Good morning, Dissidents! I went camping with my family last week and could not get a post up for Thursday, but this week, we will finish up chapter 18.
If you want to catch up, head back to PART ONE HERE.
Three Woes
I was 21 when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, 2001. I remember standing in front of a wall of televisions at Best Buy alongside about 20 others, jaws on the floor as we watched the footage of the towers falling repeatedly. I noticed the repeated image of people, both rich and poor, standing shoulder to shoulder and looking up. Smoke was rising from the buildings; people were entranced, frozen.
Though the guilt of the rich and poor was not equal, their suffering was.
The scene of a smoldering city with smoke rising to the sky is similar to what we see in this passage:
Revelation 18:9–10
When the kings of the earth… see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. 10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
Three groups are described as standing and watching “the smoke of her burning”: the Kings, the Merchants, and the Seafarers.
Let's look at each one individually.
The Kings.
The kings of the earth represent all those in power in the empire. The people have given them power to rule towards justice and righteousness (Rom 13:3), but verse 9 tells us that, instead of serving the poor, the needy, and the public in need of support, they have “committed adultery with her and shared her luxury.” They are “terrified at their torment” and so self-absorbed that they can’t even bring themselves to offer assistance to those suffering as this tragedy unfolds. Instead, “they will stand far off and cry: ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’” (v10).
They have profited immensely from being in power, but in one hour the entire system — which granted them their luxurious lifestyle at the expense of the poor — has ended.
The Merchants.
The Merchants are the business moguls of Rome (and every empire, including ours). They weep and mourn because when Babylon collapses, the bottom falls out of the market, and the merchants, who have enjoyed a never-ending stream of money, find that no one is left to support their business ventures.
This seems like a tragedy until we closely examine these merchants and how they do business.
Revelation 18:12–13 (NIV): 12 cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves.
It starts well enough: jewelry, fancy clothes, works of art, and expensive foods, spices, and wine. But with the last line, we see the dark system that upholds the wealth and allows such stockpiling of luxuries: “and humans being sold as slaves” (v13).
Human exploitation is one of the ways that Babylon gains and holds her power. Human enslavement is listed among the treasures being sold, but in fact, everyone in those days knew that none of this treasure could have been amassed in the first place without enslaving others.
“The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment…’ In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’” (v16-17).
One of the marks of Babylon is prioritizing money and treasures over human lives.
Sea-Farers.
These three different characters are aligned like three concentric circles, the center circle having the most power, and with each concentric circle outward we find those with less and less power and status. At the center, of course, is the Kings. Outside the kings, the merchants find their place as those who gather wealth for the kings. And on the outside, the ring furthest from the center, we find “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea” (Re 18:17).
These are not necessarily the powerful, these are not the wealthy. Rather, these are the ones whom the powerful and wealthy need to enslave and oppress others. They are regular people, but the beast has offered them some part in his work in exchange for lifting themselves a little higher on the societal ladder. They provide food for Babylon’s table and horses for their chariots, and they travel for the business of the beast. They push papers, they gather employees, they work in the kitchens and the gardens, they are the valets and footmen. They carry water for the emperor.
This is a literary turn that packs a huge punch because John is describing what we all recognize as a force of evil in the world, and his audience is probably feeling pretty great about themselves that they aren’t like these villains. But as they listen to John’s story, the evil creeps closer and closer to their front door. These descriptions hit a bit closer to home and are intended to cause the churches to see Babylon working, not out there, but in here! In their own lives and work. John is forcing the reader to confront her activity, how they have propped up the evil system, and the part they are playing.
NT Scholar David DeSilva says: “John understood that a person cannot share in the profits of domination without also sharing in its crimes.”1
Vocation
When Christians spend time with John Revelation, something interesting happens. They often begin to question things like vocations and income streams, questioning whether they align with what God is doing in the world. For the most part, modern Christians don’t ask questions about the types of vocations that Christians should consider appropriate.
Aside from the obvious prohibitions against making money through sex work and illegal activity, the church seldom discourages any career path considered today.
For instance, serving in the military, being a social worker, and being a hedge fund manager are considered equal in the eyes of most Christians today. They are just employment, and to question the viability of any career in the life of a Christian often means coming under intense criticism from other Christians.
“It would be easy to assume that most careers and day-to-day practices are exempt from critique, but Revelation will not allow us to be so naive. If it involves buying or selling goods, Revelation subjects it to question. Is this a business that directly or indirectly promotes the rich and exploits the poor? Does it harm the earth and other human beings? If so, then Revelation 18 addresses it.
… Do our ways of spending benefit the least, the last, and the lost? Do they promote justice and the healing of the nations? Do they reflect our convictions about the reign of God and the Lamb? Or do they reflect the values and practices of Babylon, of those who do not know God? Revelation 18 prompts us to think through these sorts of issues and to do something explicitly, perhaps even radically, Christian, about them.”2
If I were to try and pair the main concepts of chapter 18 down to two sentences, I would say this:
THOSE WHO EMBODY THE BEAST USE PEOPLE TO BUILD WEALTH. Destruction will follow.
THOSE WHO EMBODY THE LAMB USE WEALTH TO BUILD UP PEOPLE. Life will flourish.
DeSilva, Seeing Things Johns Way, 47
Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly, 149