurious consumption, was built on the buying and selling of human beings. This is the ultimate commodification. When a culture rejects God as the Lord of life, it will inevitably begin to treat men, made in His image, as mere objects, as items on a shipping manifest.
This was literally true of Jerusalem's relationship with Rome, but it is spiritually true of every system that prioritizes profit over people. When mammon is your god, you will eventually sacrifice human souls on its altar. This is the rotten core of the harlot's economy. It is not just that she is rich; it is that her riches are soaked in the blood of the exploited and the souls of the damned.
The Great Dispossession (vv. 14-19)
The lament continues, emphasizing the suddenness and totality of the loss.
"And the fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were splendid and shining have passed away from you and men will no longer find them... for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!" (Revelation 18:14, 17 LSB)
Here the Spirit of God addresses the harlot city directly. "The fruit you long for," or literally, "the fruit of the desire of your soul," is gone. All the things she craved, all the splendid and shining trinkets she lived for, have vanished. This is the great irony of materialism. The materialist lives for stuff, but stuff does not last. He builds his house on the sand of the stock market, the housing market, the latest trend. And when the storm of God's judgment comes, it is all washed away in an instant.
Notice the repetition of "in one hour." This is not a slow decline. It is a sudden, catastrophic collapse. One moment, the city is the center of global commerce, clothed in fine linen and adorned with gold. The next, it is a smoking ruin. This is to teach us the fragility of all earthly wealth and power. Men spend their whole lives accumulating things, building their little empires, but God can blow it all away in a moment. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19).
The merchants, shipmasters, and sailors all "stand at a distance." They are close enough to see the smoke, but they dare not get any closer for fear of the torment. This is not a posture of sympathy. It is a posture of self-preservation and horror. They are like investors watching a mushroom cloud rise over Wall Street. Their actions are dramatic, they throw dust on their heads, they cry and mourn, but their grief is for their own lost fortunes. "Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who have ships at sea became rich by her wealth." Their central complaint is that the source of their riches is gone. They loved her for her money, not for herself, and certainly not for her God.
The Commanded Joy of the Saints (v. 20)
After this crescendo of worldly grief, the scene shifts to the heavens with a shocking command.
"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her." (Revelation 18:20 LSB)
While the world weeps, Heaven rejoices. This is the great reversal. The world laments the loss of its treasure, while the saints celebrate the vindication of God's justice. This is not a command to be vindictive or to take personal, petty delight in the suffering of others. That is a sin. Rather, this is a command to rejoice in the righteousness of God. It is a command to love what God loves, and God loves justice.
Remember, this harlot city was "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Revelation 17:6). She was the one who killed the prophets, who stoned those sent to her, and who ultimately crucified the Lord of glory. The souls under the altar had been crying out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10). This judgment is the answer to that prayer.
Therefore, the saints, apostles, and prophets are commanded to rejoice. Why? Because God has "pronounced judgment for you against her." The Greek is more literally, "God has judged your judgment out of her." God has taken up their cause. He has vindicated their testimony. Their deaths were not in vain. Their persecution was not forgotten. God's justice, which often seems so slow to our impatient eyes, is nevertheless certain and perfect. The rejoicing is not over the destruction of souls, but over the triumph of God's holy character. When Babylon falls, it is a declaration to the entire cosmos that God is on His throne, that righteousness will prevail, and that the blood of His saints is precious in His sight.
Conclusion: Whose Economy Are You In?
This passage forces a fundamental question upon us. In which economy are you an investor? Are you invested in the economy of Babylon or the economy of the New Jerusalem?
The economy of Babylon is built on the love of splendid and shining things. It values gold over godliness, profit over people, and comfort over truth. It measures success by the size of your portfolio and the luxury of your lifestyle. It deals in the souls of men. And it is destined to go up in smoke in a single hour.
The economy of the Kingdom, by contrast, is built on laying up treasures in heaven. It is an economy of self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence. It measures wealth not by what you keep, but by what you give away for the sake of the gospel. Its currency is faith, hope, and love. Its great commodity is the souls of men, not sold into slavery, but redeemed from it by the blood of the Lamb.
When we see the merchants weeping over their lost cargo, we should be warned. Anything you possess that you cannot bear to lose is an idol. Any wealth that is not held in open hands, ready to be used for the Kingdom, is a snare. The Lord is not calling us to be destitute ascetics. He is calling us to be faithful stewards who understand the difference between temporary trinkets and eternal treasure.
The judgment that fell on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was a preview of the final judgment that will befall the entire world system that is at enmity with God. The smoke of that judgment will rise forever. The merchants of this world will stand at a distance and weep. But the saints of God will stand before the throne and rejoice, not because men have perished, but because God has been vindicated, His bride has been purified, and His righteous kingdom has come in all its fullness.