Revelation Chapter 18 Verse 3

3 for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.”

Rome was a great military and commercial power, and Rome enticed other nations to follow her wicked example. Rome was powerful and arrogant and openly boasted of her abominations.

We are reminded of the description given in Isaiah 10:12-14 of the arrogant boasting and haughty pride of the king of Assyria, who says:

By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.

Rome had the same attitude as that Assyrian king and ultimately suffered the same fate.

The reference in verse 3 to the “merchants of the earth” is important. As we like to say today, if you want to understand something, then just follow the money. And if you followed the money in the first century you would end up in Rome. It was money that kept the emperors in power because it was money that allowed them to keep the army happy, and no emperor ruled very long when the army was unhappy. It was Roman money that fueled the fires of Rome’s power and of Rome’s persecution of the church, and God is including the merchants in this judgment of Rome. Then, as now, much and perhaps most of the misery in the world can be traced to greed. While the Christians were denying themselves, the Romans were denying themselves nothing. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

Please visit ThyWordIsTruth.com for free audio lessons on Revelation, for a unique daily Bible reading calendar, to read about God's plan of salvation, to read the answers to hundreds of questions submitted by our readers, and for much, much more.