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Chapter 18 (ESV)

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. ² 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. ³ 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.”

⁴ 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;
⁵ for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
⁶ 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.
⁷ 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.’
⁸ 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.”

⁹ 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. ¹⁰ 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.”

REFLECTION:

1. The whole chapter pictures the ultimate collapse of all human institutions (political, financial, etc.) given over to the lust for power and greed. Babylon was used in the Old Testament for the symbol of everything that goes against God, and it was the beautiful city that held captive God’s chosen people.
2. The power and luxuries enjoyed by the men and women of this world are actually devastating to the spiritual life. God has given us all things richly to enjoy. There should be nothing more important to us than loving God and loving our neighbour.  Babylon is condemned because her people value material possession so much that they willingly commit crimes against their fellow man.
3. Meditate on this, “Get out, my people, as fast as you can, so you don’t get mixed up in her sins …” (v. 4). Is God whispering this to you today? Or is He shouting at you?  What does He want you to get out of?

PRAYER:

Dear Holy Spirit! Please light up all the dark places in my heart so that I can understand and be willing to obey the Lord’s call to come out of the things that control me. I pray that the Lord will open my mind to think more about the things above, and teach me that loving God and loving my neighbor is more important than the rights and luxuries in this world.

HYMN:

You Are My All in All – youtu.be/lie1L61Qnos