Zechariah 1-4, Revelation 18 • Key Verse: Revelation 18:4

“If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Those words caught my attention the first time I heard them and every time I’ve heard them since. It is a striking statement. Rest assured, God will not have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Recognize also that God is not going to judge just America. The day is coming when God will judge in its entirety the great satanic system of evil that has corrupted earth and mankind.

Revelation 18 opens with a scene of desolation. Babylon is fallen and ruined. There is a reason for the judgment—-“‘her sins are piled up to heaven, arid God has remembered her crimes’” (v. 5). God is not a cosmic bully but a righteous Judge. His wrath is related to the outworking of sin. The world sought luxury, elevated itself in pride and was smug in its avoidance of suffering, saying, “I will never mourn”(v. 7). Instead she will experience all that she has avoided.

The scene in the chapter is one of ruin, but notice that it is a scene Christians can avoid. “‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins’” (v. 4). We are called to come out, to be separate, to shun the charms and entrapments of this world. Like the warnings to the seven churches, this is addressed to those of us who claim to be Christ followers. Satan attempts to seduce us so we will abandon our loyalty to Jesus, but we must not.

The most common New Testament designation for a believer is “saint. ” It means “to be set apart to God for a holy purpose. ” Are you living up to that name?

Woodrow Kroll & Tony beckett
www.backtothebible.in