DAY 230- BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE LAND
Reading: Revelation 18:1-24; Isaiah 13: 20; Jeremiah 50 and 51
We’re drawing to the end of our studies about land and place. Not all the places and the lands described in the Bible, are Earthly. Some are spiritual in meaning.
Today’s focus is on Babylon the Great, which is the world system that is arraigned against God and His people across . In Revelation 18 the people of God are described as a remnant on Earth. The world has rebelled against the Lord and its people have piled up their sins to Heaven. In our reading for today, a great angel pronounces doom on Babylon the Great in advance. Its utter desolation is vividly described. Like the earthly Babylon of old, it will become desolate and the home of unclean animals, never to be inhabited again.
In our main reading for today we see another classic example of type and antitype. Believers are called to come out of Babylon, that is, they are not to be ensnared by her pleasures and treasures. Verses 9 – 20 present a three-fold lamentation by kings, merchants and ship captains. The kings yielded to the ‘prostitute’s’ temptations. The merchants mourn because their cargoes have now become worthless. John lists four kinds of cargoes: animal, mineral, vegetable and even man himself, all representing goods of luxury. The ship captains are out of business for there is no one to buy their goods. This great lamentation is followed by a great rejoicing in heaven by the saints, apostles and prophets because the justice of God has been served upon Babylon (Jer. 6:10).
Babylon the Great represents the world system that is against God and includes the whole Earth, except those who serve the Lord. We are called to be holy and set apart for the Lord’s service.
Prayer:
Dear Father, help us not to be ensnared by Babylon. Help us to come out of her and to be holy. In Jesus name, Amen
FOR THE FAMILY
Watch