WEDNESDAY
We’ve covered a lot of ground the last two weeks, so I thought it was necessary to take a day to tie it all together. I’ve tried to give you exegetical background for the description of Babylon. Today let’s tie together the description of Babylon and why it faces the judgment of God.
Babylon exists today
Remember that Babylon is the biblical metaphor or trope for evil power structures that defy God through pride, arrogance, oppression, violence, idolatry, and immorality. The Roman Empire was the Babylon of John’s day. Those vices, however, certainly exist today. Babylon, therefore, is to be discerned by Christians in every century and culture. Babylon is to be discerned by the people of God even in our American government and culture.
That said, what are the characteristics of Babylon that we’ve seen in these texts? Collins boils it down to four reasons for Babylon’s judgment as expressed in these texts:
- Idolatry in the imperial cult
- Violence and persecution
- Do I celebrate the use of lethal force, even when it is justified? Or do I grieve the necessity of it?
- Can I call out America’s military interventions overseas when they go beyond peacekeeping operations and attempts to execute justice?
- Can I repent or do I make excuses for America’s violent sins in the past, i.e., the slave trade, the violence against Native Americans, violence against Chinese immigrants in building the railroads, etc.?
- Rome’s self-worship and narcissism
- The oppressive nature of Roman wealth
This should lead us to examine our culture and look for the idols. Of course, in 2024 America there are no pagan temples and there is no direct pressure to worship the emperor…we don’t even have an emperor. However, the sin of idolatry is at its core worshipping (the giving of our supreme adoration) to something other than God. This is obvious everywhere we look. We may not worship at pagan temples but we worship at sports stadiums. We may not worship an emperor but we may worship our president or our political party. We may not be too far from the 1st century as someone made a golden statue of Donald Trump and brought it to a CPAC conference in 2021. This worship of the emperor in the 1st century, as we’ve seen, was tied to economic success. So some worshipped the emperor because they worshipped their wealth supremely. We, likewise, may worship our wealth and obsess over every expense, trusting in our 401k for our sense of security, hoping only in our investments to supply our future. We may worship the luxuries our wealth gets us and always adoring our most recent purchase or obsessively longing for that next purchase. We may worship our job and success leading us to do whatever it takes to get ahead. We may worship the approval of others. We may worship ourselves. All of these are the same sin of idolatry and the biblical equivalent of bowing to Caesar and declaring him to be lord over Jesus.
We certainly see violence in our culture today—the assassination attempts on Donald Trump, mass shootings, crime, excessive uses of force by law enforcement, etc. These are easy to identify in our culture and we must condemn them all.
However, the more narrow application is to violence and persecution at the hands of the political powers. Persecution of Christians happens in various countries all over the world (North Korea, Iran and China are examples). These are aspects of Babylon that we of course must recognize and condemn.
However, there isn’t much persecution in our country. Therefore, we must discern any “violence.” McKnight includes “murderous” and “militaristic” in his list (he has 7…a good number for Revelation) of characteristics of Babylon. Remember the Pax Romana was built on the subjugation of other nations and peoples through military might. There are horrific examples of this in Vespasian’s invasion of Israel and Titus’s destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. We already know of Rome’s horrific shows of force and domination in the cross. The cross was an instrument of punishment that would inspire fear in the hearts of the population. It was a public execution that reminded everyone Rome was in charge. At one point the Romans hung 2,000 people on crosses outside of Jerusalem!
This requires discernment in our world today. Paul, in Romans 13, tells us that government is ordained by God to carry the sword and punish those who do evil. Under this umbrella I believe governments have the good, God ordained task of executing justice through the legal system, law enforcement, and even the military. This, of course, will include lethal force. This means that I think Christians can serve in the military and law enforcement if called. Therefore, we must discern excess uses of force and militarism that supersede the execution of justice. In this we desperately need the Spirit’s guidance, as the lines are almost always grey and not black and white. The following questions I’ve found helpful in the discernment process:
This one is quite easy to see today. We often hear statements like “America is the greatest nation in the history of the world.” Now, if we can say that simply as a matter of fact I don’t see it as problematic. That would be to say it in the sense that the system of government in the American republic is the best system created thus far and the ideals of America (freedom, liberty, justice, etc.) are good ideals that have brought about human flourishing in this country beyond any culture in the world’s history. However, we must be aware of the evil that often comes with a statement like that—hubris, pride, arrogance, narcissism, and nation-worship. If we see ourselves as better than someone living in Uganda or Costa Rica or China or Russia simply because we live in America, we have committed the sin of Babylon and need to repent.
The sentiment of “America first” is certainly not a Christian sentiment. Now, I understand the political position that our government should be spending our tax dollars more on local issues rather than foreign issues as a fine political ideology. However, this idea cuts against the foundational Christian idea of love. Love is by nature thinking of others’ well-being before one’s own. We must be aware of how our political ideologies shape and form us. If we are not careful, these ideologies can bleed into our psyche and our spiritual life and we may find ourselves failing to follow the one who loved us and gave himself for us (Eph. 5:2).
The wealth and opulence in the city of Rome was built on the backs of the people the empire had conquered. It was their taxes and their slave labor that largely supported the wealth of Rome.
Of these four, this is probably the most relevant one for us in America today. We must ask ourselves how our wealth and opulence has been supported by the oppression of others. American wealth was supported and greatly advanced by the free labor of the American slave trade. Before you start arguing with me in your head, reread that statement. That is undeniably true. The effects of that injustice are still felt today in our nation, at least in the sphere of generational wealth. The oppression of Chinese and Irish immigrants similarly helped boost the economy. The exploitation of illegal immigrants in the marketplace today is similarly problematic. We should keep our eyes on work programs for legal immigrants as well, to be careful that those programs don’t become exploitation. We should care about the working conditions and pay of foreign factories where companies we support source their goods. We should avoid companies that source their goods from foreign factories that are exploiting their employees or instituting slave or child labor. The recent situation in China with the Uyghurs in Xinjiang is a good example of this. Rightly, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed that outlaws the importation of goods produced from these regions. We should celebrate this law.
Building wealth by oppression is a sign of Babylon and we must condemn it. We must also be careful not to promote these practices with our purchases. I know this is tricky, but we should seek the wisdom of the Spirit to help us discern ethically sourced goods that aren’t propped up on the backs of oppressed people.
Additional Content
Christians should ask the same questions of the Babylons we’re living in. An empire’s economic system isn’t neutral, and moral questions go far beyond “What policies will make Babylon and its citizens the wealthiest?” Citizens of Christ’s global kingdom should have global concerns, not just nationalistic interests. And we should be nervous when the nation we’re living in becomes excessively wealthy.
Sprinkle, Preston M.. Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire (p. 120). David C Cook. Kindle Edition.
Reflection
Repent of any ways that you have excused or participated in the Babylon-like aspects of our country.