Sabbath Afternoon - May 20
Memory Text:
“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. KJV — Revelation 17:14
In Revelation 14 the first angel is followed by a second proclaiming: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Revelation 14:8. The term “Babylon” is derived from “Babel,” and signifies confusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion. In Revelation 17 Babylon is represented as a woman—a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.
Sunday - May 21
Two Contrasting Systems
Read Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 17:14. How is God’s church described, and what is Satan’s reaction to it?
Rev. 12:17 - And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The term “remnant” discloses that her seed is divided into two parts: The one is taken, the other is left. Nehemiah, for example, explains: “The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach.” Neh. 1:3. A “remnant” always represents one part of the whole, either large or small.
And notice that the dragon wars, not against a remnant of the “flood,” but against the remnant of her seed. Christ being the woman’s only child, her seed are therefore the Christians, those who are born into the church through the Spirit of Christ. Accordingly, the act of taking the first fruits to Mount Sion (Rev. 14:1) brings about a condition which makes a remnant of those who are still left among the Gentiles. In this instance, therefore, they, the second fruits, are the remnant.
Let it be remembered that it is after the earth swallows the flood that the dragon is to be wroth with the woman, and “to make war with the remnant of her seed [not with her personally], which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:16 17. Clearly, then, there is no escaping the conclusion that the doing away with Satan’s flood is doubtless the purifying of the church, the destroying of those who have joined the church through the aid of the serpent. This purifying is the very thing that enables the church as a body to keep the commandments of God and also to have the testimony of Jesus Christ, the living Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 19:10), in her midst. This is her only hope, her only strength, her only deliverance. In this light, Inspiration now puts new life into the words –
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Isa. 52:1.
The church’s purification, therefore, will not bring the millennial time of peace. Indeed not but it will bring the end of the wicked in the church, and with it Satan’s greatest wrath against the remnant, against those who, while still among the Gentiles, dare thereafter to take their stand on the Lord’s side. They shall, nevertheless, be delivered if they, as it were risk their lives – if they take their stand on the Lord’s side and thereby put their names in the “book.” Dan. 12:1.
The dragon cannot war with the woman, the church that is made up of the first fruits, because at that time she is with the Lamb on Mt. Sion (Rev. 14:1), out of the dragon’s reach.
Rev. 17:12-14 – “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
These kings are to be anti-religious and therefore anti-Christian. They shall eventually make war with the Lord and with His called, chosen, and faithful ones, but “the Lamb shall overcome” the kings.
Read Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 17:1, 2. What solemn announcement does the angel make? And what did Babylon do to warrant such an announcement?
The angel that was talking to John is one of the seven which had the seven vials of the seven last plagues. (See Rev. 15:7; 16:1.) It will be noticed that he had the vial of the plague ready, but it had not been poured out at the time he said to John, “Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore.” By the information given, it is certain that the event predicted by the symbol, the woman sitting on the beast, is shortly before the plagues are poured out and in the time when the “woman” is to be judged.
And by the fact that the woman is sitting on the beast, driving it, is positively shown that she is ruling it, and that the beast itself is the symbol of the dominion of Babylon the Great
This woman does not symbolize something new, but something as old as the time of the martyrs, for she is the cause of their slaying. What could she be but a counterfeit religion which originated with Cain’s unacceptable sacrifice? Since then she has brought forth sectarianism, has become a mother of harlots. Her abominations, you note, are made very attractive, being dispensed from a golden cup held in hands that are gorgeously decked with the costliest things of earth.
Monday - May 22
The Wine of the Wrath
Read Revelation 17:1, 2, 15 and Revelation 18:1–4. How extensive is Babylon’s influence?
Her sitting on the heads (Rev. 17:9), denotes that she is to control the churches, and her driving the beast denotes that she is to be the sovereign of the world. This system of worship and reign is not a new thing under the sun, for “in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” Rev. 18:24. She is, therefore, rightly called Babylon, the name of the oldest, the first, world empire – the type.
This antitypical Babylon, from which God’s people at this time are to be called out, is even to monopolize the world’s commerce, as is clearly revealed in the prediction [in Rev. 18:11-13, 15-19]…
So, shortly after it is set up, this federation of church and state will be plunged headlong into oblivion, even as a great “millstone” that is cast into the sea (Rev. 18:21). And the cry of her mourners shall be: “In one hour so great riches is come to nought.” Rev. 17:12; 18:10, 17. This hour, which brings the death throes of Babylon, can be none other than that which, according to Jesus’ parable (Matt. 20:11-16), is the last parabolic hour (period) of the day (probationary time); that is, from the eleventh-hour call for laborers (the last message to the world – Mal. 4:5), to the twelfth hour (sunset, ancient timepiece), the end of the day – the close of the gospel period (Matt. 24:14), the close of the harvest (Jer. 8:20), the close of probation (Rev. 22:11).
The “ten horns” of the scarlet-colored beast (the rulers which she dominates for an hour) ultimately “shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Rev. 17:16. Thus at length they shall unseat her forever, and the system which she symbolizes, the “image of the beast,” shall be demolished. At this resounding crash of Babylon, “the kings of the earth…shall bewail her, and lament for her,…standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!” Rev. 18:9, 10.
The lamentation of the “kings” shows that they are sympathetic toward her, while the horns hate her. The “kings,” therefore, cannot be those who are symbolized by the beast’s crownless horns, but rather those who are symbolized by the crowned horns of the leopard-like beast. They are the crowned kings who arose after the fall of pagan Rome, and who are now speedily going into exile.
Tuesday - May 23
Mystery Babylon the Great
Read Revelation 17:4–6. What do these verses teach us about the nature of this evil system?
The reason John was shown the vision, is made clear by the words of the angel: “Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” The angel’s interpretation of the “waters” is given in verse 15: “Peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” The woman sitting on them denotes that the inhabitants (waters) had fallen into her trap of deception (sitting on them).
“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.” (Verse 4.) The woman is a symbol of a counterfeit religious system. From her cup she hands out false doctrines. Being golden, it has an appearance of splendor – inviting. Her costly garments of loud colors and precious ornaments vividly portray the magnificence of this most vile woman and her kingly pomp, and vain glory. By the power of her attraction, so irresistible to the human eye, she has conquered men of the strongest intellect – “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication.” Millions with strong mental faculties, men who appear as giants among the inhabitants of the earth, have fallen helpless victims in her trap. The kings of the earth are guilty of spiritual adultery with the “woman” (drunk with false doctrines), thereby becoming entangled in her seductive snares.
Any so called Christian organization handing out false doctrines under an appearance of virtue, evidently is governed by the power of the “woman.” The origin of all such fallacious teachings can be traced back into the golden cup. Said the angel: “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” It has been previously explained that the heads are symbols of so-called Christians denominations, and as she sits on them all, it denotes a union of churches under one head – “the woman.” The Biblical number “seven” apprehends all such organizations.
If all the churches at this present time were led by the Holy Spirit, there would be no confusion among the so-called Christian sects. As it would be impossible for all to be right while no two believe alike, it is warrantable to say that those who are drinking the wine from the “cup of her fornication,” are not few, for Inspiration says: “And the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” (Verse 2, last part.)
Note that the “woman” sits on the “waters,” also on the “heads,” and on the beast.” (See Rev. 17:1, 3, 9.) As it would be impossible for one person to sit on all three objects at one time, the prophetic symbols reveal a spiritual fraud in three different periods. Thus John declares: “I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast.” Not upon the “waters”, nor upon the “heads.” Before he saw her, the angel said, The woman “sitteth upon many waters.” It was the angel also who added, “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” (See verses 1, 9.) Thus, John saw her last exploit only (sit upon the beast). Consequently, the symbol, sitting on the “waters” is her first act, according to the vision.
Therefore, her first achievement (“sitting on the waters”), must have been in the past from the time the prophetic symbol is revealed. Hence, the sitting on the headsbecomes her second accomplishment, and the sitting on the Beast is the last; at which time she is judged.
As the Protestant churches are represented by the heads, she could not have sat on them before the reformation, for they were not as yet in existence. As the heads upon which the “woman sits” are unharmed, it is evident that the prophetic symbol is to meet its fulfillment some time after the deadly wound of the leopard-like beast of Revelation 13:3, is healed. The symbol, sitting on the heads, denotes union of churches, for she sits on them.
Therefore, when Catholicism, Protestantism, and Spiritualism clasp each other’s hand by the medium of a league, then it could be said, “the woman sitteth on the heads.”
The symbol of the “woman sitting on the beast,” will meet its fulfillment when that religious federation shall make an alliance with the powers of the world. Such an act would give the woman full control of the entire beast, horns and heads – the world. At that time the following Scripture will meet its perfect fulfillment: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast.” (Rev. 13:16, 17.)
Thus the symbol of the “woman” sitting on the “waters,” represents the period before the reformation. This was true during the period of papal supremacy, for at that time the papacy ruled the Roman world – “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Thus the “woman” sat on the “waters” during the 1260 prophetic years of Daniel 7:25, but she is yet to sit on the “heads,” and on the “beast.” Had she sat on the non-descript beast instead of on the “waters,” it would have been wrongly symbolized, for, the “woman,” by the tool of Catholicism, did not reign over all the world (beast), but over many “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (many waters). Therefore, the symbol, “sitting upon the scarlet colored beast,” denotes an international religio-political system.
Wednesday - May 24
A Call to Commitment
Compare Matthew 16:18 and Revelation 17:14. What promise did Jesus give His disciples regarding His church?
Matt. 16:18 – “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The words “thou” and “this” comprehend two objects – Peter and the truth he uttered. The name “Peter” in Greek means “stone.” And so what Jesus was actually saying was not to name the man, but rather to tell him that he was selected to be one of the stones in the spiritual structure – the church. But “On this rock [not on a stone] I will build My church,” Jesus declared. On which rock? – Obviously on the solid rock of Truth, the truth which Peter uttered – the truth that Jesus Christ is the “Son of God.”
Then Jesus made known that the gates of hell could not prevail against the Truth, that the gates could not keep in hell (in the grave) even the dead in Christ, that they, too, are to be a part of the ever-living church, the church that stands on the solid Rock of Truth.
Rev. 17:14 – “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
These kings are to be anti-religious and therefore anti-Christian. They shall eventually make war with the Lord and with His called, chosen, and faithful ones, but “the Lamb shall overcome” the kings.
The woman, as shown before, is the symbol of a confederated religious system with which the horns are not only in disagreement but are also her enemies. Consequently, after the symbolical hour is passed, they unseat her from the beast, make her desolate, and burn her with fire. Then it is that they receive their kingdom “for a season and time.” Dan. 7:12.
Thursday - May 25
Babylon: The Center of Idolatry
Read Jeremiah 50:33–38 and Jeremiah 51:17, 47. What do you discover in these verses about ancient Babylon’s worship of images and God’s response to it?
Who Does Babylon Personify…In the first place Babylon personifies the forthcoming ecclesiastical-political-economic system of the nations, not some institution or organization; second, that the beast she drives is a figure of her dominion; and third, that it is about to pass from prophecy into history – indeed, is already beginning to loom up out of the haze as did the shores of America to Christopher Columbus and his companions as they approached the great Western Continent.
The beast’s being driven by the woman, Babylon clearly reveals three important truths: first, that the call of God’s people to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4), is a call for them to come out from among the nations that are symbolized by the beast which she is driving (ruling); second, that the called ones are to come out from her sin-filled dominion because it is to be ruined by the plagues; and third, their coming out necessitates their going into a place where sin does not exist and where there is no danger of the plagues’ falling. Thus, their coming out of her dominion must be their going into God’s kingdom.
Then the warning against receiving the mark (Rev. 14:9-11), along with the call to come out will be repeated with an exceeding loud cry throughout Babylon’s dominion.
Both those who find themselves in her dominion and those who find themselves out of it, must then immediately decide to receive the seal of God instead of the mark of the beast if they want to escape the wrath of God. To do this, the former class must come out of her, and the latter class must stay out of her. Despite the death penalty for taking such a stand (Rev. 13:15), there must be no hesitancy or indecision on the part of either class.
Those who are in Babylon must heed the Voice which says: “Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4. And those who are out, must carefully heed the warning: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his 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.” Rev. 14:9, 10.
Friday - May 26
Further Thought
How Long Has The Woman Been In Existence?
This question may be answered by the following Scriptures: “And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” (Verse 6.) This could truly be said of the Roman church, for, she persecuted the Christians and martyred them. Therefore, she is “drunk” with their blood. True, the Roman church has had unlawful connection with the “woman”; was, and is drunk with the wine of her fornication.
The “woman” did not originate with the Roman church, but rather she producedthat church. Therefore, we must trace her existence beyond the beginning of the papacy. Revelation 18:24, throws light upon the subject: “And in her was found the blood of the prophets, and of the saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” The holy Word of God declares that the “woman” is guilty of the blood of the martyrs in all ages. Therefore, the “woman” is drunk with the blood of Abel, and thus the blood of “all” the martyrs is found in her; proving that Cain was her first client by presenting a counterfeit sacrifice (false doctrine), and by slaying his brother.
“And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.” (Rev. 17:5.) The woman riding on the beast is the mother. The seven heads on the beast are the symbols of her daughters (harlots). Catholicism is her first daughter in this symbol, and as Protestantism sprang from Catholicism, then, apostate Protestantism in the multiplicity of sects, are her daughters also. Or it may be said, the woman” is the mother of Catholicism, and Catholicism is the mother of Protestantism. Says the Revelator: “I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy.” (Verse 3.) Thus the number of “heads,” and “full of names,” include all the offshoots from Protestantism and Catholicism. Had there been no mention made of being “full of names,” more than seven, and “scarlet,” which denotes that God’s people have been called out of it, therefore, “scarlet” –skimmed– under curse ready to perish, the Biblical number “seven heads,” would have included those who are carrying God’s message as in the period of the leopard-like beast of Revelation 13:1, at the time his deadly wound was healed. Therefore, it would have made no allowance for the church which “keep the commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus,” and thus it would have contradicted the following Scripture: “And the dragon was wroth with the woman [God’s church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [Israel the true – the 144,000], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17.)