The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 399

illJIIC8, bui a mere meteor', brilliant and mft fO?' a moment, then bleck and atm · a ever. A.. there ia a law of diaintegration ill the mat.erial universe, that 110 separa.tea the h11g,eat mountains that they ultimately disappear, so there ia In the moral a law of retribtaion, which will ultimately break into pitcea the world of oorrupt IOCiet7. Bab!ion must .fall, ' •. ll. IT IS KAlID'EBTLy DEBDVED. The description here given reveals mch a oondition of moril.l ftiulness and wickedn81111 u not only to merit but to demand this doom, .. h become the [a] habitation of devils, and the [al hold of ev8!1 foul (unclean] spirii, and a cage [a hold] of every unclean and hateful "'binl" (ver. 2). As in the ruins of old oities, ihe cormorant, the acreech-owl, the. vulture, and other hideous creatures are found, so In this moral Babylon are found the most horrible and detestable of all e:sistenoes. Th~ utter extermination, or rather extinction, of auoh objects is urgentl7 required: But this is not ell. Mark ita appalling wickednesa. " For all nations have d;unk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication [For by the wine or the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen], and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through [by] the abundance [power] of her delicacies f,wantonness]" (ver. 3). •• Reference here is not," says an expositor, "made to earth y but to spiritual wares-Indulgences, idolatries, anperstitions, and worldly compromises." Doea not auch a corrupt society, such a mo:al Bahyion, juatly deserve this miserable ending? . "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth fortlr death." The aeeds of ruin lie in every evil principle, and are found in the moral hart of men. These seeds must break into fruits of rankling poison sooner or later. lIL IT 18 A. IIEA.80111 l'OB QUITTllfG IT. "And I heard another voice from heaven, Dying, Come out of her, my people [Come forth, my people, out of her], that ye be not partakers [have no fellowshipJ of [with) her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (ver. 4). .As the house is falling, let the tenants quit and save their lives; the oity is about breaking into flames, ,herefore escape to the mountains. This voice fro111 heaven suggeat.s: L ~e pouibility of good men li11iflg in thu corrupt 1oci6~ thiamoral Babylon, "Come out of her, my people." Good men are found living and WQl'king in the midst of a "wicked and pt,rverse generation." There were a few men in corrupt Sarois who "walked with God." 'l'he depravities of our contemporaries and neighbours are no justification for our defects. They should rather warn us against the wrong, and stimulate us to the right. 2. That good men, ,mlua they quit this «>rf'flpt aociety, tDiU bt, invol»ed in its gm1t and fate. "That ye be not partakers of her sins." 'rb8 exodus here demanded is not, of course, bodily, but spiritual ; not from places, but from principles ; 110t from persons, but from characters ; from the corrupt spirit of places and persons. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive yen," Unl8811 you do so you will be tainted with the.it impurity and afflicted with theirplagues. IV. IT IS A. DEVELOPKEN'l' OP aETBIBUTION. " For her sins have 1'$lChed unto heaven, and God bath remembered her iniquities. Reward her [render unto her) even as she rewarded you [rendered1 and double unto her double [the double] according to .her worka t• (vers. 5, 6). "The idea is of a great heap firmly fast.ened, and towering, like another Babel, as far aa heaven (comp. 2 Ohron. :u:viii. 9; Ezra ix. 6). The idea is more than that. of the cry of sin reaching heaven, as in the case of Sodom (Chn. xviii. 20, 21); the Bins themselves, many and imperial, have touched the face of heaven. God bath remembered her, Sometimes the oppressed have thought that <rod bath. forgotten the voice of the enemy i but the long-suffering of the Lord ia aalvation. The same voice which bids the people of God come forth summons the agents ohengeance. Many Old Testament parallels will suggest themselves (Jer. li. 18; Ps.lxxix.12; cx:u:vii.8; Isa. xL 2). The 'double' must not betaken to mean 'double her sins.' Her sina are themselves called double, and her judgment is according to her alna. She is double-stained in wickedn81111, and the law of retribution fiercely works in her. 'l'he cup of her luxuriousness becomes the cup of vengeance. The flowery pa.th hu led to the broad gate and the great fire" (Bishop of Ripon). The ruin comes, then, not as a casual event, nor as a positive infliction, but as the result of the eternal law of retribution: a law silent in its operations, resistless in its force, and inevitable in its issues. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for what.waver a man soweth, that shall lle alao reap." Thie law of moral e&uaation links Bin to misery u indissolubly u GJLXVltt. 1-24.J THE :0.EVELATlON OF ST. JOHN 'l'HB DIVINB. '"3