Application: I'm not sure if there's a non-confrontational way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I see aspects of the Babylon of Revelation in our economic system today. I see the dominant spiritual struggle in our time to be valuing human lives more than we value income and wealth. We're in an economy that's more globalized than it's ever been, but we're also more disconnected from each other than ever before, such that we can buy a piece of clothing for a deep discount, and not give a second thought to the fact that the person who made it may be living on less than a dollar a day, and the person who sold it to us may be working full time and still living on food stamps. This to me is the heart of what Jesus was revealing to John of Patmos as "Babylon."
That said, I do not read Revelation as saying there's only ever one "Babylon" in history, and its end signals the end of the world. Babylon is a mindset that we have fallen prey to time after time. Time after time, God's Spirit has told us to "come out of Babylon", so that we don't take part in the natural consequences that happen when a dehumanizing system grinds to a halt. Just as John's listeners were urged to take a critical eye at the Roman system, we are urged to take a critical eye at our own system. For me, this simply means taking a step back, and examining how I spend my time and money. Do I feel at home in Babylon? Or am I feeling the call to "come out", and find better ways to love my neighbor with every dime I spend (or don't spend)?
Prayer: Jesus, call us out of Babylon. Help us remember our true citizenship is in your reign of love and justice. Amen.
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