Revelation 18:17; The Fall of Babylon
Revelation 18:17 (KJV) For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
The fall of Great Babylon heralds and begins the political regeneration of the earth. And well may the tide of holy exaltation swell to its sublimest height over such an actuality. What is the crown and consummation of that prayer which the Lord Jesus put upon the lips and into the hearts of all His followers when He said, pray, “Thy kingdom come?” Does it mean no more than that our own hearts may be thoroughly subdued to our Maker, purged of idolatry and lust, purified by the Holy Ghost, and willed with all pureness heavenly knowledge, devotion, obedience, and grace? That might be, and yet the earth be crushed by misrule, tyranny, corruption, and oppression.
Does it mean simply that the Church may be ever dear and faithful to God, its faith kept pure, its sacraments observed, and all its members blessed with all spiritual riches in Christ Jesus? That might all be and the world still be to her a valley pf Baca, a Bochim, a wilderness of sorrow and hardship. Does it mean only the removal of what hinders the preaching and belief of the Gospel, or the progress of faith and piety in the individual and in the world? That might also be and still God’s kingdom be no nearer than it is at present. When Isaiah prophesied of Christ, he said: “The government shall be upon his shoulder; of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice.” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
When the Holy Ghost explained the meaning of the all-crushing stone in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, which broke to atoms the whole statue of worldly power and dominion, took its place, and filled the whole earth, the word was, This is the kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up, which shall break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms and it shall stand forever (Daniel 3:32-35). When Daniel was beholding till “the judgment was set and the books opened,” he saw in the night visions, like to the Son of Man, brought before the Ancient of days, “and there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him,” even “the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,” “an everlasting kingdom.” When Gabriel announced to Mary the child to be born to her, he said: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:26-33).
When he himself was among men, because some “thought that the matter is as a nobleman going “into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return,” into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return,” meanwhile entrusting to his servants certain possessions with which to trade and occupy till he should come (Luke 19:11-13). And so again he said, “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit in the throne of his glory.” (Matthew 25:31). All these and many passages treat of that very kingdom, for the coming of which we are commanded to pray. Nor can they be explained according to their plan and pointed terms without taking in the coming again of Christ to reckon with his servants, to take the rule out of the hands of those who have usurped dominion over the earth, to dethrone Satan and all his agents, and to reign from sea to sea, the only rightful King of the world.
And thus, when Great Babylon falls, it will be God’s kingdom come, and as it never yet has come, and the burden of the prayer of all these weary ages answered.
[Joseph A. Seiss, The Apocalypse, Kregel Publications, 1987, 422-423]
May the people of God pray and assemble to pray “Thy kingdom come” as the battle rages fiercely. Amen.