The Danger of Loving the World: The Destruction of Babylon - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

Revelation chapter 18 and beginning at verse 9.

Revelation 18 · chapter mention

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.

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.

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no

one buys their cargo anymore.

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 wool, brawn, iron

and marble, cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine,

oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots and

slaves, that is, human souls.

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 merchants of these wares who gained wealth from her will stand

far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

alas, alas for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in

purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels and with pearls.

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 and cried out as they saw the

smoke of her burning what city was like the great city.

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 had been led waste.

Rejoice over her, O heaven and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has given judgment for you against her.

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.

And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters,

will 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.

And the light of a lamp will shine in you no more.

And the voice of the bridegroom and bride will be heard

in you no more.

For your merchants were the great ones on the earth, and all

nations were deceived by your sorcery.

And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of

all who have been slain on earth.

Amen.

This is the word of God.

For a period of time I lived in the West African country of Ivory

Coast.

And so I was very excited the other night when they went one up

quite quickly and then it all fell apart in the World Cup.

However, the elephants will come top of their group, I am sure.

But that's the football aside for tonight.

But I did live in Ivory Coast.

I lived in the middle of the country in the political capital,

Yamasukro, surrounded by cocoa farms and coffee farms.

And I served there with new tribes mission.

And Yamasukru was the new capital that the founding president,

Felix Hufwe Boigny built because of its proximity to his family

and to his people group, the Baoli people.

And right at the center was his presidential palace.

Hufwe Boynye was known to be ruthless.

He executed those who opposed him.

And the presidential palace had a kind of moat.

That's the best way to describe it.

Yamasuka was built on lagoons, so I'm sure it flooded into somewhere

one way or another.

But it was like a moat at the side of this presidential palace

in which he kept crocodiles.

And these crocodiles were sacred, or believed to be sacred

animals.

I had to go and dig out my slides, do a scan of them and prove

that the crocodiles that I saw every now and again were really there.

And this is only some of them.

If you disagreed with the President, rumor had it you ended

up amongst these crocodiles and you were never to be seen again.

After the President died, there was a question as to what to

do with the crocodiles.

My answer would have been kill them and bury them with them.

But that was not the stance they took.

The crocodile handler was kept on to look after them and to feed

them.

This he did from 1994 until his death in 2012.

He not only got a wage and state pension, but rose to fame amongst

locals and tourists and would be seen twice daily feeding them

chickens, sometimes live chickens, which added to the spectacle.

He had photos taken with tourists and videos were made of

his daily routine.

He became famous, all because of Hu Fwey Bonye's crocodiles.

Tragically, in August 2012, he was killed by the very crocodiles

that he benefited from.

They didn't care that he had fed them, even though they knew his

call.

And they came immediately as soon as they heard his whistle.

What tragically happened, Diku Toke, was that his long robe caught

in one of the teeth of a crocodile.

As he walked past, the crocodile grabbed him and within

seconds had taken him to the bottom of the water, never to be

seen again.

I'm sure Diku Tooki, whom I saw many times feed the crocodiles,

didn't expect to end this way.

He perhaps saw his days enjoying the continued notoriety

of his work, the agilent crowds cheering him on, and to benefit

from his work for these caring for these sacred crocodiles, of which

he was given not only that government salary, but also many

tips and gifts from the tourists who came to see him.

And so, instead of living out that long life that he believed he

would continue, he was devoured by the very thing that gave

him his wealth.

And as we continue in chapter 18 and the final punishment to fall

on the Babylons of this world, we see those who benefit from that

great city stand back as she faces her punishment and her defeat.

They have benefited from her, but now they stand at a distance,

not willing to help her.

They simply watch on, understanding that the life they

knew would be no more.

John is shown a reality of what is yet to come in human history

as Babylon, once and for all is defeated and punished.

And the first eight verses of chapter 18 told of what John was

told would happen and how the destruction of Babylon would be final

and complete because of her rejection of the Lord's way, of the

Lord's ways.

But also she was, as described, the great prostitute or

the great harlot.

And we'll think a little bit more about that later.

She enticed people, she lured people so that they would ignore

the things of God and fully embrace the things of the city.

And the first people we see who stand back and watch her destruction

are the kings of the earth.

Now, they've been mentioned before in chapter 17 as giving their

power and their authority to the beast.

And in chapter 18, how they committed immorality with Babylon.

This tells us that they sought the ways of the city, the ways of

the world, to satisfy themselves, to keep themselves popular,

to be on the side of the people.

The kings of the earth also benefited from Babylon's wealth,

enabling them to live in luxury and to believe that they were

beyond any sense of revolt or.

Or any sense of it ever ending.

But their delight and joy of the city now turn to weeping and

wailing as she burns before them.

And verse 10 tells us 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.

Now John is given an image here of a city that was known in

his time.

But for us Today, Babylon is nowhere to be found.

Babylon even ceased to be of any influence or power by the time

of Jesus.

But yet she would have been known to the children of Israel because

of how God used her to bring them into exile.

And so now, seeing the smoke rising from a Babylon, they would

have been very aware of as an image of the sin of the world.

Babylon's judgments fill the kings with fear, but also with foreboding,

because as they see her torment, they don't want to get too

near.

Sensing that the same fate awaits them, they quite literally

rue and regret what has happened, and they cry out, alas

for the mighty.

And the great city of man has been destroyed so quickly.

The time frame given here is nothing.

How short is an hour?

It passes just like that.

And so the judgment executed in an hour.

What seemed to be invincible has vanished before their very eyes

in no time at all.

For these kings of the earth, the leaders and rulers of humanity,

they can't believe what they're seeing.

And they understand that the fate of Babylon is their own fate,

and there is nothing they can do about it.

The most powerful are here presented to us as the most helpless.

And this complete helplessness of humanity continues as John now

sees the merchants of the earth stand and watch on as well.

The merchants were spoken of in verse 3 of chapter 18 and were

described as having grown rich from Babylon, specifically her par

in her luxurious living.

Wealth brings power.

It brings a sense of people wanting to be your friend, and therefore

they'll do whatever you want them to do simply to be in your good

favor, in the hope that they will benefit from you.

And these merchants were the trade routes that made all this happen.

But they too weep and mourn because what they offer through commerce

is no longer needed by those in the city that has been destroyed

before their eyes.

In fact, not only can they not get to it, they don't want to get

to it, much like the kings of the earth, for the fear that they

will face the same punishment.

And verse 12 gives us a long list of their wares.

These include gold, silver and precious jewels and pearls.

The finest and most expensive clothing was also for sale, including

purple, silk and scarlet.

Various products of ivory, expensive and attractive woods, bronze,

marble and iron were all sold, as well as other delightful products

such as cinnamon, spices, incense, frankincense, wine, wheat,

cattle, sheep and horses.

Now, there's nothing wrong with trade, and we need to buy things

to survive.

And within this list you will find things that you need to survive.

In fact, such products make human Life more enjoyable and at

times more tolerable.

John's not condemning trade and production, but what he is saying

is that there was something radically wrong with the trade that

was practiced, for they also marketed human beings.

Human beings were sold as slaves, demonstrating that profit

had become a God where people were completely dehumanized and simply

treated as a commodity.

What these merchants were doing to themselves as well as to

the people that they traded with, they were displacing any moral

considerations.

They failed to value the very people made in the image of God.

And verse 14 is a verse given to us by the voice of heaven, speaking

of the merchants.

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.

And for the rest of this chapter, this is a theme we're going

to read again and again, Never to be found again.

John is presenting to us an understanding that this is the end.

There's no rebirth of Babylon.

She will be punished and she will be destroyed.

And the kings of the earth, and now these merchants who have

benefited from her and who have abused her and the people who

live within her stand back once again.

The powerful are now powerless because these merchants enjoyed the

exquisite beauty, fine craftsmanship and artistry of the

beautiful things that they bought and sold.

But this is all now a thing of the past for them.

The day of the harlot's judgment has come, and now they can

only think nostalgically about a past that will never come again.

They too stand far off because they fear that they will receive

the same punishment.

And they cry now in verses 16 and the first half of verse 17, alas.

Alas for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple

and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels and with pearls,

for in a single hour all this wealth had been laid waste.

It's almost a cry of a statement of fact.

It's not a cry of regret or remorse or understanding that this

is it.

They say what she traded whenever they go through the list

of what they sold.

But all they're concerned about that once again the speed with

which he is destroyed.

Perhaps they think we'll simply move on, not understanding

that what they're witnessing by the Babylon before them is the

same punishment that all the Babylons of this world will face.

You see, they do cry out as they see the judgment poured out

on the city formerly decked with beauty, because they had made

this city a seductive harlot wearing stunning clothing and beautiful

Gold, jewels and pearls.

Yet now this city, Babylon and the sin that it has is unmasked and

has been unmasked by the judgment of God.

Almost as if she were a wicked witch, a notorious prostitute, a

woman without honor.

Her reign of beauty and glory has collapsed in a moment.

And the true nature of the harlot has been.

And like the kings, they cannot believe it.

The reason for their very existence is now gone, and their

trade is no more with her.

And so once again you have people standing off, unable to do

anything, unable to even provide for themselves moving forward.

And we move now to the third image, which sees the shipmasters

and seafaring men witness what the merchants and what others have

seen.

The kings of the earth.

So they're too, standing far away from Babylon and watch in disbelief.

They are the ones who facilitated trade.

They carried the precious goods across the seas with which

Babylon, the kings and the merchants knew such luxury and such

wealth.

They stand in wonder, reminiscing also of the great city

that she was in, the great city to which they came to with all

of their wares.

And they stand fearing their own fate, because they now cry out

in verse 19, and they drew dust on their heads, or sorry, 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 led waste.

The cry of these seafarers and these shipmasters is one of lament

that's different from the kings and the merchants because they

acknowledge that their trading days are over, because there's no

one to benefit from their shipment of goods and precious commodities.

The shipping lanes that they once ran are now gone because there's

no purpose for them.

The shipmasters and the shipbuilders have no work.

And so in seeing the sudden destruction of the prostitute, the

uniqueness of this city pierces to their hearts.

That's why they cry out, alas.

Alas.

That's why they throw dust on their heads.

They're bold enough to exclaim that no other city is comparable

to the city that is being destroyed before them.

But the reality is there is a greater city that they're choosing

to ignore.

They're choosing to ignore the new Jerusalem that they've been warned

about, a new Jerusalem coming down from heaven.

But those who love Babylon fail to see that more excellent city

that they've been told about.

And so those who work the sea have fallen in love with the harlot

and their Lives are entwined with hers.

Hence the judgment of the harlot spells the doom of their own

economic enterprises.

And the desolation of the harlot means that their livelihoods

have come to an end, something spoken of by both Isaiah and Ezekiel

thousands of years before.

But the seafarers continue their cry in verse 20 and say, Rejoice

over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets,

for God has given judgment for.

For you against her.

We're given a bit of a contrast here, the contrast between

the people of the world and the people of God.

And it couldn't be more dramatic.

The people of the world wail and weep and grieve over the destruction

of Babylon, but the people of God rejoice, and the call to rejoice

begins in heaven.

And the saints and apostles and Old Testament prophets are summoned

to rejoice before God as God judges Babylon and the world of sin.

And what John is doing here, he's picking up and he applies the

words of Jeremiah from Jeremiah 51 and verse sorry, 51,

verse 48.

Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them shall

sing for joy over Babylon, for the destroyer shall come against

them.

Out of the north, declares the Lord.

And so how we are to respond to what John is presenting to us

is we are to pray, and we're to long for the salvation of all

people as long as life lasts.

But we're also to pray for God's kingdom to come, for his will

to be done, because this is the central tenet of the Lord's prayer

in Matthew 6, verse 10.

Matthew 6:10

When God judges the wicked, believers rejoice because they see

God's justice vindicated.

And what revelation is doing is it's showing us what the future

will be, so that today we will understand that we must pray for

those who are lost, that while there is yet time, as long as life

lasts, there is that chance of repentance and salvation.

But we're also to pray, as Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew

Matthew 6:10

6:10, that God's kingdom will come, that it is his will will be

done on earth as in heaven.

The kings of the earth, the merchants and the shipmasters and

seafarers and sailors all watch on in disbelief that the mighty

has fallen.

Quite literally, the rulers of all facets of the world stand back,

helpless and powerless.

They may think they hold the power, but within one hour, that

power is gone.

And like them, we can easily depend on the things of this world

for our satisfaction, for our purpose, and for our enjoyment.

And this Text is not saying that we are to step away from the

things of the world that are good and helpful for us, but it is

challenging.

Our greatest love for those mentioned in Revelation 18.

They love the things of the world, and they ignored the person

of Christ and the salvation that he offers.

And we're warned this evening not to follow them.

We are to love Christ first and above all other things so that

we can be assured of our salvation and our eternity in heaven.

And with this assurance, we won't be standing far off in mourning

and weeping when the great city of Babylon is destroyed.

Rather, we will be waiting for the coming of Christ to take us home

and eagerly look to him as we rejoice over the punishment that

this world deserves for their rebellion against God.

It's the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews, chapter 9, verse 28 that

Hebrews 9:28

tells us so.

Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will

appear a second time not to deal with sin, but to save those

who are eagerly waiting for Him.

You see, that is the day to which we look.

We don't look to the city.

We don't weep, we don't mourn.

We don't miss Babylon.

Rather, we eagerly wait for the coming of Christ.

And if we're not eagerly waiting for the coming of Christ,

then our hearts are for the world.

So tonight, where is your heart?

And don't think you can lie, because you can't.

There's only two people who know your heart.

That is God and that is yourself.

We can all fool each other quite easily.

We can all tell a good story.

We can all put on a good display.

But deep down, we know our hearts.

And we must know that God knows our hearts.

Therefore, we cannot fool him or play him for a fool.

So tonight, where is your heart?

Is your heart weeping and mourning over the sense that the

world around us will be gone, that Babylon will be destroyed?

The great harlot, the great prostitute, the great agent of the

beast who lured people in so that they could be seduced and drawn

away.

Is that what you love?

Because if it is, you will face the same fate, only you'll not

be standing at a distance.

The punishment, we're told in these last chapters of Revelation,

will be on all humanity that rejects God and His salvation.

But if our heart is for the King, if our heart is for Christ,

then we will eagerly await his coming and rejoice in the punishment

of this fallen world.

Because he is making something new.

He is coming to save those who are eagerly waiting for him, to bring

them to the new heaven and the new earth.

Tonight, you must know your heart.

You must know it, and you must know it honestly and truthfully so

that you can respond to Christ and know his goodness and his salvation

for you.

But this passage is not yet finished.

And verse 21 tells us that John sees a mighty angel taking a

stone which looks like a great millstone.

Now, I'm too young.

Normally I say I'm old enough, but tonight I'm too young to know

a millstone.

I never grew up with a millstone.

There's none hiding in the manse that I've taken from somewhere

and going to pull it out sometime.

The closest I believe I've seen is down at Cornmill Quay, where

we see on the grass what I believe is a great millstone.

If it's not, I'm so sorry I've been misled and now I'm misleading

you.

But there's no way I could lift it.

And imagine if you could lift it and throw it into the harbor,

what's going to happen?

Well, it's going to sink immediately to the bottom.

And will it ever come up again?

No.

And that's the image that we're being presented with.

This great millstone is thrown into the sea.

And as this mighty angel does this, in verses 20 to 24, we're told

what he says.

Because this mighty angel confirms the destruction of Babylon

and that she will be wiped off the face of the earth, for she will

be found no more.

Just when you thought everything before this was bad enough,

there was worse to come.

Because verses 22 and 23 tell us that this will be complete.

Because all those who made her happy, the musicians, the creatives

in the arts who decorated her beautifully, and those who fed her

through their milling, will be gone, either through destruction

or by fleeing away, but only for a short time, because they will

face the punishment that they deserve.

All of these are complicit in her sin.

Babylon will become a barren place where there'll be no more light

at night, and there will be none of the normal passages of life,

the normality of marriages, and everything like that.

And verse 23 ends with a mention of the merchants.

Again, the day of judgment has come.

For although the merchants of Babylon were renowned, they deluded

the nations, along with Babylon and her sorcery.

At its heart, the city was anti God, having rejected his authority

to turn instead to false gods that were no gods at all.

But verse 24 concludes this chapter by saying, and in her was

found the blood of prophets and of saints.

And of all who had been slain on earth.

What happens when there's no more to the destruction of Babylon?

Well, when John looks, he sees the blood of prophets and of saints,

of all those who'd been persecuted and martyred for their

faith in Jesus Christ.

They are there.

And so the judgment of murderous Babylon is warranted, for

she put to death both saints and prophets.

Her opposition to the people of God reflects her rejection of

God's rule, manifested in putting to death those opposing the

great harlot.

The rest of the slain in this verse may refer to the death of other

people, even unbelievers, because Babylon could not abide anyone,

believer or unbeliever, who stood in her path or resisted her

ways.

She insisted on totalitarian devotion and worship and was enraged

to the point of shedding the blood of those refusing to participate

in her idolatries.

As I read that this week, and thinking upon it, I couldn't help

but think of North Korea, a totalitarian regime where the leader

must be worshipped.

And when that Babylon will be destroyed and punished for being

anti God, what will we find in her?

What will we find in the very heart where a hundred years ago the

great Korean revival began, but is now the capital of that communist

state?

We will find, as John tells us here, the blood of prophets and of

saints of all who had been slain on earth.

Because God will stand by his people, and from the cries of Revelation

3, he will hear them and he will answer them on that final day.

And so we see a picture of great hope in a God who continues

to love and care for his people.

So as we finish this evening, we have our warning in this passage

for here and now, so that we will not stand in sorrow when the

day comes for the destruction of the Babylons of this world.

She's called a prostitute because her purpose is to draw us

into sin as an agent of the beast.

Babylon wants us to pull people, or wants to pull people away

from God and convince them that she is the true way.

But she is no true way.

She is subtle.

And she will not cease until the day of her destruction.

And so tonight we are to wake up, whether it be North Korea, whether

it be China, whether it be Iran, or the stands in the Middle

east that are closed countries, or whether it be our own

Westminster Parliament.

In these united kingdoms where the people of God have been punished

and abused for standing up for the faith, we will know Christ victorious

because of their blood and because of the blood that he shed

on Calvary as he makes right the wrongs that were committed to

his people.

So we must wake up.

We must know that there is a winning side.

And we are told that here tonight.

And we must be on that winning side.

And that winning side is not the world.

It is only Christ.

And so I finish with other words of John that he wrote in First

John, chapter two, when he says, do not love the world or the

things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the

desires of the eyes and pride of life, is not from the Father,

but is from the world.

We have been warned.

Don't ignore what God says to us through his Word, so that this

night we may have true glorious hope in a Savior such as

Christ, who forgives sins, who will make right the martyrdom and

the persecution of our brothers and sisters in all generations,

that we will join with them not in weeping and mourning of a

Babylon that is destroyed, but rejoicing in heaven that God has

done exactly what he said he will do, punished sin and redeemed

his people through Jesus Christ.

Respond to him well this night and know this great truth.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that challenges us

to know who it is we're living for.

Living for the world or living for Christ?

And so help us to live for Christ.

Help us each day to be attentive to your Holy Spirit, that

we will live for what is right and true.

That we will reject the world and how it wants to lure us away

by making itself important rather than what is true.

Jesus Christ.

So, Father, help us to understand and help us to respond.

And look ever to Jesus, and it's in his name we pray.

Amen.