Celebrating judgment
Day 717, Wednesday, July 29
Revelation 18:21 – 19:10
God doesn’t ask if we want the bad news or the good news first: both happen at the same time, because both are the same news. The judgment of God, whenever it comes, will be the worst possible news for some and the best possible news for others.
For those who have rejected God and done evil to God’s people, it’s the worst news. In verse 21-22, John sees a mighty angel pick up a boulder and throw it into the sea, and says, “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.”
But those who have been faithful shout with a mighty roar, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.”
Like in yesterday’s reading, the angel includes the role of commerce in the power of Babylon: “Your merchants were the world’s most important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, all of whom have been slaughtered on the earth.”
Trade and economic forces still have an enormous impact on people’s lives around the world. Too often, considerations of economic justice are associated with the “progressive” wing of Christianity, but the importance of responsible stewardship and just business practices appears all through scripture, notably in the teachings of Jesus himself.
Merchants—taking the word broadly—wield enormous power in both the day-to-day lives of individuals and in the fate of nations. The control of business can be used for good or for evil; failure to be deliberate in using it for good leads to decision-making that considers only profit and loss and ignores the human impact of choices made.
As a final note on today’s reading, 19:9 says, “Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’”
Jesus frequently portrayed the kingdom of God as a feast, and often as a wedding feast particularly. The recording of his first public miracle as taking place at a wedding feast seems deliberate.
The contrast between portraying God’s kingdom as the commitment and purity of marriage, and portraying the kingdom of the world as wanton decadence and prostitution, also seems deliberate.

Wednesday meditation

Song of Solomon 5:10-6:1
She
My beloved is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels. His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
Friends
Where has your beloved gone, most beautiful of women? Which way did your beloved turn, that we may look for him with you?

Prayer focus
Keep us pure, Lord, in our faithfulness and commitment.

-Rev. Mark Fleming