“GONE WITH THE WIND”
“For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.” —Rev. 18:17a
Our nugget for today is drawn from the account of the destruction of Babylon. Babylon is an intriguing and somewhat mystifying (to me) concept in scripture. In Old Testament history it is certainly a great city-state that fostered one of the great empires of the ancient world. In Old Testament prophecy it appears at times to be a coalition of nations, for in Isaiah 13 the prophecy of judgment rises from tangible Babylon (v.1) to to the judgment of the “nations” in that cryptic hour, “The Day of the Lord,” (v.6,) wherein He says, “I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible [Isa. 13:1]).” When Isaiah continues his prophetic account of the judgment of the king of Babylon in chapter 14, he cites “Lucifer” as the king (v.12ff), and again cryptically involves “the whole earth” and “all nations” in his sweep (v.11). Babylon, it may be suggested, seems to be emblematic of the worldly ambitions of men and nations apart from respect for God and His word. Prosperity and pleasure are its governing ambitions.
In the chapter from which our nugget is taken, the judgment is again ascribed to a “city,” but if we keep in mind the larger view, there is a lesson here brought into focus which is found often in other parts of scripture. It is the lesson of the folly of living for “the best the world has to offer.” It is simply this, as Solomon mused in his study of life “under the sun” in Ecclesiastes; in a word, all is “vanity.”
The wealth of Babylon, whether one views it as the GNP of a single entity, a world cultural and economic center to emerge (re-emerge) in the last days, or as that of the collective material world economy, is as elusive as a morning fog. In a single day recently I noted two striking items in the new. The Titanic, the invincible “greatest passenger vessel of all time” in the day of her launching not only rests as a shattered hulk and tragic tomb on the ocean floor, but some microscopic creatures are gradually eating away her remains. Scientists are worried that one day even the wreckage will be no more. The second item was with reference to a once popular “Hollywood sex symbol,” now in her nineties, who has just had a leg amputated in an effort to prolong her fading life. Material wealth, power, beauty and fame are all subject to the same relentless process of “change and decay.”
Life—real life—is not measured by how much we have, but how much we will have left when we enter eternity. The Savior said, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.[Luke 2:15-21]”
The stuff of Babylon is elusive and deceitful. It cannot guarantee happiness, it will not endure, and “in one hour” God can turn it all to dust again. And, if it does not leave us, we will soon leave it!
In the days of Joshua there was a man named Achan who brought trouble on Israel when his greed prompted him to disobey the word of God and, like Adam in the beginning, to embrace “forbidden fruit.” When Joshua confronted him and demanded a confession, Achan replied, “When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it [Joshua 7:21].” When his coveted treasure was discovered, he, his family and all his enterprise was taken away and destroyed. In “one hour” his coveted “riches” had come to nought!
“Babylon,” whether literal or figurative, will fall. Don’t make your life investment in an assured loss.
“Only one life; ‘twill soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
For a wise investment strategy,
"Pastor" Frasier
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