Recap the first angel’s message:

• Fear God:
  • Obedience to the commandments of God.
  • Obeying when you don’t understand the reason why.
  • Faith and works.
• Give glory:
  • Reflecting God’s character through a holy, obedient life – remember Romans 3:23. Sin makes us come short of God’s character.
  • The importance of the health message.
• The hour of His judgment has come:
  • God judges us by His commandments.
  • It highlights 1844 and the investigative judgment.
• Worship the Creator:
  • It zooms into one of the ten commandments – the Sabbath.
  • We need to worship in the beauty of holiness – to be holy is to be free from sin, which means we are commandments keepers.

Now we’re going to look at the second angel’s message:

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.

“And there followed another angel”

• Notice that this second angel follows the first. They are given in this order.
• All three angel’s come one after the other.
• The first is not more important than the second. They come in succession and in relevance.
• Remember, we saw in the first angel’s message about the hour of judgment. That gave us time framing in regards to when the judgment hour message was applied and fulfilled. That was October 22, 1844.

What is this second angel saying though?

• It is talking about the fall of Babylon.

Who is Babylon?

• Babylon is actually identified in Revelation.
• Revelation 17:5
  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
• Babylon is the mother of harlots.
• Who is this harlot? What does a woman represent?
  • It represents a church.
• So Babylon must represent a corrupt church.
• And who is that? Who have we been looking at all this time in Daniel and in Revelation that it would point to?
  • That would be the Roman Catholic Church.

However, remember the time framing of this message.

• It comes after the first angel’s message which we know for sure was relevant in October 22, 1844.
• The fall of the Roman Catholic Church did not take place in 1844. This church has been fallen for centuries. Long before 1798. Before 538AD when it would rise to Papal Supremacy when it would join hands with kings and state powers to rule the then known world.
• So the fall of Babylon described here in Revelation 14:8 cannot be referring to the Roman Catholic Church.
• Who then is it referring to?

Remember that Babylon is the mother of harlots. She has daughters that are just like her that cling to her doctrines and her traditions, and that follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God in order to form an alliance with the world.

• Who is that? We actually saw this group back in Revelation 13 – the image of the beast. Do you remember that?
• It was referring to the protestants of the USA. They look just like the original. A religious body that was once pure but that have become corrupt.

Well, what does the word Babylon mean?

• The name Babylon means “confusion.”
• It comes from the word Babel, which is famously known for the tower of Babel.
  • And this story is famously known for what?
  • The confusion of languages.
  • That’s where we get the word “babble” from.
  • Absolute confusion!
• And today there is an innumerable number of beliefs, sects and denominations that seem to define the Christian churches. There are many faces of truth that it is almost impossible to understand really what truth is as there are so many that are in opposition to each other. Many widely conflicting creeds and theories.
• Examples:
  • We can sin till Jesus comes and He will take us to heaven, vs the fact that God wants us to be pure and spotless now.
  • When a person dies, they go to heaven or when a person dies they are asleep in the grave.
  • Sabbath is Sunday vs Saturday.
  • We don’t need to keep the commandments of God or we do.
  • The Holy Spirit is from Jesus, or the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead.
• So many differences arise and there is so much confusion.
• Truth has fallen in the streets. Opinion and reason are more important than the scriptures.

Moreover, look at what else we see in Revelation about Babylon.

• Revelation 18:2-4
  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. 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. 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.
• The fall of Babylon is repeated again.
• There is a call to come out of Babylon at the end of time.
• It is just before the plagues are poured out on the earth, which is the wrath of God.
• That is definitely future to us.
• But remember, the main character that we saw in Revelation 13 was not the Roman Catholic Church at the end of time. It was the apostate protestants in US.

So clearly, the Babylon mentioned in Revelation 14 is not referring to the Roman Catholic Church but the Protestants in America, the image to the beast!

Let’s come back to the second angel’s message.

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.

Notice it says that Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

• There are 2 falls, or 2 parts to the fall of Babylon.
• The first fall came in October 22, 1844.
• When the message was preached from about 1840 to 1844 about the second coming of Jesus and the need to come back to God with the whole heart, there were great revivals that swept throughout America.
• Josiah Litch who gave the prediction that the Ottoman empire would fall in August of 1840 spurred this revival.
• People believed that Jesus was coming very soon in 1844. The message preached by William Miller took hold of many people’s hearts.
• This was the design of God. He was trying to lead many back to the truth and the scriptures.
• But in 1844 when Jesus did not come, many threw off their former beliefs. Many became scoffers and mocked those that actually believed that Christ was to come on the day specified – October 22, 1844.
• It was at this time they became Babylon, and the first fall of Babylon was fulfilled.

When will the second fall of Babylon take place? It will be right at the very end just before the plagues are poured out. We read about it in Revelation 18.

• Revelation 18:2-4
  2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,… 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
• That will be the final fall of Babylon. That is why it seems like the second angel’s message is repeated. It signifies when the second fall will take place.

But now let’s come back to the second angel’s message in Revelation 14.

• 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.

Babylon is called a great city.

• There is another great city in Revelation.
• Revelation 21:10
  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
  • That is New Jerusalem. God’s city.
• So this great city is a counterfeit.
• Revelation 17:18
  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Also look at what Babylon is sitting on.

• Revelation 17:1-2
  1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
  • Babylon is a woman that sits on many waters.
• Revelation 22:1
  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
  • New Jerusalem has water coming out of it.

Babylon is covered in precious stones.

• Revelation 17:4
  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.
  • Babylon is covered in precious stones.
• Revelation 21:11, 18, 21
  11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
  • New Jerusalem has precious stones.

So this Babylon is a total counterfeit to the true. Many will be deceived into thinking that God is with them. Remember the fire that comes down from heaven in Revelation 13? People will think that God accepts their worship. It is a counterfeit through and through.

What is it that made Babylon to fall though?

• 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.
• It is because she made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

What is the wine of the wrath of her fornication?

• Well, what does wine represent in the Bible?
• Proverbs 20:1
  Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
  • What does wine do there? It deceives.
  • And if you are deceived by it you are not wise.
  • Remember we looked at the wise already in the first angel’s message? Who are the wise? It is those that fear God.
  • So already we know that something to do with wine is in total opposition to the commandments of God.
• What else?
• Isaiah 29:9-13
  9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. 10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: 12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
• What is the wine that is mentioned here? It is the precepts of men.
• They fear, but they don’t fear God. Because the fear of the Lord leads us to obey the commandments of God even when we don’t understand the reason why. Instead they follow the precepts of men.
• Well, what is the precepts of men? Jesus actually quotes this verse while He is alive on earth. Look at what He says.
• Matthew 15:7-9
  7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
  • What is the precepts of men? It is the doctrines and commandments of men.
• And there is one major doctrine that will deceive many people at the end of time that will have a law instituted. It is the national Sunday law. It is against the fourth commandment of God, the Sabbath.

All nations are going to be made to drink it. They are forced. They won’t have a choice. Either follow it or die.

• That is the reason it is call the wine of wrath there in Revelation 14:8.
• Where else have we seen wrath?
• Revelation 12:17
  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.
• The dragon will be angry with the remnant. He is angry because there is going to be a group that will not follow and be forced to worship the dragon and the image of the beast.
• They are faithful to all of God’s commandments and to the word of God.
• This group fear’s God rather than fearing man.

However, Babylon forces everyone to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

• Remember what fornication means? It is the union of two parties that God cannot bless.
• Two things that will be put together that God has never blessed.
• It is the exaltation of Sunday in place of the Sabbath.
• God never blessed Sunday. He never made Sunday the Sabbath.

If we go back to the book of Daniel, we actually see in Daniel 5 another description for the fall of literal Babylon.

• Daniel 5:1-5
  1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
• What was it that caused that bloodless hand to write across the wall a judgment on the king and the nation?
  • It was the moment that they poured out the wine into the holy vessels of God from the sanctuary.
  • That was the moment that Babylon fell. It’s fate was certain. The doom pronounced on it was inevitable.
• What was the reason? They mixed the holy with the unholy.
  • It is the mixing of that which is holy – the blessed Sabbath day, with that which is not holy – Sunday.
  • That’s what the fornication is.
  • Sunday sacredness. Something that God has never blessed and will never bless.

There is another fornication that is described in Revelation.

• Revelation 17:1-2
  1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
• It is the fornication of the kings of the earth with the harlot woman.
• The union of church and state – which we know always results in persecution.

 

So the reason for the fall of Babylon?

• Exalting Sunday to the same level as the Sabbath. Sunday sacredness.
• The union of church and state.
• This is the spiritual fornication.
• She is going to make everyone drink that wine.
• No one will be allowed to just sit on the sidelines.
• The whole world will be caught up in this controversy.
• Doesn’t matter what religion.
• Doesn’t matter if you say it has nothing to do with you.
• And all this ultimately results in the National Sunday Law.

So what do we see in connection with the first angel’s message?

• The first angel’s message is instruction on what we can do to prepare for the crisis ahead.
• We need to now today start to keep God’s commandments. We need to live by faith and ask God to help us every day to apply the truth to our hearts.
• We need to put into practice for ourselves Sabbath keeping.
• And we need to ask God to help us to overcome our appetites.

The second angel’s message is simply a warning.

• Man’s word against the commandments of God.
• Tradition versus truth.
• The very foundation of what it means to fear God is being attacked.
• All the world will be involved. And no one is on the sidelines.

May God help us today to learn practically what it really means to fear God. To really experience that new covenant experience.

• To have the law written in our hearts.