Living in Babylon

Series: Reclaiming REVELATION

November 26, 2017

Jericho Ridge

 

Revelation: Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow

Living in Babylon

 

Text: Revelation 17-18

Focus: Babylon, the old city, is falling. The New Jerusalem is coming. What influences how we live in Babylon as we wait?

 

Introduction

 

For me, one of the most powerful and helpful features of the Book of Revelation is how it pulls back the curtain of our world and reveals/exposes/opens my eyes to more than I am prone to seeing and understanding.

  • Obviously, it does this in a futuristic sense … but what I have been struck with is the “revelation” Jesus gave John for his time and the “revelation” Jesus is giving us for our present time.
  • There is far more to the reality of our present moment than we can know with our physical senses.

 

  • Granted, apocalyptic literature often does this in ways that are hard to understand and navigate with its vivid imagery and descriptive/symbolic language.
  • But I am finding that it’s so well worth the effort.
  • And I want to say that Dr. Darrel Johnson’s book has been an excellent help (hold up Darrel Johnson book) … if you want 1 book on Revelation, this is the one (in my opinion).

 

Today we are in Revelation 17-18.

  • Please turn there in your Bibles or on your devices.
  • It won’t be on the screen because we want you to bring your Bibles and engage with them personally.

 

A few things to keep in mind as we read Revelation 17-18…

  • We remember that the Book of Revelation was a book written for churches in the cities of Asia Minor.
    • Jesus is revealing to John and the 7 churches, the greater reality of what is happening at that time.
    • The visible reality for the first readers of this text … what was clear to them … was the dominance and power of the Roman Empire … “Caesar is Lord”.
    • Worship of Caesar was the glue that held this vast and powerful empire together.
    • To go against that meant punishment by death or John’s case, exile to the desolate prison island of Patmos.
  • This is the “seen/visual” context within which Jesus gives John/church a greater context for the world they live in.
  • Second thing to keep in mind as we read these 2 chapters, is that Jesus is giving us two big revelations:
    • First, no matter what empire/city you are living in, it is crumbling and falling; it will not last forever.
    • Regardless of what name it has at any particular time in history (i.e. Rome, China, Ottawa, GVRD, Langley), it is always going to come to an end and ultimately be replaced by Jesus reigning in the New Jerusalem.

 

  • Second, we Christians are always called to live as disciples in these falling “cities”.
  • What does that look like? What do we need to be aware of?
    • For John’s readers in Pergamum, Smyrna, Ephesus, etc… they needed to be aware of issues and forces at play as they lived between “Rome” and the “New Jerusalem”.
    • For us, living in Langley and waiting for the New Jerusalem … what do we need to be aware of?

 

With these things in mind, let’s read Revelation 17-18 (NLT).

 

 

 

The Great Prostitute and Babylon

 

Wow! It seems every time we read the next section of Revelation, we can pause and say, “Wow!” (that’s what apocalyptic literature is supposed to do, illicit a response in its audience).

  • Incredible imagery of this great prostitute/whore that humanity all over the world, is in bed with.
  • And an incredible picture and prophecy of the fall of human empires … here all identified as “Babylon.”

 

  • Again, many have tried to plot literal timelines of the kings and empires … but you have to manipulate history to make any of the theories work, so I think it’s safe to say that again we are dealing with symbols in this passage, rather than specific kings/rulers and empires.
  • The risen Jesus gave John, and now us, this revelation, this apocalypse, this unveiling, in symbols.
  • John is describing the symbols, not the reality behind the symbols.

So what’s the basic picture painted for us?

  • John sees a woman … again.
  • John saw a woman in Revelation 12, who gave birth to a son, Jesus, who is to rule all the nations of the world (12:5).
  • Now we see another woman, who the angel calls the great prostitute.
  • She is seated like a Queen, but on a scarlet beast … the same beast we saw in Revelation 13
  • It is the beast who was sent by the dragon that tried to kill the first/Rev 12 woman’s son.
  • The woman is adorned with precious metals and stones but in actuality, she is quite hideous:

A mysterious name was written on her forehead: “Babylon the Great, Mother of All Prostitutes and Obscenities in the World.” I could see that she was drunk—drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who were witnesses for Jesus. I stared at her in complete amazement.

 

  • “Babylon the great, mother of all prostitutes and obscenities in the world” … this is a key to helping us interpret this scene.
  • This is the mother of more/all Babylons … during every period in history (including ours).
  • “Babylon” is a representation in these chapters.
  • The phrase suggests that whatever “Babylon” John was facing in the 1st century (which was Rome), it was not the last.
  • There were “Babylons” before John’s time (i.e. Babel, Ninevah, Samaria).
  • And there will be more “Babylons” to come … which is why it is possible for us to wake up one morning and find that we are living in “Babylon.”
  • And if that’s the case, how applicable these chapters become for us!

 

  • John says that the woman was drunk on the blood of the saints in (17:6) and causes all the nations to be drunk with the wine of her immorality and seductive wealth (18:3).
  • John also says that she is seated on a beast, and she is seated on many waters, and she is seated on seven hills.
  • Typical apocalyptic literature to mix multiple images.
  • But John does give us some distinctive understanding here:
    • She sits on the beast who carries her … and the beast empowers her immorality and wealth.
    • She sits on many waters … these are the nations and people groups, over whom she reigns.
    • She sits on seven hills … in other words, she rules over the most powerful empire (in John’s time, it was Rome, which was built on 7 literal hills).

So that is the basic picture of the woman, the Great Prostitute.

  • And then we get into detailed imagery of the beast, who is empowering the woman … and it gets fairly complex with horns, heads, waters … kings, power, people.
  • And here theologians have tried to line up historical rulers and kingdoms to be able to predict a timeline for where we are at in this scene and when the end times will play out and where we will fit in.
  • But again, to do so, you always seem to have to tweak history to fit the theories and theologies.

 

  • Rather, the Angel is saying to John, I am talking about symbols that represent humanity and its power structures.
  • The bigger picture is that peoples, nations and their rulers are always entering the bed of the evil one, seduced by great power and wealth.
  • And these kings ultimately wage war against the Lamb (against the son of the woman in Rev.12 who was born to rule the nations).
  • Why? Because they don’t want Jesus Christ, who is born to rule the nations, to rule over THEIR nation.
  • So they go to war against him.
  • But as we remember from Revelation 4-5, the Lamb wins!

Why? Rev 17:4 … the Lamb will overcome them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.

  • In other words, when Jesus shows up, the war is over.
  • Yes, the seven horns/heads represent great authority and strength given to them by the beast, but Jesus, the Lamb, has greater authority and strength.
  • John is speaking pastoral care to his people: Don’t be afraid of Rome. Don’t panic. Don’t give up. Empires and cities (Babylon) can do all they want to resist the rule of Jesus, and they may even look successful at it … but they cannot overcome the rule of the Lamb!

 

  • In fact, we see in 17:16-17 that evil actually turns on itself … evil implodes on itself … evil self-destructs.
  • Any city, or nation … any power that draws its authority and strength from something other than God, ends up being eaten by that very authority and power.
  • If it’s greed that gives them power, in time, that greed will destroy their power.
  • If it’s weapons that gives them power, in time, those weapons will also conquer them.
  • In other words, we reap what we sow!
  • Babylon (the representative city) always crumbles and falls because it’s built on faulty beliefs, which will in the end, be the very beliefs that “consume/eat her up”.

 

  • It’s a sobering thought … one we would be wise to stop and orient or re-orient our lives around.
  • If we create anything that is not based on God himself, then the very things we use to establish that, no matter how successful or powerful it becomes, will consume it … and thereby consume us!
  • Every “Babylon”, every new society that is created without God, no matter how well-intentioned or how powerful it is, will become our lord, it will assume power over us, and it will consume us.
  • And I think it’s safe to say that we have modern-day examples of this taking place before our very eyes.
  • Friend, this was true of every kingdom and super-power before the Roman Empire, it was true for the Roman Empire (which the Goths toppled in 1 week) … and it is/will be true for every empire and super-power since the great Roman Empire.

 

 

The Marks of “Babylonness

 

So, how do we know if the empire we live in, our society, our nation, our city is becoming (or has become) this “Babylon”?

  • Out of these two chapters, Darrel Johnson highlights seven marks of a city/nation taking on “Babylonness”.
  • Seven things that we as Christian disciples can and need to be on the watch for, that we need to be able to identify, name them for what they are and stand against in how we live:

 

  1. Leaving the Living God out of the Equation
    • The presence of God, his grace, his will, his purposes … when these are pushed out of the governing picture, when they are left out of the center of a city’s life … an element of “Babylonness” has taken hold.

 

  1. Sensuality (Rev 17:2-4, 18:3,9)
    • John speaks of Babylon “corrupting the earth with her immorality.”
    • Today, what is the number one driver of marketing … appeal to a persons sex drive.
    • In fact, our society is going even further and equating our identity with our sexuality.
    • All over the world, in homes, schools, shops, online … video, music, images play day and night celebrating sensuality and sexuality as preeminent.
    • An element of “Babylonness” has taken hold.

 

  1. Injustice
    • In Rev 18:13, John speaks of Rome selling slaves … literally selling “bodies and souls”.
    • How many “Babylons” are built on the backs of slaves?
    • How much of what glitters and shines that was purchased on Black Friday is built on unjust economic structures.
    • In 18:12-13, we see the value system of “Babylons” … at the top are gold, silver, jewels, silk, wood, ivory, spices, oil, cattle, horses … and then people!
    • This inverted justice and value system is a sign that “Babylonness” has/is taking hold.

 

  1. Worship of Products
    • When a society/city finds its identity in what it produces…
    • When security is in the Gross National Product…
    • When decisions are based only on what helps produce the most the fastest the cheapest…
    • “Babylonness” is present.

 

  1. Violence
    • Constantly preparing and investing for war.
    • Choosing to solve conflict with weapons.
    • Thinking that weapons bring security and freedom.
    • “Babylonness” has an intentional “amendment” specifically for violence.

 

  1. Deception and Counterfeit
    • Rev 17:8 tells us that the beast John saw “was and isn’t” and “is dead but is about to come”.
    • A deliberate parody on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    • “Babylonness” always operates with deception and counterfeit … there is always an ulterior motive.

 

  1. Idolatry
    • Humanity is incurably religious.
    • We cannot help but worship someone, something … in fact that is what God created to do.
    • So if we are not worshiping the true and living God, then we will worship an idol of some kind.
    • Rev 18:7 “she glorified herself” … she began to play God with human lives.
    • No one is without a point of worship … if not Jesus, the Lamb as Lord of lords, then someone/something.

 

Do you recognize any of these in your world?

  • Oh, it’s pretty easy to point a finger to that country or that political system…
  • But are you taking a lay of the land that we live in, right here in Langley, Surrey, Abbotsford?
  • Friends, all of this is why it’s so hard to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ in our city!
  • We are constantly under the pressure of “Babylonness”.
  • The Great Prostitute is still riding on the beast; she is still riding on the waters, on peoples, on nations, even in Willoughby.

 

  • Remember, the message of Revelation is that things are not as they seem.
  • Let your eyes be opened!

 

 

Come Out of Babylon

 

And then what?

  • What are disciples of Jesus to do when we wake up and realize that we are in bed with the Great Prostitute … that we are in Babylon?
  • First, remember, that Babylon is always crumbling and falling … it will not last forever!
  • It cannot because the Lamb is bringing the New Jerusalem (and Pastor Brad will teach on that in the next weeks).
  • You don’t want to be part of the destruction and mourning that will take place as Babylon falls.

 

Instead, Revelation 18:4-5,

Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. For her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds.

  • What are we supposed to do when we realize that we are in “Babylon”?
  • “Come out!”
  • And go where? Babylon is everywhere.
  • Come out and go where?
  • It is the call to live “in” but not “of”.
  • Live in “Babylon”, but not of “Babylon”, which is no easy task.
  • That’s why we need each other … that’s why we need Christian community.
  • That’s why Jesus gives us this Revelation.
  • John 17:11, Jesus prays for us…

11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. … 14 for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 

 

  • Revelation sharpens this issue more than ever!
  • The wild and dramatic imagery is meant to shock you out of your daze/slumber … to show you more than what you see around you.
  • Wake up!
  • Babylon … whatever it is called today (Langley), is not as great as it thinks!
  • It is crumbling as I speak.

 

  • Jesus, the Lamb, is coming as Lord of all lords and King of kings, and he is leading us into the ways of the “greater city” the New Jerusalem.

 

Let’s pray…

 

Jesus, thank you for revealing truth to us. Lord, have mercy on us. Open our eyes with your grace and truth; don’t let us be blinded by the seductive power and pleasure of this world.

 

Show us where we are in bed with Babylon… show us where we are cooperating with Babylonness in our daily lives… show us where we are supporting and encouraging it. Continue your work of revelation in our times.

 

And Jesus, give us uncommon courage to obey your call to “come out”. Give us uncommon wisdom and character to be grace and truth in our city until you come to reign with your new city!

 

We are always living in between two "cities". Revelation 17-18 reveal the forces and powers that are at work in our "cities". And we are warned that we could be in bed with "the great prostitute" who is ruling! If so, how do we know and what can we do about it?

Speaker: Wally Nickel

November 26, 2017
Revelation 17:1-18:24

Wally Nickel

Transitional Pastor

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