[Study Aired May 11, 2025] 

Rev 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,
Rev 18:10 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.
Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

Introduction

Our last study of the judgment of this great harlot within us was concerned with what the holy spirit called “the kings of the earth” who committed fornication with her. In this study our concentration will be upon that part of this great harlot which the holy spirit calls “the merchants of the earth” who are made rich by “their merchandise” which we no longer appreciate nor value as our eyes and ears are being opened to the adulterous ways of this great spiritual harlot.

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Why would anyone ‘buy’ into the false doctrines of an immortal soul being tormented for all eternity for sins committed in a life that is a vapor which appears for a moment and vanishes away after they learn that Christ did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved?

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Consistent with all the rest of scripture, James is teaching us that our perception of being able to freely choose what we will do is in reality just an illusion, and our will and all our actions are in fact a work of the Lord which we unwittingly are performing “after the counsel of His own will”:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That God is working all things after the counsel of His own will is a doctrine which ‘the merchants of the earth’ despise and have replaced with the false doctrine that God has given mankind a will that is completely free of His influence. That bit of ‘merchandise’ flies in the face of this Truth, which is also consistent with all the rest of scripture:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

For many years, while in the clutches of this great harlot, I quoted Philippians 2:12 as scriptural proof of the fabled doctrine of mankind having been given a will which was free from any influence from God. I was shocked when the Lord finally opened my blinded eyes to see that the reason we are to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” was “for [G1063: ‘gar’, because] it is God that [was] working in [us] both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

Our ‘will’ and our ‘do[ing], our actions, even “the answer of our tongues”, good or evil, are “from the Lord.” That is the Truth which is consistent with all the rest of the Word of God:

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

What this verse is telling us is that when we begin to form a thought, “the preparations of [‘our] the heart” for good or for evil, we are being influenced by the Lord, and therefore “the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” and not from our fabled ‘free will.’

Why would anyone buy into the misery-producing doctrine which teaches that most of our loved ones who have died are at this moment writhing in excruciating pain in literal flames of eternal, never-ending fire, when the Truth is that Christ has stated plainly that He wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of The Truth:

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

The blinded carnal mind subconsciously makes that verse to say that the Lord ‘desires’ that all men should be saved, but our free will prevents Him from accomplishing His ‘desire’ to “have all men to be saved.” Is that true? Is Paul simply telling us that God’s futile desire is for all men to be saved? Allowing that 1Timothy 2:4 should read ‘Who desires all men to be saved’ it turns out that none of the Lord’s ‘desires’ are futile desires, but are certain to be done. We know this is so simply because the Lord tells us it is so:

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Unlike many who turn this knowledge that God intends to save all men into the licentious and lascivious doctrine of ‘greasy grace’, the True doctrine of Christ is that “grace chastens us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts” and to live righteously in this world:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’ chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  

“The seven last plagues” which will “fill up the wrath of God” upon Babylon within us are that ‘chastening grace’ which prepare us to be able to begin “enter[ing] into the temple.”

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Christ is our temple, and we cannot begin to enter into Him or into His rest until we have begun to fulfill these seven plagues of the seven angels.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. [aorist tense, being fulfilled]

When the seven plagues are beginning to be fulfilled within our life, then we hear these words, “It is done.” Before “it is done… great Babylon must come in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.”

Giving Babylon within us “the cup of the wine of the fierceness of God’s wrath” is the great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.“ This earthquake is accompanied by “a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent”:

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found[The false doctrines of Babylon which dominate our beast].
Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed [Aorist tense] God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Oh, yes, we do blaspheme God by simply believing that God is a monster who will torment His creatures in eternal fire. The verb ‘blasphemed’ is in aorist tense meaning it is a simple fact without regard to any particular tense. Even the apostle Paul “was a blasphemer”:

1Ti 1:12  And I [Paul] thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
1Ti 1:13  Who [Paul] was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Revelation 15:1, Psalms 107 and 2 Thessalonians 1, are all referring to the judgment of the seven last plagues. “All our persecutions and tribulations” are described as “a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God”, which ‘judgment’ is a “great and marvellous” work of the Lord’s judgment upon the beast we all are by virtue of being shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin:

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Psa 107:1  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3  And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
Psa 107:4  They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5  Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7  And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Psa 107:8  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful [“Great and marvelous… seven last plagues”] works to the children of men!

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble [vs 6].
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful [“Great and marvelous” (Rev 15:1)] works to the children of men!

What does this “hail out of heaven… the weight of a talent” accomplish? Here is what spiritual hail will do in the life of the believer.

Exo 9:19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

What does a spiritual earthquake accomplish?

Isa 29:4 And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Isa 29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
Isa 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

Act 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Babylon is our prison. Let us see what this great earthquake such as was not since men were on the earth accomplishes within us, and let’s see why a plague of hailstones the weight of a talent is needed to accomplish within us what has not to this time been accomplished. Let’s see now how this event brings us to “lose the desire of our souls.”

Rev 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,
Rev 18:10 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.

We have seen that “the kings of the earth” are our carnal desires which are all based upon the lies of Babylon which have ruled our lives. They are seven “heads, mountains, and kings” simply because they complete the hold which Babylon has upon us. As is revealed in Genesis, “the dream is one”, and these three symbols all symbolize just one beast. In reality Babylon’s judgment is the judgment of these “kings of the earth” whose loss is so severe that they are pictured as distancing themselves from Babylon within us, “standing afar off for fear of her torment”, saying “That great city… in one hour is thy judgment come.” The truth is that Babylon’s judgment is the judgment of these seven kings.

“One hour” indicates that these things all happen quickly and are not done over an entire age. These seven last plagues all fill up God’s wrath within us. Therefore they are our judgment, and while it seems like an eternity, it really lasts but for “a small moment.”

Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

“In a little wrath…” These plagues are “the seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God”, which is “for a small moment” before “He will with everlasting kindness have mercy upon us.”

The remainder of this study will concentrate on the merchandise of the merchants of Babylon, and why we stop buying their merchandise:

Rev 18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Let’s read again what has taken place within us when the seven angels have poured out their plagues within us and we have begun fulfilling the seven plagues of the seven angels. Here is what then takes place within us:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Now we know why Christ did not reveal to us the day of His birth in a body of flesh and blood, and we are told that we are to “know no man after the flesh.” These are, without question, just a part of “the fruit our souls desire.” All the celebrations of the flesh are now known no longer within us. “The merchants of the earth” are now completely robbed of a market for their merchandise, and now “no man buys their merchandise any more.”

As a “new man” our desires and priorities have all been changed. We are no longer focused on the things of this earth. We will, in our own time, come to appreciate these words.

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

“All things are become new” most certainly includes the ‘merchandise’ we now ‘desire.’ If we do not know Christ Himself after the flesh, then we certainly are not going to be celebrating the birth of His flesh which was resurrected and “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” so as to keep it from corrupting.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Spirit is a realm which is outside of time with all of its limitations. It is a realm which is abhorred by the realm of the flesh to which we are to be crucified with its affections and lusts.

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Now let’s examine the ‘merchandise’ which “the merchants of the earth” have to offer:

Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
Rev 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

There is no need to repeat all the things which “are departed from [us]” which are listed in these three verses. I have underlined those things which are found in abundance in Babylon which are also used to build upon the foundation of Christ:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The “gold, silver, and precious stones… the pearls… and fine linen, and the fine flour” of Babylon all appear to our carnal mind as the “gold, silver and precious stones, and the fine linen and fine flour” which signify the materials we are to use to build upon the foundation of Christ and clothe and feed His elect. See what we are told about the gold and silver of Babylon:

Jas 5:2  Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

“Eat your flesh as it were fire” are the very words used to describe what we do to this great harlot when we first come to see how she has deceived and has taken advantage of us:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

James 5:2-3 are addressed to “ye rich men”:

Jas 5:1  Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Notice where Revelation 18 tells us these rich men gain their wealth:

Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

That the rich men to whom James speaks are the same as the merchants who are made rich by Babylon’s merchandise is made manifest in that Revelation 18:13 tells us that part of the merchandise of this great whore is “slaves and the souls of men”:

Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Is that not exactly what holding back wages, and “killing the just” amounts to:

Jas 5:4  Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Jas 5:5  Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Jas 5:6  Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

Verse 14 sums it all up. These are the symbols of “the fruits [our] soul lusts after.” These are the symbols of all the merchandise of the “merchants of the earth” who pedal their goods in this great harlot system which claims to be teaching the doctrines of Christ:

2Co 2:17 For we are not as the majority, who are peddling the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God in Christ, are we speaking. (LEB)

Anyone who charges you a penny for “the things of the spirit” is “peddling the Word of God” and is not yet in fellowship with the Christ of the gospel of God. The ‘gold, silver and precious stones, and pearls’ of such ‘peddlers’ are the “cankered” gold and silver of:

Jas 5:3  Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

It is spiritually cankered gold and silver, spiritual abominations with which Babylon the great appeals to our souls. “All things which were dainty and goodly.” All the songs and celebrations of all that Babylon has to offer.

However, the merchandise of “the merchants of the earth” who have gotten rich by peddling their cankered gold, silver and precious stones and moth eaten ‘linen’ to us for so long, have taken all these things and turned them into idols and have committed fornication with their own idols, “images of men” idols of the heart. This is what Ezekiel has to say about this very same harlot:

Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Eze 16:16  And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.
Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,
Eze 16:18  And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.
Eze 16:19  My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them [the images you made of My gold and My silver (vs 17)] for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:20  Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them [these false doctrines] to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

The gold, silver and precious stones, and the fine linen and fine flour are the very things with which we are admonished to build upon the foundation of Christ and with which we are to be clothed and fed.  Babylon has taken the Lord’s gold and silver and has used them to form idols of her heart, made to appear as the Lord’s Words. Babylon has taken the Lord’s clothes and His food and used it to make the idols of her heart appear to be the Word of God. Her fine flour is also being used to feed  her idols to whom she has sold herself. Such perversions of the Lord’s Words are never to be mixed in with His “gold, silver and precious stones” when we are building on the foundation of the Christ and serving Him in His tabernacle:

1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ [but not after the flesh].
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

God’s fire burns up all the wood, hay and stubble, but gold, silver and precious stones are only purified and are created by this heat and this fire. The gold, silver and precious stones all symbolize the things which are to be found in the temple of God. Babylon has used these things to form idols of men, meaning lies with which she has made all her dainty things and together they are “odors and ointments” which our flesh, in and of itself, simply cannot refuse. These are all expressed “not in words which man’s wisdom teaches.”

1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

These symbols of these verses of this revelation of Jesus Christ are “the hidden wisdom, which God has ordained before the world unto our glory.” These words of “hidden wisdom” are the exact opposite of “the fruits your soul desires.” These words of “hidden wisdom” are “the power of God.” What is this “hidden wisdom”?

Job 28:20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
Job 28:21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
Job 28:22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
Job 28:23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
Job 28:24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
Job 28:25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
Job 28:26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Job 28:27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

The mind that has wisdom knows that these seven kings, seven mountains and seven heads of this beast on which the great harlot sits and rules are the same ‘beast’ whose number is 666. The mind that has wisdom knows that number is the number of all mankind who all, by nature, are in rebellion against the law of God:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind [of wisdom] calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.

The mind that has wisdom knows that the waters on which the whore sits are measured by God, and can do nothing more or less than He decrees. The mind that has wisdom “trembles at the word of the Lord” and knows that the fear of the Lord is wisdom. This is the goodness of God. This is the gospel of the kingdom of God, and this is the revelation of Jesus Christ within His Christ.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
Rev 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will see that the beginning of the destruction of Babylon necessitates the destruction of the merchants who are the purveyors of the lies of Babylon, and who are made rich by her lies and deceits which no longer hold us in their snare. We will be reminded of what ‘the sea’ signifies and who has ships in ‘the sea’, and who is “made rich by reason of her costliness.”

Rev 18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.