Revelation 18:9-10

9             “And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

10          standing at a distance because of the fear of her Tormey, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city of Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

Those who control or benefit from various parts of our economic system will mourn the fall of the world’s evil powers. The political leaders will mourn because they were the ones who managed the wealth of the evil powers and helped themselves from it greatly. The merchants will mourn because the evil powers were their customer for the goods and will no longer exist. The sea captains will no longer have anywhere to bring their goods because the merchants can no longer sell them. The fall of the corrupt world system will affect everyone that enjoyed it and depended upon it.

I remember when the pandemic was in full swing and we were stuck indoor for a few months. Stores were moving to non-contact ways of handling transactions. With this, certain people were screaming how that act of safety was a fulfillment of this verse. We must remember that none of know when that will happen. We acknowledge that change is scary as well. At the time of the world, none of us knew what was going to happen and we were all fearful of what was next. However, we shouldn’t let that fear lead us to dramatic conclusions. We should rest and recognize that God is in control, and we are subservient to that control. We take things moment by moment and embrace it, not fear. God did not give us a power of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.

Today, we are seeing fluctuating markets and unstable economic strength. We’re seeing everything from stock markets to egg prices fluctuate so wildly it gives us whiplash. It’s caused us panic, fear, and doubt. It’s caused some people to act out of that as to protect their assets or do what was best for their families. It’s made some people hurt others to protect themselves. Think of these examples, 5 years apart. It’s the same doubt the evil forces of the world share with us, just different circumstances. Just like we are to wait and take it moment by moment then, we are to do that now for God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Those that are tied to the world’s system will lose everything when it collapses. What took them a life to secure will be destroyed in the blink of an eye. Those who live life for the material benefit will have nothing when they die or when this destruction occurs. It’s why you hear Christians and Christian teachings tell you to invest in the kingdom of Heaven and not hold on to your earthly possessions. We should use our resources to reinvest in opportunities to fulfill God’s will – to honor him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. To create a world that allows for each of God’s children to live with equal opportunity. To allow the marginalized and the voiceless a chance to be heard and represented. To allow the fair treatment of all people regardless of background, skin color, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The things of the world are made with division, bias, stereotypes, and racism in mind – because that is the foundation of it all. Very rarely do things on earth adapt when the times of the world adapt. We must work to change the world; to make it just like the Kingdom of Heaven.

Next Part – The Fall of Evil – Part 4

Associated Scripture

Revelation 18:9          Ezekiel 26:16; Revelation 17:2

Revelation 18:10       Ezekiel 26:17; Revelation 14:8