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The Daughters of Babylon
by
Ron Parsons
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Revelation 17:4-6
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration [amazement].
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We know that the mother Babylon of these verses is the Roman Catholic church, but who are the daughters of Babylon? The name “Babylon” means “confusion” because Satan loves to confuse the people of this world and gives multiple choices to add to the babble of voices proclaiming themselves Christian, or having “the way.” In contrast, there is only one true “way.” It is to help us find that “way” that this article is written. God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this, for rebellion is not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The LORD's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
Around 1818 in the USA, a Bible reading Baptist layman named William Miller, came across the idea from the Bible prophecies that Christ would return for the second advent within his lifetime. Under the influence of the Spirit of God, his method of study consisted of not reading past any verse without gaining some useful understanding of it, especially in the prophetic visions. If there was a problem he used other portions of the Bible to explain it. While doing this he shunned every other book and commentary, except a concordance. Because of this the Bible began to explain itself to him.
He was one of the first in modern times to preach about the second coming. Originally he thought it could happen on any day in 1843 but when December 31st of that year passed, he and his companions settled on 22nd October 1844 from another prophetic arrangement in the Bible. As they shared their belief many others accepted the idea and over the period of ten years from 1833 to 1843 a great religious awakening occurred in the United States of America, which was also duplicated in other parts the world, for the Son of God works with whoever will listen. Although none rightly understood the event that was to happen on 22nd October 1844, they did have the timing right, and God was able to use their efforts.
Because the teaching tended to build up the Protestant churches, it was for a time regarded with favour. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the advent doctrine (and the majority did) and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject, they not only opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or even of speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the churches. So the message, though wrongly interpreted, produced the effect that God was looking for. It polarized two groups – one that believed in forcing their religious views on others and controlling them, and one which allowed perfect freedom to accept or reject.
The believers then found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity. They loved their churches and were loathe to separate from them; but as they saw the testimony of God's word suppressed and their right to investigate the prophecies denied, they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God's word they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, “the pillar and ground of the truth.” 1 Timothy 3:15. Hence they felt themselves justified in separating from their former connections. In the summer of 1844 about fifty thousand withdrew from the Protestant churches of the United States to await the second coming in October. Similar separations took place all over the world.
Why did this come about?
At the beginning of the reformation in 1517, and for a short time after, Martin Luther and a few individuals in England and Europe rediscovered the pure doctrine of conversion which the Bible calls the “everlasting gospel”. When accepted this allows the Son of God to turn “sinners” into “saints,” or sanctified ones. See Acts 9:32. (The clearest teaching on this subject can be found in The Letter to the Romans, chapters 6, 7 and 8. Try Waggoner on these.) But the churches the reformers founded, or which were started as a result of their teachings, always remained part of Babylon, retaining many of the major doctrines and rituals of the Roman Catholic church. Why?
Because in response to the awakening Satan poured many of his “tares” into them. Matthew 13:24-25. And because most of the real public Christians, Sabbath-keepers, had left Europe and gone “into the wilderness” of Asia, India and the Pacific, when the Roman system reared its persecuting head in Europe around 538AD. “And the woman [God’s church] fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [in prophetic time 1260 years].” Revelation 12:6. (There were Sabbath-keeping Christians in the courts of Ghengis and Kublai Khan for instance, as they made their efforts for the control of the world!) Thus from 538AD Europe became the stronghold of baptized Paganism for many centuries, and even after the reformation the new saints of God clung to their old church ways, as did the saints of 1844! Attempts were made to point to the importance of the Ten Commandments, especially the 4th, but these were met with the cry, “Done away with at the cross!”
However, out of Miller’s teaching came what is known as “The Three Angel’s Messages” based on the prophetic symbols of Revelation 14:6-12. They are followed by a picture of the second advent in verse 14, so needed to be understood and acted on before that event occurred.
The first angel’s message introduced the thought of a judgment, or sorting out, which had already commenced in the polarization. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters [the Creator]’.” Revelation 14:6-7. God provided this communication as an addition to the everlasting gospel, in answer to the theory of evolution that was beginning to sweep the nations, for this message pointed to an act of creation by an intelligent Person and its hearers had to choose one or the other. The effect of this message was to aid the polarization.
This led to the second angel’s message, which is that “Babylon” fell as the Christians realized the truth. “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’ [The churches had fooled the world into believing that they were Christian].” Revelation 14:8. [They also rejected the creation message in favour of the evolution theory, or in some cases, tried to harmonise them both!]
Where had they come from?
The original Babylon, a city/church, was raised in opposition to God’s church by Adam’s son Cain and his followers, and has never fallen from the truth, for it was raised on error from the start. Genesis 4:16-17. After the Flood it was reinstated by the tower-builders of Babel and eventually became a worldwide system called “Paganism”. Genesis 11:1-4. The Babylonian “way” was copied by many other religions, and although their gods and goddesses were given different names, the basic system remained the same wherever it was established, with the sun’s day as the day of worship and Satan the real power behind the scene. One great public difference between the counterfeit and the truth, is that in Babylon a man is the head of the church, and their god behaves as a man would. They also like having a female god whom they call “the wife/mother of god.”
The “system” and its priests physically moved to Pergamos in present-day Turkey after the conquering of the city of Babylon by Cyrus the Persian in 538BC. Then the original Babylonian system moved on to Rome, through the gift of the kingdom of Pergamos to the Pagan Romans in 133BC. (Julius Caesar was the first of many Roman leaders to claim that he was descended from the family of its god, and he became “the supreme pontiff” of the religion.) The capital city of Roman Pergamos, called Pergamum, had a great medical centre, and is noted in the Bible as the place “where Satan’s seat is” in the second century AD. Revelation 2:13.
At first the Roman religion was wholly Pagan and its worshippers adored the sun as the symbol of their god, but in the centuries after the crucifixion its leaders began to claim the title and position of Christianity, which led to some religious wars about 508AD. (The emperor Constantine had helped in this changeover with his Sunday law of 321AD.) Thus over a period of time the title of “Babylon” was transferred by the Spirit to the Roman Catholic church. This “fall” was recognized early as witnessed by the following comments.
From my library:
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What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of Paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, “The mystery of iniquity does already work.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
During the lives of the apostles the [Christian] church remained comparatively pure. But “toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts … came forward and new-modeled the cause.” – Robert Robinson, Ecclesiastical Researches, ch. 6, par. 17, p. 51.
[For a while both Sabbath and Sunday were observed as religious symbols, but eventually the Sabbath-keepers left the newcomers to their own ways in 538AD.]
To secure converts, the exalted standard of the Christian faith was lowered by the Roman church, and as the result “a pagan flood, flowing into the church, carried with it its customs, practices, and idols.” – Gavazzi, Lectures, page 278.
[Christianity did not become Pagan, nor did Paganism become Christian, for the leopard cannot change its spots – only a Creator can do that. Jeremiah 13:23. The two existed side by side for a while until the majority of the Sabbath-keepers departed and the Pagans assumed the name of Christian.]
As the new-modeled “Christian” religion secured the favour and support of secular rulers [the Roman emperors], it was nominally accepted by multitudes; but while in appearance Christians, many “remained in substance pagans, especially worshiping in secret their idols.” – Ibid., page 278.
[Eventually laws were passed by the State demanding that Roman Christians observe only Sunday as their official day of rest.]
Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself Protestant? [e. g. The early Presbyterians observed what they called Sabbath from noon on Saturday to midnight on Sunday.] As the [Protestant] founders, those who possessed the true spirit of reform, passed away, their descendants came forward and “new-modeled the cause.” While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the reformers departed widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and renunciation of the world. Thus “the first simplicity disappeared.” A worldly flood, flowing into the church, carried “with it its customs, practices, and idols.”
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However, since this message regarding the “fall” of Babylon follows the warning of the judgment which began in 1844, it must be relevant since that time; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Not fallen from the truth, but fallen in men’s eyes as a “Christian” system because of its reliance on the power of the state to enforce its religious dogmas. When Satan saw that the Roman Catholic church was “revealed” or exposed, he brought forth the daughters in her place. It is now time that they are “revealed” also. 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
Babylon is said to be “the mother of harlots.” Revelation 17:5. Her “harlot” daughters must be symbolized by churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and who follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. It is significant that God sent a special message to the Roman Christians through Paul warning them of this. “I beseech [beg] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a LIVING sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.
The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that have become changed in some way since 1844. Without a doubt these are what came to be known as “Protestant” churches because they once publicly “protested” that Roman Catholicism is not, and never has been Christian, because of its attitude. They thought of the Roman church as anti (in place of) Christ, as it is written by one who knew, “Little children, it is the last time [for the Ephesus branch of the church]: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:18-19.
Yet Protestant and Catholic are all “fellow Christians” today!
The Protest:
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http://www.benabraham.com/html/9_-_protest_of_the_princes.html
One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the Reformation was the Protest submitted by the Christian princes at the Diet [Council] of Spires in Germany, 1529. The entire future course of the Reformation depended on the decisions they there made. The combined forces of [Catholic] Europe were gathered to crush out the newly begun Reformation. But Christian men protested - and refused to deny their faith - or yours. Their protest at the Diet [Council] of Spires that year has given us the name, “Protestant”. Here you will learn of your spiritual forefathers, the first Protestants - and of the fundamental principles of Protestantism that they have bequethed [sic] to you ….
As Ferdinand [the emperor’s representative] had refused to regard their conscientious convictions, the princes decided not to heed his absence, but to bring their Protest before the national council without delay. A solemn declaration was therefore drawn up, and presented to the Diet: -
“We protest by these presents, before God our only Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, and Savior, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and our people, neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatever to the proposed decree in anything that is contrary to God, to His word, to our right conscience, or to the salvation of our souls ... We cannot assert that when Almighty God calls a man to His knowledge, he dare not embrace that divine knowledge ... There is no true doctrine but that which conforms to the word of God. The Lord forbids the teaching of any other faith. The Holy Scriptures, with one text explained by other and plainer texts, are, in all things necessary for the Christian, easy to be understood, and adapted to enlighten. We are therefore resolved by divine grace to maintain the pure preaching of God's only word, as it is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, without anything added thereto. This word is the only truth. It is the sure rule of all doctrine and life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all the vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.”
“We therefore reject the yoke that is imposed upon us [by the Roman Catholic system of Europe].”
A deep impression was made upon the Diet. The majority were filled with
amazement and alarm at the boldness of the protesters. The future appeared to
them stormy and uncertain. Dissension, strife, and bloodshed seemed
inevitable. But the Reformers, assured of the justice of their cause, and
relying upon the arm of Omnipotence, were full of courage and firmness.
The Protest denied the right of civil rulers to legislate in matters between the soul and God, and declared with prophets and apostles, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” It rejected also the arbitrary power of the [Roman] church, and set forth the unerring principle that all human teaching should be in subjection to the oracles of God. The protesters had thrown off the yoke of man's supremacy, and had exalted Christ as supreme in the church, and His word in the pulpit. The power of conscience was set above the State, and the authority of the Holy Scriptures above the visible church. The crown of Christ was uplifted above the pope's tiara and the emperor's diadam. The protesters had moreover affirmed their right to freely utter their convictions of truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship according to the dictates of their own consciences.
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The leaders in the Reformation had initial doctrines which were pure, but their organizations have always been Pagan. (Girls are not born prostitutes, but they are born into families.) God says of them in another place, “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things says He that has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars [under His guidance, Revelation 1:20.]; I know your works, that you have a name that you live [in men's eyes], and are [really] dead [in Mine]. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die [such as the everlasting gospel]: for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as [like] a thief [in 1843-44], and you shall not know what hour I will come upon you [they actually rejected the call to repentance and Sabbath-keeping, like the rejecters before the Flood]. You have a few names [some individuals] even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcomes [himself], the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:1-6.
At that time “another gospel” was mainstreamed as the standard, one in which members of their churches could not expect to stop sinning, but should try hard to be good in God’s strength. This is simply “righteousness by works” under another name. The Sabbath and its “rest” were not recognized.
We should note that the angel says that it was “Babylon” that fell, not “Israel”, yet many among us still tend to think of them as Christian systems which have fallen from the truth. The angel’s message is not that they have fallen from the truth (they have always been Sunday-worshippers), but that they have fallen in Christian eyes as evidenced when the 50,000 believers had to leave them in 1844. Individuals can move from one system to another, but the systems remain forever separate and distinct one for and one against the way of God, but both calling themselves Christian. The great mass of the people, the heathen, or undecided ones, must eventually choose one or the other of these systems. One of our jobs as Christians is to help them make up their minds.
However, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God who are still in Babylon are being called upon to come out of it. There are undoubtedly some real Christians among the Pagan congregations, but we cannot see who is what, although when given the opportunity we are to show them the call that the LORD is making to “come out of BABYLON.”
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, ‘Babylon THE GREAT [Catholic and Protestant] is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For ALL NATIONS have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.’ And I heard another Voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities’.” Revelation 18:1-5.
According to this scripture, some of God's people must still be in Babylon, and Christ has always been trying to get them out of it. And 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. At the time of their rise the leaders of these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them (as He blesses all, Christian and non-Christian, who practice His eternal principles). Even the unbelieving world has been constrained to acknowledge the beneficent results that follow an acceptance of the principles of the gospel. (e.g. Honesty is the best policy.) However, because of the deception practiced in these religions it has not been easy to separate the church systems from their original leaders’ beliefs.
One important clue is that the counterfeit set up in 538AD chose a man to be the head of the church in place of Christ. They needed a man to compete with the political systems by which they were surrounded and to which they wanted to belong. Yet Jesus said, “But be not you called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all you are brethren. And call no man your [spiritual] father upon the earth [“pope” means “father”]: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be you called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.” Matthew 23:8-10.
Another is their insistence that a sinful nature is normal – they teach that a sinning but trying Christian is what God expects, which is a counterfeit of the true, for Jesus told us, “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. It is His pleasure to supply the power to do this.
A third pointer is their teaching regarding the life of man. They claim that he is an “immortal soul”, words which are not seen together in the Bible. In fact, there it is written, God “only has immortality,” and that Christians will receive it at the second coming, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’.” 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. In the meantime, God says, “the soul that sins, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4.
We also need to keep clear in our minds the fact that the systems with their organizers, the clergy, are different from their followers, the laity. The laity are usually unsuspecting but willing followers of the leaders. Because Babylon is a counterfeit of God’s church, both systems are very similar in some areas, while poles apart in others, and because leaders in God’s church often fall from grace, they can appear to be like Babylonian priests, but they are not. The Pharisees of Christ’s time were powerful men who were ambitious for earthly riches and glory, though making a profession of godliness. They were not willing to come to Christ to receive light. And this hasn’t changed. But Israel is not Babylon.
However, the words of the prophet to Israel can also be applied to the Babylonian systems: “Your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty: for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon you, says the LORD God [the message of the everlasting gospel, or Christ as our righteousness, can be found in both systems].” Ezekiel 16:14. But the systems the Protestants set up practised the same action which was the curse and ruin of Israel – the desire of imitating the practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly. “You did trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of your renown.” Ezekiel 16:15. The “daughters” of Babylon are also called “harlots” because of this, and this fact is well known even among their own people. The difference is that the daughters of Babylon do this as a natural action while the “wife” of Christ has to break her vows to do so.
From my library:
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Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches that separated from Rome present other of her characteristics. A Roman Catholic work argues that “if the Church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to Christ.” – Richard Challoner, The Catholic Christian Instructed, Preface, pages 21, 22.
And Dr. Hopkins, in “A Treatise on the Millennium,” declares: “There is no reason to consider the antichristian spirit and practices to be confined to that which is now called the Church of Rome. The Protestant churches have much of antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed from . . . corruptions and wickedness.” – Samuel Hopkins, Works, vol. 2, p. 328.
Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome,
Dr. Guthrie writes: “Three hundred years ago, our church, with an open Bible on her banner, and this motto, 'Search the Scriptures,' on her scroll, marched out from the gates of Rome.” Then he asks the significant question: “Did they come clean out of Babylon?” – Thomas Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, page 237.
“The Church of England,” says Spurgeon, “seems to be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism [rites and ceremonies]; but nonconformity [Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists etc.] appears to be almost as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the pulpit and call itself Christian.”
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What is far worse is that many among us call them that too!!
It’s strange the way such a clear message, “BABYLON is fallen” has become “ISRAEL has fallen” in many minds, when there is such a clear distinction between the two. Sabbath-keeping (the seventh day) has always been the mark of the true church whether in the Old Testament or the New, while Sunday-keeping (the first day) has always been the mark of the false. (See Luke 4:16 and Acts 16:14.) The miasma of Satan covers those who do not accept the truth of God, but when Israel turns from God it becomes apostate Israel – never Babylon. In like manner, Babylon can never become the church of God.
Since 1844 the “daughters of Babylon” have been seen to be non-Christian as a consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent message and their union with the world; but that understanding is not yet complete. As they have continued to reject other special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower in some men’s views. Not yet, however, can it be said that “Babylon is fallen ... because she made ALL NATIONS DRINK of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming and indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of the west; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the fourth angel of Revelation 18. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination. There is yet a terrible manifestation of religious persecution to come from them, for the lamb-like creature must speak “as a dragon” to prove their origin without a doubt! Revelation 13:11and 12:9.
“And he [the second beast] had power to give life to the image [copy] of the [first] beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he [the image beast] causes [forces] all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark [of outward obedience] in their right hand, or [of internal belief] in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the [image] beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.” Revelation 13:15-18. This leads on to the warning of the third angel.
“And the third angel followed them [the first two], saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image [the copy], and receive his [their] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb [and they won’t be able to help them!] And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever [for as long as they last]: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name. Here [in a special place] is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’.” Revelation 14:9-12.
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 [through his churches];” 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.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11. Not until this condition is reached, and the union of the churches with the politicians and rulers is fully accomplished throughout the entire world, will the fall of Babylon and her daughters be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfilment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future. But it is moving on steadily as the polarization continues.
In the meantime, our main concern should be for those called “heathen” – those who have not chosen to follow either the God of heaven or the god of this world, for they need information on which to base their choice.
After the rebellion of Adam and his subsequent repentance, the Sabbath was honoured by all the children that remained loyal to God. The Christians waited in faith for God’s promise. For example, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles [tents] with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God … These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from where they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He has prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:8-16. (See also John 14.) “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world [made new], was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Romans 4:13.
But Cain and his descendants did not respect the day upon which God had rested. They chose their own time for labour and for rest, regardless of the Son of God’s express example. Genesis 2:2. Even though assured of the protection of God (Genesis 4:15), Cain withdrew from his father's household. He had first chosen his occupation as a tiller of the soil, and under Satan’s influence he now founded a city in opposition to God’s plan, calling it after the name of his eldest son. Genesis 4:16-17. (This city was later renamed Babylon.) He had gone out from the presence of the LORD, casting away the promise of the restored Eden, to seek his possessions and enjoyment in the earth under the curse of sin, thus standing at the head of that great class of men who worship the god of this world, and do their own thing. Such want their reward now and on this earth, and turn away from the new world, for righteousness has no attraction for them.
It is written: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are [willingly] lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. Thus the “daughters” of Babylon, through the leaders of the so-called “Protesting” churches of the world, chose their own way in the mid 1800’s when presented with the thought that the end of the world would come soon, and that Christians should be keeping the Sabbath day as a mark of respect for their Creator and His Ten Commandments.
By refusing the opportunity to repent and become Christian, the leaders of those systems confirmed their stand as Pagan and anti-Christian while still claiming to follow Him!
And they still do.
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To Ancient SDA's ............ To "What's New?"