The book of Revelation echoes many of the things spoken here by Jeremiah about Babylon. In Revelation, Babylon is used as a symbol of the world system that opposes the things of God. The people of God are pictured as living within this evil system and God’s promise is that one day ‘Babylon’ will fall and they will emerge victorious. It may be hard for us to connect with this imagery, both in Jeremiah and Revelation, because we don’t tend to notice much opposition from the world system in which we live. That opposition is certainly there, however. I am not saying that our governments are evil or that there is some political conspiracy at work against us. But there is always an underlying cultural pressure that would push us away from God. It is the pressure to compete with others, achieve worldly success and status and be good materialistic consumers amongst other things. We must be wary lest we find ourselves assimilating to these values without thinking about it. Ancient Babylon was a towering monument to worldly ambition. But within a century all that was achieved there was lost forever. What do you want to achieve with your life? Always submit your personal life goals to God and examine them in the light of his plan. As I said yesterday, those who live for God’s purpose will have an everlasting legacy. But those who pursue worldly achievement will end up with nothing.
Examine your life goals.
Read Jeremiah 51
