December 27

From: December 27, 2015

John saw a vision of Babylon’s fall. Surely this was symbolic of a future event, since it had fallen to the Persians 500 years before John wrote. The vision described the fall of Babylon as affecting the world’s economic system. The fall was to take place in less than an hour. Cities don’t usually fall in one hour, but the modern economy can crash in minutes. We might take this as a warning to “come out” of dependence on the world’s economy and instead put our dependence on God. Be careful about being caught up in the idolatry of materialism and greed. Instead, “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20). How do we “come out” of Babylon and “lay up” wealth in heaven? Decide to live on less, so you can give more. It is through giving that we invest in heaven.

From: December 27, 2014

God revealed the fall of Babylon to John. Since the actual city of Babylon had fallen to the Persians over 500 years before John’s Revelation, this must be taken as a symbolic reference to a future event. Some see Babylon as symbolizing Rome (historic view), others see the city of New York, but a more convincing view is that Babylon symbolizes the world economic system. In this view, a sign of the end times is that the world will have a unified world economy that makes nations and merchants wealthy, while others are enslaved by it. Ultimately, Babylon will fall. Those who depend on the world’s economy will be disappointed. Those who depend on God’s provision will be satisfied.