‘Babylon’, which appeared to have been built to last for centuries, is going to fall. The ‘beast’ in which it placed its confidence is inspired by the ‘father of all lies’ and ‘the murderer from the beginning’—Satan, John 8:44. The ‘beast’ will turn against ‘Babylon’ treacherously and tear it apart.
Its palaces will lie waste described as “broken ruins where nocturnal animals dwell, a ghostly place.” It is said of Tyre: “I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendour. They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas. Will you then say, I am a god, in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a mortal, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you.”1 What is said of the prince of Tyre can be said of the ‘whore’ of Babylon just as well, for it was a source of ‘divine’ inspiration, splendour and beauty, full of opulence and lust and now become a ghost-town. Babel was once the power of the world full of people just like locusts;2 it is now a dwelling place of unclean spirits, a city of the dead. Babylon and its ‘harlot’ had been a source of inspiration for two kinds of people, the rulers of this world and the merchants of the earth. Political and economic power had blossomed through it. The merchants are will be referred to as the world’s great, important People in verse 23. Big capital rules. Enormous amounts of money change hands in a flash around the world. The multinationals, who have exploited the third world’s raw materials and cheap labour force, so that the West was able to enjoy more and more consumer goods, have become rich through Babylon and in Babylon. Does ‘Babylon’ not look completely like our Western-European and American consumer society? More energy per head of population is consumed there than anywhere else in the world. There are more cars, computers, telephones, televisions, education opportunities, food products and medical facilities per head of population there than anywhere else in the world; the rich West is an enormous market for the world’s merchants. But also the ‘big economic blocs’ in other parts of the world, like China, Japan, South-East Asia, even South-America and poor Africa are coming up.
Will the judgment be meted out upon ‘Babylon’ and is it a judgment that will be especially meted out upon Western Europe and America? Every nation has drunk the wine of the passion of its fornication, however. Its mentality has become worldwide. Western ‘civilisation’ has waltzed over the world. People in primitive villages in India gather together to watch the entertainment that Hollywood produces on the one television set in the community. Their own culture is thus ‘blown up’, destroyed, while Western materialistic thinking—where money and riches have become number one—is making its entry into many other cultures.
• How ‘free’ are we from Babylon? Is our lifestyle characterised by chasing after unlimited pleasure? Or is there still anything left of a sober lifestyle?
• Do we know what giving is? Do we give tithes, ten per cent of our net income to the true Church, evangelisation, missions, Christian aid in the world, humanitarian projects for the Jewish people and Israel? Do we also donate to other good causes such as the preservation of nature, care for invalids, and medical help for the Third World? What about watching television and all the other screens? Have we also imbibed the way of thinking of the world and are we consumed with the pleasures of this world?
• How do we make use of the time God has given us as one of His most precious gifts? Do we use our ‘time and life’ for Him and for our neighbour, or for ourselves, Mark 12:28-34?
Bible References:
1.Ezekiel 28:7–9 NIV 2.Jeremiah 51:14
