This morning, as we continue our journey through Revelation, we’ll be covering all of chapter 18. Since it is a relatively long chapter, I’ve asked some of our elders and deacons to come and read the passage out loud for us.
[Reading of chapter 18]
Once again, this is a passage where we need to step back and take a look at the big picture rather than get lost in the details. But before we do that, let me take a moment to review the larger context.
Chapters 17 and 18 contain figurative and symbolic language which revolves around Babylon. While Babylon may possibly refer to a physical place, Babylon In these two chapters is primarily a picture of something much more than just a location – much in the same way as we refer to “Wall Street” as a picture of our financial and banking system or “Hollywood” as a picture of the film industry.
Last week, in chapter 17, we saw Babylon as a picture of a false religious system which will be used by the Antichrist and other political leaders in order to consolidate their political power. But once they no longer need that system, they will turn on it and destroy it.
This week, in chapter 18, Babylon represents a commercial and financial system that will be in place just prior to the return of Jesus. It too, will be destroyed, but by God Himself rather than by Satan and the Antichrist.
What is really remarkable to me is how well chapter 18 describes many of the characteristics of our current economic and commerce system, both here in the United States and around the world. And our recent economic woes certainly demonstrate just how easily our whole economic system could very easily collapse literally overnight. And all of us participate in that system to some degree. We work and get a paycheck. We buy and sell goods. We have bank accounts and use currency. So how do we make sure that we don’t come crashing down as well when this system collapses?
The value of chapter 18 for us is that it helps us to answer that question. And the principles that we will find here are just as relevant to us regardless of whether the final destruction of this system occurs in our lifetimes or whether we only experience some of the lesser economic meltdowns that are merely a harbinger of what is to come one day at the return of Jesus.
Dana will be really proud of me this morning because I’m going to kind of “reverse engineer” this passage. I’m going to begin by looking at the two reactions to this financial collapse and then see if we can’t work our way backwards and determine what steps that we can take to make sure that we’re part of the right group when that time comes.
Two responses to economic collapse –
When the collapse of the economic system occurs, there are going to be two contrasting responses to the collapse:
• The world – weeping and mourning
That is going to be the response of most of the world. In particular, there are going to be three groups which are singled out in this passage who will weep and mourn:
o The political leaders (vv. 9-10)
It is clear from this passage that the “kings of the earth” are going to weep and wail because they have benefited all along from this economic system. They have participated in the system and engaged in immorality in order to benefit from that system and live in luxury.
We see evidence of this right here in the United States. In the midst of one of the greatest recessions in our country’s history, the average wealth of members of Congress increased 16% from 2008 to 2009. And nearly half the members of Congress are now millionaires. So it’s not hard to see why the political elite who benefit personally are going to weep and mourn at the collapse of the system.
o The small businessmen (vv. 11, 15-17)
The next group mentioned is the merchants. These would be comparable to the small businessmen of our time. These are the people who made a living by buying and selling their goods. As verse 15 points out, when times are good, these people accumulate a lot of wealth. But when economic times get hard, people can no longer afford to buy their goods, especially the luxury items like gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, etc. that are mentioned in verses 12 and 13.
Again, we can see this at work on a smaller scale right here in our country. Business bankruptcies increased 79% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2009 and most of those were small businesses. Because unemployment is so high, there are less people who can afford to buy products from these businesses, especially luxury items.
o The big corporations (vv. 17-19)
The third group mentioned is the shipmasters and seafaring men. These were the large corporations of John’s day – those who produced and shipped products to the smaller merchants who then sold those products. Like the merchants, they too grow wealthy during times of prosperity and when the whole system collapses, they will also weep and mourn.
But not everyone is going to weep and mourn when the economic system collapses. There is actually going to be one group who will rejoice. We see them described in verse 20:
Rejoice over her, O heaven,
and you saints and apostles and prophets,
for God has given judgment for you against her!”
• God’s remnant – rejoicing (v. 20)
Those who are part of God’s remnant – His saints, apostles and prophets - are actually going to rejoice at this economic collapse. At least part of that rejoicing comes about because they recognize that God is finally going to carry out His judgment against those who have profited financially, at least in part, by exploiting and persecuting those who remained faithful to Jesus, and who were able to take part in the economic system because they took the mark of the beast.
But I think there is also a second reason for their rejoicing. When they see all these things happening, they know that the return of Jesus is imminent. That is indicated in our passage by the fact that this judgment is going to be very sudden and catastrophic. It is described as happening “in a single day” in verse 8 and then in verses 10, 17, and 19 as occurring “in a single hour”. That is consistent with what we have observed elsewhere in the book of Revelation with the increasing intensity of God’s judgments as the return of Jesus approaches.
Although we’ve briefly examined the surface reasons for the weeping and mourning on one hand, and rejoicing, on the other, there is something much deeper going on here. Those two contrasting responses are the result of some lifestyles and deep seated attitudes that have prepared some to rejoice while others are mourning. So let’s continue our process of reverse engineering and move one step closer to the underlying root problems that give rise to these two contrasting responses.
Two lifestyles
• The world – greed and indulgence
The lifestyles of greed and indulgence are apparent all throughout the passage, but they are summarized very vividly in verse 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.’
This is God’s description of the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” They live in luxury and engage in perpetual self-indulgence. They are their own authority and have no idea of the disaster which is about to be poured out upon them.
Again, we can very clearly see this in practice all around us today. But greed and indulgence are not limited to those we would consider to be rich. And certainly even Christ followers are not immune to that kind of lifestyle. In our culture one of the biggest evidences of greed and indulgence is the amount of debt that we have incurred both personally and as a country.
While the Bible clearly does not forbid any debt whatsoever, it is clear that when we incur debt in order to indulge ourselves by buying something that we can’t otherwise afford, we are violating Scriptural principles regarding our finances.
Much of the financial meltdown in our country was caused to a large degree by greedy people who purchased houses that they could not afford because someone was willing to give them a loan. As a result, there were 2.9 million foreclosures in the United States in 2010. Arizona had the second highest rate of foreclosures in the country with one in every 17 housing units in the state receiving at least one foreclosure filing last year.
And then there is credit card debt. Even though debt levels have decreased slightly during the current recession, the latest available statistics show that Americans owe nearly $900 billion in credit card debt, about $3,700 for every adult and $7,400 for every household in the U.S.
We obviously don’t have time this morning to go into any kind of detail regarding what the Bible teaches about debt, but just a few passages will be adequate to demonstrate that as a culture we have not heeded the Word of God in this area.
The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
Psalm 37:21 (ESV)
The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
Proverbs 22:7 (ESV)
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:8 (ESV)
But as followers of Jesus, we are called to refrain from that kind of lifestyle. As I mentioned earlier, we all participate in our economic system to some degree. But can we do that in a way where we don’t get caught up in all the greed and self-indulgence? The key to how to do that is found in verse 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;
This verse reveals the alternative to a lifestyle of greed and indulgence:
• God’s remnant – separation
The command to “come out” is directed to those that God identifies as “my people.” The command itself is in a form that indicates urgency. It means that it is something that we are to do now without delay. But it is clearly not a physical separation that is indicated here, but rather a mental separation from greed and indulgence as a way of life. Notice that Christ followers are not commanded to refrain from participating in the system, but rather we are to come out of her so that we don’t take part in the sins that are part of that system.
It is the kind of separation that Jesus spoke about as He prayed to His Father just hours before His crucifixion:
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 17:15, 16 (ESV)
As it applies to this economic system, we might paraphrase the words of Jesus and say that we are to be in the system, but not of the system. As we saw in our journey through the book of Ecclesiastes a couple of years ago, there is nothing wrong with enjoying the things that God provides for us. Perhaps you remember these words:
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil - this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:18, 19 (ESV)
But the problem occurs when we begin to find our security and joy in those things that God has provided rather than in God Himself.
The words of Paul, as he quotes from the book of Isaiah are helpful here:
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 (ESV)
The way that we are to be separate from the world is to make sure that we “touch no unclean thing.” In terms of our participation in the world’s economic system, that means that we refuse to have any kind of participation whatsoever in the kinds of practices that the greedy and indulgent utilize in order to obtain their riches. We are to have nothing to do with the lying and cheating and exploiting people in order to indulge our own wants and desires.
As I mentioned, the kind of separation that is in mind here is primarily a mental rather than physical separation. And that leads us to our third and final step as we reverse engineer this whole process. And as we do that, we find that the two lifestyles portrayed here are rooted in…
Two attitudes:
• The world – longing for “stuff”
We see this very clearly in verse 14 of our text:
“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 reason that people are willing to engage in an immoral lifestyle and lie, steal, cheat and exploit others is because their soul longs for material things. They are the kind of people that Paul describes in this familiar passage:
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
Philippians 3:18, 19 (ESV)
When Paul writes that their god is their belly, he is making the point that they long after those things which can bring instant gratification, what he also describes here as “earthly things.” We live in a world where people are increasingly longing for whatever will bring them instant gratification.
The evidence of this focus on instant gratification is all around us. We’ve already talked about how people get themselves into debt so that they can obtain things instantly rather than save for them. We also know that people in this country spend well over $50 billion buying lottery tickets each year, hoping to buck the odds and become instant millionaires.
And when people finally do get that which they have been longing for, they quickly find that it doesn’t bring the satisfaction they expected. When the credit card bills come, it really reduces the temporary happiness that might have come from whatever was purchased. And there is abundant evidence that many, if not most, of the big jackpot winners from the lottery end up miserable and broke just a short time later.
But even if those things do provide some temporary happiness, the message of this chapter is that they will all pass away some day. As someone once said, “Nobody has ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul.”
It is the longing for “stuff” that leads to a lifestyle of greed and indulgence and that lifestyle guarantees weeping and morning. But there is obviously a better way.
• God’s remnant – longing for Jesus
Just a moment ago we looked at a couple of verses from Philippians 3 where Paul described those who were driven by the god of their belly and who pursued instant gratification. But in the very next verses, he provides us with a distinct contrast as he describes those who long for Jesus instead:
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Philippians 3:20, 21 (ESV)
The verb translated “await” in verse 20 means to “eagerly await”. It is the same kind of eager expectation that is expressed in the prayer that is found at the end of the Book of Revelation:
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Revelation 22:21 (ESV)
But the longing for Jesus that allows us to live a lifestyle of separation and to ultimately rejoice involves more than just eagerly waiting for Jesus to return to this earth. It also requires longing for Jesus to be the Lord of every area of our lives on a daily basis right here and now. It is the kind of longing for Jesus that we find in these familiar words from the Psalmist:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25, 26 (ESV)
If we are truly longing for Jesus, then there will be nothing on earth that we desire besides or before Him.
I know that if you’re here this morning, it is probably because you desire to long for Jesus in your life. But how can we truly evaluate whether that is the case? Let me suggest just two questions that you might answer honestly that will help you to know whether you are really longing for Jesus in your life.
How do I know if I’m truly longing for Jesus?
1. Do I view myself as an owner or a steward?
There are two ways that I can view all that I have – my time, my talents and my treasure. I can either believe that all those things belong to me and that therefore I have the right to use them as I wish or I can view them as belonging to God, in which case I am merely a steward of those resources.
There is little doubt that if I am truly longing for Jesus, I will find God’s answer to that question in the pages of Scripture in verses like this:
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
Psalm 24:1 (ESV)
Not much doubt is there? Everything and everyone in the world belongs to God. He is the owner. We are merely stewards. We don’t use that word a whole lot in our culture today, do we? For our purposes, this is a pretty good definition of a steward:
a person who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
If I’m truly longing for Jesus, then that is how I will view myself – as one who is merely managing that which belongs to Him. On the other hand, if I find myself saying something like “It’s my money (or talent or time) and I’ll use it however I want” then I need to take whatever steps I need to in order to change that mindset.
2. Do I give God my very best?
This second question really flows out of the first. If I honestly view myself as a steward and not an owner, I won’t have any trouble at all with this command:
Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce
Proverbs 3:9 (ESV)
We’ve talked a lot about the concept of firstfruits before and determined that it is always the top portion, the very best, and not merely the leftovers.
Today we no longer measure that with our crops, but rather with how we use our money. Do we give God the very best off the top, or does He only get the leftovers? This is a very serious matter, as the God indicated when He spoke to the prophet Malachi:
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Malachi 3:8-10 (ESV)
God said that His people were actually robbing Him when they failed to bring their firstfruits, the entire amount of their tithes and offerings to Him. We obviously don’t have time to examine the topic of tithing here this morning, but let me just say this. If you’re using all your resources for the things that you want and then just giving God the leftovers, then there is just no way that you are truly longing for Jesus. In fact, you’re actually engaging in the very same lifestyle of those who live by greed and indulgence and who will one day weep and mourn when all that you have is destroyed.
What or who are you longing for this morning?
