Revelation 18:15 Commentary and Bible Study

Will they repent? No. We see fear; we see regret; we see a tremendous sense of loss; but we do not see any acknowledgement that God was right to judge. What do the merchants of the world have left once God has taken away all their worldly goods. ‘Alas, alas’, they cry; it isn’t fair. They are inconsolable. This is God acting, but he shouldn’t have done it. You can almost read between the lines. They never thought it would be destroyed. They have no love for God, no appreciation of his justice, no fruits of righteousness in their lives, no desire to be with God in heaven. They have attached themselves to a world which is perishing, and they will perish with it. She has become an object of fear to them; they can see that her judgment is overwhelming and they dare not approach near to her. They remember her former glory, but they cannot undo what God has done to her. The merchants are those who have encouraged others to love the world and fed off their lusts. They join others in loving the world, but they have harvested human lusts to make themselves rich. The worship of the world and all that it produces and all it can give you, and its appearances, and what people think of you, and your greatness and glory: all this is condemned here.