Revelation 18: Merchants or Saints

Today’s reading is Revelation 18.

An Object Lesson from Jeremiah

In Jeremiah 50-51, God had the prophet write a sermon of judgment against Babylon. Jeremiah had Seraiah the son of Neriah read the sermon in Babylon. Then in Jeremiah 51:63-64, he charged Seraiah to demonstrate an object lesson:

“When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, and say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted'” (ESV).

Despite how Babylon might try to fight against the coming judgment from God, she would sink. The waters would overcome her. The city would be destroyed.

The Lord’s Angel Borrows the Object Lesson

In Revelation 18:21, a mighty angel of God mirrors Jeremiah’s object lesson:

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…” (ESV).

The angel declares so much of what commonly occurs in a thriving city will disappear from Babylon. No more musicians playing. No more craftsmen working. No more lamps shining. No more weddings occurring.

Why? Because “in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth” (Revelation 18:24, ESV). The apocalypse has been clear that Babylon had slain the people of the Lord. The altar in heaven was the covering for the souls of those slain for the Lord’s testimony. The beast waged war against God’s people and killed them. The witnesses were executed.

Additionally, Babylon was not merely guilty of persecuting Christians, but was simply a murderous city. It was also full of the blood of all who had been slain on the earth. We saw some of this in yesterday’s post when we discovered Babylon traded in the bodies and souls of men.

Therefore, whatever city Babylon represented, this enemy city, this immoral woman, would be like a stone cast into the sea. It would sink beneath the waves and be found no more.

Saints and apostles and Prophets

And in all this we see a great contrast. The merchants and kings of the earth would mourn at the loss of Babylon. They would wail at the loss of their golden ticket. By contrast a different group would respond differently.

Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!” (Revelation 18:20, ESV).

We’ve mentioned this before. Judgment seems harsh when we are the ones subject to judgment. But with every judgment, there is also a deliverance. When the persecutor and oppressor is judged, the persecuted and the oppressed are delivered. When judgment brings condemnation and punishment, we will wail. When it brings deliverance, we will rejoice.

The Sticking Point

What’s the difference between the ones in this chapter who wail at the judgment of Babylon and the ones who rejoice? The ones who wail and lament find their treasure in Babylon. The ones who rejoice find their treasure in God.

When Jesus told and explained the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, He talked about seed sown among thorns. He explained, “this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22, ESV). The merchants and kings were caught up in the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches. Babylon promised those things. Babylon even provided those things for a time.

But then Babylon was judged and everything the merchants and kings valued was taken from them.

The saints and apostles and prophets often suffered when it came to the cares of the world. They were on the losing end when it came to riches. Their treasure, however, was in the kingdom of heaven. Their treasure was in God. When the judgment came, they gained everything that was of value to them.

The question for us is will we be a merchant or a saint? What will you be? Can we help you be a saint? Don’t be confused. Saints are not extra-special Christians. Disciples are saints. Would you like to be one? If we can help you with that, let us know in the comments.

Next week’s reading is Revelation 19.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

What do you want to share with others from Revelation 18?

Revelation 18: Trading in Souls

Today’s reading is Revelation 18.

The Judgment on Tyre

In Monday’s post, one of the background passages I suggested you read was Ezekiel 26-28. Though this passage was written about the ancient seaside city of Tyre, the connections between that oracle and Revelation 18 is unmistakable.

In Revelation 18:17b-19, we read:

And all the 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 has been laid waste (ESV).

See how similar this is to Ezekiel 27:29b-33:

The mariners and all the pilots of the sea stand on the land and shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes…in their wailing they raise a lamentation for you and lament over you: Who is like Tyre, like one destroyed in the midst of the sea? When your wares came from the seas, you satisfied many peoples; with your abundant wealth and merchandise you enriched the kings of the earth (ESV).

The parallels are clear. Babylon, like Tyre of old, would be judged. And the surrounding nations would not mourn the loss of Babylon for the sake of Babylon, but because the goose that laid their golden eggs had been cooked.

Trading Like Tyre

In Ezekiel 27:12-25, Ezekiel declared the extent of Tyre’s sea-faring trade. He listed 19 cities, states, countries, regions which traded extensively with Tyre. He explained these merchants traded in silver, iron, tin, lead, bronze, souls of men, horses, ivory, ebony, emeralds, purple, embroidery, coral, ruby, wheat, honey, oil, wool, wine, iron, cassia, calamus, lambs, rams, goats, precious stones, gold, garments, and carpets.

In Revelation 18:11-13, the voice from heaven declares the goods in which Babylon traded and by which the merchants and kings of the earth were made rich:

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 wood, bronze, 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 (ESV).

While the lists are not identical, the overlap is unmistakable. Babylon in Revelation, like Tyre in Ezekiel, was wealthy and made a certain class of people wealthy alongside her. But all this trade will come to naught when God brings judgment on her. And the merchants will mourn at their loss of wealth, not at their loss of Babylon.

A different Ending

Go back and reread the passages above from Ezekiel 27 and Revelation 18 describing the merchandising. Clearly, though the voice of heaven is anchoring its speech in the ancient oracle of Ezekiel, it is doing so to make its own point. It isn’t simply quoting and repeating. It is borrowing imagery to drive home a new point.

One obvious difference is the voice from heaven doesn’t use the same order as that of Ezekiel. Heaven’s voice seems to have a loose order that builds to a crescendo. It starts with inanimate objects of value, moves to decorative items, then to scents and spices, then to foodstuffs, then to living creatures. But notice the very end.

In Ezekiel 27:13, the trade of human beings is casually slipped in without emphasis in the long litany of goods and merchandise. However, in Revelation 18, the voice from heaven builds until it crescendos with the declaration that Babylon traded in “slaves, that is, human souls” (ESV). Allow me to share Robert Young’s more literal translation:

…and cattle, and sheep, and of horses, and of chariots, and of bodies and souls of men (Revelation 18:13 b, YLT)

Despite several translators making the choice to say “slaves,” the text actually says, “bodies.” Don’t neglect to tie this back to where the list began in vss. 11-12. As the list begins with *cargo* of gold, silver, etc., it ends with cargo of bodies and souls of men. Can you think of a more dismissive and degrading way to speak of trading in humans, what we today call “human trafficking”? They weren’t trading in people, but in bodies. However, heaven’s voice wants us to understand this was not merely a trade in bodies but in lives or souls.

The issue is not merely that among other trades they also traded in slaves. The issue is they traded lives, they traded souls. The first time “souls” is found in Revelation is Revelation 6:9 when we read of the “souls of those who had been slain for the word of God.” In Revelation 12:11, we learn about those who conquered the beast because they loved not their “lives” or “souls” even unto death. In Revelation 20:4, John saw the “souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus.” Yes, we do see this word used as an adjective to describe the “living” things and creatures that died when the trumpets sounded (Revelation 8:9) and the bowls were poured out (Revelation 16:3). But the emphasis in Revelation is clear. Souls are lives, human lives.

Babylon had slain and ended the lives of Christians. The beast had tormented the lives of disciples to death. But in like manner, their very means of business and prosperity was on the backs of the bodies and souls of men. They didn’t merely trade in goods, they traded in lives, in souls. Who mined the silver and gold? Slaves. Who milled the wheat into fine flour? Slaves. Who harvested the spices, who weaved the garments, who pressed the oil, who tended the animals? Slaves. Who lived and died in poverty and oppression so the merchants and kings could have their wealth? Slaves. That is, Babylon traded in the bodies and souls of men. The blood/souls of the martyrs cried out against Babylon. But so did the blood/souls of the traded cargo of bodies. While the blood of martyrs watered the seeds of Christ’s kingdom, we can say the blood of slaves watered the wealth of Babylon. And for that latter claim, Babylon would be judged.

Don’t Treat People as Commodities

Let us not be deceived. When we treat the bodies and souls of our fellow man as nothing more than commodities from which we can enrich ourselves, we are compromising with Babylon. James 5:1-6 demonstrates there will be those who own the fields and there will be those who work the fields. No doubt, those who own the fields will have more than those who merely work them.

However, in the context of James’s sermon on the pure and undefiled religion of loving God and loving our neighbors, he essentially parallels visiting orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27) with impartiality between the rich and the poor when they come in our assemblies (James 2:1-7) with giving to our needy brothers and sisters what is needed for their bodies (James 2:15-16) with giving living wages to workers (James 5:1-6). In other words, one way in which we can love our neighbors is to provide meaningful work for them through which they can actually make a living and provide for their families. Babylonians bring workers into their fields in order to line the pockets of the Babylonians and squeeze as much out of the bodies and souls of the workers as they can. Disciples bring in workers to provide a mutually beneficial means for loving, sharing with, providing for, and caring for the bodies and souls of the workers.

Let us take care not to get caught up in the sins of Babylon just for the sake of putting dollars in our retirement accounts or even food on our tables.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 18.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 18 prompt or improve your hope in God?

Revelation 18: Kings and Merchants

Today’s reading is Revelation 18.

Some Background Reading

In Revelation 18, John hears an angel with great authority, a disembodied voice from heaven, and an angel who tossed a stone into the sea. As with a great deal of Revelation, the messages of these speakers are anchored in the ancient Hebrew prophets. For background on Revelation 18, I encourage you to read Isaiah 13-14; 46-47; Jeremiah 50-51; and Ezekiel 26-28. The first three are about ancient Babylon. Though the fourth is about Tyre, Revelation 18 clearly borrows a great deal from that oracle.

Babylon is Fallen

In Revelation 14:8, one of the three angel messengers cried out:

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality (ESV).

The nations drank from the wine of the passion or anger/wrath of her sexual immorality. Therefore, in Revelation 16, they had to drink the wine of God’s anger over the sexual immorality.

Now, in Revelation 18:2-3, another angel expands that previous message. Babylon’s fall means she is no longer a protected, peopled city. Rather, she is a haunt for every unclean thing: demons, spirits, birds, beasts. For more on this concept see Isaiah 13:21-22; 34:11-15; Jeremiah 50:39; 51:37, 43.

The point I want to focus on however comes in the second part of this new angel’s expansion:

For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living (Revelation 18:3, ESV).

Kings and Merchants

There are two major aspects of this expanded declaration. The first of which I’ve always seen, the second I’ve often overlooked.

First, the kings of the earth have committed immorality with Babylon the Great, the Prostitute who sits on the seven-headed monster (the dragon’s spawn) and on the seven mountains. No doubt, as we consider how “sexual immorality” is used among the prophets, the point is the kings of the earth followed the great city in idolatry. Rather than responding as Isaiah 2:2-5 declared they should, going to the single mountain of the LORD and submitting to the God of Jacob, they followed the folly of the great Prostitute. They worshiped idols, demons, false gods.

Second, “the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.” I admit, this is the one that frightens me. I think I’m pretty good at avoiding idolatry. That is, I’m pretty good at avoiding going in to idols’ temples, setting up shrines, getting involved in imperial cults.

However, this second part is a contrast back to something said when the False Prophet sealed the worshipers of the beast and the dragon. In Revelation 13:16-17, John recorded that the mark of the beast allowed folks to buy and sell. In other words, the great hook the evil trinity uses to win allegiance from the inhabitants of the world is quite simply making a living. Those who take the mark of the beast are able to conduct business, earn a wage, gain commissions, put food on the table. And now in Revelation 18:3, we discover the earth’s merchants have used that mark to its full extent. They have grown rich by playing the Prostitute’s game.

This wouldn’t quite scare me so much if we didn’t have the oracle to Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. Here was a church whose defense that she must be faithful was, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” She didn’t realize she was “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Jesus described her as lukewarm. That is, He described her as having been affected by her environment. Rather than standing out as distinct and affecting the environment around her, she had achieved room temperature. She was supposed to be the bride of Christ, but she had become much more like the Prostitute. And she didn’t even know it.

Can we admit we live in a society and even in a “Christian culture” that thinks if we are doing well financially, we must be doing something right? “God is blessing my socks off” usually means I’ve got a good job, I’m making good money, I have decent savings, I’m looking forward to a nice retirement. We bank on a handful of proverbs, gloss over Jesus’s own statements about wealth and poverty, and are certain God is blessing us because financial “blessings” feel so much like real blessing. It did to the Laodicean Christians.

Obviously, the mere act of making a living and providing for our families is no sin. In fact, we know shirking that responsibility is the sin: “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8, ESV). How easy it is to take this charge in Paul’s letter to Timothy as the basis to justify taking the mark of the beast. I know God expects me to provide for my family. If the only way (or easiest way) is to compromise with Babylon, maybe compromise is not so bad. And when the compromise brings prosperity, we, like Laodicea, might readily take that prosperity as the sign of God’s blessing and approval. But Jesus did not approve of Laodicea. He called her to repent.

Let us Take a Fearlessly Thorough and Brutally Honest INventory of Ourselves

This post is already long enough. It would likely take an entire book to work through all the possible scenarios regarding income, wealth, poverty, employment, business, generosity, hospitality, etc. that could be discussed in relation to Revelation 18:3.

We each need to take a fearlessly thorough and brutally honest inventory of our own means of making money, conducting business, collecting wealth, and serving others. No doubt, we can think of some easy issues. If we make money selling drugs on the street, we are, no doubt, taking on the mark of the beast. But I am certain the issue is not always so glaringly obvious. If we run a business that doesn’t give fair and living wages to our employees while padding our pockets with luxury, I think James 5:1-6 says we have taken the mark of the beast. If we have to lie, fudge facts, go along with sin in order to make our income, we have likely taken on the mark of the beast. If we earn our living by taking advantage of people in difficult situations, even if we can legally dot every I and cross every T, I imagine we have taken on the mark of the beast. If we conduct every aspect of business and work with absolute integrity, but we hoard our income for ourselves without serving and sharing with others, we have likely taken on the mark of the beast.

This list could go on. I hope this is enough to be getting on with. Let us be fearless and thorough in our own personal inventory. Let us avoid the immorality of idolatry, but also the covetousness of compromise with the beast.

Tomorrow’s reading is Revelation 18.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier.

PATHS:
Discuss Today’s Meditation with Your Family

How does Revelation 18 prompt or improve your praise of God?

Hidden Treasures and Fine Pearls

Today’s reading is Matthew 13.

The parables contain the secret treasures of the kingdom. If we dig deeply, we may find them. There are too many parables in this chapter for us to hit on all of them this week. But there are a pair of parables I find intriguing: The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and The Parable of the Pearl Merchant.

I admit, I could be completely wrong about my perspective on these two parables. I know my perspective is not the most common. It may be Jesus is simply telling two parables in a row that make the exact same point. He may be saying with two different stories that the kingdom is super valuable and when we find it, we need to give up everything else we have to attain it. However, for your consideration, I suggest an alternative.

In the first parable, Jesus says the kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field. The kingdom is not like the man searching for the treasure. Rather, the kingdom is the treasure. When the man finds the treasure, he covers it up, sells all he already owns, buys the field. That is how worthwhile and valuable the kingdom is. It is worth selling everything we have to get it. And Jesus did hide this treasure in a field. After all, in order to find it, we have to dig through these parables to learn its secrets.

In the second parable, Jesus does not say the kingdom is like the pearl. He says it is like the merchant. It’s possible Jesus means the kingdom is just like the whole picture. But that isn’t what He says. He says it is like the merchant. This is different from the previous parable. In the previous, the kingdom is the hidden treasure, not the searching man. In this parable, the kingdom is the searching merchant, not the pearl. The kingdom is looking for recruits. It is looking for valuable pearls. When it finds one, it gives up everything to have that pearl. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did? He is seeking disciples. He is seeking worshipers. He is seeking recruits for His kingdom. When He finds one, He gives up everything for the pearl. In fact, He gave up heaven, came into the world as a man, died as a rebellious, criminal slave on a cross. He paid the ultimate price to purchase you and me as His valuable pearls.

The first parable tells us how we should value the kingdom. The second parable tells us how the King and the kingdom values us. Wow! What an amazing King we serve. Praise the Lord!

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 13.

PODCAST!!!

Click here to take about 15 minutes to listen to the Text Talk conversation between Andrew Roberts and Edwin Crozier sparked by this post.

Discuss the Following Questions with Your Family

1. What are your initial reactions to the chapter and the written devo above?
2. What do you think of Edwin’s explanation of these two parables? Do you think they are about these two different concepts or do you think he has missed it on these? Why?
3. What does it look like for us to give up everything in order to purchase the treasure of the kingdom?
4. What advice would you give to others to help them make the sacrifice of everything in order to have the kingdom?
5. What do you think we should pray for and about in light of this chapter and today’s post?

The Kingdom Merchant

Today’s reading is Matthew 13.

Have you ever noticed in one parable, the kingdom is like the treasure, but in the other, the kingdom is not like the pearl, but like the merchant? In the first, the kingdom is the treasure that someone sells everything to purchase. In the second, the kingdom is like the merchant who sells everything to purchase the pearl. I know what I’m about to share is not the normal view on this parable, but I submit it to you for consideration. These parables together give us the two sides of the rule and reign of God. On the one hand, it is a treasure more valuable than anything you and I own. We should sell everything to purchase it. On the other hand, it is a merchant that deemed something so valuable it was willing to sell everything to purchase it. In the second, that valuable thing is, I believe, us. God sacrificed all to purchase us by the blood of His Son. Honestly, that is what makes it so valuable to us. When the merchant (kingdom) was willing to sell all in order to purchase us, why wouldn’t we be willing to sell all to purchase the treasure (kingdom)? I could be completely off on this, I’ve been told that before. But I encourage you to think about the kingdom of God’s value, because the God of the kingdom considered your value.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 14.