26th Dec

2 Chronicles 31                       Revelation 17              Zechariah 13: 2-9

Sung worship within the house of the Lord was not enough in Hezekiah’s day – and nor is it in ours. Action in the community (31:1); giving to the work of the Lord (31:2-15); and serving the Lord in some specific way (31:16-21) are all equal parts of our worship. I love the description of Hezekiah at the end of this chapter. ‘In everything he undertook … he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly.’ May that be God’s verdict on our work for him today.

Zechariah’s words in 13:7 are quoted by Jesus (Matthew 26:31 / Mark 14:27) just before his arrest, in explanation of what is to come. Verses 8 & 9 depict a refining process for God’s people. A silversmith knows when the metal he is refining is pure – it is when he can see his own reflection in it. Are we aware of the Lord’s refining work in our lives, as he turns up the heat, burning away our impurities until we reflect him more truly to our world?

As Revelation nears its climax, we see the Lord’s refining work upon the whole earth, as evil and wickedness are systematically tackled. The book ends in a tale of two cities – Babylon and the new Jerusalem; and what a contrast they present.

We need to remember that, throughout scripture, beginning with the first city, Babel, whose people said ‘let us make ourselves a name’ (Genesis 11:4) ‘the city’ is a depiction of human pride, arrogance and sinfulness. Again, our cyclical model helps to avoid the temptation to see Babylon as one particular city or institution. The reference to 7 hills (17:9) would have been a clear sign to John’s first readers that he was thinking of Rome. But Babylon, like the Beast in chapter 13, is a composite image, incorporating numerous OT references – Nineveh (Nahum), Tyre (Ezekiel), Sodom (Genesis), and the literal Babylon (Isaiah & Jeremiah).

Babylon represents humanistic, godless society – the world as it lives in defiance of God. She is characterised by

·         vast international influence (17:1,2, 15; 18:23)

·         a horrifying level of moral decadence (17:4)

·         vast materialistic affluence (17:4, 18:12-13)

In a Babylonian economy, everything is bought & sold, even the ‘bodies and souls of men’ (18:13). Babylon, then, is the epitome of a global market economy. Note that Babylon rides the beast – John foresees a world where money is the supreme power, dominating political systems (‘Babylon is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth’ – 17:18). Babylon is both antiChristian (17:6; 18:24) & doomed (14:8; 17:1,16-18; 18:1-24).

(member of the clergy)