"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."
This angel did not go on his mission and deliver his message in company with the first, but "followed," after the first angel had delivered the burden of his message. The first message was to the churches; but soon their papers refused to publish it, and the doors of their houses of worship were closed against it. They rejected the good news of the coming kingdom, and Jesus and the Spirit of truth departed from them, as their present state plainly shows. The few living souls in all these churches, who had received the Advent message, and who loved to talk of the Advent and the Restitution, were not allowed to speak freely of their faith and hope. Their testimony being crushed, the way was fully prepared for the second message, "Babylon is fallen," etc. This message we heard, our voices proclaimed it, and we saw its effect when the oppressed children of God burst the bands that bound them to the various sects. [1]
The fall of Babylon is evidently a moral fall, and not its final destruction. This may be seen from Rev. 18:2, where it is stated that Babylon is fallen, and is become the hold of every foul spirit, etc. It must exist after its fall in order to be a hold of foul spirits after that fall. In its fall and becoming a hold of foul spirits is clearly seen a moral change.
If the term Babylon is applied to the Catholic church, then we inquire, when did that church meet with such a moral change? When did she morally fall? The fact that she was always corrupt forbids such an application.
God's people, who heard the first angel's message, and came out under the message of the second, were, prior to their coming out, in Babylon. Were they in the Catholic church? And did they come out of that church? Certainly not. But we know that many thousands did come out of the Protestant sects. As the Catholic church has not morally fallen, being always about as low as it possibly could be, and as God's people were not there, we say that it can not be the Babylon mentioned by the second angel.
It is said that the city of Rome is Babylon, and that her fall is the burning of that literal city. But can the city of Rome be a hold of foul spirits after it is burnt? And will God's people be called out of Rome after it is consumed by fire? They are called out of Babylon to escape her threatened plagues, Rev. 18:4. But will they flee out of Rome after it is burnt to escape plagues of which her being burnt is the last? "Her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire." (Rev. 18:8)
Babylon signifies "mixture or confusion," which well applies to the many sects, holding a great variety of sentiments. But Christ designed that his church should be one. We do not say that the sects became Babylon by falling. They, while in their divided and subdivided state, and united with the world, were always Babylon. God permitted his people to remain there, until the first angel's message was rejected, then he called them out.
That the nominal churches have fallen, let their own admissions, and the facts relative to their present condition bear testimony. When their state is compared with what it was ten years since, their fall is clearly seen.
We think the "foul spirits" that Babylon was to become a "hold" of, after her fall, refer to the spiritual wonders of the present day, such as Mesmerism, Biology, Psychology, and the "Mysterious Rappings." And we think it is evident that just before the plagues are poured out, the voice from heaven, "Come out of her my people," will be heard as never before.
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