Revelation Chapter 18

It is interesting to note that Isaiah 24 parallels Rev 18:21-24 even as Isaiah 23 paralleled the earlier verses.

Rev 18:22, 23 describe desolation.

“The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.”

“The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”

Jeremiah 7:34 and 25:10 use the same expression to picture Israel during the 70 years of desolation.

“Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.”

“Moreover, I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.”

It has been unfortunate that brethren have selected parts of these verses and applied them to the past. It neither fits the context nor proves the points they wish to make. It is important to note that Brother Russell, while he consistently applied “the voice of the bride and bridegroom” (Verse 23) to 1881, He DID NOT hold to that interpretation in the end.

His very last recorded thoughts on the matter look to a FUTURE FULFILLMENT. (See Q.B. 720 below.)

QUESTION The city of Babylon being a type, what did the river Euphrates represent?

ANSWER—

We have already suggested in print that Babylon represented in type the great system, mother and daughters, and that the Euphrates River represented in type the people supporting the system. Babylon is said to have been built over the river Euphrates; the river flowed through the center of it, and it was through the drying up of the river, by turning aside of the channel, you remember, that Cyrus entered in under the gate. That is the record of history. So, the Scriptures tell us that the water shall be dried up from symbolical Babylon.

Now just what that means we will find out better when it is fully accomplished, but it would seem as though the Lord puts water as representing two things: in one place water represents the truth, the river of water representing the river of truth; and in another place, especially in Revelation, right in this same connection, it says, “The waters that thou saw are people.”

Now whichever way you may apply that, whether it means that the truth will be turned aside and no longer flow through Babylon, or whether the people shall be turned aside and no longer support Babylon, both seem to be true.

It is true that the truth is already turning aside, and our Lord has already declared that the voice of the Bride and of the Bridegroom shall be no more heard in her at all.

We are not to expect truth in Babylon. There may be certain elements of truth (First principles, the milk of the word) still held by the dear friends there, because some of the Lord’s dear people are still in Babylon, and wherever they are they must speak for the Lord and for the truth; but the time is rapidly approaching when the voice of the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, and the voice of the Bride, the Church prospective, to be the Bride of Christ, will no longer be heard there.

Why is this?

It is because the Lord’s true people are waking up and heeding the Lord’s admonition: 

“Come out of her, MY PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.” This is the turning aside, then, of the truth, and of all these people who represent the truth, and the consequence is the fall of Babylon.

Verses 22 and 23 look back to what USED TO BE available when the Lord allowed the wheat and tares to grow together:

VERSE 22 “The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.”

THE SOUND OF HARPISTS: — those who harmoniously interpret the Word of God.

MUSICIANS: — those who sing (proclaim) the messages = witnessing Christians.

FLUTE PLAYERS: This symbol is a little obscure. Luke 7:32 might suggest an answer.

“They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not weep.’”

If a flute was played to get the response of dancing, it may symbolize the application of doctrine. Thus (as Brother Burns suggests) these may be character teachers.

TRUMPETERS: Because of the Seven trumpet sequence, trumpeting suggests dispensational-truth proclaimers.

NO CRAFTSMAN: — people who put things together — thus teachers. (The last part of this verse is spurious.)

VERSE 23 “The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”

THE LIGHT OF A LAMP — the truths of the Bible

AND VOICE OF THE BRIDEGROOM: Voice = message. The bridegroom’s age-long message was the Kingdom.

AND BRIDE: — the message of the bride has been joint heirship in the administration of the kingdom.

Thus ends the list of THINGS WHICH WERE — a sad condemnation of mis-use ending in destruction.

WILL NOT BE HEARD IN YOU: Note first that in the middle of Verse 22, and through Verse 23, John directly addressed Babylon even as each of the groups (except the last one — Verses 17-19) had done. It is almost like a judgmental finger-pointing. Perhaps the lesser “shipmasters, passengers,” etc. don’t do this because they don’t know how much responsibility (fault or guilt) rested on Babylon.

Most of the world has been and will be in ignorance of Babylon’s true colors until after her final destruction — when they poke around in the ashes and find the horrible remnants of her true self (Verse 24.)

ANY LONGER: — because she’s GONE — OFF THE SCENE. Thus the O. T. references to Jerusalem with the same language as these verses; the total effect of all these words is: this city NO LONGER FUNCTIONS.

FOR: — because. Here comes the REASON why Babylon lost all of the precious things that were once available to her:

YOUR MERCHANTS WERE THE GREAT MEN OF THE EARTH: One reason for her rejection, loss, and destruction is her collusion with the great men of the earth (rather than the great men of “heaven.”) Her temporal interests made her lose her spiritual riches. This HARLOTRY is the MAIN STATED reason for Babylon’s rejection.

BECAUSE: The REASON the men of the earth worked so closely with her is because:

ALL THE NATIONS WERE DECEIVED BY YOUR SORCERY: She resorted to “mysteries of faith” by which she DRUGGED the people into believing that church and state were God’s arrangement and the way things should be. Thus, she could MANIPULATE the peoples of the earth. She mixed faith with money and reaped thus a Judas reward. (Compare John 17:12 to 2 Thess. 2:3)

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…”

We will take a look at Brother Shallieu’s thoughts on Verses 22 and 23 in our next post.