November 9 Be God’s City

Revelation 16:17-21 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
 
A familiar Bible story to many is in Genesis 4:1-9, telling of Cain killing his brother Abel. What we rarely read in Genies 4, though, is what happened next. When Cain refused to repent of his crime, God judged Cain to be a restless wanderer  of the earth. However, Cain again rejected God’s command. He, instead, built a city he named Enoch (after a son). Genesis 4 then records that out of this city came people of the early forms of technology and civilization in the world. This seems good. But in truth, God was missing from the city of Cain’s descendants. This city of the world did not worship the world’s Creator. We only read of Lamech’s pride in his own murderous crime (Genesis 4:24). Sin’s legacy is sin until we repent.
    But God has made a promise in Genesis 3 that a Savior will destroy sin one day. To that end, Genesis 5 records the birth of Seth to replace Abel. Out of Seth comes godly men who worship God from one generation upon another.  The world’s ways in Cain’s generations versus God’s ways in Seth’s generations marked a divine divide in mankind until Genesis 6. At this point we read in Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. In other words, Seth’s line intermarried with Cain’s line. Sin corrupted the righteous.
    In response to the sin, God judged the world in the Great Flood, leaving only Noah and his family – descendants of Seth. In many ways, the Flood is God’s early illustration of Revelation’s end-time war.
    My reason to look back is to help us look around us now and to set our eyes ahead. First, what is the spiritual state of the city today? Evidence is that human cities are historically and currently centers of immorality. The attacks on our church and on God originate in the world’s cities. God’s purpose for Jerusalem was to be different, to be God’s city, declaring God to the world. But Jerusalem, too, became a center of sin and idolatry. Three times God has destroyed the city and his temple.
    God prophesied judgment on the world’s cities. To the Jews, Babylon represented evil. John used “Babylon” as code for Rome, a city of great sins. Judgment is why God shakes the world’s cities to destroy them.
    How do we respond as Jesus’ church? Be alert. Obey God! Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” The church is to be the godly line of people one earth today. WE must diligently be faithful to prepare the world for God’s justice. God’s true church is his holy city to declare his unshakeable kingdom come forever. In faith, we can joyfully anticipate our heavenly city.
 
Prayer: From Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, Lord, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship you, Lord, acceptably with reverence and awe, for you, God are a consuming fire. Amen.