27th Dec


2 Chronicles 32                       Revelation 18              Zechariah 14

We may be shocked by what we read about the end of Hezekiah’s reign. After all he’d done (that’s how the chapter opens), Judah is besieged by an enemy of vastly superior strength. Hezekiah shows strong leadership, acting with human wisdom and spiritual insight. His declaration that the Lord is more powerful than any enemy (7, 8) is a wonderful example of seeing things from God’s perspective rather than simply our own. How often do we succumb to fear or doubt because we look at what is going on around us from the wrong perspective? God answers Hezekiah’s prayer and destroys the enemy. Reference to Sennacherib helps scholars date the biblical record, as independent Babylonian records confirm his war with Judah, the defeat of his army and his subsequent death at the hands of two of his sons. The chapter ends with a warning to leaders about pride, but also the encouragement that repentance leads to instant restoration with our Lord.

Zechariah closes with yet more prophecies that weave through various eras. The opening may find partial fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple in 70AD, but what follows can only be a reference to the very End of Time. We are given to believe that Jesus himself will stand again on the Mount of Olives. This chimes with the words of the angel to the disciples after the Ascension – ‘This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). The events depicted in verses 5b-9 are echoed in Jesus’ own teaching in the gospels and in the book of Revelation, in whose 18th chapter we now read about the destruction of godless humanism as portrayed symbolically in the great city of Babylon.

The fall of Babylon is

·         dreadfully tragic, for she is not utterly evil (18:22-23a)
·         dramatic, for she arrogantly assumes she will never be overthrown (8:7,8)
·         ironic, for it is the Beast on which Babylon rides which will destroy her (17:16-17)
·         welcomed by heaven (19:1-6)

And how should God’s people respond to Babylon? We are to ‘come out of her’ (18:4). We are, after all, ‘looking forward to the city with foundations’ (Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16). This does not mean that we cut ourselves off from the world in which we live, but that we live radically distinctive lives, pursuing Kingdom values rather than those of the world.

(member of the clergy)