“The Great Unveiling: I Hate To Say, ‘I Told You So,’ But . . .”
Revelation 18:1 – 19:5
I stand in awe of Scripture. I’m overwhelmed by the way it lays out the plans and workings of God. Consider, for example, this fall of Babylon. In Jeremiah 51:59-64 Seraiah is told to go to Babylon and read an oracle against her, then bind that oracle to a stone and cast it into the Euphrates saying, “So will Babylon sink to rise no more.” In Isaiah 21:9 the prophet claims, “Babylon, has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground.” And now we hear these words in Revelation concerning another Babylon – the world system that opposes God. Not only does she fall, but she shall be no more!
What a picture of God’s planning and working! Since the day He promised that Satan’s head would be crushed, God has been weaving together His plan for over-coming the power and forces of evil. In this 18th chapter God’s plan is unveiled again. The angel announces that once again Satan’s head has been crushed.
We encounter first A COMMANDING (4-8). God once again calls His people to be holy, set apart from the ways of the world. “COME OUT OF HER.” Even as a young nation Israel was to be different from the nations around her. So to make her distinct God gave her an elaborate system of memorials, temple rites, and laws. But there were times when that uniqueness required that she flee evil so as not be overcome by it. 7 times in Scripture – in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Revelation – she is told to flee Babylon.
Paul told the new Israel, the Church, the same thing. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (II Cor. 6:14-18).
Now here in Revelation John hears the same call to God’s people; “DO NOT COMPROMISE the uniqueness of the Christian lifestyle.” In the center of the world’s traffic, where we live each day, let us be in but not of the culture, separated though present, godly and Christ-like in an ungodly world. It raises the question, “Is there been a difference between the way we live and the way the non-followers of Christ live?”
But why is it so important to come out? First, SO WE DO NOT SHARE BABYLON’S SINS AND PLAGUES. If we are in a city or country when an epidemic breaks out, we want to get out so we do not catch it. Similarly, we do not want to catch Babylon’s sins and plagues. The description given in the first 3 verses of chapter 18 tell us that Babylon felt self-sufficient and therefore saw no need for Christ; she was willing to sell her soul for personal pleasure and power. The phrase about sins reaching to heaven literally says “glued together” into heaven. Get the picture? Here we have A TOWER NOT OF STONES BUT OF SINS. And it reaches into heaven; God has kept the record and glued one sin to another, and heaven has been reached. But reaching heaven is like plugging in the plug that will send down destruction!
The truth is that Rome was so rich that she thought she was self-sufficient. She was obsessed with greed, materialism, and wealth. For example, people even had slaves to answer people who greeted them as they walked along the road. Her comfort in her wealth gave her a false sense of security. Filled with pride and self-gratification she believed she was invincible. But her power was sapped. John does not say that all the wealth was bad in and of itself. But 18:13 gives us the clue as to the problem: after listing many particulars of the wealth they possessed, John added, “and bodies and souls of men.” To get their wealth they needed slaves, they needed to use others for their own good. Building up their own wealth, status, and power was more important than caring for and sharing with others. As N. T. Wright pointed out, when you worship idols, the idols demand sacrifices. (1) Babylon had no problem sacrificing, using, and abusing people to gain and maintain her own wealth, status, and power. We are not to build our personal kingdoms and the backs and souls of others.
Listen. If we ever say, “Things aren’t that bad here; this could never happen here,” we’re in trouble. Just walk the streets of any average sized American city. What fills them? Lust; flesh; material urgings; greed; self-seeking; soul-selling. Even our children are hired and stolen at an alarming rate to please the pornographic crowd; child abuse – sexual and otherwise – is commonplace; the numbers of children sold as slaves and instruments of sex is of epidemic proportions. And, my friends, if we participate in these sins, if we allow them to exist, if we do not live lives which point out the tragedy of these sins, if we do not “come out” from them – IF WE SHARE THE SINS WE WILL SHARE THE PUNISHMENT! Her destruction will be ours. We must live as a holy people, unashamedly, for our holy God!
It’s also important that we ‘come out’ because GOD SHOWS NO PARTIALITY. Verse 6 teaches that Babylon will receive back double punishment for what she has done. Paul said it well: (Rom. 2:4-11):“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done." To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” Let us never trust our own resources as being inexhaustible. Let us never presume we are self-sufficient. Let us never become so obsessed with greed, materialism, and wealth that we use and abuse people for our own gain. The command is to come out – spiritually and perhaps even at some point physically – from the world of evil.
After this commanding we see A COMPANY (9-19). Babylon is crushed, destroyed. During a major fire the smoke can be seen from miles away. That’s something like what we see here in Revelation – the smoke from Babylon’s destruction can be seen miles and miles away.
And the various companies of people who are related to her will take notice. THE LIST begins with the KINGS, and they are weeping; weeping, however, not for Babylon as much as for their own loss. Babylon was their source of power and she is gone. That means they, too, will fall. They had a great time following the piper of the world and living off her, but the party’s over and the parade’s finished! The kings are through.
And then there are the MERCHANTS. They had a strong desire for material things; now they would not be able to gain them. The list of items or cargo is extravagant. 29 specific articles, most of them luxuries, are listed. It gives us a flavor for the richness of Babylon and Rome. It has been said that if the total wealth of the world equaled a 10, Rome possessed a 9! At just one of Nero’s banquets, for example, Nero had Egyptian Roses worth $100,000.00! In less than one year Vitellius spent more than $20,000,000.00 – mostly on luxuries! That’s a lot for our day, let alone theirs! Each person tried to outdo the other in flaunting wealth. The merchants of the world thrived as long as they “played the game”; but the game was over, and they were sad! Their stock market had crashed!
Likewise, the SAILORS had gotten rich off her. They simply stood back and watched her die! And they mourned her loss, because now they, too, were finished! In just one hour! Life was over! Right then! No longer any second chances!
This list teaches us some LESSONS. First, (18:21-23) note the multiple negatives – “Never, never, ever, never, never, never.” That’s the future of Babylon and those who oppose God! They will be done for, NEVER TO RISE AGAIN! Again, God will win!
But secondly, recognize that NO ONE REALLY CARES ABOUT BABYLON as such. They merely stand and watch. No one rushes to help, defend, save, rescue. They are not willing to share with her even though she shared with them! The pleasures of sin are appealing until the truth is revealed. The kings, merchants, and sailors are NOT SORRY FOR THEIR SIN, BUT FOR THEIR OWN LOSS. And isn’t that sin – self-centeredness at its worst? Babylon not only goes off the stage of history quickly; she goes with no sympathy!
Yet there’s a third critical lesson here. Edward Gibbon, who wrote the “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” to which I referred to last week, says there is A CYCLE OF HISTORY. Nations go, he claims, FROM BONDAGE TO SPIRITUAL FAITH; FROM SPIRITUAL FAITH TO GREAT COURAGE; FROM COURAGE TO LIBERTY; FROM LIBERTY TO ABUNDANCE; FROM ABUNDANCE TO SELFISHNESS; FROM SELFISHNESS TO COMPLACENCY; FROM COMPLACENCY TO APATHY; FROM APATHY TO DEPENDENCE; FROM DEPENDENCE BACK AGAIN TO BONDAGE. Where are we in America on that scale? In transition from abundance to selfishness? Close to complacency and apathy? Are we so used to having what we want that we’ve become insensitive to the life and power of evil and desensitized to sin?
Fourth, let’s get more personal. HOW DOES WEALTH OR DESIRE FOR WEALTH AFFECT YOU? Just go along with it as your privilege? If “you got it you got it?” Do you maybe even strive for it – desire it – above all else? Hoard it like people do food in the face of an impending winter storm? How would you feel if, like Job, all your possessions were taken away? Would you survive? And let’s understand that in our nation today, in our culture, there is movement that says it is a sin to have wealth and that anyone with wealth is evil and their wealth should be taken away. That attitude is just as evil as hoarding wealth; it, to, makes an idol of wealth. The command was to come out from the world’s ways. This company teaches us that to stay within that world will lead only to mourning because we, too, will suffer when Babylon finally falls. It’s just like a nation who has ambassadors in a foreign country when word ie received that the foreign country is about to undergo civil strife or war; the home nations calls the ambassadors out for their own protection.
So Babylon will fall. John sees the CASTING DOWN (20-24) as Babylon is tied to a great millstone and cast into the sea. It reminds me of the mafia movies where they threaten all the time to place feet in concrete – meaning they’ll throw a body to the bottom of the river and weight it down. Certainly a vivid picture! The great city, is bound, thrown into the sea, and never heard from again. Just like Jimmy Hoffa, isn’t it? The day will come when Babylon will be declared legally dead – and will be! GOD OFTEN ACTS QUICKLY WHEN HE JUDGES. Recall Daniel, chapter 5, when Belshazzar receives judgment; that very night he’s killed. And recall again Jesus’ account of the rich farmer: “This night your soul will be required of you!” Like an earthquake that that strikes with no warning, judgment here strikes instantly.
But notice that instead of great noise – which usually accompanies death in Revelation – THERE IS SILENCE. When a stone goes into the water, there may be a splash and the water will ripple; but the noise goes away and the ripples disappear. That’s the lasting affect of Babylon – not even a blot on history! Total destruction! All because she ignored God and told the world, “You shall not surely die!”
Again, there are LESSONS for us. First, Paul said (Romans 8:19-23) that all creation is longing for justice to be done. The saints of God have committed their lives to the truth of Christ. If wrong, they are most to be pitied! And so are we! So we join them in crying out for justice to be delivered! And we find we are not to be pitied! Verse 20 literally says, “For God did judge your judgment upon her.” GOD RULED IN OUR FAVOR!
It’s like this. Satan did his best and brought his charges against us, and fought against us. We cry out for justice through the blood of Jesus Christ. God, the Judge, then decides who is right. It’s similar to the arbitration professional baseball players have. A player’s agent names one price, the club names another, and a judge chooses one of the two. And here God chooses in favor of the saints! And remember that, in the Old Testament, (Dt. 19:16-20) when an accusation against someone was proven false, the accuser was subject to the penalty which would have been cast upon the accused if found guilty! So here SATAN AND BABYLON RECEIVE THE PUNISHMENT AND DESTRUCTION they had tried to get for the saints of God! They are to be pitied, not the followers of the Lamb! Destruction is severe; the stone of judgment is merciless.
Second, REMEMBER the king’s dream in Daniel 2:44-45: "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands-a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces…” And THE STONE HAS COME! JESUS CHRIST! And He will come again! The living stone has been cast upon the earth and justice will reign! As Peter wrote (1 Pt. 2:4-5), “As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Change your company. COME OUT OF BABYLON TO JESUS CHRIST. Come out from your sin into His holiness. Come out of your darkness into His light. Come out of your death into His life! Come out of your doubts into His truth. The stone will be cast; and each person will either sink or swim. It will be as God has always said. There will be no sorrow for Babylon. All God will say is, “I hate to say I told you so, but I did!”
The third lesson is in chapter 19; we see THE SAINTS IN PRAISE, singing the glory of God. It’s really the Lord’s Prayer in song – the power, glory, and kingdom forever! It’s the final song in the Bible – and it’s for the judgment of God! It celebrates His triumph over His enemies! Israel began (Ex. 15:11) by singing: “Who is like unto Thee?” They end by singing, “No one!” Perhaps the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar said it best from his pagan perspective: “He (God) does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Dl. 4:25)
Salvation, glory, and power belong to God. Salvation leads us to worship, His glory leads us to reverence, and His power leads us to trust Him. (2) What more can we add? Join the company of those who live and die for Jesus; who fight by the power of His Spirit; who win by the power of His resurrection. Come to Jesus with greater commitment, with a deeper desire to live on higher ground. Never let Him say to you, “I hate to say I told you so!” Remember: (Mk. 8:36) “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mt. 6:19-20, 33) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
(1) New Testament for Everyone - New Testament for Everyone – Revelation for Everyone.
(2) Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
