Bible Study Guides - The Second Angel’s Message

June 16, 2013 – June 22, 2013

Key Text

“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.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 381–390; The Story of Redemption, 364–368.

Introduction

“The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt.” [Author’s italics.] The Great Controversy, 383.

1 A GREAT SPIRITUAL DECADENCE

What is the second angel’s message? Revelation 14:8. What does this message mean?

Note: “The term ‘Babylon’ is derived from ‘Babel,’ and signifies confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion.” The Great Controversy, 381.

“As the churches refused to receive the first angel’s message, they rejected the light from heaven and fell from the favor of God.” Early Writings, 237.

What symbol represents the fallen denominations in these last days? Revelation 17:3–5.

Note: “Babylon is said to be ‘the mother of harlots’ (Revelation 17:5). By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world.” [Author’s italics.] The Great Controversy, 382, 383.

“Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous connection with ‘the kings of the earth’—the state churches, by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the world. And the term ‘Babylon’—confusion—may be appropriately applied to these bodies.” Ibid., 383.

2 THE SINS OF BABYLON

What is the “wine” that Babylon has used in her sinful connection with the world? Revelation 17:2, last part; 19:2.

Note: “The great sin charged against Babylon is that she ‘made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication’ (Revelation 14:8). This cup of intoxication which she presents to the world represents the false doctrines that she has accepted as the result of her unlawful connection with the great ones of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in her turn she exerts a corrupting influence upon the world by teaching doctrines which are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy Writ.” The Great Controversy, 388.

What does the Bible call the sin of seeking the support of the world? Revelation 18:3; James 4:4.

Note: “The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage vow. The sin of Israel in departing from the Lord is presented under this figure.” The Great Controversy, 381.

“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.” Ibid., 382.

“In what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. … But they fell by the same desire which was the curse and ruin of Israel—the desire of imitating the practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly.” Ibid., 383.

“Men will employ every means to make less prominent the difference between Seventh-day Adventists and observers of the first day of the week. A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner, or sign, which makes us a distinct people should not be held out so strikingly; for they claimed that this was not the best policy in order to secure success to our institutions. But this is not a time to haul down our colors, to be ashamed of our faith.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 144.

3 STILL GREATER SINS

Of what sins is Babylon particularly guilty? Daniel 7:25; Revelation 17:6.

Note: “The papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The second commandment, forbidding image worship, has been dropped from the law, and the fourth commandment has been so changed as to authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath.” The Great Controversy, 446.

“In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy—the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. ‘Babylon the great’ was ‘drunken with the blood of the saints’ (Revelation 17:6). The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power.

“Popery had become the world’s despot. Kings and emperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. The destinies of men, both for time and for eternity, seemed under his control. For hundreds of years the doctrines of Rome had been extensively and implicitly received, its rites reverently performed, its festivals generally observed. Its clergy were honored and liberally sustained. Never since has the Roman Church attained to greater dignity, magnificence, or power.” Ibid., 59, 60.

How long was the specific period of religious persecution under the supremacy of Rome? Revelation 12:6, 13, 14; 13:7, 5. (See also Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6.)

Note: “The periods here mentioned—‘forty and two months,’ and ‘a thousand two hundred and threescore days’ (Revelation 13:5; 12:6)—are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798. At that time a French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” The Great Controversy, 266.

4 THE MESSAGES REPEATED

Why must the second angel’s message be repeated? Revelation 18:2; II Timothy 3:13.

Note: “The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness;’ and they that ‘received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,’ will be left to receive ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie’ (11 Thessalonians 2:9–11). Not until this condition shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete.” [Author’s italics.] The Great Controversy, 389, 390.

“[Revelation 18:1–5 quoted.]

“Thus the substance of the second angel’s message is again given to the world by that other angel who lightens the earth with his glory. These messages all blend in one, to come before the people in the closing days of this earth’s history. …

“Our work is to proclaim the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ‘Prepare to meet thy God’ (Amos 4:12), is the warning to be given to the world. It is a warning to us individually. We are called upon to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 116.

What plan does God have for the honest believers who are still in the fallen denominations? Revelation 18:4.

Note: “Revelation 18 points to the 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’ (II 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, 390.

5 SATAN’S FINAL DECEPTION

What phenomenon will be observed increasingly in these last days? Matthew 24:24–26; Revelation 13:13, 14.

Note: “The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.” The Great Controversy, 593.

When we hear, “Lo, here is Christ, or there is Christ,” how should we respond? Matthew 24:23. What punishment will God finally permit to fall upon Babylon, and why? Revelation 18:8.

Note: “He [Satan] … will come personating Jesus Christ, working mighty miracles; and men will fall down and worship him as Jesus Christ. We shall be commanded to worship this being, whom the world will glorify as Christ. What shall we do?” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, 1105, 1106.

“Men will be deceived and will exalt him [Satan] to the place of God, and deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose, and to the apostate churches that unite in the exaltation of Satan, the sentence will go forth, ‘Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her’ (Revelation 18:8).” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 62.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 What does the term “Babylon” signify today?

2 How are we to avoid imbibing the Babylonian wine?

3 What are the main characteristics of Babylon?

4 Why is the second angel’s message repeated?

5 When the power and influence of Babylon appears to be almost overwhelming, what should we always keep in mind?