COVID-19 Foretold? - Revelation 18:21-23

Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,  and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.” - Revelation 18:21-23

    For fear of extrapolating more than I should from Revelation 18, let me suffice to say that it does, in its own prophetic manner, paint a picture eerily similar to what the world is currently facing in this pandemic.
    For example, verses 11 through 14 describe the economic downturn to the lack of cash-flow due to the inadequate supplies of necessary goods, including food. “And the merchants of the earth (men who make profits from sales) weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. ‘The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors (foodstuffs and luxuries) are lost to you, never to be found again!’”- Revelation 18:11-14.
    Are these scarcities going to remain with us after the virus subsides? Perhaps not but the implications remain.
    Verse 19 reveals that the men of commerce (movers of commodities) will mourn and cry out . . . for financial support? “And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, (begging for a bailout) ‘Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.’” It’s a far stretch, you think? The hotel industry alone is looking for $150 billion in aid. Boeing is also seeking billions of dollars in bailouts, as are the airlines and cruise lines. Multi-billion dollar industries are seeking financial aid. Even after the recession of 2008, it is hard to imagine.
    The chapter ends with the pronouncement that life, as we know it, has come to an end. From entertainment to manufacturing to threats to technology and the deeper relationships of modern life, everything has changed!.“Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more,(entertainment in all its forms) and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more (joblessness), and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more ( manufacturing shut down), and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.’” - Revelation 18:21-23. It somberly ends with the idea that the merchants, the purveyors of the modern lifestyle, were considered ‘great’ by us, not only because of their provisions but also because of the perceptions they fostered, perceptions that were part our overall delusions.
    The subterfuge was universal in that it touched all nations, leaving none unsoiled by a faith in materialism fostered by mercantilism.
    The COVID-19 virus has undone the world as we knew it. Already there are those in the fields of business, medicine, and politics who are saying things have changed forever. I will not suggest that Revelation 18 is the prophecy of the virus foretold over two-thousand years ago. However, when you read the chapter, the words do have a disturbing nature about them.
(All parentheses mine.)