Babylon - The Second Angel's Message

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Chapter 3 - Proclamation of the Second Angel

Time of this Proclamation
Derivation of the term Babylon
Babylon not the Wicked World
Not the City of Rome Explanation of Symbols
The Seven Heads of the Beast
Rome the Seat of the of the Beast
Babylon not a Literal city
Meaning of the Symbol
Facts which identify Protestants as a part of this Great City.

"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city because
she made all nations drink of the wine of wrath of her fornication. " Rev. 14:8.

THE first important inquiry relates to the time when this proclamation is to be made. As this
angel follows the one who proclaims the hour of God's Judgment, it is evident that this
proclamation is the next event in order. And as it has been shown that the proclamation of the hour of God's Judgment is addressed to those who live in the last days, it is certain that the Second Angel's Message belongs to the same time, and that it was not fulfilled centuries in the past. And the fact that at the time when this proclamation of the fall of Babylon is made, the plagues and utter destruction of Babylon, which came under the seventh vial, are then immediately impending, is also conclusive proof that this proclamation belongs to the last days. Rev. 18:1-10; 16:17-21. 21.

(((Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ))))

We conclude, therefore, that the generation that shall be alive when the plagues are poured out on Babylon, is the one to which the Second Angel's Message is addressed.

Our next inquiry relates to the meaning of the term Babylon. What is designated by the word
Babylon in the book of Revelation?

The word Babylon signifies confusion, and is derived from Babel, the place where God
confounded the inhabitants of the earth in their impious attempt to build a tower up to heaven.

Gen. 11:9, margin; 10:10, margin.

(((Gen 11:9  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ))))

The word, being the chosen term of the Holy Spirit to designate "that mighty city" which is so prominently noticed in the book of Revelation, was doubtless selected with especial reference to its signification, and to the circumstances that originated the word. That Babylon does not comprise the whole wicked world, and that it does not consist of some one literal city, but that it is composed of professed worshipers of God, we think can be clearly shown. This is not an abstract question, but is eminently practical, and is intimately connected with our duty toward God.

BABYLON IS NOT THE WHOLE WICKED WORLD.

Rev. 17 represents Babylon by the symbol of a woman seated on a scarlet-colored beast. If,
therefore, the woman Babylon represents the whole of this fallen world, the entire empire of
the Devil, what does the beast represent upon which the woman is seated? Is it not a fact that the beast represents the fourth empire of our earth in its papal form? And that being the case, is it not a certainty that Babylon does not include the whole wicked world? That the beast and the woman are two distinct symbols, is evident from verse 7.

The same chapter represents the unlawful connection of Babylon with the kings of the earth,
and that she has made the inhabitants of the earth drunken. She is also represented as that
great city that reigneth over the kings of the earth. Babylon is therefore distinct from the kings of the earth, and does not include all the wicked of the earth.

It is also stated that this great harlot sat upon many waters. In the explanation it is stated that these waters are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. , Rev. 17:1, 15. Certainly we should not confound the harlot with the waters or nations upon which she is said to sit. When Babylon is destroyed, being thrown down as a millstone is cast into the mighty deep, and utterly burned with fire, the kings of the earth, the merchants, the sailors, etc. , are still spared, and mourn, and lament over her. It is plain, therefore, that the utter destruction of Babylon is not the destruction of those wicked men who lived in iniquity with her. Hence it follows that Babylon does not comprise the whole wicked world.

BABYLON NOT THE CITY OF ROME

As some have strongly advocated the view that Rome is the Babylon of the book of
Revelation, we will examine the reasons that are adduced in support of this view. The
argument stands thus:- The angel told John that the woman which he had seen was the great city which reigned over the kings of the earth, and that the seven heads of the beast were seven mountains upon which the woman sat. The explanation of "the mystery of the woman" is regarded as decisive testimony that Rome is the Babylon of the book of Revelation. To the foregoing reasons some add the statement that a woman is used in every other instance in the book of Revelation as the symbol of a literal city, and consequently must mean a literal city in this case. But we are compelled to dissent from this view, for the following reasons:

-The grand principle assumed by the foregoing view is this: The interpretation of a symbol
must always be literal, and can never consist in the substitution of one symbol for another;
and hence the interpretation of the woman as a city, and of the heads of the beasts as
mountains upon which the woman sitteth, must be literal. That there are exceptions to this
rule, and that the case in question furnishes a manifest exception, we will now show.

In Rev. 11:3 the two witnesses are introduced. The next verse is an explanation of what is
meant by the two witnesses: "These are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. "

There can be no question that in this case the explanation of the symbol consists in the
substitution of other symbols. In other words, the explanation consists in transferring the
meaning to other symbols, which are elsewhere clearly explained.

That this is the case in Rev. 17, we will now show.

The angel introduces his explanation of the heads by saying, "Here is the mind which hath wisdom, " plainly implying that wisdom was needed in order to understand what he was there communicating. With the fact before us, that in Rev. 11 the explanation consists in substituting one symbol for another, and with the caution of the angel, as he gives the explanation in this case, let us consider what he utters:-

" The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. "
 "The woman which thou sawest in that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."   Verses 9, 18.

The wisdom which is needed to rightly comprehend the words of the angel, would doubtless lead us to compare the different instances in which the same facts are referred to in the book of Revelation. If we do this, the following points will appear:-

1. Chap. 13 informs us that one of these seven heads was wounded unto death, and that this
deadly wound was healed. Or, as the same fact is stated again, it had a wound by a sword, and did live. It would be utter folly to assert this of a literal mountain. Hence the heads are not mountains of earth.

2. Each of the seven heads is represented in chap. 12 with a crown upon it, even as each of the ten horns is thus represented in chap. 13. Each of the heads must therefore represent a
kingdom or government, even as the horns represent governments.

3. It is evident that the seven heads are successive (that is, the beast has but one head at a
time), in distinction from the ten horns, which are contemporary. But the seven hills of Rome
are not successive; for it cannot be said of them, "Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is
not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. " The beast itself is the
eighth, and is of the seven, which proves that the beast is a literal mountain, or that the heads are not.

4. The heads of the beast must, according to Dan. 7:6 compared with Dan. 8:22, be explained
as kingdoms or governments. Mountains, according to Dan. 2:35, 44 and Jer. 51:25, denote
kingdoms. But the version of Prof. Whiting, which is a literal translation of the text, removes
all obscurity from Rev. 17:9, 10: "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman
sitteth, and they are seven kings. " Thus it will be seen that the angel represents the heads as
mountains, and then explains the mountains to be seven successive kings. Thus we see that
the angel transferred the meaning from one symbol to another, and then gave the explanation of the second symbol.

Having proved that the mountains are not literal, but symbolic, it follows that the woman who sits upon them cannot represent a literal city; for a literal city cannot sit upon symbolic
mountains. Hence it appears that the angel transfers the meaning from one symbol to another, as in verses 9, 10; chap. 11:4. And it is certain that the woman of chap. 12 represents the church, and not a literal city. Therefore it is a mistaken idea that a woman in the book of Revelation, as a symbol, always represents a literal city.

Another evidence that the city of Rome is not the Babylon of the Apocalypse, is found in the
following important fact: Rome was and is "the seat of the beast;" therefore the city of Rome cannot be the woman seated upon the beast; for Rome cannot be both the seat of the beast and the woman that sits on the beast. Lest any should deny that Rome is the seat of the beast, we will prove that point from the New Testament. The seat of the beast is the same that had been the seat of the dragon. Rev. 13:2. This dragon is the power that ruled the world at the time of our Saviour's birth. Rev. 12. Consequently it is imperial Rome. The seat of the imperialpower, the throne of the Caesars, was at Rome in Italy. Luke 2:1; Acts 25:10-12, 21;compared with Acts 26:32; 27:1, 24; 28:14-16.

(((Luk 2:1  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

Act 25:10  Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.
Act 25:11  For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Act 25:12  Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.

Act 25:21  But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.

Act 26:32  Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

Act 27:1  And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.

Act 27:24  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Act 28:14  Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome.
Act 28:15  And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.
Act 28:16  And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. ))))

 The fact being established that Rome is the seat of the beast, it follows that Rome is not the woman Babylon, seated upon the beast. The fact that Rome is not the Babylon of the Apocalypse may also be demonstrated from Rev. 16. The fifth vial is poured out upon the seat of the beast, which we have shown to be Rome. But the great city, Babylon, does not receive her cup of wrath until the seventh vial is poured out. Verses 10, 11, 17-19. Then Babylon and Rome are not the same. Were Babylon a literal city, but few, at most, of the people of God could be found in it, and but a portion of any class of the wicked; so that almost all of every class of men would in that case be outside of the Babylon of  (?)(((Missing text but possibly…'Rome'.))))

But it is very evident that at the time of the cry, "Come out of her, my people, " the people of
God, as a body, are in that great city. It is also worthy of notice that if Babylon is a literal city,
it must be a place of the greatest commercial importance; for in Rev. 18 it is represented as
the great center of commerce, and its destruction causes universal mourning among the
merchants and sailors of the world. It is certain that Rome is far from being a commercial city
as any one upon the globe; and the destruction of Rome would not in the slightest degree
affect commercial business.

"At Rome, " says Gibbon, "commerce was always held in contempt. " Nor could the sailors
and ship-masters of the earth lament over her, saying, "What city is like unto this great city!"
for either New York or London is equal to a great number of such cities as Rome in
commercial importance. And, indeed, there is not a city upon the globe whose destruction
would cause all commerce to cease, and all the sailors and merchants of the earth to mourn.
These arguments, we think, demonstrate that Rome is not the (?) (((Missing text, but obviously trying to say Rome is not the Babylon spoken of in Revelation.))))

BABYLON A SYMBOL OF THE PROFESSED CHURCH UNITED TO THE WORLD.

Babylon is the name of the symbolic harlot which was seen by John. A woman is the symbol
of a church. Rev. 12. A harlot is the symbol of a corrupt church. Eze. 16.

 It is evident that the woman in Rev. 17 should be interpreted in the same manner as the one in chap. 12. As that symbol undoubtedly represents the true church, though spoken of as a woman and her seed, so the harlot and her daughters are doubtless the entire corrupt church. Rev. 18:5. We understand, therefore, that Babylon is not limited to a single ecclesiastical body, but that its very name renders it necessary that it should be composed of many.

If the harlot to whom the kings of the earth have unlawfully united themselves, symbolizes
only the church of Rome, it follows that many of the wicked powers of the earth are quite free from this sin. The Greek Church is the established church of Russia and Greece; the Lutheran Church is the established Church of Prussia, Holland, Sweden, Norway, and a part of the smaller German states; England has Episcopacy for her State religion; and other countries
have their established religions, and zealously oppose dissenters. Babylon has made all the
nations drunk with her wine; it can therefore symbolize nothing less than the universal
worldly church.

It will be seen, therefore, that we do not exclusively apply the prophecy respecting Babylon to any one of the corrupt bodies which have existed, or which now exist. In this great city of
confusion, we understand that the corrupt Roman and Greek churches occupy a large space,
and act an important part. War, oppression, conformity to the world, and the like, identify
with sad and faithful accuracy the great body of the Protestant churches as an important
constituent part of this great Babylon.

When the papal church possessed the power, it destroyed a vast multitude of the saints of
God. Nor has the Protestant Church, since its rise, been free from acts of persecution
whenever it has possessed the power to perform them. The Protestants of Geneva, with John
Calvin at their head, burned Michael Servetus, a man who had barely escaped the same fate at the hands of the popish inquisition. They did this for the same reason that the papists do the like; that is, they did it for a difference of opinion, and because they had the power to do it. Witness also the long continued oppression which the Church of England was able to maintain toward all dissenters.

Even the puritan fathers of New England, themselves fugitives from the wicked oppression of
the Church of England, could not forbear to hang the Quakers, and to whip and imprison the
Baptists. In all these cases the civil arm was under the control of these professed worshipers
of Jehovah, and they could not forbear to use it.

The Protestant Church, till within a short time, held many thousand slaves; nor is the fact to
be disguised that the professed church was the right arm of the slave power. Nor was slavery
abolished by the churches. To the secular power falls the honor of overthrowing this gigantic
evil; and the churches have never confessed their great wrong in so long upholding this
iniquitous system. This great fact identifies the Protestant Church as a part of Babylon, with
absolute certainty. Rev. 18:13.

The celebrated Albert Barnes, whose notes on the New Testament are so widely diffused, uses the following startling language: "There is no power out of the church that could sustain
slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it. " "The churches are the bulwark of American
slavery. " Christ forbade his people to lay up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19); but the professed church at the present day, as a body, exhibits greater eagerness in the pursuit of wealth, and in the acquisition of Babylonish treasures (Rev. 18:11-14), than even worldlings themselves. In exposing the corruption of the Babylonish church of his time, Christ warned his own people to beware of the like abominations. "But be not ye called Rabbi, " says Christ; that is, master, or doctor; "for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. " Matt. 23:8. Apparently to imitate the Romish Church, Protestants call their ministers Reverend. This word, which is used only once in the Scriptures, is there applied to God. Ps. 111:9. If it is a sin for the church to call her ministers Rabbi, or master, how much greater sin must it be for her to apply to them the title of Reverend, which belongs to God alone! Not content with this, some of these professed servants of Jesus Christ become Right Reverend, and Very Reverend. And not a few of them become Doctors of Divinity, so great is their proficiency in the doctrines of Christ!

The New Testament speaks in the most decisive manner respecting plainness of dress; but the majority of the professed church at the present time walk in all the fashionable follies of life. They are arrayed in all the gaudy attire of Babylonian merchandise. The merchants of
Babylon are the great men of the earth. In the fold of the nominal church is to be found a large portion of the lawyers, doctors, politicians, and great men of the world. To succeed in
business, to become honorable in society, or to rise to high offices in the nation, it is
important to make a profession of religion, and to have a good and regular standing in the
church. This is most abominable in the sight of God; and yet it is very apparent that the
church joyfully welcomes such members, because they will make the body more honorable.
It may be said that even corrupt Protestants should not be joined with Romanists, as forming
the great city of Babylon; for although Romanists claim infallibility, Protestants never yet
have done this. We answer that in this the difference exists only in name. To speak in the language of their several pretensions, Romanists never can err; Protestants never do err. If Romanists claim infallibility in advance for the decrees and ordinances of their church, it is also true that Protestant bodies never afterward acknowledge wherein their churches or their councils have been in error. So that Protestant churches have all the advantage of infallibility, and leave to the Romanists all the odium of claiming it. Babylon is represented as trafficking in the souls of men. Look at the Church of England. There the vacant parishes are in some cases even set up for sale, and the highest bidder becomes the possessor of its revenue and the pastor of its people! To come nearer home, let us look at the various religious denominations in every place where they have sufficient wealth and strength to become popular. They must erect a splendid house of worship and furnish it in the most expensive style; and the members of the church must dress in all the fashion and pride of life. Then they must have an eloquent man to preach smooth things to fashionable ears. The church which can outdo the others in these particulars will succeed in securing the fashionable sinners of the place as permanent members of the congregation.

The word Babylon. as we have seen, signifies confusion, and comes from Babel, the place
where men, in their impious attempt to build a tower that should reach unto heaven, had their language confounded. Gen. 11. The church should be a unit. This was the will of Christ.
Witness his intercession with the Father, as recorded in John 17. He prayed that his disciples
might be one, as he and his Father are one; for this would cause the world to believe in Christ. Since the great apostasy, the majority of the professed followers have busied themselves in attempting to climb up to heaven some other way. They have been confounded in the attempt, and scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, with creeds as discordant as the languages of those who were dispersed at the ancient tower. The Holy Spirit uses the word Babylon on account of its signification, and it is a most appropriate designation for the great city of confusion to which it is applied.

The church was represented as a chaste virgin, espoused to Christ. 2 Cor. 11:2.

(((2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.))))

She became a harlot by seeking the friendship of the world. James 4:4.

(((Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.))))

 It was this unlawful connection with the kings of the earth that constituted her the great harlot of the Apocalypse. Rev. 17. The Jewish Church, represented as espoused to the Lord (Jer. 2; 3; 31:32), became a harlot in the same manner. Eze. 16. Even the term Sodom, which in Rev. 11 is applied to "the great city, " is in Isa. 1 applied to the Jewish Church thus apostatized from God.

The fact that Babylon is distinct from, though unlawfully united with, the kings of the earth, is  positive proof that Babylon is not the civil power. The fact that the people of God are in her midst just before her overthrow, proves that she is a professedly religious body. We think it must be apparent, that the Babylon of Rev. 17 symbolizes the professed church unlawfully united to the world.

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My notes-

These words are truth--   Babylon of Rev. 17 surely does symbolize the professed church unlawfully united to the world.

Is the CURRENT corporate church of God- the one called forth as knowledge was increased in the 1800's- the one who was God's spiritual Israel -  is it now hand in hand with Babylon, with all that is apostatized from truth?!  YES! Over and over since 1888 they were called to repent and they DID NOT! There is proof! Do you want the proof?!  Just read through these blogs, just go to the various websites - Adventist Laymen's Foundation,  Adventist Alert, go to them and read, read, read!  The proof is there?! People are not making up tales, but giving PROOF of the apostasy!  Why would they make it up when eternal life is at stake? Why?!

The corporate body of spiritual Israel is unrepentant and in 1980 they sealed their fate. No longer can they repent as a corporate body, it is now down to the individuals and may God bless ALL those who would be HIS in all HIS TRUTH, holding fast to the SAVIOR'S TRUTH, Truth He died to bring to us!

Please LORD, please bless us to be YOURS!

All by YOUR GRACE, LOVE, MERCY, RIGHTEOUSNESS!

All in YOU SAVIOR!