"Can U Hear Me Now?" Youth Conference
Removing Barriers So We Can Hear Him!
MESSAGES FOR "U" BIBLE STUDY. (THREE LESSONS)
LESSON TWO: Message Two
“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
This second message joins the first and moves right along together. Let’s first review Babylon’s history. Ancient Babylon was a city that was emblematic of disbelief in the true God and defiance of His will. Babylon was founded by Nimrod according to Genesis 10:8-10. We find the account of a monument to apostasy in the form of a tower construction in Genesis 11:4-9. The tower was called the Tower of Babel.
Many years later, King Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon. Babylon became one of the wonders of the ancient world while it became the oppressor of God’s people. Nebuchadnezzar’s plan was to make Babylon universal and eternal. Yet Babylon would not last forever. It would be overthrown by another dominant power. The Babylonians were overthrown by the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C. by General Cyrus. With the fall of ancient Babylon, Satan continued through each world power that followed, to control the world but failed every time because of God’s divine intervention.
Through the Middle Ages though, Satan was almost successful in his attempt through the Papacy. See Daniel 7:24. By the first century, Christians referred to the empire of Rome by the cryptic title Babylon. We find in Peter 5:13, the following evidence of this, “The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you;” Even though Babylon is mentioned, Babylon was already in ruins and uninhabited. The Jews were suffering under Rome similar to the way they suffered under Babylon in times passed. Eventually, for Jews and Christians, Babylon became an appropriate and incriminating term to describe imperial Rome. Babylon has long been recognized as the traditional enemy of God’s people and God’s truth. In the book of Revelation, the name Babylon is symbolic of all apostate religious organizations and their leadership, from ancient times down to the close of time.
When John the Revelator states that Babylon is fallen, he is saying that religious bodies and movements have fallen away from the truths of God’s word. Babylon is spiritual confusion that began at the Tower of Babel. A perfect example of a truth that churches had fallen away was the change of the original Bible Sabbath. “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Daniel 7:25.
Here's statement from the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 153. “The church after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath or seventh-day of the week to the first, made the third commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy as the Lord’s day.” The Sabbath was labeled by the papacy, "the Jewish Sabbath" even though there were no Jewish people existing at the time creation. Without any biblical evidence, mandates, or commands from God the early church changed the day from the seventh to the first. The fourth commandment, the Sabbath was established, blessed, and sanctified at creation. It was written in stone by the finger of God along with nine others. See Exodus 31:18. There is no other record or account of God commanding His people to ignore the original Sabbath and choose another day while Daniel prophesied that is would happen.
The substitution of human laws for the laws of God and the enforcement of religious decrees by the state will become universal. Religious elements will bring pressure to bear upon the state to enforce their decrees. The church is married to the Lord, but when the church seeks the support of the state, she leaves her lawful spouse and by this connection, she commits spiritual fornication. See the prophetic words of Ezekiel in Ezekiel 16:15. And James 4:4 “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
This is what the phrase means when it states that, "she has made all nations drink." These religious elements will contend that the enforcement of decrees (drinking of the wine) will bring peace to nations. Doctrines are symbolized by "wine." Luke 5:37
This was a citadel of rebellion against God. These builders under the leadership of Nimrod, aspired to set up a government entirely independent of God. God intervened, destroyed the tower, and scattered the builders by confounding their language to the point of confusion.
