Readings for today: Revelation 14-18
How many of us have been to events with street preachers holding up signs with the message, “Repent for the end is near!” As much as I disagree with their approach, their message is more true than they know. The end is drawing near. Each day brings us one step closer to the final judgment of God on the earth. Each day brings us one step closer to the final coming of the Kingdom. The day when Jesus will appear on the clouds and descend to earth to establish His reign forever. Until that day comes, God is patient. Not wishing that any should perish. God is compassionate. Constantly pursuing us. God is gracious. Always willing to forgive. But we should not presume upon His grace. The current state of affairs will not last forever. God’s patience eventually will come to an end and He will make one final attempt to save His people from everlasting death.
This is the message behind all the plagues in Revelation. Behind all the judgment and wrath being poured out on the earth, there is this desire of God’s to save. To deliver. To bring His rebellious people to repentance. Those who have been reading with us all year probably are reminded of the plagues in Egypt when God acted to deliver His people from Pharaoh. Boils. Water turning to blood. Darkness. Fire. Hailstones from heaven. These things have happened before. The purpose behind them was to bring Pharaoh and his people to repentance. To humble them so they would set God’s people free from slavery. In a similar way, God commands His angels to pour out His wrath with the hope that it will bring the people of the earth to repentance. Humble them that they might be saved. Sadly, they refused to repent and give God the glory.
They chose to love the Great Harlot instead. The earthly city arrayed in all her splendor. Wealthy. Powerful. Exerting her influence over all the earth. Full of all kinds of abominations and sexual immoralities, she represents the worst kind of rebellion. Her name is Egypt. Rome. Babylon. Constantinople. Berlin. London. Mexico City. Rio de Janiero. Beijing. Jakarta. Tehran. Washington DC. Basically, any governmental system that refuses to acknowledge and submit to God. They are all iterations of “Babylon the Great.” They all participate in her abominations and impurities. They all fall under God’s righteous judgment. Those who love their wealth. Their political power. Their cultural influence more than they love God will be exposed and judged along with the nations of the earth. They make war on the Lamb and His followers, falsely believing they can somehow dethrone Him. But God will cause them to turn on themselves. To destroy themselves from within. He will bring judgment through the very people who worship and adore her. They will turn against her. Strip her naked. Expose her. Cast her down. Her fall will be great.
Sin and evil always turn in on themselves. Like a snake eating its own tail. They are ultimately self-destructive. Remember how the Apostle Paul described the judgment of God in Romans 1. God simply “gives them over” to the lusts and desires of their hearts. A similar dynamic is in play here in Revelation as well. God simply withdraws His protective hand. He simply says to the rebellious peoples of the earth, “Thy will be done” and the results are terrifying.
The response of God’s people is never fear, however, but faith. In the face of God’s judgment, we humble ourselves. We submit. We bow before His will and we bend the knee to His way. We worship Him. We give Him the glory He deserves. We repent of our pride and arrogance and false belief that we know best and we give Him Lordship over our lives. This is the essence of repentance. Not just a general feeling of remorse but an active, intentional decision to live for God.