Revelation 18:21-24
The Finality of Babylon’s Doom
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
never to be found again.
22 The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
will never be heard in you again.
No worker of any trade
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s important people.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,
of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
For about seven years, my family lived near a small pond in Ankeny. One of my favorite places to play was the bridge by the little spillway. When my cousins and I weren’t trying to catch catfish, we would often throw huge rocks off the bridge just to watch them splash into the water.
To be seven again.
The opening image in Revelation 18 is something like that, only far more serious. A mighty angel takes a stone the size of a large millstone and throws it into the sea. The point is finality. Babylon will not be gently corrected or slowly reformed. It will be thrown down and will not rise again.
That raises the question: what does Revelation mean by Babylon?
In this passage, Babylon is pictured as a world organized around everything except the worship of God. It is filled with:
Entertainment that can no longer make it sing.
Industry that can no longer make it secure.
Important people whose importance cannot save them.
Power that manipulates the nations.
Violence against the prophets and God’s holy people.
So when you think of Babylon, what comes to mind?
The bottom line in this passage—and in much of Revelation—is that God is God, and God will not share the throne. No matter how many times we, individually or collectively, try to assume the ultimate position of power, Babylon never gets the last word.
On the one hand, if you have been oppressed by Babylon, this is wonderful news: the oppressors do not get the final word. On the other hand, if you have shaped your life in the image of Babylon—grasping for control, importance, comfort, or power—then Revelation’s warning is also for you.
The truth is that we all have a little Babylon in us. Sinner and saint, right? The good news is that the power of God that wins in the end is not mere force. It is God’s love—self-giving, cross-shaped love for you and for me.
– Pr. Jason
God, help me to see where I have more in common with the kingdom of Babylon than with the kingdom of heaven. Thank you for your grace when I cannot tell the difference. By your love, loosen my grip on power, status, comfort, and control, and teach me to trust the kingdom that will last. Amen.
