Mourning and Rejoicing

People today don’t grieve like they used to. In former times, the dying and the dead were cared for by the family. Today, medical staff often manage the dying and morticians whisk away bodies. Most Americans don’t have mourning rituals and stumble through their pain. By contrast, grief in many cultures is expressed openly and often in uninhibited ways.

Today’s text speaks of those who grieved the loss of their wealth by throwing “dust on their heads.” Such an act, joined by unrestrained wailing, is a sign of extreme grief. When Israel unwisely went to battle against the Philistines with the ark of God, they were slaughtered. When a Benjamite ran to tell Eli, he expressed his grief with “his clothes torn and dirt on his head” (1 Samuel 4:12).

But the grief in this verse is expressed by the wicked over their loss of great wealth, though death will follow. Old Testament prophets predicted that literal Babylon would fall and become desolate. “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation” (Isaiah 13:19, 20). Today’s verse affirms the desolation of spiritual Babylon.

While many weep over the fall of Babylon, the righteous rejoice. Not only do the unfallen beings of the universe express gladness in her destruction, but so do the “holy apostles and prophets,” especially those who were martyred, victims of the fallen church who gave up their lives for the gospel. Truly, all who suffered because of the great harlot will rejoice at her end.

Babylon decreed death on all God’s faithful (Revelation 13:15) but now receives the very sentence she tried to execute on the saints. Haman, who tried to destroy God’s people, built gallows to kill Mordecai, but they became his own means of death (Esther 7:10). So it will be with Babylon.

Dear Jesus, I rejoice that someday soon, You will end all suffering, sin, and death.

For Further Study: Jeremiah 50:13, 40; Ezekiel 26:17, 19; Luke 11:49

Key Bible Texts

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. (Revelation 18:19 KJV)