Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #15 of Revelation, chapter 18, and we are continuing to look at Revelation 18:7:

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

We were looking at how Babylon had glorified herself, which goes against what God would have for mankind, who is created in His image, to do.  Man was created to glorify God, but man falls short of the glory of God, the Bible tells us.  In his fallen condition, mankind attempts to glorify themselves and Satan also seeks to glorify himself, so it is a natural thing for the kingdom of Satan to be involved in self-glorification.  Of course, it is all terrible sin and terrible pride and arrogance that the kingdom of Satan, the nations of the world, are so much involved in their self glory, but they fail to glorify God and therefore, it also says in Revelation 18:7:

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously…

This word translated as “deliciously” is Strong’s #4763 and it is found twice in Revelation, chapter 18.  A related word is also found one time in Revelation, chapter 18.  It says in Revelation 18:9:

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,

It is the same word found in verse 7.  Also, it says back in Revelation 18:3:

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

The word “delicacies” is the related word to the word translated as “lived deliciously.” 

These are the only places that this Greek word and the related word are found, so we cannot turn elsewhere to get any further commentary on it.  We have to just see how God is using it here, but we can see that it has to do with delighting in the pleasures of sin or the riches of this world.  This is certainly true of the people of the world.  They do live “deliciously,” as they indulge in and partake of the things of this world.

It goes on to say in Revelation 18:7:

… so much torment and sorrow give her…

The word “torment” is Strong’s #929 and we have seen it used a few times before in the study of Revelation.  If we go back to Revelation, chapter 9, we read of the locusts in the Day of Judgment and it says in Revelation 9:3-5:

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

As we discussed previously in a good amount of detail, the locusts are a picture of God’s elect, the complete number of those that God had saved.  That fact permitted God to shut the door of heaven and end His salvation program and this is the cause of the torment of the unsaved people of the earth.  It goes on to say that in Revelation 9:6:

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

The “death” they will seek is to die in Christ, the identification with the death of Christ that comes with salvation.  They will seek to become saved and to have their sins paid for by Christ (thereby dying in Him) and, yet, they will not find that death.  They will “desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”  In other words, salvation will remain far from them and they will not be able to attain it.  That is the primary source of “torment” that God is bringing upon the unsaved people for a figurative “five months,” which represents the complete period of Judgment Day.  Judgment Day will very likely be 1,600 days, but it is typified by five months, just as the Great Tribulation was an actual 8,400 days, but was typified as seven months.  So when we take the seven months and the five months, we come up with a total of twelve months or a figurative “one year” of judgment at the end of the world, the judgment of all unsaved mankind within the churches or outside of the churches.  Again, at this time the judgment of God is the conclusion of His salvation program.

Also, it speaks of Babylon’s fall in Revelation 14:8 and then it says in Revelation 14:10-11:

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Now, again, this is talking about the beginning of Judgment Day, which began on May 21, 2011 and all the days thereafter, the days after the Tribulation that we are told about in Mark 13, verse 24.  That is when God is administering the cup of wrath to Babylon, all the unsaved people of the world, as well as to Satan and the fallen angels.  They are “tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”  God is administering the cup of wrath in the presence of the holy “messengers,” so we are witnesses of it. 

Then it refers to “the smoke of their torment,” and, again, the torment involves the finalization of God’s salvation program and the fact that the door is shut and the Light of the Gospel has been removed.   Spiritually, it is as if this is burning the wicked with the fire of the wrath of God and the “smoke” is rising up: “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”  We have talked about this before, but the Greek word translated as “for” can rightly be translated as “to” or “unto,” so it would say, “And the smoke of their torment ascends up to the point of for ever and ever,” or to the point when eternity begins; that is, they suffer the wrath of God while the world is continuing until the completion of this world and then their torment will cease.  They will suffer “unto” for ever and ever because then God will destroy them and bring in the new heaven and new earth and eternity future.

Notice that it says in Revelation 14:11: “and they have no rest day nor night.”  The word “rest” can be shown to tie into resting in salvation in Christ, but now there is no salvation so none are able to “rest” in Him day or night throughout the prolonged period of Judgment Day.  God is pouring out His wrath, so this is a period in which unsaved man cannot “rest” day or night throughout the very likely 1,600 days of final judgment.  So we see why God is referring to “torment,” because the previous verse mentioned the cup of wrath, just as in Revelation, chapter 14, where God was meting out justice through the cup of His wrath and He spoke of the “torment” of the unsaved.  Here, too, it said in verse 6, “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.”  This mean that the “two thirds” are impacted with the judgment upon all the world rather than the judgment on the “one third,” which was exclusively upon the churches.  So now the punishment is “doubled.” 

Then God points out Babylon’s tremendous sin, her great pride and how she has glorified herself and lived deliciously and then it goes on to say, in Revelation 18:7:

… so much torment and sorrow give her…

The word “sorrow” is Strong’s #3997 and this word actually means “to mourn,” as when someone dies.  This is why it goes on to say in the rest of verse 7:

… so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Again, the second word “sorrow” is the same word that is translated this way twice in the verse, but notice it is used in association with Babylon saying she “is no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”  That is because a widow mourns when her husband dies, but Babylon is saying that she will not be mourning and will not sorrow over the loss of her husband.

This word is translated as “mourning” in James 4:9-10:

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

But this is the problem of the world: they laugh now and they are not broken in heart.  They are not sorry for their sin so they do not weep and mourn.  There is no fear of God before them, so they are apparently not in trouble as other men.  This is language the Bible uses.  But remember what God says in Luke, chapter 6, where the Lord really shows us the condition that prevailed for the people of God for much of earth’s history and how they went through life in this world and how the world responded to them.  Then God turns it around and what was true of the people of God will be true for the unsaved in the Day of Judgment.  Likewise, what is true of the unsaved in the normal course of history will also be true of the people of God in the Day of Judgment.  It says in Luke 6:21-25:

Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.  Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Going back to verse 21, it says, “Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.”  This would be referring to the elect that are humble and broken and contrite and lowly; they see their sin and God deals with them according to their sin as He chastens His children.  Really, life was very difficult for the child of God. 

On the other hand, it says, “Woe unto you that laugh now!”  The world laughs; they dance and play; they eat, drink and are merry, for they think all is well.  That has been the theme of the world all through history.  They live their lives and they die in a day and go down to the grave, but they had little concern as they laughed while they lived.

They laughed during the day of salvation as God’s people brought the Gospel with weeping and sorrow and mourning, as the Psalm tells us.  That is how the Gospel was brought and at that time the world “laughed.”  Then, in the Day of Judgment, everything is reversed.  Those that “laughed” now “mourn” and those that “mourned” now “laugh.”  Of course, it does not mean that the child of God laughs literally at the calamity of unsaved mankind, but this is how God views it.  Spiritually, God looks at things in a completely different way.  The true believers are not going forth with mourning and weeping with the Gospel in the hopes that people will hear and become saved any longer.  That is not happening.  We are publishing the news of Babylon’s fall and we are “feeding sheep,” but we are not bringing a Gospel that can save anyone.  And that is a big difference.

Now God likens the unsaved people of the world to those that are weeping and mourning at this time.  This is why in Revelation, chapter 18, in the time of Babylon’s fall and the Day of Judgment, we read this in Revelation 18:8-10:

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

We find this language of the “kings of the earth,” the “merchants of earth” are weeping and mourning.  There is no more rejoicing in life and the things of this world.  They had lived “deliciously,” with the abundance of the delicacies of Babylon and without a care in the world.  But, God is saying that now it has changed spiritually and now those that had laughed mourn and those that had mourned are now to laugh. 

Remember what we read in Psalm 137, which started out in Psalm 137:1:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

But, at the end of the Psalm, there is a change, as it turns about and says in Psalm 137:7-9:

Remember, O JEHOVAH, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be hat taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

The word “happy” means “blessed,” but this indicates that the weeping has passed and the time of mourning is over for God’s people.  Now Babylon is the one that is weeping.  Babylon is the one mourning.  It is the time of the judgment of the world.

The last part of our verse says, in Revelation 18:7:

…… so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

In order to understand the last part of this verse, we will have to go back to Isaiah, chapter 47.  We do not have time to go over it now, but I will just give you some advance notice and tell you that it describes Babylon with the same type of language.  Let me read some of those verses, in Isaiah 47:7:

And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.

We see that Revelation 18, verse 7, is really quoting from this verse in Isaiah 47.  Lord willing, in our next study we will come back here to Isaiah, chapter 47, and take a closer look.