VERSE 8 “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.”
“And ANOTHER ANGEL FOLLOWED…
“This angel is said to FOLLOW the first one. But the Greek for [“followed”], means “accompanied” -- to be in the same way with, or to be as a disciple. It is NOT that this angel comes later; it is that his message accompanies the message of the first angel. If the first angel might be named THE HARVESTING ANGEL, this second angel might be named THE JUDGING ANGEL.
“And another angel followed, saying, “BABYLON IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN, THAT GREAT CITY…
There are many subtleties in this verse. It introduces BABYLON -- a term hitherto unfound in Revelation. But the verse includes enough information to identify this symbol clearly. Babylon, of course, was born a city and a kingdom; therefore, this Babylon should also be a capital and an independent power. It is said to be “THE great.” While original Babylon was a great empire, this Babylon would apparently have greater influence. It is termed “SHE.” This is very revealing. A woman is either a church or a covenant. No covenant fits this description! From the verse it is clear she is no virgin; therefore, she is not the true Church, but the apostate. How wonderfully the Lord can introduce a symbol out of the blue and yet, with it, give all the information necessary for its interpretation!
“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.”
This Babylon has influence well beyond its own borders: she made all the nations drink. Her primary sin is said to be fornication -- the amalgamation of church and state. While Babylon’s sins can be expanded far beyond this, it is clear that the Lord is especially displeased with her unfaithfulness to Jesus as her head. Instead of waiting for His return and the establishing of His kingdom with her as His bride, she insisted on establishing her own temporal power. This doctrine (wine of wrath), with which the nations were made “drunk” (incapable of sound judgment; unstable), has been responsible for much of the chaos in Europe over the last 2,000 years.”
Brother Frank Shallieu’s thoughts on the matter,
“Based on the Sinaitic text and contextual evidence, only one fall of Babylon is mentioned. The text should read: “And there followed another [angel], a second, saying, is fallen Babylon the Great...” Like the first angel or message (Verse 6), the second (Verse 8) is also a pronouncement. The message does not signify an immediate destruction of churchianity. Rather, it refers to the spewing out of the nominal Church from the Lord’s mouth…to mystic Babylon’s rejection from divine favor (Rev. 3:16).
During the week of his crucifixion at the First Advent, Jesus pronounced a rejection of nominal fleshly Israel: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). These words were uttered nearly four decades prior to the actual destruction in A.D. 70. Here in Verse 8 a similar surety prediction of ultimate destruction is made: of the nominal spiritual house.
Few realize the already fallen-from-grace condition of Babylon (the church nominal) now; none will fail to recognize it’s sudden and utter collapse in the near future.
Why this rejection by the Lord?
The answer given is: “Because she made all nations drink of the [mixed] wine [false doctrines intermingled with some truth] …of her fornication [her illicit relationship with the world, imparting her own spirit as well as partaking of the world’s spirit].” Through the Prophet Jeremiah (51:7—Newberry Bible), the Lord states the matter in a similar vein: “[Babylon] made all the earth drunken…of her wine [from the cradle to the grave]; Therefore, the nations are mad [stupefied, sharing in her abominations and impurities—Rev. 17:4].”
The great mass of professing Christians having been raised (or taught) from the cradle (from the very beginnings of their beliefs as young Christians in Sunday schools and etc.) the teachings and doctrines of Babylon, the church nominal, have become so accustom to these teachings, this mixture of false with a bit of truth, the truth simply being added in order to make the false more palatable, that they have become (drunk) on these doctrines so much so that they in all honestly believe them to be true.
We will continue with this study with our next post.
Excerpts for this study were taken from Brother Frank Shallieu’s “The Keys of Revelation”, and the “New Albany Notes on Revelation”.
