BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusنموونە

Yesterday we saw God triumph over evil in a climactic victory. So why does the story continue? Didn’t we win the final battle already? Yes, but John likes to repeat himself. He ends this wild apocalypse by circling back to add details for three previous vignettes: Babylon’s fall (Rev. 17-18), the one battle to rule them all (Rev. 19-20), and the bridal ball (Rev. 21-22).

In today’s reading, Babylon—this time represented by a violent, evil, wanna-be queen—finally meets her end. The archetypal empire appears as a prostitute, riding around on her beast and sloshing drunk from guzzling innocent blood. Babylon glitters with material wealth. She dresses in purple and scarlet clothes bedazzled with jewels and drinks from a chalice of gold. But this “beautiful” prostitute devours people.

As John hyperlinks this “Babylon” to Israel’s ancient enemies, like Tyre and Edom, she evolves into a Frankenstein-style mashup of every rebellious nation. She symbolizes every human regime that oppresses people.

In the end, her clients—the nations—become her assailants. The evil-empire prostitute falls, and God’s angel heralds her death to the world. What might that swell of rejoicing sound like in Heaven as on Earth, when humanity at last finds peaceful rest, shalom, because darkness and evil are no more? John’s revelation of Jesus welcomes us to meditate upon and find true hope in God’s good news.

Reflection Questions

• John wrote to people who were suffering under Roman persecution. How might today’s reading encourage those Christians?
• Compare today’s reading to the Proverbs teaching about prostitution (Prov. 7:1-27 or 29:3). Why do you think John used such imagery to portray Babylon?