2006-8-11 04:54:00
The rest of the chapter covers a central point and instead of going through it verse by verse or line by line we'll comment on it as a whole.
5For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
6Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyne wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
19And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
20Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
22And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
23And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
24And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. Revelation 18:5-24
This indeed sounds like a major disaster for what Babylon represents.
The description of destruction is accurate for the old Babylon that represented the corruption of wealth and power in the days of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar.
It indeed was destroyed and did not rise again. However, in writing this prophecy you know that John had Rome on his mind because much of the description is peculiar to it in John's time. For instance, all of the merchandise mentioned was desired by and traded by Rome. Rome was the great financial empire of the time and indeed was the greatest symbol in recorded history of the misuse of sex, money and power.
As we said earlier, however, this Babylon stands for something greater than ancient Babylon, Rome, The United States or any other country or empire. It stands for the corrupt use of money, power and sex, which in their purity are gifts from God to be used with wisdom.
There are two major interpretations we need to examine here, the inner and the outer. Let us first look at the inner.
The vision of John has taken us through the life of Christ, or advanced disciples, to his work in the world to how it develops through the group work of disciples as the work reaches a consummation. The fall of Babylon is then an event that takes place as the teachings of Christ are maturing through his followers.
But the question that needs to be asked is this. Why does a Babylon even exist among dedicated workers who are seeking to manifest the kingdom of God?
The answer is that they have not come out of Babylon, but are a part of it as the scripture says. What does this mean? It means that as even those who are fairly enlightened grow up within a corrupt system that they are captivated by the corruption and buy into it. We covered a few things earlier, but the basic reason for the corruption is that money, power and sex are seen as a means to satisfy self above and beyond their use to promote the ways of the spirit and to build a better world, or the kingdom of God.
So why do disciples get deceived? Are they not aware that they use money, power and sex for self above the selfless service?
The answer is that they are not aware.
Why then are they not aware? Should it not be obvious?
It is not obvious. Let us give an example to clarify.
Jim is a believer in the scriptures and the kingdom of God and sees himself as a follower of Christ. He is active in his church or organization that represents his belief system and listens to the teachings. He donates regularly to the organization and feels that he has done his part as far as right use of money. Then he spends the rest of his money on making his life as comfortable as possible.
What is wrong with this picture?
What is wrong is his attitude of mind more than the black and white of his actions.
Why does he give to his church or organization?
More often than not it is to get approval from an unseen God or to satisfy the Beast of authority. This is a necessary step to secure a good place in the hereafter and maybe some praise in this world.
Does he know how the money is put to use? Does it go to build buildings or to pay the salary of a minister who is not advancing the world of spirit on earth?
Then what is the motive of his use of the rest of his money? It is to make life more comfortable and secure. Will the use of his money and power have any beneficial residual effect if he were to die the next day? In most cases no.
This is illustrated in a parable given by the Master:
15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Luke 12:15-21
This rich man had only one thought of what to do with his abundance - use it for self and security. He was probably a good person by most standards. He legitimately earned his wealth, did not steal and kept the precepts of his religion. Even so he was a victim of his own personal Babylon. That night he died and discovered that he had done little or nothing to use his money for the good of mankind.
Eventually in the life of the disciple comes the realization that his money and power have been misdirected and nothing he is doing is laying up the true treasure in heaven. When this realization comes his personal Babylon falls within the hour and he makes a personal commitment to use all his energy, money and power in the service of humanity as he sees it through the eyes of the soul.
Before this realization he was unwilling to take any risk in order to render service. After the realization he is prepared to lose everything - all his wealth, power, sacred honor and even his life, if necessary to take a step toward making the will of God manifest on earth as it is in heaven.
In Britain a recent poll showed that seven percent of British Moslems found suicide bombing acceptable as a general principle. 20% thought it was all right if it was directed at the British military and 37% thought it was fine if directed at the British Jews. That means a half million Moslems in Britain would support suicide bombing against Jews.
Copyright © 2006 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved