Babylon's Fall
Notes
Transcript
ME: Intro - What makes you cry?
ME: Intro - What makes you cry?
When was the last time you cried?
What makes you weep uncontrollably?
I have heard it said whatever we talk about most is what we love.
While I believe this to be true,
It is an even greater truth that whatever we cry for is what we love most.
For example, we celebrated the life of Berta Pelton in this place yesterday,
There are many who are crying in grief over the loss of Berta.
Likewise, Jesus weeps in John 11 over the loss of His beloved friend Lazarus.
These tears are being shed in God-honoring ways rooted in sacrificial love.
But this morning we come to Revelation 18 and we see the world weeping over the death of their prostitute.
But they are not sad because they are losing her,
They are sad because they use her and are used by her.
They become drunk with the passion of her spiritual adultery.
Through her, they became rich and luxurious.
But her death results in them losing it all.
Suddenly, in a brief moment,
All of their wealth and luxury and immorality is ripped from their grasp.
Their worldly prostitute was nothing more than an idolatrous mirage of desires and deception.
The sensuality of pleasure,
The allure of material prosperity,
The entitlements of luxury,
The hunger for power and prestige,
Are all the prizes of our worldly culture that the prostitute offers us,
And all of it will be quickly, entirely, and eternally annihilated.
Sin is deceptive,
It does not deliver on these promises,
It destroys.
We cannot place our hope and confidence in this world,
True hope and confidence can only be found in Christ.
I like how some preachers and commentators refer to Revelation 18 as a funeral dirge for the great city Babylon.
It has four choruses of woe sung by the adulterers that loved Babylon the prostitute.
Danny Akin introduces this passage as...
“A song that has been sung through the ages by those who gave their all to this world, only to be sadly disappointed with the results.”
Life’s pleasures will never satisfy our insatiable thirst.
The Bible teaches that it is God alone who is able to satisfy this longing in our heart.
Babylon will only deliver disappointment, destruction, and death.
This is the Story of Babylon’s Fall.
This story is written in the form of a song,
Broken up into three stanzas:
God Judges Babylon (vs. 1-8)
The World Laments Babylon (vs. 9-19)
The Heavens Rejoice Over Babylon’s Fall (vs. 20-24)
When Babylon falls, do not weep with the world. Rejoice with the heavens!
The chapter expands upon the ending of last weeks chapter,
The city of Babylon is now seen as a city of desolation and demonic activity,
It has corrupted nations and kings and merchants with its idolatry.
But God’s people are called to come out of Babylon,
As God prepares to punish her,
Paying her back for her evil wickedness,
Turning her glory into mourning,
Leading Babylon to complete annihilation.
WE: God Judges Babylon (vs. 1-8)
WE: God Judges Babylon (vs. 1-8)
Rev. 18:1-8;
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’ For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”
Rev. 17 ended with the announcement that Babylon’s judgment has arrived.
She is no longer great,
She has been destroyed by her lovers.
Now, ch. 18 picks up with the songs that present the horrors of her judgment,
And the reasons for the judgment.
These songs demonstrate God’s justice against the wicked arrogance of the prostitute.
The angel in vs. 1, coming down from heaven has great authority,
And brightens the earth with his glory.
Why does this angel have great authority?
Because he was commissioned by the exalted Lord of the universe.
And why is his glory so great that it illuminates the earth?
Because his splendor is a reflection of God Himself.
He radiates the glory of God.
The majesty of this angel reinforces God as the source of his message.
And the message the angel is about to deliver is one of weighty importance.
The angel calls out this message with authority and majesty in vs. 2;
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
This is the fourth declaration of Babylon’s impending fall.
But here is where it is finally expounded.
The declaration echoes the words of Isaiah in Isa. 21:9;
And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!” And he answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”
The OT prophets repeatedly announced God’s judgment on Babylon for its wicked idolatry.
This literal city was destroyed in 539 BC,
Recorded in the account of Belshazaar’s feast in Daniel 5.
And as we talked about last week,
The literal city of Babylon became symbolic for kingdoms, cities, and cultures in opposition to God.
As we also talked about last week,
The author of Revelation,
The Apostle John,
Likely saw Rome as a present-day manifestation of Babylon.
It was a city that set itself up in opposition to God.
Just as the ancient city of Babylon fell as a result of God’s judgment,
Every manifestation of Babylon will fall as a result of God’s judgment.
The proud and wicked system of worldly desires and lusts and pleasures will come to an end.
It is a future certainty.
The angel declares the fall of Babylon two times in vs. 2,
As a way to communicate the absolute certainty that Babylon will be no more.
It is guaranteed!
He goes on to show that she has become a dwelling place for demons.
Just as was prophesied in Jer. 50:39;
“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations.
She has become a prison for everything unclean;
Unclean spirits, unclean birds, and unclean beasts.
A once thriving metropolis will not be able to recover from its destruction.
This will be the case for the city of man during the end times,
It will be destroyed and remain desolate forever.
J. Scott Duvall comments here;
“Rather than the honorable garden city that God envisions, Babylon has become just the opposite; a desolate demonic wasteland, completely devoid of image-of-God life.”
The angel continues in vs. 3 with the grounds for Babylon’s judgment,
All the nations of the world have gotten drunk off the wine of her sexual immorality.
As we have seen the past few weeks,
The use of sexual immorality includes sexual sin,
But it encompasses all forms of spiritual faithlessness.
The OT prophets would refer to Israel’s lack of faith to Yahweh as whoredom and spiritual harlotry.
It is intentionally graphic language.
The root of sin is having a love affair with the idols of our world.
It is to forsake our relationship with God,
And pursue after other gods,
To have a relationship with a prostitute.
This is what the influence of Babylon has done.
According to vs. 3, it has turned all nations from the one true God,
For the passionate pursuit of idols.
The kings of the earth follow suit,
They too crawl into bed with Babylon.
They reject God’s lordship and pursue a relationship with a spiritual adulteress.
The merchants of the earth are also seduced into a relationship with Babylon.
They grow wealthy from the alluring power of her luxurious lifestyle.
This is an indictment on immoral means of attaining wealth,
Or accumulating wealth with idolatrous motives.
The idols of our world cast a spell over the human race,
And when we give our hearts to these things,
We are not just crawling into bed with the prostitute,
We are bowing down in worship of her.
We need the sacrificial love of our bridegroom, the Lamb, to break us free from her hold on us.
In light of the dark demonic heart of Babylon the Great,
Another voice in vs. 4 gives what is the most important command for the people of God in the entire chapter.
The voice coming from heaven indicates the authority of the command.
This command is given in the form of a warning.
This warning echoes multiple warnings given throughout the Bible:
Isaiah 48:20; 52:11; Jeremiah 50:8; 51:6, 45; 2 Corinthians 6:17;
It is a warning for us to separate ourselves from Babylon.
To avoid participating in her sins.
If we fail to flee from Babylon, we will partake of her sins,
And we will be caught up in the judgment of Babylon.
That is, we would share in the calamity of Babylon.
The command is not telling us to literally relocate out of where we currently reside.
Instead, we must be willing to renounce the wealth and prestige the world offers.
We must forsake the sins of Babylon.
God is illustrating how sin is like a disease.
It spreads worse than COVID,
And God is telling us to social distance from Babylon,
Better yet, He is saying to practice sinful distancing.
Do not go within six feet of Babylon,
Lest you receive her sin disease.
As saints living in a world under the drunken influence of Babylon,
This command is something we must apply to our lives on a day to day basis.
We see in vs. 5 that Babylon has earned her judgment.
The extent of Babylon’s sin is illustrated as this massive garbage heap,
Piling higher and higher, and giving off this unbearable stench.
Her crimes are described as being piled as high as heaven.
Ironically, this reminds us of the height of mankind’s arrogance in Gen. 11:4;
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
And this odorous pile of sins does not go unnoticed by God.
He remembers the wickedness of her wrong,
He sees and knows all the wrong Babylon has ever done.
He knows her rebellion against Him and He will make all things right.
If we share in her sins,
We will share in her punishment.
Stay with her and you will suffer with her.
Her sins are piled all the way to the doorstep of heaven,
And just as God is aware of her sins,
He is aware of our sins.
He knows are crimes against Him.
Flee from Babylon,
And you will flee from her impending punishment.
You know the saying, “the punishment fits the crime.”
This is an accurate statement for Babylon.
The judgment of Babylon is repeated throughout the OT,
I have given some references earlier,
Another specific one not yet mentioned is Psalm 137:8;
O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
The fulfillment of this judgment is being communicated in our passage this morning.
God pays Babylon back as she has paid back others.
This principle goes all the way back to Ex. 21:23-25;
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Here it says God pays her back double for what she did to others.
He mixes a double portion for her.
Babylon receives the full measure of her punishment.
Her sins that reached all the way to heaven deserve a greater punishment.
The punishment is fitting of the crime.
We see the essence of her sin revealed in vs. 7.
Her arrogant pride resulted in her glorifying herself instead of God.
She does not thank God,
She does not praise God,
She gives God no glory.
As Romans 1 says, she worships the creature rather than the Creator.
She worships herself for her luxurious lifestyle,
Therefore, it is returned to her in torment and grief.
Remarkably, the arrogance in her heart remains.
This prostitute exalts herself,
Believing herself to be a queen with this foolish and unrealistic sense of security.
She is delusional,
Believing she has no reason to be sorrowful.
She will never be a widow,
She will never mourn.
She thinks she is invincible,
She is too proud to see that she is falling.
Once again J. Scott Duvall hits the nail on the head;
“[Her] self-glorification, sensuous luxury, and prideful arrogance [are] the very opposite of humble dependence on the Lord and sacrificial love within a community.”
God will judge her for her sensual indulgences and excessive living.
Suddenly, in a single day, it says,
All her sin, her self-glorifying, and lavish ways will be met with torment and grief.
Just as Isaiah said in Isaiah 47:7-9;
All that arrogance will vanish like a mist when the day comes where the plagues fall on her.
On that day, she will receive death and mourning and famine.
Her fate ends with her burning in fire,
Just as we saw last week in Rev. 17:16.
God’s judgment shows that He is the sovereign Lord over the world.
He is mighty in power and no one will be able to triumph over Him.
No one will be able to prevent her destruction.
Her pride will certainly become her downfall.
Anyone who gives their heart over to evil, as we see Babylon does,
Will be left to face God’s wrath with Babylon.
Her judgment becomes our exhortation,
As we saw in vs. 4,
We must come out of the city of man,
We must forsake sin.
Grant Osborne cautions us;
“One does not have to read many magazines or watch many movies to realize the extent to which sinners today guzzle ‘the wine of passion for immorality.’…Those who willingly participate in such immorality will also participate in the judgment to come. Those who live for greed and luxury will also face an angry God for seeking only ‘the treasures of earth’ and ignoring ‘the treasures of heaven’ (Matt. 6:19-20).”
This is a worthwhile caution,
But it does not mean we live in a commune,
Building big barriers to isolate ourselves from the world.
Because the temptation of Babylon is not cut off by physical isolation.
Her alluring lusts make her way into the hearts of people in this world.
So, as believers, we do not segregate ourselves from unbelievers,
And we do not participate in the sins of unbelievers.
Thomas Schreiner offers a healthy balance;
“Believers are to separate from the world, not by withdrawing from it but by living pure and holy lives in God’s sight. We are to be in the world, as Jesus taught us, but not of it (John 17:15-16).”
If we do not separate ourselves from Babylon,
We will receive the same judgment as Babylon.
GOD: The World Laments Babylon (vs. 9-19)
GOD: The World Laments Babylon (vs. 9-19)
Those who live for the priorities and values of the world,
Reveal a heart for Babylon,
A heart that hates God and rebels against Him.
A person with a heart for Babylon will be consumed with greed and self-interest,
They will be controlled by their desires, their passions, and their narcissistic worldview.
Eventually, without warning, all they live for will be taken from them in a moment.
And it will break them.
They will mourn the fall of their worldly loves,
Because they are mourning their own loss.
A heart that loves Babylon is a heart that lives for self, not others.
Kings and merchants and sailor will weep over the fall of their spiritual prostitute.
Because they love what Babylon can do for them.
We see how the lovers of Babylon respond to God’s judgment in Rev. 18:9-19,
The World Laments Babylon;
And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.” And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. “The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!” The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls! For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What city was like the great city?” And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.
Babylon’s judgment has been declared,
And the world laments in response.
Kings, merchants, and sailors all weep at the destruction of Babylon.
They prostituted themselves with Babylon,
They enjoyed her luxuries and delicacies,
They participated in her wicked and evil ways,
And now they wail and grieve because their good life crumbles as a result of her fall.
They exploited the wealth and luxury Babylon was able to provide for them.
But when God judges her, it all vanishes in a moment,
They are struck with great sadness.
The kings in vs. 9, merchants in vs. 11 and 15, and sailors in vs. 17 all weep over the fall of Babylon.
Their hearts have been seduced into worshipping the luxury of Babylon.
The kings love her sensual and excessive ways.
So, they are in woe, as they cry for Babylon’s judgment.
Ultimately, the kings weep because they were in bed with the prostitute.
They were intimate with her,
Embracing an anti-God lifestyle.
They get along wonderfully with Babylon in their desire to dethrone God,
They pledge allegiance to the state, to the emperor, to anything but God.
As a result, they padded their pockets, filled their bank acounts, and fattened their souls on the indulgences of luxury.
They gave their lives to what Babylon offers,
Satisfying their earthly desires with her idols.
But all that came crashing down,
Their luxury is over now that Babylon has fallen.
And out of fear and terror, they stand far off watching the smoke of her judgment rise up.
They do not run to her rescue,
Indicating that they do not truly care about her,
Their love for her extends only as far as her usefulness to them.
She was the lover they did not love.
So, they do not get too close,
To avoid sharing in her destruction.
Out of grief at what happened to Babylon,
They cry out that the great city was so quickly destroyed.
This powerful city that believed it was invincible was turned to dust in a single hour.
The godless systems of our world will come crashing down,
And mankind will witness the whole thing in disbelief, sadness, and terror.
Everything they lived for is taken from them,
Everything they hoped in is now gone.
But they are not alone.
The destruction of the world economy fills the merchants with sorrow.
Picture the wealthy day traders of Wall Street seeing the entire market bottom out.
There are a surplus of goods but no one has the means to purchase them.
And as the stock values continue to plunge,
So do the spirits of the merchants.
They wail and sob because no one is buying their good anymore.
Stores are left without buyers,
Amazon’s warehouses are overflowing,
Unable to move their merchandise.
And no one saw it coming.
Their grief is selfishly motivated.
They loved the wealth they acquired from their partnership with Babylon.
She provided them with high-end cargo;
Gold, silver, jewels, pearls, purple, silk, scarlet, ivory, attractive wood, bronze, marble, iron, cinnamon, spices, incense, frankincense, wine, wheat, cattle, sheep, and horses.
The final item these merchants were able to trade from Babylon,
Was human beings as slaves.
But John does not just refer to them as slaves here,
He emphasizes their value,
Describing them as human souls.
Danny Akin makes an important comment here;
“There could be no clearer evidence of the depth of the utter depravity of man. Souls of men were viewed as nothing more than human livestock for service and even entertainment.”
This shows that the issue is not so much that merchants of Babylon were trading.
It is that turning a profit became their god,
They sacrificed morality to make themselves rich.
This pleasure was their reason to exist,
A return on investment was their purpose in life.
And now, their business crumbles.
These delicacies will never be found again.
The splendid things are gone.
Everything they lived for has now disappeared.
They enjoyed the beauties of the world, fine craftsmanship, and exquisite artistry.
They would then buy and sell these things for selfish gain.
But it is now a thing of the past.
The prostitute is judged and now all they can do is grieve the good ol’ days of their financial prosperity.
Like the kings, the merchants are in woe,
They too cry at the loss of their wealth.
But also like they kings, they do not get too close.
They are anxious that they will share in Babylon’s judgment.
Deep down they know their destiny is inextricably linked to the prostitute,
Because the prostitute was the source of their wealth.
They look at this once beautiful city,
And they cry in anguish at its fall.
This beautiful harlot was decked out in the finest clothes with gold, jewels, and pearls.
Now her true wickedness is revealed by God’s judgment,
And in a single hour, her reign, her beauty, her glory,
All of it crumbles to dust.
They could not have predicted this.
The laments continue in the second half of vs. 17 with the sailors.
The sailors loved the riches she could give them from trading on the seas.
And just like those before, they are in woe as they keep crying out over the destruction of the great city where the ships grew rich.
Once again, they grieve from far away,
Not wanting to share in Babylon’s fate.
The sailors look at this beautiful city and recall the wealth they accumulated from it,
And just cry knowing the destruction puts an end to their prosperity.
This once glorious city is now nothing,
It was a wellspring of riches but now lies in ruin.
The wealth was great while it lasted,
But wealth does not last.
And no one can predict when its destruction will happen.
Only God know.
All of the mourning from the kings, merchants, and sailors reveal their heart.
Their love and affection is for Babylon.
But not because they truly love her,
Remember, she is a prostitute,
They love what they can give her,
They worship the luxuries of the world,
Because they ultimately love themselves.
They are mourning the loss of their prostitute,
Because they are deeply saddened that the luxurious ways of this world are destroyed.
They are so filled with grief over the loss of their wealth and indulgences.
Just like was prophesied in Ezek. 27:30-34;
and shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes; they make themselves bald for you and put sackcloth on their waist, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: ‘Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth. Now you are wrecked by the seas, in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and all your crew in your midst have sunk with you.
Their love for Babylon is second only to their love for self.
Even though they are weeping and grieving over the fall of Babylon,
They do not try to come to their aid,
They don’t even come close,
They stand far off out of self-interest to protect themselves.
David Platt is right on when he said;
“If you love this world, it will pass away, and it will take you with it. You will not only lose true pleasure; you will lose your life…You will perish with this world.”
The wonderful truth of Babylon’s destruction,
Is that is clears the way for a greater city, New Jerusalem,
Coming down from heaven.
Sadly, lovers of Babylon fail to see the glory of the New Jerusalem.
Because of their love for self and love for the harlot,
They will share in the doom and desolation of Babylon.
God is not opposed to prosperity and riches,
But there is a reason Jesus said it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich person to get into heaven.
Because the rich often give their hearts over to their riches,
And they will act unjustly,
They will oppress,
They will enslave,
They will do whatever they have to for their own self-interest.
They will go to bed with the prostitute.
But a day is coming when the tempting beauty of worldly riches will be revealed.
This attractive woman with her expensive jewelry and fancy clothes will be proven to be a harlot.
All who go to bed with her will fall with her on that day.
It will be a quick and unexpected fall for this prostitute,
Those caught in bed with her will be shocked and filled with grief.
The riches of this world that they have given themselves to will slip through their fingers.
For believers, this passage is a warning against the tempting enticements of the prostitute.
Her charm and beauty and riches will come calling,
But whatever she can offer will be short-lived.
And when her judgment comes,
We will join in with the rest of heaven and rejoice.
YOU: The Heavens Rejoice Over Babylon’s Fall (vs. 20-24)
YOU: The Heavens Rejoice Over Babylon’s Fall (vs. 20-24)
I love what Pastor Adrian Rogers would say;
“We become like what we worship. True worship will make us more like God.”
When we worship God, we will begin to love what He loves and hate what He hates.
God hates the evil and wickedness of Babylon,
We should too.
Thus, our response to Babylon’s fall is completely different from the world’s.
We do not lament,
We rejoice!
We rejoice over the justice and righteousness of God’s judgment.
As we see in Rev. 18:20-24, The Heavens Rejoice Over Babylon’s Fall;
Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”
In vs. 21, another mighty angel casts a stone like a great millstone into the sea.
A fulfillment of Jeremiah 51:64;
A millstone is a huge stone!
They can weigh several tons!
The angel throws it in the sea as an object lesson.
Watch the giant rock sink, he says,
Babylon the great city will sink down in the same way.
It will be violently thrown down,
And it will sink deep down into the sea that it will be no more.
She will cease to exist.
Babylon’s destruction is final!
The world as we know it will no longer go on,
There will be no more concerts rejoicing over Babylon.
The people of the earth will not sing and dance because they cannot celebrate Babylon.
This eerie silence covers the world.
There are no more craftsmen rebuilding her.
Their trades and labors come to a stop,
No one continues working,
Industry freezes,
And the economy collapses so drastically that makes the great depression seem like a season of prosper.
There will be no more light,
NYC is called the city that never sleeps due to the constant illumination from the city,
Babylon will likely be similar until the time of judgment covers the city in darkness as the city is abandoned,
No one visits, no one parties there, it is a dark, dark place.
There will be no more weddings,
No hope for renewal,
There is no love,
People are no longer entering into marriage,
Weddings become a thing of the past,
Bridal festivities are now muted.
This judgment occurs as a result of the deception of the merchants,
And the prostitute’s murder of God’s people.
All the nations were led into destructive foolishness.
Now Babylon is exposed and her greatness is no more.
The contrast between the world and the heavens cannot be more pronounced.
The world weeps and wails in grief over the fall of Babylon,
While heaven celebrates.
The saints and apostles and prophets,
All of God’s people from every generation,
Rejoice over God’s judgment of Babylon.
They are celebrating perfect justice in the world!
A fulfillment of Jer. 51:48;
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the Lord.
As saints in a Babylonian world,
We long for this day,
We yearn for God’s perfect justice to come,
We pray for the salvation of all people as long as there is time,
And we pray for God’s Kingdom to come,
And His will to be done.
When God judges wickedness and sin,
We rejoice!
If we desire for God to hold off from bringing His Kingdom,
Then we are holding love for this world in our heart.
And love for this world will lead to our destruction with this world.
WE:
WE:
In her poem, Ella Wheeler Wilcox describes a world that promises so much,
But in the end, delivers so little.
The poem is titled Vanity Fair and it is almost as if it is a poem written about Babylon.
As we prepare to close this morning,
I would like to share this poem with you;
“In Vanity Fair, as we bow and smile,
As we talk of the opera after the weather,
As we chat of fashion and fad and style,
We know we are playing a part together.
You know that the mirth she wears, she borrows;
She knows you laugh but to hide your sorrows;
We know that under the silks and laces,
And back of beautiful, beaming faces,
Lie secret trouble and dark despair
In Vanity Fair.
In Vanity Fair, on dress parade,
Our colors look bright and our swords are gleaming,
But many a uniform’s worn and frayed,
And most of the weapons, despite their seeming,
Are dull and blunted and badly battered,
And close inspection will show how tattered
And stained are the banners that flaunt above us.
Our comrades hate, while they swear to love us;
And robed like Pleasure walks gaunt-eyed Care
In Vanity Fair.
In Vanity Fair, as we strive for place,
As we rush and jostle and crowd and hurry,
We know the goal is not worth the race—
We know the prize is not worth the worry;
That all our gain means loss for another;
That in fighting for self we wound each other;
That the crown of success weighs hard and presses
The brow of the victor with thorns—not caresses;
That honors are empty and worthless to wear,
In Vanity Fair.”
Babylon’s luxurious temptations are vanity.
We are all in a culture under the influence of Babylon.
Therefore, we all must look and the mirror and consider;
If the loss of luxury brings a tear to your eye, then you need to come out of Babylon.
As the poem acknowledges,
The brow with thorns is the victor!
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Wore the crown of thorns upon His brow,
When He took the punishment for our sins.
And He did it out of love.
Babylon does not love us,
Satan does not love us,
But they want to capture our hearts,
And bring a tear to our eye at the thought of losing them,
Jesus wept at the weight of all our sin,
His death on the cross should bring a tear to our eyes,
That He had to endure that punishment that we deserve,
Knowing He did it out of love for us,
Should capture our hearts,
So, that when Babylon falls,
We will not weep with the world,
We will rejoice with the heavens.