THURSDAY
On Tuesday, we ended with the scene of rejoicing in heaven at the just judgment of God poured out on Babylon. This rejoicing continues on into chapter 19.
Revelation 19:1-5 1 After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And from the throne came a voice saying,
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
Again, the application for Christians is to come out of Babylon. We are not to take part in her evils. As we talked about yesterday, we should not participate in the idolatry, violence, narcissism, oppressive wealth of our culture. Therefore, we should be among those who rejoice at the downfall of Babylonish powers. Too easily, the church can become compromised like the merchants and the kings, mourning the loss of wealth and power.
Instead of mourning the loss of our wealth, we must be able to rejoice at the prospect of God’s final judgment of evil. This text would certainly be a challenge to the church in Laodicea, which I think most closely represents our culture. Remember, they were incredibly wealthy. How would they respond to these chapters? Would they mourn with the merchants at the loss of their wealth or would they rejoice with the people of God at the judgment of evil? This same question confronts us today. Do we worship our wealth, luxury and power or do we worship the God of the universe?
A helpful exercise would be to think of our response to the judgment of America or America’s Babylon-like aspects. If American wealth and luxury were gone tomorrow, could you sing a song like this in worship to God? If Evangelicals lost all power and influence in the government, could you still sing a song like this?
Spend some time today praising God and worshipping him for his sovereignty and his just judgments, declaring your allegiance and trust in him.