DAY 362

GOD IS NOT WORRIED ABOUT BEING POLITE

Zechariah 5, 6, 7, & 8 and Revelation 19

I was always taught to be polite. With that upbringing it is rather uncomfortable to write about Babylon the whore. Yet God is his drama of REVELATION is more concerned with you and me getting the message. Our good God, the creator and sustainer of all life, He who loves us and desires us to be with him, the One who is both just and merciful, the Comforter of the poor and lonely, the good King who rules perfectly—this God—has His plan for His world. And any who set themselves up against goodness, justice, compassion, hope…against love…any who set themselves up in the direction opposite of Him are not faithful, they are faithless, they are, whores.

Why this description? Because that word describes a person who lures and draws people into that which is the opposite of faithful. That word describes a person, male or female, who seeks to destroy the life of the one they are tempting. To appreciate the affect of this language we need to suspend for a moment the vision of the person, male or female, who is selling themselves because they find themselves on the bottom of the heap. In REVELATION this word is used to describe the ultimate force in the world that opposes God. This force, this person, is not offering some alternative philosophical system…they are offering death and eternal enslavement to…the whore.

Therefore this force, this creature, this evil, must be destroyed: SCENE 6: Babylon the whore.

I have been trying to keep us grounded in where we are in the drama. The “seventh bowl” has been emptied, the earth is no more, and now God turns his attention on dealing completely with this Babylon.

I will follow the outline I gave you yesterday as I comment on this scene.

THE FIRST WORD ABOUT BABYLON, 17:1-6—John is taken to the wilderness, here he can see this “grand lady” for what she really is. First he sees the extent of her influence. The phrase “seated upon many waters” implies that she has vast authority. We should be careful, for as humans we are drawn to beauty and power. And just as John is first drawn, we next need to see the evil. The power that supports her is a hideous beast. By now we have gotten used to the numbers. The horns and heads do not represent specific kings, but rather the complete “essence” of that which opposes God. From influence to evil we next come to the juxtaposition of that which is attractive (v.4) and that which is repulsive (v.6). The point about this “first word” is that we should not be fooled. There is power, evil power, which lures and attracts.

THE SECOND WORD, 17:7-18: We read that Babylon is a mystery. This is not to mean that we are reading a “mystery novel” trying to figure out all the puzzle pieces. Many have made this mistake with REVELATION, especially this part. No, the use of the word mystery has more to do with the angel “showing the picture of Babylon.” I have already commented on it. What we see is the “essence” of a godless world system opposing the Lamb—those cities and civilizations that seek to exalt themselves to the highest mountain—those who do not seek to honor God. Who is behind it all? The answer is Satan, and in this scene Satan, and all his demonic forces, are destroyed because the Lamb will conquer (v.14). Many commentaries go into trying to geographically and historically locate these kings, but I think that path limits our thinking with regards to the message of REVELATION.

THE THIRD WORD, 18:1-3: We read of Babylon’s fall. I want to take you back to the theater. Imagine the vision on stage. Does it frighten you? At this point, I am not asking do you understand it, but rather, does it frighten you? If it does not, then you have (at least I think) missed the point. The point is to understand and “respect” the very real power of evil. There is a version of Christianity out in our world that is about puppy dogs and butterflies…nothing could be further from reality. Evil is real. It seeks to destroy. It drinks the blood of the martyrs. AND it is attractive. The woman appears at first attractive, and it is only after seeing her in contrast with the desert, do we see the beast and the cup and more. Do not underestimate her power. That is why it must be defeated…and in this scene it is.

THE FOURTH WORD, 18:4-20: We read of the judgment of Babylon. In this section we see the power of seduction. The varieties of people who have based their lives on this harlot weep over her destruction—they are utterly committed to this evil.

THE FIFTH WORD, 18:21-24: The death of Babylon. I grew up by the ocean. It is always moving, and there is always the sound of the waves. When I moved to Upstate New York and would go to a pond in the woods and I would be struck by the stillness. Picture the scene. A great stone is thrown into the water which pulls Babylon down to the depths…and then there is utter silence…the water is calm as if all that we have been reading never existed. There is no gravestone that people will visit to remember her…for it is as if she never was.

THE SIXTH WORD, 19:1-5: A song of doom for Babylon. I am not quite sure where I am standing for this sixth word. Am I still by the still silent pond, or have I been transported back to the throne. Where I am physically located is not as important as to the point: from a distance place, from the throne, the song of victory is exclaimed.

THE SEVENTH WORD, 19:6-8: The successor to Babylon. What is remarkable to me is that we have endured two chapters of looking at Babylon, the whore—and now we are given two verses of the Bride. What is equally remarkable is that Babylon and the Beast are two separate entities: Babylon as almost the anti-god ideology and the Beast as the means by which this lives in the world, and yet the Bride is unity. The elaborate and grotesque description of the whore contrasts with the simple beauty of the bride. This “seventh” scene is like all of the prior “sevens” as it takes place after the end of our history.

THESE ARE TRUE WORDS OF GOD, 19:9-10: John must be exhausted, are you? You have been experiencing the drama of the conflict, and now you have seen the victory. John falls down at the angel’s feet and is quickly corrected. We cannot fault him, it is almost too much to take in. And yet, this is a scene of hope. Have you ever asked God, “When, when God will you deal with this________?” The answer is that God does deal with it—completely. Ours is not to know when, but to have faith that He does.