Revelation 14:8: "And there followed another
angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
Genesis 11:4, 7, 9: "And they said, Go to, let us
build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a
name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. . . . Go to, let
us (God) go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one
another's speech. 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."
The term "Babylon" is derived from "Babel", and signifies confusion. The
reason God confused the languages of the people was because He had
directed them to disperse throughout the earth (Genesis 8:17; Genesis 9:1,
7) instead of congregating in one big metropolis where evil would be the
result, and because they disbelieved God's covenant promise that He would
not again bring a flood upon the earth (Genesis 9:8-17).
Genesis 8:17 "Bring forth with thee every living
thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the
earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth."
Genesis 9:1, 7 "And God blessed Noah and his
sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. . . .
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and
multiply therein."
Genesis 9:8-17 "And God spake unto Noah, and to
his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and
with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the
fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out
of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you;
neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of
the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with
you, for perpetual generations; I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a
token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring
a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember
my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and
the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be
in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God
said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between
me and all flesh that is upon the earth."
Jeremiah 6:2: "I have likened the daughter
of Zion to a comely and delicate woman."
Isaiah 51:16: "And I have put my words in thy
mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the
heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my
people."
[Further Study]
Revelation 12:1-6, 13-17
1 And there appeared a
great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with
child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared
another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten
horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the
third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as
soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth
a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into
the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings
of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she
is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the
flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the
earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his
mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 17:1, 4-5: "And there came one of the
seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come
hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many
waters: . . . And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with
gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name
written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH."
A woman is a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman represents a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.
Jeremiah 3:14: "Turn, O backsliding children,
saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and
two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion."
2 Corinthians 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."
Ezekiel 16:15, 32-33: "But thou didst trust in
thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out
thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. . . . But as a wife that
committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts
to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that
they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom."
[Further Study]
Jeremiah 3:20 "Surely as a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD."
James 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."
Revelation 17:6, 18: "And I saw the woman drunken
with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I
saw her, I wondered with great admiration. . . . And the woman which thou sawest is
that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
The power that for so many centuries maintained authority over Christendom
is Rome. No other power could be so truly declared "drunken with the blood
of the saints" as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of
Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with "the
kings of the earth". It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the
heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting
herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like
condemnation. From our study thus far we conclude that Babylon represents
a false religious system. Satan's masterpiece of deception is Roman
Catholicism, and her harlot daughters are apostate protestantism, or those
churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions. The words of Revelation
14:8 "Babylon is fallen, is fallen" is a spiritual fall, a moral fall, a falling away
from the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
(1) The change of the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment, the seventh day, into Sunday as the Lord's day and a memorial of the
resurrection. Baptism is the memorial of the resurrection.
Romans 6:4-5 "Therefore we are buried with him
by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of
his resurrection:"
Colossians 2:12 "Buried with him in baptism,
wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead."
You can search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find one
command by God or a single text of Scripture giving sanction for such a
change. Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was
made by their church, and declare that Protestants, by observing Sunday, are
recognizing her power, and paying homage. See The Converts Catechism of
Catholic Doctrine, 1957, page 50. Sunday worship is rooted in sun worship,
hence the name Sun-day. Sun worship has been a part of paganism from the
earliest times. Time and time again God has warned His people against this
heathen practice (Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3; 2 Kings 23:5, 11;
Ezekiel 8:16) which was finally instituted into the Christian church almost 300
years after Jesus walked the earth, by Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 A.D.
Deuteronomy 4:19 And lest thou lift up thine
eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even
all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which
the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
Deuteronomy 17:3 And hath gone and served other
gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven,
which I have not commanded;
2 Kings 23:5, 11 And he put down the idolatrous
priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in
the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned
incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the
host of heaven. . . . And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given
to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-
melech the chamberlain, which [was] in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the
sun with fire.
Ezekiel 8:16 And he brought me into the inner
court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD,
between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs
toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped
the sun toward the east.
(2) The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul was also derived from paganism. This error nullifies the two great Scripture doctrines of the resurrection and the general judgment, and furnishes an open door to modern spiritualism. From it have come other false doctrines such as the conscious state of the dead, saint worship, mariology (Mary worship), purgatory, reward at death, prayers and baptisms for the dead, eternal torment, and universal salvation.
(3) The doctrine of a temporal millennium, or a thousand years of peace and prosperity and righteousness all over the earth before the second coming of Christ. This doctrine is especially calculated to shut the ears of the people against the evidences of the second advent near, and will probably lull as many souls into a state of carnal security leading to their final ruin, as any heresy which has ever been devised by the great enemy of truth.
Revelation 14:8: "And there followed another
angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made
all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
This cup of intoxication which she presents to the world represents the false doctrine that she has accepted as truth, and in turn is teaching in opposition to the plainest statements of the Bible.
Revelation 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."
[Further Study]
Revelation 18:1-5 "And after these things I saw
another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened
with his glory. 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. 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. 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. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities."
The three angels' messages constitute God's final warning, His last love appeal to a wicked world and a sleeping church. What will your response be as the last grains of sand in the hour glass of time trickle to an end?
"Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart further and further from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are 'lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.'
"Revelation 18 points to a time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6-12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion. This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work. When those that 'believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness' (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: 'Come out of her, My people' (Revelation 18:4)." The Great Controversy, page 390.