Today you should read: Revelation 18:15-24
“In you no more”
We see this phrase repeated 6 times between verses 21-24 when describing the future fall of Babylon—from the greatness of the city, to the talented musicians and music that came from it, to the booming economy and thriving families from it.
“In you no more”
Many Christians interpret and believe that Babylon is Rome and the fall/destruction of Babylon makes sense in this interpretation, but I along with many other Christians interpret it as “an eschatological symbol of Satanic deception and power; a divine mystery that can never be wholly reducible to empirical institutions.” (Alan Johnson)
When believing this, you can go throughout history and see entire cities and civilizations that fit that definition that have come and gone. Cities and civilizations that at one time thrive and flourish by worldly standards but are now “in you no more.”
As Augustine once said in his magnum opus, “City of God”:
“the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience.”
And so we can see that same thing in the world today. Much of what society celebrates and glorifies that is not of God will one day be no more, and all we will have left is the heavenly city where the new heavens and earth will meet. Instead of hearing “in you no more” we’ll be saying “in you Jesus, we have everything we were truly created for, want and need.”
What are you looking forward to the most in the new heaven and earth?
By: Erik Koliser — West Campus Pastor
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