Author: Jerry Wirtley

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was filled with light because of his glory. ² He called out with a loud voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a home for demons and a lair for every unclean spirit. She is a lair for every unclean bird, and a lair for every unclean and disgusting beast ³ because all the nations have fallen^[a] due to the wine of her lustful passion. The kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich from the power of her loose and extravagant ways.” ⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t take part in her sins and don’t receive any of her plagues. ⁵ Her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God remembered her unjust acts. ⁶ Give her what she has given to others. Give her back twice as much for what she has done. In the cup that she has poured, pour her twice as much. ⁷ To the extent that she glorified herself and indulged her loose and extravagant ways, give her pain and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit like a queen! I’m not a widow. I’ll never see grief.’ ⁸ This is why her plagues will come in a single day—deadly disease, grief, and hunger. She will be consumed by fire because the Lord God who judges her is powerful. ⁹ “The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality with her and shared her loose and extravagant ways, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke from her burning. ¹⁰ They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of the pain she suffers, and they will say, ‘Oh, the horror! Babylon, you great city, you powerful city! In a single hour your judgment has come.’ (Revelation 18:1-10, CEB)

Babylon has fallen, as powerful and as great as it was. It has fallen in spite of its kings and wealth and tyranny. Today and forever, Babylon only receives what it has given, and can give only injustice. 

God’s power makes even the mightiest, most terrifying powers of man crumble into dust, but his power is not the great destructive power of armies, nor is it violence magnified. The power of God that sweeps all away is the same love and life-giving power of a clear river, slowly chipping rock and smoothing sand, shaping land and sea. 

Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven. There were seven angels with seven plagues—and these are the last, for with them God’s anger is brought to an end. ² Then I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who gained victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing by the glass sea, holding harps from God. ³ They sing the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, king of the nations. ⁴ Who won’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? You alone are holy. All nations will come and fall down in worship before you, for your acts of justice have been revealed.” ⁵ After this I looked, and the temple in heaven—that is, the tent of witness—was opened. ⁶ The seven angels, who have the seven plagues, came out of the temple. They were clothed in pure bright linen and had gold sashes around their waists. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the anger of the God who lives forever and always. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from God’s glory and power, and no one could go into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven last angels were brought to an end. (Revelation 15:1-8, CEB)

Justice is a difficult question for Christians. What is just about justice sent down in seven plagues? What is awe inspiring? 

Maybe the plagues are not what God has done, so much as they are what we have left undone, and we are reaping the whirlwind. As we wait patiently for the most precious gift, what can we do to leave less in the world undone, and prepare it again for God’s Kingdom? 

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying high overhead with eternal good news to proclaim to those who live on earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ⁷ He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” ⁸ Another angel, a second one, followed and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She made all the nations drink the wine of her lustful passion.” ⁹ Then another angel, a third one, followed them and said in a loud voice, “If any worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or their hands, ¹⁰ they themselves will also drink the wine of God’s passionate anger, poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will suffer the pain of fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. ¹¹ The smoke of their painful suffering goes up forever and always. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, and those who receive the mark of its name.” ¹² This calls for the endurance of the saints, who keep God’s commandments and keep faith with Jesus. ¹³ And I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Favored are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their labors, because their deeds follow them.” (Revelation 14:6-13, CEB)

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their labors, because their deeds follow them.”

When you think of the eternal good news, what do you think of? Is it the same good news that “every nation, tribe, language, and people” would see? What to you is Babylon the great? What is the beast? Are the things we hold dear the same things that others hold in fear? 

As we wait patiently in advent, we wait for different good news, news that is truly new. We wait for the promise of the end of suffering, fear, war, want. But we can’t only wait, as the Spirit says, because “their deeds follow them”. How can our deeds ease the wait of our neighbors and prepare the world for God’s Kingdom?