Read with Me
Revelation 18:9-10 (HCSB)
The kings of the earth who have committed sexual immorality and lived luxuriously with her will weep and mourn over her when they see the smoke of her burning. They will stand far off in fear of her torment, saying:
Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon, the mighty city!
For in a single hour
your judgment has come.
Listen with Me
The first to mourn the collapse of Babylon the Great, the Roman Empire, are the kings of the earth. This sorrow was not just in recognition that with that collapse a great empire was gone, though. They mourned for purely self-serving reasons.
Many of the kings throughout Europe and western Asia were vassals of Rome. They had been set up not due to their own power or merit, but in order to further Rome’s agenda. They had grown fat and wealthy on Rome’s largesse and had experienced the pleasures of living as aristocrats, some of them for two or three generations.
But that had now come to an end. With the collapse of the frontiers, Rome had had to pull back the edges of the empire in an effort to consolidate territory they could defend with the resources they were left with. This left these former vassal kings on their own, or with vastly diminished resources and support.
This became a positive peril for those kings. They were now in the midst of men who were hungry for power and who saw themselves as more fit than their current rulers. More importantly, these challengers to the throne were often battle-heartened and ruthless, far superior to the kings who had grown soft and skill less under Rome’s protection.
Even though these kings mourned the loss of Rome because it potentially spelled the doom of their own privileged position and all the benefits that went along with it, they are shown here as standing far off. As Rome collapsed, it became perilous to be seen as supporting the empire, or worse being supported by it. So, many of these rulers had to put on a public show of despising Rome and all that it stood for, even as they privately mourned.
Pray with Me
Father, political expediency hasn’t changed a bit in nearly 2000 years. Support is shown right up to the point when it is no longer advantageous. Then those politicians turn on those who had fattened them, and began looking for where their next source of largesse is coming from. But as wily as some politicians may be, the warning here is clear. If you hitch your wagon to anything but God, sooner or later that source of support is going to fall. And if you aren’t quick, it will drag you down, too. Lord, thank You that You are always a sure thing. When we hitch our lives to you, we are intimately connected to an eternal future and the fulfillment of an eternal hope. Help us to stay steadfast in You, and never to rely on people or politicians, no matter what. Amen.