How many of you have ever been to a funeral? I ask you that because Revelation 18 is much like a funeral
service where the prostitute Babylon is mourned and remembered through
song. This is a tactic that Old
Testament prophets would sometimes employ to foretell the destruction of an
enemy. In Revelation 18:1-24, John recorded the funeral of the world to call
God’s people to be separate from the
world. As we said last week, this is
such a relevant message for the church because the world is as seductive today
as it ever was and in some ways the church looks like it loves the world as
much as it ever has. God’s people must
answer the call to be set apart from the world.
It’s my prayer for each of us today to become as desperate for God as we
ever have been to set us free from the love of this world.
[18:1] 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.” [11] And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for
her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, [12] cargo of gold, silver,
jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of
scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly
wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh,
frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and
chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. [14] “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!” [15] The merchants of these wares,
who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping
and mourning aloud, [16] “Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed
in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with
pearls! [17] For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And
all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea,
stood far off [18] and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, “What
city was like the great city?” [19] And they threw dust on their heads as
they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, for the great city where all
who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been
laid waste. [20] Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles
and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!”
[21] Then
a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the
sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and
will be found no more; [22] and the sound of harpists and musicians, of
flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of
any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard
in you no more, [23] and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and
the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your
merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by
your sorcery. [24] And in her was found the blood of prophets and of
saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.” (Revelation 18:1-24 ESV)
Review & Overview of Passage:
I’d like to being by reminding you that Revelation 17-20 expands the seventh
bowl judgment (16:17-21), with
chapters 17-18 giving greater detail about God’s “judgment” of “the great
prostitute,” “Babylon the great” (17:1,5). “Babylon
the great” is a symbol in Revelation for the expression of the world system that Satan rules over. In Daniel’s day, it was Babylon. In John’s day, Rome was the “new
Babylon.”
What we see here in Revelation 18 follows 17:16-17,
where God put it into the heart of the beast and kings of the earth to destroy
this prostitute. Follow her destruction comes this funeral service of sorts,
which neatly divides into three parts. First,
there is an announcement of her
destruction (18:1-8). This is sort of
like her obituary. Here we learn that
the sins and arrogance of this great city have made it a ghost town. Next, there is a lament of her destruction (18:9-20), in which three groups, the
kings of the earth, the merchants of the earth, and the merchants of the sea
weep and mourn over Babylon. All three
of these groups “stand far off” in
terror of the swiftness and power of her judgment. Also, all three groups of her “lovers” mourn
her loss ultimately in terms of their own self-interest. In other words, they mourn her loss in terms
of what it will cost them, not out of genuine concern for her. Finally, there is an illustration of her destruction (18:21-24) with explanation. I believe the point of this passage is
summarized in verse 4: to call God’s people to be set apart from this world and
I want to give you four reasons here why we must.
I.
God’s People are Called to Be Holy
The first reason God’s people should be separate
from the world is simply because God says to!
God calls His people to come out of Babylon: “Come out of her, my people” (4).
He is calling His people here to be separate, or set apart, from the
world. This is the essence of what it
means to be holy: to be set apart from the world and for God. From cover to cover
in the Bible, God calls His people to be holy because He is holy. People aren’t supposed to look at our lives
and be confused as to which side we belong to. “For I am the LORD who brought
you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy,
for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:45
ESV) [12:1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,
which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern
what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans
12:1-2 ESV) [13] Therefore, preparing your minds for
action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be
brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [14] As obedient
children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,
[15] but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, [16] since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1
Peter 1:13-16 ESV)
II.
God Promises That Those Who Partake in the Sins of
the World will Also Partake in the Judgment of the World
There is a very real danger that is stated in
verse 4 as reason God’s people must “come
out” of Babylon. People who refuse to
come out of Babylon will end up (1) partaking in “her sins” and consequently (2) partaking in her judgment. What is terrifying about this warning is that
it is given to a group of people that God calls “my people.” I take that to
mean that if you are truly a part of God’s people you will heed this warning
and come out of Babylon and if you are not truly part of God’s people that you
will continue seeking to acquire and maintain the cargo and luxury of Babylon
and as a consequence will take part in the sins of Babylon and eventually the
judgment of Babylon. Do not be mistaken
or deceived. God will not be mocked,
even by people who claim to be His own.
You will reap what you sow. If
you sow a life that seeks to be separate from the world, you will avoid the
fate of Babylon the great. But if you
sow a life that seeks to love God and the world, you will reap the sins and the
judgment of the great prostitute. Her
judgment is swift and violent as a giant millstone crashing
into the ocean and sinking to the bottom (21-24).
III.
We Often Love the World More than We Think We Do
Here I want to simply state a given truth in the
Bible and then show you how that truth even plays out in how we read through
this very passage in Revelation. The
given truth is eloquently stated in Jeremiah
17:9, that the human heart is “deceitful
above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” In other words, because our hearts are
deceitful and desperately wicked beyond our own comprehension, we can in
reality be very worldly and not realize it.
As we pointed out last week, the parallelism verses 3 and 9 make it
clear that pursuing luxury and the good life is crawling into bed with the
great prostitute. Take a close look at
the items listed in verses 12-13: [12] cargo
of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth,
all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of
articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, [13] cinnamon, spice,
incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep,
horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls. Listed here are precious stones and metals,
expensive fabrics (designer clothes), expensive wood and building materials,
spices and perfumes, expensive food (14: delicacies), livestock,
transportation, and human lives. Do you
realize that almost all of those items are items that moths and rust corrupt,
items that thieves break into and steal, the very things that Jesus told us not
to invest our money in (Matthew 6:19-20). Sadly, they are all things that we spend most
of our time and money seeking to acquire and maintain. If you were to lose the things mentioned in
this passage, would you mourn like the pagans here or rejoice like the
saints?
We automatically read this passage and assume we
don’t love money and luxury, but we soon forget that for the majority of the
world that lives on less than a dollar or two a day, a happy meal is a
luxury. Or what about our attitude
towards possessions and children? We
adamantly oppose abortion, but in the same breath claim that we can’t “afford”
to have more than a couple children, all while riding around in vehicles that
cost as much as it would cost to adopt a couple children. Or when was the last time you passed on
designer clothes in order to buy cheaper clothes so that you could buy and
twice as many and give half of them to people who can’t afford decent
clothes? This is not meant to be a guilt
trip; it is simply meant to point out that for most of us that never crosses
our minds. We only think of
ourselves. But that is the point: according
to this passage, self-interest is the
essence of the world’s message. Again,
these kings and merchants mourn Babylon’s loss because of what it will cost them.
How often have we prayed the prayer of Proverbs 30:7-9? [7] Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor
riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, [9] lest I be full
and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and
profane the name of my God. (Proverbs
30:7-9 ESV) How often do we read passages like Mark 10:17-31, and pray that God would keep us from being rich? We
pray for God to make us rich and help us not to love money in the process. We ask for God and money, forgetting that
Jesus said that was an impossible situation (Matthew 6:24). No man can
serve two masters.
IV.
The Love Story of the World is a Sad, Pathetic One
Consider just how sad and pathetic this funeral
service is. The “kings” and “great ones” of
the earth are weeping and mourning over a prostitute! How sad is it that all these people ever knew
was the love of a prostitute? What’s
more is that this prostitute didn’t care about them and they didn’t care about
her. Both her and her customers viewed
people as property, and yet is seems these people were not only content to be
her property but are also now devastated that she is gone. Much like a woman who stays in an abusive,
manipulative relationship, it is a sad, pathetic love story.
The story of Lot & his family is also a sad
and pathetic story and a vivid illustration of where loving the world can take
you. When he and Abraham split, his life
begins moving closer and closer the city of Sodom, until he is not only living
there, but also is a prominent leader of the city. He ends up with morals that are warped by the
sins of Sodom, loses his wife, and ends up living in a cave where both of his
daughters get him drunk and sleep with him in order to get pregnant. What a testimony, huh? That’s exactly the kind of sad and pathetic
testimony that people will have who refuse to come out of Babylon.
Over against this sad, pathetic and very costly love
story, stands the covenant love of Jesus Christ. In Him, we have, not a pimp (beast) who
treats His people like a prostitute, not a prostitute who cares nothing for her
customers, but a King who lives for, dies for, and fights for His people. Will you forsake the empty treasures of
Babylon and surrender to Him today?
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