Reading for May 11th

Read Revelation 18.1-19 In 18.1-19.10: The songs over Babylon lament and rejoicing. In verse 2: Fallen, fallen is repeated from 14.8. Babylon (Rome; see 14.6;17.5) is now portrayed as deserted and desolate. In verse 4: Another voice because it now addresses the faithful. Come out is a call for separation; the seven messages give some sense of what such sepearation entailed (see 2.13-16; 3.20-25). In verse 6: Render ... as she ... rendered is a call to appropriate justice (see 16.6). In verse 7: As ... so is a similar call, but adding the notion that the accumulation of wealth and privilege is itself worthy of retribution. In verses 9-19: A dirge in three parts. The kings of the earth mourn the destruction of the great city (see comments on 11.8; 17.18). In verses 11-13: The merchants mourn her lost of wealth; notice how the list ends; slaves-and human lives. There is an implicit indictment of wealth and oppression in these poems. In verses 17-18: The shipmasters mourn the loss of commerce. The image of the great city here is appropriate only to a city like Rome (not Jerusalem, an inland city). Comments or Questions..