Revelation Chapter 18

VERSE 7 “In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’”

TO THE DEGREE THAT SHE GLORIFIED HERSELF AND LIVED LUXURIOUSLY: Clearly, she exalted herself to the top and spared no expense for her comforts or in bragging about her wisdom.

TO THE SAME DEGREE GIVE HER TORMENT AND MOURNING: Truths are tormenting her; losing power and prestige causes her to mourn. These seem the opposites of Glory and Luxury. Rev 14:10 says that her torment is fire and brimstone — judgment and poisoning leading to extinction. She, like mankind, is subject to “dying thou shalt die.” The gradual death will have the fire of judgments and the brimstone of nausea. Her past luxuries have been fading; mourning is setting in.

FOR SHE SAYS IN HER HEART: She “says” this (present tense) in the days of the “voice from heaven” — the Seventh messenger. This claim is not now made — even if an attempt may be made to revive it (Isa. 23:17).

I SIT AS A QUEEN AND AM NOT A WIDOW: No king now claims her as his bride. She IS now a widow. Even in Brother Russell’s day when she made this claim, it was starting to ring hollow. The great, continent-wide beast was then down only to Italy under the sixth head of Victor Emanuel (See Revelation Chapter 17, Part 16, for more on this). She tried a new marriage with the Fascists, but that didn’t last long. Thus, her next words are particularly pathetic:

AND WILL NEVER SEE MOURNING: It is not wise to contradict a message from God which this verse just predicted. Her mourning began in 1914 and has been increasing. It will only grow worse — except for her momentary joy during her final fling as a harlot (Isa. 23:17).

“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.”

Brother Shallieu’s thoughts on Verse 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.”

For over a century the mother Church and her daughters have had a comfortable and prosperous living. This Laodicean adequacy and complacency (“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”—Rev. 3:17) is also reflected in the papal Church viewing herself as “a queen, and…no widow.” Her claim of not being a widow is predicated upon the supposed unbroken chain of apostolic succession of her popes (acting as head of the Church), who have survived despite the loss of temporal dominion.

Her further boast that she “shall see no sorrow” reveals the Babylonian spirit of pride and vain security while under long-term siege before sudden destruction. The order from God, “so much torment and sorrow give her,” pertains to the pouring of the plagues, particularly the seventh, which will be delivered with energy and conviction yet in the spirit of meekness, aided and directed by the Lord’s grace.

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans [Babylonians]; For you shall no longer be called The Lady of Kingdoms… And you said, ‘I shall be a lady forever,’ So that you did not take these things to heart, nor remember the latter end of them. “Therefore, hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, who dwell securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children’; But these two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments.” (Isa. 47:5,7–9).

VERSE 8 “Therefore [For this reason] her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”

FOR THIS REASON: — the reason of non-repentance and absolute pride.

IN ONE DAY: Suddenly (See Isa. 47:8-15 for a wonderful and detailed description of this “day”. Part of which Brother Shallieu quoted in the last verse.) This (“In one day”) is NOT a chronological symbol. Her plagues do not come in one year. Her widowhood is now some 50 years old — a fulfillment-proof that this does not refer to one year (Isa. 47:9).

Famine, for instance, takes more than one year’s crop failure. The word Day IS used elsewhere in Revelation without chronological application: See Rev 6:17, 8:12, and 16:14.

The application of the word “day” in Verse 8 is much like that in found in Rev 6:17 (“For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”)— The Day of Wrath refers to the general time of troubles. NOT to a specific day. The addition of the word “one” here is to give emphasis to the peculiarity of the time. Note, too, that the lamenting ones call the same period “one hour:” Rev 18:10, 17, 19.

HER PLAGUES WILL COME: The plagues here mentioned are, no doubt, the same as those of Chapter 16, but, instead of seven specific plagues, we here have the plagues summarized by four characteristics or results:

PESTILENCE (lit. = DEATH): The NAS translators evidently could not conceive of death as the FIRST plague! (This IS amazing since they seem to think that death in a human STARTS the subsequent torturing!) But a comparison to Isaiah 23:14 and 15 helps us understand.

“Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For your strength is laid waste. 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:

1914 brought a “destruction” which ends up actually being a 70-year “forgetting.” 1914 WAS a “death” (at least a death knell) for Babylon — the old order would never again “live” as it had in the past. This prophecy alone INSURED that Hitler would be a failure.

AND MOURNING: — which she said she would not see! Mourning is a response to loss — not to one’s own extinction! Babylon has suffered continual loss since 1914; she feels it. This is part of her “dying thou shall die” process; this is part of her SLOW BURN during which the saints must have patience. (Rev 14:12.)

AND FAMINE: Babylon, of course, never hungered for truth, so this is NOT what her famine consists of. But the things for which she always DID hunger (money, power, influence — the “last word” on any subject) have been continually denied her in this century. She DOES have a famine of reasonable explanations also.

AND SHE WILL BE BURNED UP WITH FIRE: — both gradually (Rev 14:10, 11, 12) and, eventually, totally (Rev 17:16).

“Symbolic fire–destructive calamities.” D39

FOR THE LORD GOD WHO JUDGES HER IS STRONG: God said that vengeance belonged to Him. While He has committed all judgment to the Son, it is His vengeance, His wrath (Rev 15:1) which is being exercised. No earthly power could successfully contend with the demon-dominated Babylon. It takes Divine Power and planning.

AT THIS POINT, the “voice from heaven” (Verse 4) switches from his admonition to the saints and his prayer to God to the delineation of the experiences of Babylon’s advocates — a delineation he detailed in Volume 4.

We will take a look at Brother Shallieu’s thoughts on Verse 8 in our next post.