Christ’s ascension into heaven resulted in Satan’s expulsion from heaven. On earth the devil and his demons work among the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2) to try to achieve his goal: make war on the offspring of the woman (Revelation 12:17) and conquer them (Revelation 16:13). We tend to cower before his fury and bemoan the evil happening in our world. In the present paragraph the Lord assures us that his righteous wrath against Satan is greater than Satan’s fearsome fury. As God’s wrath is poured upon the air, God mightily wrecks all that Satan would build through and among the sons of disobedience. So this passage is highly encouraging for the saints!

The saints may observe with holy joy that God in the course of history has repeatedly wrecked the efforts of the powers of darkness. What happened in Babel, as well as to Sodom and Gomorrah, gives contour to what the Lord reveals in this passage. On the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Christ (Colossians 2:15). In the course of the new dispensation, we may recall with gratitude what became of Paris after the French Revolution or of Berlin at the end of the Second World War. These mighty cities that took their cues from the god of this age fell dramatically and painfully. In our day, sicknesses, riots, tensions in relation to climate change, wars, etc., confound efforts to unify populations to cooperate effectively to carry Satan’s agenda forward.

Despite what the Lord has done and continues to do upon the populations of the world (including collections of populations in cities), their (surviving) inhabitants did not and will not repent, nor did countless who esteemed and respected their culture. This hardness of heart should not discourage the faithful. On the contrary, the fact that godless cities cannot ultimately succeed in constructing another Tower of Babel is cause for gratitude. The Lord God is securely enthroned in this world so that he pours his wrath where and when he wills.

The collapse of cities obviously affects the (economic) prosperity not only of the ungodly but also of the faithful (be they living in cities or in surrounding towns). The child of God should not be upset at what he may stand to lose. As we pray for God’s kingdom to come (and so for Satan’s efforts to be destroyed), we also pray for the Lord to supply our daily bread, and we trust his provision will always be sufficient.