The merchant, money changers and priest and others were all getting rich on the extortion of others. King Herod was rich off the backs of the people with his taxes, building his massive structures as monuments to himself, and keeping the Priesthood content by building them in the Temple.Jewish history records that these High priests who walked the temple courts during the first century, were despised by the majority of the people for their brutality and hunger for money. So much so that there is a strong condemnation of these men in the Talmud. Tosefta, Menachoth 13.21 states a Rabbinic Lament over the brutality of the Sadducees - Abba Saul Ben Betnith and Abba Jose Ben Johanan of Jerusalem say: “Woe to the house of Boethus! Woe to me because of their rods!" (Simon, son of Boethus, father in-law of Herod. He was a high priest during the reign of Herod the Great)
"Woe to the house of Qadros (Cantheros)! Woe to me because of their pens!" (Simon Cantheros was one of the high priests appointed during the rule of Herod Agrippa) “Woe to the house of Elhanan, woe to the house of whispers!" (Elhanan is translated ‘Ananus or Annas’ in Greek and here refers to the high priest Annas of the New Testament and his sons.) "Woe to the house of Elisha! Woe to me because of their pens!" "Woe to the house of Ismael Ben Phiabi! For they are high priests and their sons, treasurers and their sons-in-law who were (temple) officers!" "And their servants came and beat us up with staves!" (Ishmael son of Phabi was a high priest under Valerius Gratus, procurator of Judea or may refer to Ismael son of Fabi who was a priest under Herod king of Charles.) Jewish history records that these High priests who walked the temple courts during the first century, were despised by the majority of the people for their brutality and hunger for money. So much so that there is a strong condemnation of these men in the Talmud. Tosefta, Menachoth 13.21 states a Rabbinic Lament over the brutality of the Sadducees - Abba Saul Ben Betnith and Abba Jose Ben Johanan of Jerusalem say: “Woe to the house of Boethus! Woe to me because of their rods!" (Simon, son of Boethus, father in-law of Herod. He was a high priest during the reign of Herod the Great)
"Woe to the house of Qadros (Cantheros)! Woe to me because of their pens!" (Simon Cantheros was one of the high priests appointed during the rule of Herod Agrippa) “Woe to the house of Elhanan, woe to the house of whispers!" (Elhanan is translated ‘Ananus or Annas’ in Greek and here refers to the high priest Annas of the New Testament and his sons.) "Woe to the house of Elisha! Woe to me because of their pens!" "Woe to the house of Ismael Ben Phiabi! For they are high priests and their sons, treasurers and their sons-in-law who were (temple) officers!" "And their servants came and beat us up with staves!" (Ishmael son of Phabi was a high priest under Valerius Gratus, procurator of Judea or may refer to Ismael son of Fabi who was a priest under Herod king of Chaleis.)
Yet Scripture says that God will have His way with this City, it belongs to Him, and one day, soon and very soon, He will make a lesson and an astonishment to the nations that are all around the city of Jerusalem when he execute judgment on them. Ezekiel 5:15 'So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken.
Indeed the destruction of Jerusalem was a lesson and an astonishment to the other nations. Musicians, mourn over the collapse of this international system because the whole world economy fell with it. This is the loss of world-wide trade. Revelation 18:1-12 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore.” “merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble”
The musicians, grieve over twenty-nine items of wealth in verses 12-14. First, they mourn the loss of precious metals and stones. They also grieve over the loss of precious fabrics. They grieve over the loss of their furnishings business. Souls that derive their central value from material things find disappointment. Wealth escapes from them. There comes a point when they will never find fulfillment in these things again because God removed them. (Revelation 18:14).
The merchants who became rich by her “Jerusalem” on the backs of the people will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing” out of fear. (Revelation 18:15). The apostate religion was good for business. Now that the great whore has fallen and now that the corrupted system has fallen, their business is ruined. Their profits slip through their fingers. ‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ (Revelation18:6).
Captains of ships and sailors stand in shock over the fall of Babylon’s/Jerusalems world economy. The transportation industry comes to a halt. (Revelation 18:17) The musicians, in the transportation industry watch as the international economic system goes up in smoke, they lament because there is no other city that had such a strong world economy. (Revelation 18:18-19).
The merchants do not grieve for the loss of Jerusalem as much as they mourn their own personal losses. Jesus warned against making wealth a god.“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
In Revelation 6:9-10 we see souls under the altar of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. They cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Each of them; was given a white robe and it was said to them that they should rest “a little while longer,” until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. (Revelation 6:11) Notice it says “a little while longer” not over 2000 years.
Now the time had come when God would avenge these souls that cried out for avenges. Revelation 18:20-21 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you (holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her)!” Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters, shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. (emphasis added) They grieve over the loss of their furnishings business.
