Babylon Study • Connected to God’s Image and the Ten Commandments
Babylon’s merchants profit from their relationship with her. Their cargo includes human lives. Alongside that account, Scripture gives us another relationship to examine: God gives, people receive, and those serving Him remain accountable to the Giver.
An Attempt to Purchase Authority
In Acts 8, Simon sees people receiving the Holy Spirit through the laying on of the apostles’ hands. He offers money—not simply to receive the Spirit, but to obtain authority so that others might receive through his hands.
Peter answers:
“you supposed you could obtain the gift of God with money!”
— Acts 8:20, LSB, excerpt
The distinction matters. The apostles participate in what occurs, but Peter identifies the gift as belonging to God. Their involvement does not make it theirs to sell.
Peter then addresses Simon’s heart, calls him to repentance, and describes his bondage to unrighteousness. The attempted transaction reveals something requiring correction within the person seeking that authority. Read Acts 8:14–23.
An Invitation to Those Without Money
Isaiah opens an invitation to everyone who thirsts, including the person who has no money. Water, wine, and milk are offered without payment.
The passage then asks why people spend their resources on what fails to nourish or satisfy. It directs them to listen, come, and hear so that they may live. Read Isaiah 55:1–3.
The invitation continues with seeking YHWH (יהוה), abandoning wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, and returning to Him for mercy. Receiving without payment still involves a response to the One speaking. Read Isaiah 55:6–7.
The Spirit and the Bride Speak
Revelation brings us to another invitation. The Spirit and the Bride call people to come. The one who hears is also told to extend the call, and the thirsty person is invited to receive:
“let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”
— Revelation 22:17, LSB, excerpt
Keep the roles visible: the Spirit, the Bride, the one hearing, and the one thirsting. Their participation in the invitation does not erase those distinctions.
Earlier in the chapter, the river of life proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb. The account identifies the source of the provision as well as those who invite others to receive it. Read Revelation 22:1–2.
What Does the Comparison Reveal?
Babylon’s commerce enriches merchants while including people among the goods traded. God’s invitation offers life without payment. Compare Revelation 18:11–15 with Revelation 22:17.
This gives us a question to carry forward: Are we directing people toward the Giver, or treating His gift and their need as something from which to gain?
Threads to Follow
The sellers and the waiting virgins: Examine Matthew 25:1–13, preserving its sequence and the outcome of going to buy.
Hearing and provision: Keep Isaiah 55’s invitation beside Amos 8’s famine of hearing.
The voice within Babylon: Follow where the Bridegroom and Bride are no longer heard, alongside their continuing invitation in Revelation 22.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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