Recap

So far in Revelation, we've read through the messages to the seven churches, the courtroom scene, and the three sets of seven divine judgements. Revelation, attributed to John, reveals the spiritual battles behind earthly struggles, asking: will you choose light or darkness? Addressed to seven churches, it presents Jesus as ruler of kings, cleansing believers through his blood, and uniting Daniel 7’s imagery of God and the Son of Man.

John described seven lampstands representing churches and stars for their angels, with Jesus commissioning him to deliver messages. Ephesus needed renewal, Smyrna was encouraged to stay faithful, Pergamum and Thyatira faced corruption, Sardis needed revival, Philadelphia was promised protection, and Laodicea was urged to recognise spiritual poverty. These messages reminded believers of the spiritual battle and called for repentance.

John saw heaven’s throne, where twenty-four elders symbolised humanity’s restored role as co-rulers with God. Living creatures and elders worshipped, while a scroll sealed seven times awaited opening. Declared worthy, the Lion of Judah appeared as a slaughtered lamb with seven horns, symbolising authority. The lamb’s blood redeemed people from all nations, forming a kingdom of priests. Worship spread to all creation.

The lamb opened the seals, bringing three cycles of seven judgements. The first seals summoned the horsemen—war, conflict, famine, and death. The fifth revealed martyred believers awaiting God’s plan, and the sixth brought apocalyptic upheaval. Between the sixth and seventh seals, John saw believers marked with God’s seal and a vast multi-national crowd purified by the lamb. The seventh seal brought silence before the Day of the Lord.

The seven trumpets echoed Egypt’s plagues, symbolising divine warnings. Between the sixth and seventh trumpets, an angel announced the seventh would reveal God’s mystery and final judgement. John measured the temple, representing believers as God’s true temple, and referenced three and a half years, signifying a period cut short. Two witnesses, symbolising the church, prophesied with power but were seemingly defeated by a beast. Like Jesus, the church rose again, leading to the seventh trumpet proclaiming Jesus’ eternal reign.

John then described signs of a spiritual battle. A woman, representing God’s people, gave birth to a son, Jesus, who was taken to God for safety. A red dragon, Satan, waged war in heaven, defeated by Michael, and cast to earth, where it persecuted believers. Two beasts arose, representing oppressive empires and false worship. The mark of the beast signified allegiance to evil powers, contrasting God’s mark on believers.

During this persecution, John saw the Lamb on Mount Zion with 144,000 loyal followers. Three angels proclaimed worship to God, Babylon’s fall, and judgement on the beast’s followers. Jesus harvested believers while angels harvested for God’s wrath. Seven final judgements unleashed plagues, blood, and fire, echoing Egypt and declaring Babylon’s fall, urging loyalty to God.

Revelation 17-18

Moving on from the three rounds of seven judgement, John picks up the language of Babylon as a great empire that will be destroyed. An angel comes and tells John about a woman they describe as a great whore that has seduced kings and got the people of earth drunk.

She is seated on many waters because she embodies chaos, drawing on the idea of seas being chaotic, and then John is taken out into the wilderness to see her, the place of decreation. The language of both draws on Isaiah 21:1 which mentions the ‘wilderness of the sea’ and goes on to see of Babylon’s doom.

The angel then takes John to see this woman and her imagery draws from the whore language used to describe Israel when it was turning from God in the prophets (see Jeremiah 2:34, Jeremiah 4:30), except here she is sat on the back of the dragon.

In the prophets it was Israel that was allowing itself to be tempted by its lovers, the other nations that it flirted with. Here, this woman leads other to sleep with her and get drunk off her.

She is wealthy and has the name Babylon written on her head, while drunk off the persecution of believers. We’re also going to see a bride appear later on in the book, and so what’s being set up is another contrast. Those who are like a whore, rebelling against God and leading others to the same, or those who are faithful brides of Christ.

The angel then starts to unpack what the woman represents. The beast she is sitting on is one that had been cast to the pit and is now coming out. All those who are not faithful to God will be enamoured and amazed with the beast. The angel then points out that the seven horns of the beast are seven mountains that the woman sits on.

This is Rome, as Rome was built on seven hills. The references to Babylon do not literally mean Babylon, but the great empires that openly flirt with the forces of evil. For John, this was Rome who conquered much of the known world, and was the main economic driver of the world. All nations would be doing trade with it and influenced by it, and it was persecuting believers.

In some sense, then the beasts and the whore represent the same thing, oppressive empires, but the two sides of oppressive empires. One is the war faring side that brings death and destruction. The other is the economic and corrupting sides of empires that lead people to live corrupt lives against God and tie them up in economic systems.

Like Daniel 7:7-8, here the horns of the beast represent different kings and emperors. They submit to the authority of the beast and wage war against the lamb. But their time will always be cut short, only lasting one hour each. There are lots of debates over which leaders each horn represents, but I think that misses the point.

The horns represent all leaders who set themselves up against God. They each ride on top of the empires, nations, and powers that they lead, but those empires, nations, and powers are greater than individual leaders. And in turn the empires, nations, and powers submit to the greater beast, the dragon, the ultimate embodiment of evil.

But the important thing is that while these leaders wage war against the lamb, the lamb will defeat them, for he is “Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).

The then the angel points out that the waters the woman is seated on are the people, nations, and languages she has corrupted. And at some point the beast will devour her. In short, chaos cannot help but destroy itself. Corrupt economic powers will lead for a bit, but they will always give way to war.

And so another angel comes and declares judgement over Babylon. This is drawing on the many different oracles of judgement against Babylon found in the Old Testament (see Isaiah 47:1-15, Jeremiah 50-51, Ezekiel 21:28-32, Zephaniah 2:9-15).

Babylon will fall. It has become the dwelling place of all that is corrupt and evil. It has made other nations drink of its corruption, whether that be through political or economic influences.

Heaven calls to all believers who find themselves in Babylon to come out from her and not let her corrupt them. Her sins are high and she has lived in luxury. Therefore, she will face great judgement.

And the rest of the world will mourn her loss, because of her economic power. Merchants who traded with her, selling her their wares, will no longer have anyone to sell to.

But heaven and all believers should rejoice that her evil has been defeated. A mighty angel picked up a great millstone and threw it into the sea, drawing on Jeremiah 51:63, where a book containing Babylon’s judgement was bound to a stone and thrown into the Euphrates.

Babylon will be defeated by violence and its culture and trade will be no more. There will be no joy or celebration in her for she has corrupted nations and their merchants, and persecution believers.

As mentioned, the focus of this section is to provide an economic view of what’s going on. Up until now the focus has been on showing believers throughout history the significance of the wars and disasters that they see.

Here, believers are being shown the significance behind empires and their economic corruption, along with the oppression that brings. God sees it, it is not good, and it will ultimately be consumed by the chaos that it feeds. And the unspoken question continues, will you engage in that corruption or will you set yourself apart for God?

Psalm 44

This psalm is attributed to the sons of Korah and falls into the category of lament psalm. Specifically, this psalm was recited after the nation had faced a loss in battle.

The psalm alternates between the people and their king as they work through their lament before God. On top of that, the psalm is split into three sections; declarations of trust (Psalm 44:1-8), bringing their complaint before God (Psalm 44:9-22), and asking God to intervene (Psalm 44:23-26). 

Psalm 44:1-3 - The people remember what God has done

Psalm 44:4 - The king declares God is the ultimate king

Psalm 44:5 - The people declare that it is God they trust

Psalm 44:6 - The king acknowledges he cannot trust in his own might

Psalm 44:7-8 - The people boast in God and give thanks

Psalm 44:9-14 - The people lament their loss

Psalm 44:15-16 - The king declares his shame

Psalm 44:17-22 - The people declare their innocence and commitment to God

Psalm 44:23-26 - Both the people and the king ask God to help them

The people have just lost a battle, but before they bring their complaint before God, they decide to ground themselves in his past faithfulness. 

They remind themselves of the stories their ancestors passed down, of when God drove their enemies from the land so they could occupy it, and how it was God’s might, not the strength of their swords, that won that battle. The king then acknowledges that it is God who is truly the king that leads them out to battle.

The people place their trust in God. Just as it was God that won the battles of their ancestors, it will be God that helps them defeat their enemies now. The king accepts the fact that he cannot trust in his own might to win battles.

The people then remind themselves of times in their own lives where God has rescued them and defeated their enemies. Because of this, they will boast in God and give thanks to him.

Now that the people are grounded in their confidence in God, they move to their complaint. For whatever reason, God has rejected them by allowing their enemies to defeat them this time. Their enemies have looted their wealth and killed their people. 

Israel has become a laughingstock amongst the nations, who now mock them. The king speaks from a personal point of view. There is such a sense of shame and disgrace on him, because he was the one that led the people out to battle, only to be defeated.

The people then defend their case before God. They have not been faithless or turned their back on God. They ask God to search them and their hearts, because they are confident in their own innocence.

Emboldened by their complaint, both the people and their king now ask God to intervene. They ask him why he seems to be sleeping or hiding himself from them. Why does he now seem to be okay with oppression? The unspoken statement here is that this doesn’t line up with who God is.

They point once more to their suffering and then ask God to save them.