REVELATION 18.20 “Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.” 18.21 A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. -WEB Bible
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: This remarkable image is from a 13th
century manuscript. In the upper right, the Apostle John relates the vision
that he sees. A mighty angel carries a millstone to the sea and cheerfully
drops it into the depths with a flourish. The millstone is a symbol of Babylon,
and how she is disposed of forever, never to rise again.
The book of Revelation contains three long chapters
detailing the sins of Babylon and the celebration that follows her destruction.
Nothing else in Revelation gets such extensive coverage. Babylon is a human
story: she is OUR story. She is a word-picture story of all human folly.
Babylon is the end result of Eve's sin in the Garden of
Eden. Eve took the fruit because the serpent convinced her that God was
withholding good things from her. In the same way, Babylon took all she desired
and whatever gave her pleasure. Babylon is the ultimate fulfillment and the end
result of Eve's sin. The whole earth has been corrupted by insatiable greed,
and the corruption grows steadily worse in these days.
If we can understand how pervasive the world's value
systems are and how they touch everything we do, it will help us understand
why Jesus deliberately detached himself from material things. Jesus didn’t own
anything but the clothes on his back. Jesus was the opposite of the greed, vanity
and perversion of Babylon. Jesus taught his disciples to live the same way he
did.
We cannot comprehend what a relief it will be to have the false value systems of Babylon removed from our lives and influence.
I JOHN 2.15 Don’t love the world or the things that
are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. 2.16 For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. 2.17 The world is
passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever. -WEB Bible
IMAGE CREDIT: The Douce Apocalypse is one of several richly
illustrated manuscripts of the Apocalypse made in England in the thirteenth
century. (Wikimedia Commons)