Deliver us from Global Babylon - The Cry That Brings Deliverance: Part 3
April 2024 Newsletter
In Part 1, we looked at the Biblical concept of “The Cry”, uncovering a foundational Biblical pattern to God’s activity in history: God is moved to bring deliverance from evil by the Cry. We examined biblical and post-biblical examples of this pattern. In Part 2, we examined this pattern in depth as it is unveiled through the Exodus story.
So, what do these Biblical patterns and principles have to do with us today? While we don’t need to be delivered from physical slavery in a literal Egypt, as it turns out, we have much bigger problems than Israel, more insidious oppression, and a much greater deliverance that’s needed.
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Deliver us from Global Babylon
The Cry That Brings Deliverance: Part 3
by Jonathan Friz
From Exodus to Revelation:
As many students of Scripture have noted, the book of Revelation is an “Exodus” story, one that is yet to unfold. To put it another way, we are currently in the position of Israel in Egypt, oppressed by the spirit of this current age, but positioned (knowingly or unknowingly) for a great deliverance and a great transition into a new age at the return of the Lord.
The story of the Exodus is referenced explicitly and implicitly numerous times in Revelation. The patterns are the same in both books:
In Exodus, God moves in response to the Cry of His people and sends plagues on Egypt to bring about judgment and a great deliverance, advancing the Covenant and resulting in a divine marriage (Ex. 40).
In Revelation, God moves on behalf of His Son, the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:6), the prayer and worship of the saints (Rev. 5:8), and the cries of the martyrs (Rev. 6:9-11), to bring about judgment on His enemies (Rev. 6,) and deliverance for his people from “every nation, tribe, people, and language” (Rev. 7:9-17), advancing His covenant and resulting in a divine marriage (Rev. 19-21).
This next Exodus will not be localized in Egypt, it will be a global event. The end result will be a total answer to the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Afterwards, it will be said, “The Kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our God, and of His Christ”. The deliverance will not only be from slavery to human masters, but from slavery to death, decay, futility, and all the affects of the fall (Rev. 21:4). Our new freedom will not be merely political, but the freedom to be fully human in the likeness of the resurrected Jesus Christ, with incorruptible, glorious bodies, fully renewed minds, and fully united to God and one another by the Holy Spirit.
Remember the main theme: We are not passive observers in this second Exodus. Instead, our voice, our testimony, and our Cry are keys to unlocking God’s incredible plan.
As with the Exodus, God will bring deliverance for His people in response to our Cry!
Positive and Negative Pressure:
The pressures that provoke this cry from God’s people are both exogenous, external, and negative pressure, like what we see in the Exodus, but also internal, positive desires provoked by the Holy Spirit.
Exogenous Pressure:
The Cry from God’s people will come forth from a combination of factors including suffering, oppression, persecution, martyrdom, the growing sinfulness of the world as well as sorrow over the ongoing death and corruption of the world which will not end until the Lord returns. 2 Peter 2:7-10 compares this external pressure to the provocation that Lot suffered living in Sodom before its destruction.
While we have all experienced this type of external pressure to a certain degree, we must understand we are nowhere near ready for how intense this will be. Jesus himself says that if the days were not shortened, that even the elect would fall away and no human being would be saved (Matt. 24:21-22). We are talking about a period of unprecedented pressure, turmoil, and testing such as has never been seen before and will never be seen again.
Internal Pressure (Desire):
The Cry from God’s people will also come forth because of the Spirit’s work in us, which produces desire to see the Glory of God, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, agreement with God in His purposes, and an increasing longing for the Lord’s Return. One major part of the Spirit’s purpose in this age is to produce an inner longing and Cry for union with Jesus Christ and the wedding supper of the Lamb!
Once again, although we may have some experience of this longing for the return of Jesus, we have only just begun to experience it—as we approach the Lord’s return this longing, intensified by an increase in the Spirit’s presence on the church, will reach an unprecedented crescendo.
Compelled by the work of the Spirit and unprecedented external pressure reaching a historical climax, there will be a Cry from God’s people:
For Deliverance from great affliction and persecution and from the slavery of death, corruption, and this evil age.
For the manifest glory of God to be revealed (“May the Lamb receive the reward of His suffering”).
From the Bride to the Bridegroom, a cry of anxious lovesickness and longing for full union.
From Suffering, Groans, and Slavery to Glory, Redemption, and Freedom!
With the Exodus and Revelation accounts fresh in our minds, let’s read this famous passage about the Cry that is currently ascending to the throne from the created order and especially from us as “co-heirs” with Christ who are now on the earth.
Romans 8: 18-26: 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glorythat is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, [i]in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
The internal dynamic described in Romans 8:18-26 will reach a climax as the Lord returns.
Right now, we are experiencing the “beginnings of birth pangs”, but a great birth is coming, a birth that will result in the total redemption of every aspect of Creation and the full revelation of who we are in Christ!
Conclusion:
As described in Revelation chapter 18, Babylon refuses to mourn [to repent of injustice and cry-out]. Just like Pharoah in Egypt, Babylon at the end of the age will refuse to repent and cry out to God.
In contrast, God’s people will mourn (Matt. 9:15) and enter into “the Cry” before the Lord returns. This mourning—The Cry—is what releases divine deliverance from the injustice and futility of this age, reveals the glory of God, and brings about the divine marriage between the King of Kings and His Holy People.