May 21, 2022
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. Matthew 24:37
To help us prepare for His second advent, Jesus speaks of Noah’s day, taking our minds back to the days before the worldwide flood. The all-encompassing spiritual condition of the people was that they were united in rebellion against God. After the flood, a totally new population again united against God’s instruction to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1 – compare to 1:28). This second union against God we know as the story of the tower of Babel.
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Genesis 11:8
When God began to call Abram out of the Chaldean culture, it was to develop a culture of godly leadership; to lead others, ideally all others, out from a godless culture. The Chaldeans ruled Babylon, the direct extension of the spirit of rebellion that was exposed at the tower of Babel.
The Babylonian stance against God is addressed in fascinating detail in the last three chapters of Jeremiah. Note the interesting twist at the end: Evil-Merodach king of Babylon . . . lifted up the head of [imprisoned] Jehoiachin king of Judah . . . and spoke kindly to him . . . there was a regular ration given to him by the king of Babylon . . . until the day of his death (Jeremiah 52:31-34).
Today, the king of Babylon is “speaking kindly” to the people of God while giving out “rations” of error. Each error leads to more error, and is intended to forge an iron unity in apostasy against the Lord, who lovingly continues to call His people out of Babylon this very day.
Even though they ceased building the city at the time of Genesis 11, an entire nation, Babylonia, later came into being. The seventy-year captivity of God’s people there was allowed by God as a punishment for their lack of commitment to Him. Sadly, at the end of that period, many of them chose to stay in Babylon when they were set free to return to Jerusalem, even though they had Daniel and other true brothers through whom God’s truth had been kept alive. Babylon’s dominion was subsequently destroyed, never to be rebuilt. However, Satan has actively labored to keep spiritual Babylon alive.
The Babylon of today is wearing a glittery garb of counterfeit Christianity. She is also reaching out to non-Christian religions, creating an amalgamation: a one-world religion. Nearly the entire world is bowing down to her usurped authority unaware that they are in Babylon. Protestant churches who were once on a march out of Babylon have turned around to embrace what they were earlier escaping. The continuing message of the gospel summary passage that we closed with yesterday is a solemn statement:
And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8
The doctrines of Babylon are symbolized by fermented (corrupted) wine in contrast to fresh, pure wine (what we call grape juice today), the chosen symbol of the blood of Jesus, His covenant of love, and the pure, uncorrupted doctrines of the true church, His bride.
Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Jeremiah 51:6a