Revelation Ch 18 (Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent; December 18)

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was filled with light because of his glory. He called out with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a home for demons and a lair for every unclean spirit. She is a lair for every unclean bird, and a lair for every unclean and disgusting beast because all the nations have fallen due to the wine of her lustful passion. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich from the power of her loose and extravagant ways.”

Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t take part in her sins and don’t receive any of her plagues. Her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God remembered her unjust acts. Give her what she has given to others. Give her back twice as much for what she has done. In the cup that she has poured, pour her twice as much. To the extent that she glorified herself and indulged her loose and extravagant ways, give her pain and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit like a queen! I’m not a widow. I’ll never see grief.’ This is why her plagues will come in a single day—deadly disease, grief, and hunger. She will be consumed by fire because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.

“The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and shared her loose and extravagant ways, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of the pain she suffers, and they will say, ‘Oh, the horror! Babylon, you great city, you powerful city! In a single hour your judgment has come.’

“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their cargoes anymore— cargoes of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; all those things made of scented wood, ivory, fine wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon, incense, fragrant ointment, and frankincense; wine, oil, fine flour, and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and carriages; and slaves, even human lives. ‘The fruit your whole being craved has gone from you. All your glitter and glamour are lost to you, never ever to be found again.’

“The merchants who sold these things, and got so rich by her, will stand a long way off because they fear the pain she suffers. They will weep and mourn, and say, ‘Oh, the horror! The great city that wore fine linen, purple, and scarlet, who glittered with gold, jewels, and pearls— in just one hour such great wealth was destroyed.’

“Every sea captain, every seafarer, sailors, and all who make their living on the sea stood a long way off. They cried out as they saw the smoke from her burning and said, ‘What city was ever like the great city?’ They threw dust on their heads, and they cried out, weeping and mourning. They said, ‘Oh, the horror! The great city, where all who have ships at sea became so rich by her prosperity—in just one hour she was destroyed. Rejoice over her, heaven—you saints, apostles, and prophets—because God has condemned her as she condemned you.’”

Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a huge millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “With such violent force the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, and it won’t be found anymore. The sound of harpists and musicians, of pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard among you again. No craftsman of any kind will ever be found among you again. The sound of the hand mill will never be heard among you again. The light of a lamp will never shine among you again. The sound of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard among you again because your merchants ran the world, because all the nations were deceived by the spell you cast, and because the blood of prophets, of saints, and of all who have been slaughtered on the earth was found among you.”

Commentary

Would we not be voluntarily blinding ourselves, or even committing spiritual self-castration, if we let the wrathful images of the Apocalypse relate to ancient Rome only, and did not see how they apply to our age, which exhibits, at least in quantitative terms, far more broadly-brushed images of social and political evil than ancient Rome? Therefore, we should see this as prophetic denunciation for all historical ages: only such denunciation is applicable to all of them — to the past, present and of course the future, unless one believes the childish promises about the "state of the future," which ring out even more insistently an our days than at any time before. And in the light of such an understanding, Revelation ceases to be a political and social pamphlet pertaining to a particular historical age and containing the most scathing criticism of its life, but retains its force for our modern times too. Even more, it is a supra- or pan-temporal prophetic enlightenment concerning humanity's paths in history. (Apocalypse)

This encounter with God, this entering into the realm of the divine fire, is not something optional for human beings. It is inevitable. For some this is the time of liberation (“look up, and lift up your heads” [Luke 21:28]). For others it is a time of fear and horror: “then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30). No one can avoid this encounter, for it is not an outward encounter but an inward one. For many this will be an unexpected and undesired transformation of their being, for the transfiguration, the light of glory given to human beings, can do more than illuminate. It can also consume in fire. (The Bride of the Lamb)

Musical Selection

Hail a day so long expected
Hail the year of full release
Zion's walls are now erected
And the watchman's published piece
Throughout Shiloh's wide dominion
Hear the trumpets loudly roar
Babylon is fallen is fallen is fallen
Babylon is fallen to rise no more

All of Earth should stand with wonder
What is this that's come to pass
Murmuring like a distant thunder
Crying Oh alas alas
Swell the sound ye kings and nobles
Priests and people rich and poor
Babylon is fallen is fallen is fallen
Babylon is fallen to rise no more

Blow the trumpets on Mt Zion
Christ shall come a second time
Ruling with a rod of iron
All who now as foes combine
Fables garment sweet rejected
And our fellowship is o'er
Babylon is fallen is fallen is fallen
Babylon is fallen to rise no more