1-10-14. Revelation 18:1-24. FALLEN IS BABYLON THE GREAT – my devotional

Key Verse: 18:4                                                                                                                                                                            Kevin E. Jesmer

“Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;”

Dear Lord, Jesus Christ. There are so many people and so many “difficult to reach” people groups in this world. The numbers are astronomical. There is such a great need for mature Christian leaders who can disciple people, mentor people and who can preach and teach the Gospel. The need is growing faster than servants of God are stepping up to serve. But I thank God for the work you are doing among the lay people of the church. I attended a preaching clinic where lay people are mentored in preaching. Continue to do such work. Raise up servants of God among the laity of the church. Send them off to the difficult to reach places with the gospel of Jesus. May they be wise mentors to the billions who need to hear the good news. Empower the laity to preach the word of God and change the world. Please plant your word in my heart today. I pray in the “world changing” name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Part 1: Come Out, My People (1-19).

Verses 1-19, “After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. 2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. 3 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” 4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ 8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.” 9 And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. 10 They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” 11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 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, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. 14 “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!” 15 The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! 17 For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “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.”

Babylon represents godless world powers, and in John’s day, Rome. Babylon will be destroyed, and with her all those who have persecuted God’s people, as well as those who share Babylon’s value system and have compromised with the world to live in luxury and material prosperity. Not everything in this world is bad. Not all things secular are bad. What makes them bad are when the power mongers of the society get rich and maintain their richness and their power by exploiting others. Such systems become bad when the system compromised with all kinds of evil things as it perpetuates itself. This is the dilemma, how can we develop our society and nation and still be God honoring and just and truthful? That is my prayer for our nation. I pray that my life, family and ministry can influence our people towards this goal.

Who were getting drunk by the Babylon’s adulteries? They were the kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, all who had ships at sea grew. They were taking advantage turning a blind eye to the comprises and the evil and extraction of wealth and luxuries from the system, many times, at the expense of the people. This passage shows that their source of wealth will be unsustainable and come down in “flames”. It would be good for merchants to build their empires on justice and truth and compassion…on Biblical themes. There are companies that do this and they are blessed by God. Just because people are in business, does not mean that they have to squeeze the poor to make ends meet.

God calls his people to come out. Verse 4 reads, “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;” If you don’t want to share in the world’s plagues and destruction, then don’t share in her sins. We need to come out and be separate. This does not mean that we need to live in a bunker and hide ourselves from the world. No. We need to be engaged with the world. We need to be in it but not of it. It has everything to do with our identity. When we have identities as Christians and servants of God on a mission to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, then we can be “separate people” from this world. People will know we are Christians by our love. I pray that God may help us to practically come out of “Babylon” and still remain relevant.

Those who use the system to get rich will weep on the day of Babylon’s destruction, for they will lose everything. Those whose treasure is in heaven will gain everything. Many people that lived for money and luxuries have lost their earning in the housing crisis. Many loose everything when they are faced with a health crisis. They will surely loose everything when they face the judgment seat of Christ without Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But for those who are in Christ, they have the kingdom of heaven. They are building up treasures in heaven which will consist of praise from Jesus and many heavenly joys that are beyond description. They have a hope for a lasting rich reward that no one can take away. That is so much better than a few decades of fleeting luxuries.  Lord, thank you for the living hope in the kingdom of God and telling us the truth about luxuries and wealth derived from ignoring the truth and justice and the exploitation of others.

Part 2: Rejoice, You Saints! (20-24)

Verses 20-24, “20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” 21 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; 22 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, 23 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. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

There will be no more joyful activity or singing in the godless city, for it will be gone. When God judges the ungodly and nations that have harassed and persecuted his people, the saints, apostles and prophets will rejoice. They will rejoice that justice has finally been satisfied. They will rejoice that their cause has not been forgotten. There is some joy that comes when we discover that justice has come. I have not been treated unjustly in my life. I have been treated fairly. Sure there were a few occasions where I was bullied in grade school, but for the most part I have always been treated fairly and given even more than equal opportunity. But I have been unjustly treated by the devil. I will rejoice on the Day of Judgment when he is cast into the lake of burning sulfur. I will rejoice when justice comes for all the Christians in the world who have suffered greatly at the hands of enemies of God.

There are some good things in the culture that was being destroyed. There was beautiful music, bands, craftsmen making wonderful pieces of art and architecture, good food being processed in the mills, light was provided in the darkness, families were created and there was joyful sounds of laughter, people were doing business, there was international trade going on. This culture was influencing many cultures around the whole world. It sounds pretty good doesn’t it?

The problem is that, even though there were many good things going on, there was an evil foundation. They were producing great wealth and momentary pleasure for the citizens of that culture, but they were deceiving the nations and warring against God and his people. Look at verses 23b-24 again, “…and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.” God felt that they were worthy of judgment, why? It was because it was all generated and maintained by exploitation and injustice. It is like societies created and maintained by slavery.

Maybe we can redeem the culture before the end comes. Can we make a society that still retains the “good stuff” but doesn’t deceive the nations and fight against Christians? What we need is a religion that engages and transforms society. Sadly, our Christianity so often does not even try to engage the culture. It is all about our own personal salvation. It is all about our relationship with Jesus. But Christianity never spread across the Roman Empire, lightning fast, by focusing only in on only our personal relationship with Jesus.

Are we that spiritual, that we will actually rejoice over the destruction of things that oppose God? Or will we mourn that some of the pleasures and conveniences that we held dear in our hearts will be gone? What about Lot’s wife? They should have rejoiced over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but they were sorry that it would be all gone. Lot’s wife looked back. They were sad that God was destroying the things that they were holding near and dear. I hope and pray that I can have the right value system and the right perception of reality, the same as our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that I can rejoice in the things that Jesus rejoices over.

Prayer: Lord, help me not to be fooled by the false promises of the world. Keep my heart as your throne and come out of temptation.

One Word: Come out–don’t compromise!