Latest / The Daily Word / September 13 – Every Babylon Falls
Transcript
- Cory: Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good we hours of the night. Whenever you're joining us, welcome to the Daily Word Podcast from Lakeshore Christian Fellowship. My name is Corey Barnes, and it's my privilege to past our Kataba campus. And I'm excited to be sitting down with you for another Daily Word episode where we're going to be doing a devotion out of the New Testament portion of our life journal Bible reading plan for today. And with today being September the thirteenth, we are moving into Revelation eighteen. And I think the first thing that'd be beneficial for us to understand in reading this chapter, I think it might be kinda helpful for us to know, who or what is Babylon? 'Cause this whole chapter is kind of about them. Babylon. And I mean this chapter can't possibly be about the Babylon that like you remember Nebuchadnezzar ruled and Daniel lived in, because that city fell at least five hundred years, more than five hundred years, before John wrote the book of Revelation. So no, John can't possibly be writing about the ancient city of Babylon. So what is this chapter about? Well, it's about the idea of Babylon. And what the name Babylon had come to represent to the Jewish people. Now imagine imagine this. You you see a video come across your social media feed and you see a comment in bold, it's another Boston tea party. Now you know that if you click on that video and you watch that footage, you're not gonna see a bunch of people literally like dumping crates of tea into the Boston. Harbor, no, you understand before you even click on that video that you're watching something and they're comparing it. They're reaching back. The person that made that comment is reaching back to a historical event whose name has come to represent something bigger. In the case of the Boston Tea Party, resistance against an oppressive system, the battle for liberty, things like that. You know that before you click on the video. Your brain fills in that blank. jumps and leaps that gap, makes that connection for you. And John's audience, their brain, would have done some connecting when they heard Babylon as well. So what was Babylon? Well, originally Babylon was a place that took God's people captive. It was a place that oppressed and used God's people for its own gain. It was an empire that exalted itself against God and subjugated his people. And long after that original Babylon had fallen, Babylon remained etched into the Jewish imagination in their minds as the god. great symbol of an empire that exalted itself against God and oppressed his people. So when John talks about Babylon, his original audience wouldn't have needed a map. They wouldn't have been asking the question who has Babylon. They already knew who Babylon was in their lives because in their day there was an empire that fit the description perfectly. Rome. The Roman Empire. Rome was the Babylon confronting John's original audience. But the pattern that Babylon represents didn't start with Rome and it didn't end with Rome. And that's because the idea of Babylon is timeless. And I think that's why the Lord used Babylon in this letter. In communicating this to John's audience, he could have just said Rome, but instead the Lord chose to use. Babylon because it was timeless. It could stretch from the first century all the way to now, the 21st century, because we still have Babylons here today. And that's what I want you to realize as we read about Babylon falling in Revelation 18. What happens to Babylon here shows us the fate of every Babylon, every corrupt system that exalts itself against God. Exploits people for its own gain and oppresses the people of God, whether that's the evil Roman system of yesterday or the various evil systems of today. Eventually I want you to be encouraged that every Babylon falls. And that should be encouraging to us. evil the systems of this world can be. But here's the thing about Babylon the world mourns when Babylon falls. Verses nine through nineteen of this chapter show us why. Because the world profits for having Babylon. Kings profit from Babylon. Merchants get rich off of Babylon. Common, normal people Build their livelihoods around Babylon. No ill intent, no ill will. They're just normal Joes earning a living, but they're earning a living off of the Babylon system. So when Babylon falls, the world mourns. But verse 20 shows us something completely different. This is the voice that has been speaking to John. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. See, while the world mourns Babylon's fall, God's people are called to rejoice. Why? Because God has avenged his people. No no now listen, it doesn't take long living in this broken and wicked world for us to experience the harm caused by corrupt systems. We see injustice, we see exploitation. We see powerful people and institutions prosper while doing things that are completely contrary to the heart of God. And sometimes those systems can look untouchable. Babylon Did Rome certainly did, but Revelation 18 reminds us that no Babylon lasts forever. The Babylons of this world may become wealthy, they may become powerful, the world may even come to depend on them. But God God sees what Babylon does to his people. He sees every corrupt system that exploits, oppresses, and sets itself up against him. He sees the suffering those systems cause and he will not allow them to stand forever. So if you've ever looked at the brokenness of this world and wondered whether God sees it, whether God cares, or whether evil will just simply continue to win, revelation gives us the answer. God sees, God remembers. God will judge. And eventually every Babylon falls. So let's talk practical application. What system are you building your life around? We already said that the world mourns when Babylon falls, the kings, the merchants, the average Joes, the shipmasters and sailors, they all mourn because all of their life had been built on this system that profited off the suffering of others. But it's those in the kingdom, those who have built their life around the Son of God and living their lives devoted to him, they are the ones that rejoice at the fall of Babylon. So if every Babylon falls, are you building your life on what is destined to fall away? Or are you building it on the kingdom that will endure into all eternity? Let's pray. Father, I just thank you. I thank you, Lord, that every Babylon falls. I thank you that you avenge us, that you see our suffering, that you are not blind to us, that evil will not always win, that evil will not always prosper, that you are just and you are righteous, and you will judge evil, wicked, corrupt systems, and you will make things right. We love you, Jesus. We thank you for that encouragement. That no matter how hard things may look, no matter how hopeless they may seem with some of the things around us, that we can trust on you and we can depend on you. Make things right. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.