September 17: THE WINE OF BABYLON
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
John the Revelator prophesies: that great city . . . made all nations drink? How will this prophecy come to pass? Already she has established herself in nearly every country of the world. She has conditioned the world to believe and practice her unbiblical doctrines. Many sincere Christians are not aware of the discrepancies between the false doctrines of Babylon and true Biblical doctrines.
During the time of Jesus’ ministry, He challenged man-made teachings and traditions that had developed among the shepherds of God’s people (see Ezekiel 34:1-22). The most frequent clashes arose over how to keep the Sabbath. Jesus, who declared that He is Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5), kept it according to His word, yet He was accused by religious leaders of breaking it because He, Jesus, did not heed their rules and customs. He went on to say that they were laying aside the commandments of God . . . making the word of God of no effect (Mark 7:8,13). This is a very serious charge!
Similarly, there will soon be a day when God’s law will officially be replaced by man’s law. But this time it will be over when to keep the Sabbath. When this happens, all nations [will have drunk] of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. The Lord uses very strong wording in speaking of unfaithfulness to Him. The fallen system of Babylon, instead of being a faithful bride-elect of God, has chosen to “fornicate” with His adversary instead. The counterfeit “husband” is Satan, his “bride” is the Babylonian church, and her daughters are the fallen Protestant churches who had begun to exit Babylon but turned back (see Hebrews 10:38; Revelation 3:1-2) instead of continuing in the pursuit of truth with patient endurance. Thus, elements of the wine of Babylon are still being presented to the world as “truth.”
The king of Babylon especially hates the Sabbath and those who honor it. This is why he works to deceive and create confusion about it. Before our first parents sinned, they enjoyed two “institutions” of the Lord: the seventh-day Sabbath (Genesis 2:2-3) and marriage (2:22-25). Of these two, the weekly Sabbath will be kept throughout eternity (Compare Isaiah 66:22-23 & Matthew 22:29-30). Notice that, unlike the first and third angels’ messages of Revelation 14, the second angel’s message is not proclaimed with a “loud voice” – until it reappears in chapter 18 with great clarity and light! John the Revelator writes that Mystery Babylon will be unmasked, and the distinction between truth and error will be unmistakably clear. At the time of that final revelation, God’s people in Babylon will hear His loving call to come out of her and into His fold (see John 10:16).
After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” … “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” Revelation 18:1-4 (note: merchants is a metaphor for false preachers who mention only the popular bits and pieces of Scripture, like merchants who stock only the things they can easily sell (2 Corinthians 2:17 NIV). But the whole counsel of God is essential. See Acts 20:27-28)