Revelation 18:9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,
10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
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.
The period of mourning is not about the “departed”, it is about the one who is left and how long it takes to release the emotional attachment to the departed. The mourner’s soul is the issue. The “kings of the earth” are those in leadership roles of the religious system and they will be the ones who suffer the greatest loss. Their temporal positions of power and authority will disintegrate by the fire of FATHER’S judgment. Their time of exploitation will be at an end.
Notice that the kings distance themselves from the harlot system… so much for their loyalty to her. The others who benefited from the harlot system are the merchants. Consider all of the resources we have expended and sent down the “black hole” of the religious system while our brothers were in need. When you look at the list of merchandise, you find that it all went into the church edifice for one purpose or another. The walls, the altar, window coverings, the various sacrifices, and most of all- the bodies and souls of men.
The body of a man represents his labor and the soul of man represents his thinking and intent. Mystery Babylon managed to use up the bodies and souls of men and the merchants were more than willing to promote this expenditure. Their greed was more important than the souls of men. Their lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life motivated them to exploit mankind and resources for a temporal high in their own souls. Now they weep and lament over the loss of their means to continue their path of greed. The “fruit” of their soul has gone from them. Their worldly trappings have been stripped away and they will find them no more.
The mind, will, and emotion found in the souls of the kings and merchants will be judged accordingly. Those fleshly desires deep within the soul will be exposed by the fiery Word and they will weep when they realize the futility of their past actions and will be full of regret. Everything they stood for will be gone in one hour. They will finally see the lack of Agape Love in their lives and they will mourn over all their accomplishments that meant nothing in the end.
Another aspect of this passage is that the “kings” of the earth represent the ego which continually looks to place man in servitude and have man worship those things that appease the ego such as self-gratification, self-preservation, and self-exaltation. Anything that leads you away from unity with FATHER must be classified as adultery, that is to say the “act of fornication”. The Bride of Christ is meant to be in unity with Jesus, not religion. The children of Israel committed adultery with idols who kept their focus away from unity with Jehovah. Anything or anyone that keeps you from being “one” with the Love of Our Heavenly Father promotes adultery. Any intent within you that causes you to depart from FATHER’S Love and intimacy is adulterous as well. The act of adultery is simply the outworking of the internal, the intent. The issue is on the inside and that is where it must be dealt with.
The merchants can be viewed as those who promote religion for money for it is big business. There is nothing wrong with being a cheerful giver and/or receiver based on the intent of Love. When you are made to feel guilty if you don’t give, there is no cheerfulness. When religious doctrine creates laws and traditions that extract money to perpetuate its agenda, you have promoted the harlot system.
Those who have promoted the religious system will soon be in mourning. Their support structure will evaporate as FATHER reveals the harlot system to those who unwittingly supported it. HE will do so by raising the standard of Truth in Love. HIS Love expressed by HIS very elect will be irresistible and like a magnet, it will pull those in servitude out of their bondage to the harlot as well as its kings and merchants. O what a glorious and joyful day that will be!