Total Destruction of Babylon

This passage of Revelation must have been both startling and comforting to the early Christians. They longed for justice because of the suffering and persecution they had experienced. God reveals that, though it may have looked like “Babylon” was winning in 95 AD, she would not win in the end. God would bring salvation and justice for the people. As you read today, reflect on the faithfulness and justice of our God.

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REFLECTION 

Rome is Drowning

By Dan Kidd

From December 1998 to December 2009—11 long years—Titanic was the highest grossing film in the world. This is no fluke. It’s an excellent film with a full cast of characters of all varieties: heroes and villains, socialites and hooligans, and star-crossed lovers. All of them passengers aboard the biggest ship that had ever been built. There’s feasting and dancing, wagering and spitting, and then, of course, there’s a disaster.

I couldn’t help but think of some of the scenes from Titanic as I read today’s passage. The similarities abound; Babylon (Rome) and the Titanic. Both remarkable in size and grandeur. Thought to be indestructible, unstoppable. In both cases, crucial warnings were ignored, and disaster struck. And as everyone went about their normal activities, they sped forward. Destination: Destruction.

John warned the Roman church what Jesus had warned him: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” Get out now! Run while you can! The Roman Empire would not survive God’s judgement. The empire had persecuted the newly budding Church and had lured Christians away from their devotion to God. Her hands were blood-soaked from slaying the prophets and the martyrs, and her sin and violence would undo her.

Still, Rome kept being Rome.

The music played on, the markets were full of patrons, and the gleeful celebrations of newlyweds echoed in the streets. All the while the ship was sinking.

Finally, Babylon (that is, Rome) fell. Like the Titanic, the Babylon bolder was drowned at the bottom of the ocean.  The music was silenced, the markets emptied, and the lamps were snuffed out—leaving only pitch darkness.

Sure. But what is any of this to us? We are not Romans, nor are we passengers aboard the Titanic. This was a particular revelation to a particular people at a particular time in history.

There is this though: Perhaps we can learn from this passage how to avoid mistaking what seems durable for what is truly indestructible. What schemes of the enemy seem insurmountable or unceasing? Does the impermanence of even the most well-constructed things cause concern, or comfort? Or, what does it mean for us to prepare for disaster? Are we storing up things that will sink into the sea, or things that will keep us afloat?

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

TUESDAY - TRUTH In the midst of all the messages being heard, pray for accurate information to drown out false reporting and click-bait tactics.