If its not worth doing, then don't do it!
|
If its not worth doing, then don't do it! |
    
|
The "Great" City Revelation 17: 1-18
As we move into the last two parallel sections of the book of Revelation we should well note that these six chapters are the most controversial of the whole Bible. These six chapters have suffered much from wild and weird interpretations. It is with extreme caution that I proceed into this tangled web of information. Today, let us first deal with the most controversial verses in this chapter which are verses nine and ten. Immediately the angel calls for a mind of wisdom. From this statement we see that this portion of the chapter should be one where human logic and understanding can actually make some headway. Verse nine continues by mentioning seven hills. Any literate person acquainted with the classic writers of antiquity will know that this phrase refers to Rome of the seven hills. Immediately following is the sentence: "They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while." From this section we may find evidence to date this Revelation of the Apostle John. The Kings of Rome who took for their title the name of the first Caesar would seem to be the most logical reference here. If this is the meaning, then Nero, the worst of the persecutors of the early emperors, would be on the throne at the time of John's revelation. The seventh Caesar, yet to come, was one called Galba and he ruled for a bare six months. He was followed by a series of short reigned monarchs in that year of the four Caesars. The angel is careful to point out that the beast is not an eighth king. The beast, however, is with these kings and is just as assuredly on his way to destruction. So we may see here an historical reference which would give the people hearing John's revelation the knowledge that certain real kings of their world were definitely caught up in the ungodly schemes of the beast and were doing the work of the devil himself. This fact of life often shocks many people who may not want to hear in any time or any era that their own rulers are not heirs and servants of our God and Christ. In fact God's own people are being and have been persecuted by the rulers of the earth. This was a hard lesson to learn in John's time. After all the Jews had thought highly of Julius Caesar and even as late as the rule of Tiberius had successfully appealed to Caesar for the triumph of religious principles over those of politics. In fact these Jews of Pilate's time had allied themselves with the kings of the earth to destroy their very own promised Messiah. This same government was about to turn on the people of Israel to solve the perceived Jewish problem of the first century! Of course the Lord God Almighty was preparing to use the secular powers to chastise the Pharisees and Sadducees who had become Covenant breakers. But, we must be careful how we say this. In fact, one of the causes for our profound confusion in regard to understanding the book of Revelation is the fact that we dare not too publicly say that the Jews were indeed justifiably chastised in the Jewish wars of the first century for being Christ killers! For the same reason we dare not too publicly claim as Paul claimed that the Church is indeed the true Israel and the remnant Jewish sect is neither legitimately nor figuratively God's elect any more. After all, even Martin Luther is held up to be anti-semitic for such unwholesome proclamation. That is not being tolerant of other faiths and no one today wants to be accused in the least way of being anti-semitic! But, let us return to the hard lesson of the text. There John prophesies and proclaims the fact that a legitimate standing government is becoming the bloody servant of the great prostitute in service of the beast! People in our own time are hesitant to believe that our government could indeed serve the purpose of the beast. This sixth division may be divided into three portions. Verses one through six of Chapter seventeen tell us the character of Babylon and verses seven through eighteen give us a history of Babylon. Next week we will read of the fall of Babylon in Chapter eighteen. Certainly there are hints of real history in this chapter, however, we must not make a strictly chronological interpretation of the visions in Revelation. This Babylon has already been mentioned in chapters fourteen and sixteen. Here in this particular section the nature of Babylon is revealed and we are urged to really see that we are not of this world. And especially we are urged not to love the world or anything in the world. This message is stated more fully in a letter John wrote earlier in the New Testament. READ: 1 John 2: 15-17 "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world _ the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does _ comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." It is to reinforce this understanding that the angel who had been pouring out the bowls of wrath came to John with our message today. We see in verses one to six the shocking character of the prostitute of Babylon. We see that the kings of the earth are intoxicated with her. This is definitely a lady in Red! She has accepted the rewards of an admiring royalty. And like Fanny Fox and an Ohio congressman a few years back we may understand that she did not earn her wealth with a typewriter! In addition John sees that she is drunk. But worse than mere drunkenness, she is drunk with the blood of the saints! This grim picture here stands for the world with all its seductions and charms. Babylon stands for everything that allures, tempts, seduces and draws people away from God. This lady has quite a history. She has seduced more than one king and kingdom! We should not be astonished, our holy scriptures are full of warnings against being too worldly in our interests and pursuits! Yet, the world is still with us. Just as the angel predicted the coming of a seventh little king, so too is there mentioned another ten kings who had yet to receive a kingdom at the time of the Revelation. We may understand the context of this passage to imply that throughout the whole history of the world, kings will rise up to power, fall in love with the great prostitute and persecute the true Church. They will make war against the Lamb. However, the final victory is still being won by our Lord Jesus Christ. These governments will rise and fall throughout time. For a season they will love the woman of Babylon, then they will turn on her and destroy her. This lesson is apparently being relearned by all of those in our society who are addicted to pornography. Twenty years ago the defenders of the first amendment agitated for freedom to show a little more skin in the various instruments of the Media. But that was not enough, the world of art films and such has in the course of time fulfilled the prophecy of the picture here. The true nature of pornography is definitely stated in verse sixteen. Even our public media are favoring destructive images rather than tamer themes of titillation! And yet, the world wants more, more and worse. In Cincinnati the vices of the woman and her followers out shout the voices of morality. Instead of the perverts being condemned, the national media is scandalized by any attempts to limit first amendment expressions! As we see the history of chapter seventeen being worked out even in our own time we would do well to remember that all the vain things that would charm us most are doomed to destruction. We should remember that Jesus is coming again in triumph. He has already overcome the world. His return is only delayed until the whole plan of God is finally completed. Where will we be found? Will we be found in the palaces of pleasure designed by the world to entrap us. Or will we be found described there in verse fourteen? "the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings _ and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." It is my hope that you will learn to distinguish between the things of this world and the realities of our Lord's own everlasting Kingdom. And learning to see the difference, for your own eternal salvation, you must chose those things which are holy. I know, it is very difficult to put the things of this world behind us. But please remember, the pleasant things of this world have a past only. We are promised that Babylon will fall and along with Babylon will go all of those who do not belong to Christ. The future belongs to Christ and to all of those who are called into His kingdom. Do you have a future or do you have a past? We earnestly pray that by God's providential grace you will be called into His future and eternal kingdom. Amen.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Box 13926 -- Columbus, OH 43213 Rev 17a 21 April 90
|