October 19: ANNOUNCEMENT OF SECOND ANGEL (part 2: UNFAITHFULNESS)
And 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.” Revelation 14:8
In the days of the early church, the cryptic name of Babylon was used as a reference to Rome (see 1 Peter 5:13). In accordance with the original meaning of the name Babel, today’s Babylon considers herself the gateway to God. She teaches that one must be in good standing with her in order to get into heaven. She has a presence in nearly every country in the world, and there are varying degrees of coercion that she has a history of employing over the last two millennia, hence the phrase has made all nations drink. What did she make them drink? False doctrines. Wine is a symbol for doctrine. Fresh (unfermented) wine, what is called grape juice today, represents the pure, uncorrupted teachings of Jesus. But the wine of Babylon is corrupted.
The phrase the wine of the wrath of her fornication is a blend of two Old Testament concepts into one. The prophet Jeremiah portrayed ancient Babylon using the imagery of a prostitute seducing a man into immorality by making him drink wine. For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. (Jeremiah 25:15) Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged. (51:7) The other side of the concept comes from Job as he ponders the counsel of the wicked: Let his eyes see his destruction, and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty (Job 21:20). In summary, the acceptance of Babylon’s seductive wine—for false doctrines are designed to appeal to the unregenerate—of fornication results in the drinking of God’s wine of wrath, bringing as a consequence the judgment of God upon oneself.
God’s judgment is completely just and fair. He knows the amount of light that every individual has (or had) possession of. In these last days, with the wide availability of His word, there is increased accountability. It should be looked upon as a joy and a privilege, but most of the world is squandering the opportunity and substituting mind-weakening amusements instead. Think about the purpose of amusements: the word “muse” means to ponder, meditate, and think deeply. The “a” in front of it negates the meaning. Thus, the purpose of most entertainment is to prevent the viewer from strengthening his or her mind. This is a large industry in Satan’s toolbox.
But they have also erred through wine; And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. Isaiah 28:7
The prophet Obadiah could not possibly have known of the mind-numbing amusements of the last days, yet his sobering words capture what is going on now. The unprecedented opportunity to go to and fro (Daniel 12:4) in the Word of God is traded for rubbish:
For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. For as you drank on My holy mountain, So shall the nations drink continually; Yes, they shall drink, and swallow, And they shall be as though they had never been. Obadiah 15-16