A curious notice
20 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)
Look one step further and what do you see? Rejoice! Huh? There have been no mentions of joy in this chapter; it has been all heavy, bleak, oppressive. Tucked in here almost as an appendix to assorted global moaning is a call to joy and gladness. Be delighted over the destruction that has fallen on Babylon?
When you and I read Revelation 18 we do not forget God. Why else, after all, would we be reading this? When Babylon, her consorts, and her suppliers went through these things they did not remember God. In the midst of the events which shattered the Babylonian realm from her foundations to her tallest buildings grief had been the theme. Good things were lost. Suddenly had fortunes flown. The hope of future earnings was upended. From those who escaped the mood was melancholy.
The poor of the world, those seafaring men written of in this chapter saw a different implication. They saw other people. They saw Christ’s followers the prophets, saints and apostles. They saw abuses of religious persecution heaped up on those who looked to Jerusalem rather than Babylon.
The non-Christian poor of the world were not naïve. They recognized that the pressures of Babylon were Babylon focused. Babylon had been demanding things from the rest of the world and she had been demanding destruction of those who followed Christ. Babylon was not just a good-time-city. It was not a future Las Vegas on steroids, but more like a successful Third Reich this time with Christians rather than Jews heading to the camps.
Heaven, the abode of God and the God-following dead had come out ahead in this one. How long, O Lord, until you judge those who killed us? That was the cry of the martyrs under the altar. It was a cry that can be read about in Revelation 6. Here is the lesson I taught on that.
The poor of the earth saw the just deserts fall upon Babylon and while they lamented they did not forget that this would be good news to those who were on the run.
Some other points on this verse
- Vengeance is the Lord’s and he brought it
- Heaven is above and is not unaware of the things on earth
- God is somehow above the fray adjudicating things for heaven and for earth
- Heaven is his abode, but he has his saints, prophets and apostles there with him
- From the beginning the poor and immaterial have often had a different clarity, a different experience about Heaven and God than the wealthy.
What about the spiritual status of the poor?
One morning while praying about the direction of this lesson another point came to mind. The little man is still separated from God. The poor do not get a free pass in spiritual matters. Sin and rebellion, doing it like Sinatra (“My Way”), are still the natural position of man. God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross as a solution for that fracture, but while his offer is made en masse there is no automatic application. There is no default redemption.
Those on the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum do see things more easily than do the rich, but they still must respond.
There is an “I” a “me” in this too. Where you are on the socioeconomic spectrum is not relevant. Where you are with this decision is. It matters–forever. Choose wisely my friend.
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