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A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Revelation – 14 January 2007
By Mary T. Hoffman

In The Revelation of St. John the Divine, the last book in the New Testament, the Apostle John speaks of “Babylon the great” and says "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her (Babylon’s) immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality." (Revelation 18:3)

I wonder if the name “Babylon” refers not to any specific city or nation, but is the Apostle John’s metaphor describing the worldwide culture of escalating greed and corruption that we see around us in government and industry. In speaking of “the merchants of the earth” and “the kings of the earth” the Apostle John says: (Revelation 18:8-11)

8 "…in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

9 "And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning,

10 standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying,' Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'

11 "And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more….” ~New American Standard Bible

The Greek word for Revelation, Áποκάλυψις – from which the English word Apocalypse is derived – is used in referring to a disclosure of truth concerning divine things.

Yesterday I wrote about the Amazon’s ruthless, ongoing destruction fueled by insatiable greed. In the past several years books and movies have been produced cashing in on the public’s curiosity about the “Apocalypse,” making it akin to science fiction for the titillation of the public.

To me, the truth of the Apostle John’s depiction of Babylon is being revealed in the degradation of God’s creation and the total disregard for His sentient beings except as “production units.”

Go on to: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – 15 January 2007
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