Day 240

Contrast the weeping and mourning of those involved in commerce and the people of God rejoicing. The first nineteen verses outline the destruction of this city that was the center of commerce, a city that fell from power in one hour.

It would be tempting to look at these events through the lens of 9/11. The world economy took a nose-dive following the attack. We have still not recovered. Our world was changed in an hour. The delusion that peace was in human hands was confronted. We in the West are still trying to solve this problem with human solutions, and thus we fail. I could probably write a book or two starting with this as the premise and it would probably sell. But I won’t, because I think it would be wrong. The city was not destroyed, only a few buildings.

The solution is not in human hands. Solving economic disparities will not solve our problems. Our problem is not an economic one, despite the pronouncements from Washington. Our problem is a spiritual one. We are not willing to repent, as individuals and as a nation. We aren’t willing to yield to Jesus. We want to be in charge. We want to think that we can solve any problem that we face. We think we are smart enough to “fix” humanity and the world.

God’s people are called out of this city. We will be given some time to evacuate. We won’t be part of the coming judgment of this place. The worldview of this city must be avoided in our lives today. We must confront those areas where we have adopted the worldview of this city.

Other nations will watch and understand that what is happening to this city is a judgment from God. Their lives will also take an inevitable turn for the worse as a result of what happens in one day. Economic ruin will result. Music will and the finer things in life will stop. Trade will stop. Daily activities will stop. Weddings will stop.

I think this city is more than just a physical city. The last verse of this chapter says that the city holds the blood of all believers who have been martyred down through history. No one city has that distinction. It might be easy to label Jerusalem as the city, it would fit with the theology of that time. But even then, some died outside Jerusalem. But I will have to, like you, find out exactly what John saw and what Jesus meant on another day.