3 Angels' Messages SIMPLIFIED Series: Message 2
“Another angel followed, saying,
‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that
great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication.’”
What does Babylon mean?
Following the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel, the name “Babylon” became connected with the Hebrew word balal,
“to confound.” --In Bible prophecy, Babylon is a vivid symbol of
religious confusion—which is seen when professed Christians do not teach
according to the Bible.
--So therefore, “Babylon” refers to Christians or
churches that have teachings and doctrines that are not based in God’s
Word, the Scriptures.
--The second of God’s messages strongly opposes a religion of compromise. Revelation 17 depicts spiritual Babylon—apostate Christianity—as an immoral woman (verses 1-5). She stands in contrast to the pure woman of Revelation 12 who represents the true Christian church.
Babylon is fallen
The second angel warns, “Babylon is fallen.”
--The woman who represents
Babylon is a fallen woman who “has made all nations drink of the wine
of the wrath of her fornication.”
--The “wine” represents false teachings
that do not follow the Bible.
--The “fornication” represents the Christian
church forming beliefs and philosophies based on human ideas and
traditions rather than on God’s Word.
The message of the second angel calls God’s people to belong
only to a church whose teachings and beliefs are founded on the Word of
God and to resist the false teachings of an apostate Christianity that
obscure the truths of the Bible.
Come out of her, my people
God calls people to “come out” of Babylon (Revelation 18:4) and into
wholehearted devotion to Christ. He asks us to “keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).
introduced certain theological
teachings that led to protests from clergy and members and gave birth to
the Protestant Reformation.
Babylon falls because she chooses to compromise God’s Word and to reject certain truths of the Bible.
--During the first few centuries after Jesus’ resurrection, the Church
--Even in our modern day, some Christians have chosen to depart from the great Bible truths of the Reformation.
If
we choose not to follow all of the teachings of the Bible, we are part
of Babylon." BibleInfo