James White: Exposition on Angel's of Rev.14 SERIES: 2nd Angel
"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.
Revelation 14:8
*This angel did not go on his mission and deliver his message in company with the first, but "followed," after the first angel had delivered the burden of his message.
*The fall of Babylon is evidently a moral fall, and not its final destruction. This may be seen from Rev. 18:2, where it is stated that Babylon is fallen, and is become the hold of every foul spirit, etc. It must exist after its fall in order to be a hold of foul spirits after that fall. In its fall and becoming a hold of foul spirits is clearly seen a moral change.
---Babylon signifies "mixture or confusion," which well applies to the many sects, holding a great variety of sentiments. But Christ designed that his church should be one. We do not say that the sects became Babylon by falling. They, while in their divided and subdivided state, and united with the world, were always Babylon. God permitted his people to remain there, until the first angel's message was rejected, then he called them out. "
James White
