March 11 - The Three Angels (pt. 2)

March 11 – The Three Angels (pt. 2)
Revelation 14:8

“A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’”

In just a few verses we will meet the harlot, Babylon. These words will soon make much more sense. The wine of Babylon represents all types of excessive behavior. This breaks my heart as I see our own culture obsessed with excessiveness. We have to have everything and must have it our own way. We don’t stop with meeting basic needs, but we feel we must have everything we desire.

The angel repeats himself when he says, “Fallen! Fallen …”

In Isaiah 21:9, Isaiah is prophesying against Babylon. “Look, here comes a man in a chariot with a team of horses. And he gives back the answer: Babylon has fallen, has fallen! All the images of its gods lie shattered on the ground.’”

Isaiah’s prophecy tells us that those things we worship (which we see by our obsessive excessiveness) will be destroyed. His prophecy will come to fruition in the last days. The angel brings the warning.

The only other time in the Old Testament that we hear of Babylon the Great is in Daniel 4:30. Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and sent its people into exile. The Israelites faced great persecution when they chose not to acquiesce to the rigid demands that they set aside their religious beliefs. Many gave in. In the final days, many will have given in to the temptations of the world which separate them from God.

Because the great world power (Babylon the Great – not necessarily, the single city in what we know as Iraq, but whatever world power persecutes religious freedom) will cause many to fall away from their beliefs, she will see great destruction at the hand of God.