Translation
They threw dust on their heads, and cried,
weeping and mourning, and saying, ‘Alas! Alas for that
great city,
in which all who have boats in the sea were made rich through her wealth,
for in one hour
she has been made desolate.
Paraphrase
They demonstrated a state of intense grief, crying,
weeping, mourning out loud, and saying, ‘We grieve, we mourn, for that great center of power and prestige, in which all who bring merchandise from afar have been made wealthy
through her wealth, because in one climactic moment she has been made nothing.
Immorality Can Be Lucrative
Consider how much money is to be made through movies, video games, pornography, prostitution, and such things. The entertainment industry is involved in huge projects and pulls in huge profits; it also has a huge influence on the moral direction of a society. The negative effects of pornography and prostitution are obvious, yet they are very profitable industries because sin sells. The trafficking of illegal drugs is a hugely profitable, yet destructive business. What about human trafficking? Is there money to be made through forced sexual slavery? Indeed, there is money in it, or sex slavery would not be occurring. Then there are things we don’t think of as often, like money laundering, financial exploitation, and financial manipulation of entire economies. While the definition of exploitation may be argued back and forth, and while the term “exploitation” has often been applied in ways that may not be accurate, any true exploitation or abuse of others for the purposes of personal advancement is evil.
Babylon represents the entire system or way of doing things that the world has developed which promotes and benefits from lascivious, lewd, immoral, and unjust behavior. That is because immorality sells very well. People will pay hard-earned money in an attempt to satisfy their sinful cravings, only to find that they did not achieve the level of satisfaction they desired and must go deeper into that same practice and spend more money than before. Some of the businessmen who have jumped on those bandwagons have become very wealthy by providing what people crave. Don’t stand in their way or oppose them; if you do, you will pay the price. Large companies will fight hard in court, or even in nefarious ways, to keep what they have built for themselves.
But not all big companies are bad; being big is not evil.
The picture being painted for us by the use of “Babylon” in this passage is simply that some unspecified “something,” which makes such sinful practices possible and profitable, will be brought down by God at some point. Then all those who profited in those ways will mourn their loss of income.
Does Babylon refer to an actual place, like a city or a country? Probably not. Does it refer to the ideology and attitudes of those involved? Probably so. Does it also refer to structures and mechanisms that make those types of businesses possible? Probably so. Is there more to it than what I have mentioned? Likely so. So we should not focus on Rome or any other city, but on attitudes and habits that make these forms of evil possible.
This is a great encouragement to anyone who has suffered long and bitter persecution at the hands of the powerbrokers of society. If a follower of Jesus has paid a price for not condoning the nefarious practices of the power-hungry, he will feel a sense of justification when he sees his oppressors having to pay a price themselves if they do not repent. All the suffering of the saint will be worth it because no one wants to be on the receiving end of God’s punishment.