Year 6, Day 361: Revelation 18

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Revelation 18 always makes me sad because of its stark look at humanity.  In this chapter we get three different perspectives: kings, merchants, and seafarers.  They give us a very poignant perspective on human interest.  Each of these people stand far off; each of these mourn.  The real question is why.

There are a number of questions that we should ask.  The first is, why are they standing far off?  They don’t want to get caught up in Babylon’s judgment!  They don’t want to be associated with Babylon in her dark moment.  That’s really the first thing that we can learn about human beings. We don’t mind being associated with people when they are being blessed.  When they are being cursed, we want to put some distance between them and us.

The second thing that we can learn is why they mourn.  They aren’t mourning because they actually cared about Babylon.  They are mourning because as Babylon falls they are losing access to a lifestyle to which they have gotten accustomed.  The kings are losing power.  The merchants are losing access to money and material goods.  The seafarers are losing access to prosperity.  What can we learn about humanity?  Human beings typically look at the world through a “How can this benefit me” perspective.

The third thing that we can learn about humanity is that they don’t do anything to help Babylon.  I’m torn as to what this actually teaches us.  It could be that we learn about the selfishness of a humanity that looks to save its own skin.  But what I really think is more significant is that in the end, humanity realizes that it cannot intervene against God.  We might like to think we can.  We might live like we can.  But when push comes to shove and judgment is upon we, we do actually know our place.

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