Friday, April 24, 2026
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Revelation 18
Key Verse
Revelation 18:13 — “And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.”
Devotional Thought
The voice from heaven in Revelation 18 does not address Babylon. It addresses you: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” That single verse is the heart of this chapter, and it asks something of every reader today. Babylon is not merely an ancient city or a future empire; it is a whole way of living—self-glorifying, luxury-loving, soul-trading. And God’s people can be found inside it, comfortable, compromised, singing her songs. The command is not to reform her but to leave her.
Notice what Babylon trusts. She says in her heart, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow” (v. 7). That is the language of every age that has ever felt secure in its own wealth. The merchants weep not because she was wicked but because “no man buyeth their merchandise any more” (v. 11). Their grief is economic, not moral. The list of cargo in verses 12 and 13 runs from gold and pearls down to “slaves, and souls of men”—and the sobering truth is that our own world still trades in the same ledger, pricing human beings alongside cinnamon and fine linen.
Then, suddenly, worship. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her” (v. 20). The same chapter that weeps over a fallen city also sings over a vindicated people. And when the mighty angel casts the millstone into the sea (v. 21), the silence that follows is total: no harpers, no craftsmen, no millstone, no candle, no bridegroom’s voice. Everything Babylon manufactured—music, industry, light, marriage—is gone in one hour. What she built was real, but it was not lasting.
It is late April, when the world around us is greening and blooming, and the temptation is to settle in and enjoy the garden. That is not wrong in itself. But this chapter asks us to hold even good gifts with open hands, to examine where our security actually rests. Are we citizens of the city that is passing away, or of the city whose builder is God? The call is still sounding: come out. Not out of the world, but out of its spirit. Come out while there is time.
Reflection
- Babylon’s merchants mourned the loss of profit, not the loss of righteousness. Where in your own life would you feel the loss most sharply if God removed your comforts—and what does that reveal about your true treasure?
- The command is “Come out of her, my people.” What specific habit, alliance, or appetite is God asking you to leave behind this week so that you are not a partaker of her sins?
Prayer
Lord God, strong is Thy hand and righteous are Thy judgments. We confess that we have too often sat at Babylon’s table, enjoying her delicacies while ignoring the price she charges. Teach us to hear the voice from heaven and to obey it quickly. Give us courage to come out of her—to loosen our grip on what cannot last and to fix our hope on the city that cannot be shaken. Keep us from partaking in her sins, and let us not share in her plagues. We rejoice that Thou dost avenge Thy saints and that every wrong will one day be set right. In the name of Jesus, who is our true and lasting treasure. Amen.