By Guest Writer
Scripture Reading: Revelation 17:1-18, Psalm 90:1-17, 1 Timothy 6:11-16
When I was in seventh grade, I attended my first youth retreat. I liked its clever theme, “In the World, Not of It,” although I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant. I later learned how we were called to be faithful Christians in a world that didn’t follow Jesus. The phrase became a sort of anthem for those of us wearing our “Got Jesus?” t-shirts and listening to our WOW CDs.
In the passage today, there’s a lot that also seems potentially unclear: drinking blood, a royal-ish prostitute, a beast that may be around or may not. And why are seven heads also seven mountains? Although apocalyptic literature may feel unclear, it’s helpful to start with what we know or what is clear.
Babylon was being called out: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth” (Revelation 17:5). Not how any of us want to be labeled by the Lord, and yet, it’s the description ascribed to the prostitute. In the Old Testament, Babylon became all the despicable things that culture could offer: the epitome of power and evil run amok. For those on the inside, Babylon’s allure was comfort, excess, luxury, sexual indulgence, and riches. For those without the power to seize and abuse, Babylon oppressed and instituted fear, lack, and strife. It rewarded those with power, benefitting themselves at the cost of those who were easily trampled. In contrast to the first people who were called to steward the creation and their relationship with the Lord, Babylon created a world that glorified evil and oppressed the weak.
The beast, similarly, was living a story like a counterfeit messiah, ending not in a glorious ascension but in a final destruction (v.8). But judgment was finally coming—for both the beast and Babylon, John saw that they were allowed to “make war against the Lamb” so that the Lamb could overcome them and fulfill His rightful place as “Lord of lords and King of kings” (v.14).
The reality of the world, whether we’re in it or of it, is that all pursuits have an end. God created us to be people of pursuit, to create and flourish in His wisdom. However, sin leads to destruction; it actually makes us beastly. And this passage is reminding us that there is no middle ground. It challenges us to consider the sin we accept as normal—what we consume in our minds and hearts, what we value and spend our time on, what we think is funny, what consequences our habits may have—and ask ourselves, “What is the end to this sin?”
Seventh-grade me would think this all feels scary. How do I make sure that my life and pursuits end with Jesus? Paul instructed Timothy to remember and hold on to the eternal life offered to us in Jesus—salvation that He alone could afford us (1Timothy 6:12)—and charged him to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” while fleeing from all that leads away from God (v.11). Knowing that only God’s wisdom can see the end to what we pursue, we echo Moses’s prayer, “Teach us to number our days carefully that we may develop wisdom in our hearts” (Psalm 90:12).
Written by Becca Owens
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