<p>18:17 <i>For in an hour so many great riches are laid waste. And every shipmaster and everyone that sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living at sea, stood far away</i>- Despite having seen direct Divine intervention, throughout the three and a half years of &quot;torment&quot; upon the earth dwellers from the miracles of the two witnesses (11:9,10), and now Babylon's final destruction, these commercial people are so materialistic that they do not repent. All they can think about is how much they have lost, and how tragic it is that such material wealth is now &quot;laid waste&quot;. This is the power of materialism. It has destroyed so much faith in so many people, and we are to therefore be the more aware of its insidious power.</p>