7/11/14- Babylon is not the false church

 1After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. 2And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts ofimmorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

      4I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6“Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds...‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon.(Rev. 18)

Thoughts: This passage has also been used by schismatics to divide the church.  "Babylon" here is identified as a church going astray to which kings commit lewd acts with.  So the second generation of Reformers would identify the Roman Catholic Church as Babylon and the Pope as the Anti-Christ (compare the Scots Confession).  But looking back, we can see the falseness and even evil in such claims.  During the late medieval and early Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church was beset with superstitions that took away from the heart of worship.  Making of false relics, selling of indulgences- trading money for forgiveness, and venerating saints as if they were demi-gods are some examples of the abuse of the day.  Yet, even today there are true believers in the Roman Catholic Church and as the old line Protestant Church rejects its scriptural moorings, some Protestant evangelicals have more in common with faithful Catholics than with straying Protestants.  But this passage is not about the straying church- and should not be used of the Roman Catholic or the Protestant church. 

    For one thing- verse nine identifies "Babylon" as a "city."  Probably the first city is Rome who persecuted the saints as Babylon persecuted and exiled the Jews.  So a more common identification is of a persecuting government than a straying church.  The Church has always waxed and waned through periods of more or less purity and faithfulness.  But God always leaves a remnant- a stump through which the shoot of life may grow.
     On the other hand, a deep truth found here is that to associate with someone who is committing evil may mean that the saints may be placed in harms way.  A church astray reaps what it sews.  So Jesus told the saints to flee Jerusalem when it would be "surrounded with armies"  (Mt. 26).  Some say that this actually saved the church- because the saints left before the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.  But leaving a city is not the same as disaffiliating with a church.  We are not judged by God for our willingness to love or affiliate sinners or Jesus would not have eaten and drank with the tax collectors as well as the Pharisees.  But saints are always to keep watch with a wary eye, especially during troubled times.  In the case of the oldline Protestant churches of our day, we are not judged by God for our affiliation.  We may in fact be judged for our unwillingness to eat and drink with sinners and causing divisions when we should "make every effort for the cause of peace."  

Prayer: Lord, keep me faithful to you, and preserve me in that faithfulness. Keep me from allowing fear of shrinking, of loss of money, or loss of prestige affect me.  Rather, keep me fearful of you and staying in your love and blessing.