Proclamation of the Second Angel Time of this Proclamation
"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.. |
Time of Proclamation
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. Page 37
..
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.
Derivation of the Term Babylon
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. 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.
Page 38
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.
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.
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:- Page 39
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.
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. Page 40
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.
Explanation of Seven Headed Beast
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. Page 41
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.
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.
Rome the Seat of the Beast
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;"
Babylon Is Not the Literal City of Rome
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 imperial power,
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. 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 Revelation.
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 [the city of] Rome is not the Babylon of the Apocalyse.
BABYLON--MEANING OF THE SYMBOL
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. Page 44 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. Page 46
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. Page 47
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. Page 48
The church was represented as a chaste virgin, espoused to Christ. 2 Cor.
11:2. She became a harlot by seeking the friendship of the world. James 4:4.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Table of Contents for "Three Messages of Revelation 14
Index for SDA Pioneer Writings