Revelation 18 - Monday 23rd December

Today’s chapter is Revelation 18

Tom writes:

Babylon will be tortured. Babylon will weep in torment. These are the sections of Revelation I have always found hardest to like! But this time, as the sweep of the narrative is much clearer to me, I think it is winning me over. Babylon is a symbol of the great “idea” or the great “kingdom” of the day that scorns the creative order of God. God made the world for shalom, where all feed well and enjoy fellowship with God and men and women. But Babylon actively asserts itself over and above the Creator and then crashes around the earth snatching stuff intended for others. Babylon is evil. Despite clear and present warnings both in creation and from the Creator, Babylon advances in this greed with reckless abandon. She draws others into the pride and the plunder. It puts smoke in God’s nostrils. God will bring them to ruin in just one hour. But before he does that he issues an invitation to his people. This is what Revelation is; one long invitation to the church to stand apart from the value-system of Babylon. The invitation is to reject the constant desire for accumulation; the constant need to have more than others.

The boast of Babylon was that she was Queen; she was greater than others, richer than others, more powerful than others. Do we dream the dreams of Babylon? Do we judge ourselves comparative to our peers, only feeling happy when we get that phone, those clothes, that gadget that others have? What about shalom? What about God’s intentions for his earth? What if the manufacture of your desired gadget ground the faces of the poor and denied their God-given dignity. Do you care? Babylon doesn’t. But the people of God will care about these things. We see “excessive luxuries” as the rejection of God’s shalom that they really are. Let’s be clear about this; gold in itself is not evil. Gold is the pavement stone of heaven and a symbol of God’s beauty. Buy presents for loved ones. Save up for your pension. Treat yourself every now and then. But beware merchants of Babylon. The love of gold leads to a yearning for accumulation, which will cause you to share in Babylon’s sins. Instead let’s come away from such things. Instead, in humility and in worship let’s give allegiance to the Way of Heaven with what we say and what we want and what we spend. For the Way of Heaven will last forever, while Babylon will be overthrown in one night.

Question for reflection

What might it look like to live entirely unaffected by the desires of Babylon?