Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24.

Indeed the hour is coming…that you will be scattered. John 16:32.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Romans 15:13.

This day during Holy Week represents the time of waiting then. And God reminded me I’m like the disciples who were so frightened and unsure because they didn’t understand or see. How many of you, like me, have thoughts so busy at all times? In all that busyness how can we see all the good that Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit is doing? But as we sit with Him in quiet and stillness, our thoughts still and we find respite with Him and peace. And in our chapter, Revelation 18: After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her 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.” I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ For this reason 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. 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, 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.’ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more – cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’ And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’ Rejoice over her, O heavens, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

I have read of different ideas of what is the city called Babylon the great. But they by themselves can’t begin to convey the overall influence of her. Because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth. In her…cargoes of every imaginable luxury and – slaves and human lives. I can’t help but think of every major city throughout our world where the lights and obvious wealth can’t obscure what is just below in plain sight – poverty, crime, violence, slavery of human lives impacted by all the cruelty of sex trafficking, drug addictions, servitude to those unworthy in positions of wealth and power. And the true poverty is our very own soul without God. And God cries out, “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.” Everything God does in pronouncing judgment is just. We long for justice and yet justice begins in us. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! There is a way everlasting and in that way suffering will be no more. That is the true justice and love of God because He sees into the poverty of our hearts without Him and He brings healing so needed and welcomed once we see past the pervasive immorality of this fallen world. God Himself will illumine our hearts and minds and we will see Him who gave everything for us for a purpose – The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3. Jesus, Messiah, Son of God, lay entombed that Saturday so long ago and all of creation waited even as the fallen world moved on. And God was working! Always He is working for our good with Him. We can know His goodness and His peace and His love today as we sit quietly with Him and let His Spirit speak gently to our heart and mind longing for what is true and good. Come out of the lies of Babylon the great for she is already fallen by the weight of her own sins and arrogance. If like the disciples you don’t know what to do in the weighted silence of this day then and now…remember! Creator God IS! He rose so we could know truth and it is Him.