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MEMORY VERSE: “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory” (Revelation 18:1)

Suggested Reading: The Great Controversy, pp. 603–612.

“The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening.”—The Great Controversy, p. 611.

1.  BABYLON THE GREATSun, Jun 14

a.  Describe the dramatic view John saw of the church known as Babylon the Great.

Revelation 17:1–6: 1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk. ” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations. ” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

“The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17 is . . . described as ‘arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness: . . . and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Bab-ylon the Great, the mother of harlots. . . .’ The power that for so many cen-turies maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared ‘drunken with the blood of the saints’ as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is al-so charged with the sin of unlawful connection with ‘the kings of the earth.’ It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the hea-then, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, re-ceives a like condemnation.”—The Great Controversy, p. 382. [Author’s italics.]

b.  How will this power come to its end?

Revelation 17:15–18: 15 And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. 18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. ”

2.  ANOTHER ANGELMon, Jun 15

a.  Describe the coming of the angel who appears in

Revelation 18:1: After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.

“The three angels’ messages are to be combined, giving their threefold light to the world. In the Revelation, John says, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.’ [Revelation 18:2–5 quoted.] This represents the giving of the last and threefold message of warning to the world.”—The SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 7 p. 985.

“The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God.”—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9.

b.  What does the glory of the angel signify, and how is it shown?

Psalm 29:1, 2: 1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

John 17:22, 23: 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

“It is when the character building is neglected, when the adornment of the soul is lacking, when the simplicity of godliness is despised, that pride and love of display demand magnificent church edifices, splen-did adornings, and imposing ceremonials. But in all this God is not honored. He values His church, not for its external advantages, but for the sincere piety which distinguishes it from the world. He estimates it according to the growth of its members in the knowledge of Christ, according to their progress in spiritual experience.”—Prophets and Kings, pp. 565, 566.

c.  How did God describe His own glory, when Moses asked to see it?

Exodus 33:18, 19: 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory. ” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord. ’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Exodus 34:5–7: 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation. ”

“The glory of the attributes of God is expressed in His character. Every page of the Holy Scriptures shines with His light. The righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no defect, no stain. No work of man can improve the great and precious gift of God. It is without a flaw.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 115.

“This character was revealed in the life of Christ. That He might by His own example condemn sin in the flesh, He took upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh. Constantly he beheld the character of God; constantly He revealed this character to the world.

“Christ desires His followers to reveal in their lives this same charac-ter.”—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 322.

3.  A WARNING MESSAGETue, Jun 16

a.  How does the angel address the dwellers in Babylon?

Revelation 18:2: And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

“Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he de-scended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which at-tended this angel penetrated everywhere, as he cried mightily, with a strong voice. . . . The message of the fall of Babylon, as given by the second angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corrup-tions which have been entering the churches since 1844.”—Early Writ-ings, p. 277.

b.  What will have changed in Babylon during the time since the first angel’s message was first proclaimed?

Revelation 18:3: For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. ”

“The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their re-fusal of the light of the advent message; but that fall was not com-plete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower. 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 Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmi-nation.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all de-ceivableness of unrighteousness;’ 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 shall be reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is yet future.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 389, 390. [Author’s italics]

4.  THE LAST CALLWed, Jun 17

a.  What urgent call is then heard by those still in Babylon?

Revelation 18:4: Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;

“Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation 14:6–12, the church will have fully reached the condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called upon to separate from her com-munion. This message is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish its work. When those that ‘believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness’ (2 Thessalonians 2:12), shall be left to receive strong delusion and to believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call: ‘Come out of her, My people’ (Revelation 18:4).”—The Great Con-troversy, p. 390.

b.  Who are the individuals referred to as “My people,” and addressed in the call to depart from Babylon?

John 10:16: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

“Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart further and further from the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no longer remain in connection with such as are ‘lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.’ ”—Ibid., p. 390.

c.  Why is the call to flee from Babylon so urgent?

Revelation 18:5–8: 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, ‘I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see. ’ 8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. ”

“The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated every-where, and those in the churches who had any light, who had not heard and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call and left the fallen churches.”—Early Writings, p. 278.

5.  READY TO GIVE THE CALLThu, Jun 18

a.  Describe the importance of a clear and definite message of warning.

Isaiah 58:1: “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.

1 Corinthians 14:7, 8: 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?

“The eighteenth chapter of Revelation reveals the importance of pre-senting the truth in no measured terms but with boldness and power. . . . There has been too much beating about the bush in the proclama-tion of the third angel’s message.”—Evangelism, p. 230.

“God meant that the watchmen should arise and with united voices send forth a decided message, giving the trumpet a certain sound, that the people might all spring to their post of duty and act their part in the great work. Then the strong, clear light of that other angel who comes down from heaven having great power, would have filled the earth with his glory. We are years behind; and those who stood in blindness and hindered the advancement of the very message that God meant should go forth from the Minneapolis meeting as a lamp that burneth, have need to humble their hearts before God and see and understand how the work has been hindered by their blindness of mind and hardness of heart.”—The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 1070.

b.  What earnest appeal of Jesus can we all take to heart individually?

John 12:35, 36: 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?

“Another angel unites his voice with the third angel, and the earth is lighted with its glory. The light increases, and it shines out to all the nations of the earth. It is to go forth as a light that burneth. It will be attended with great power, until its golden beams have fallen upon every tongue, every people, and every nation upon the face of the whole earth. Let me ask you, What you are doing to prepare for this work? Are you building for eternity? You must remember that this angel represents the people that have this message to give to the world. Are you among that people?”—The Review and Herald, August 18, 1885.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONSFri, Jun 19

1.  Explain how Rome fits the description of Babylon, the mother of harlots.

2.  What is the true glory of God which will be revealed by the other angel?

3.  Why must the message of the second angel be repeated?

4.  Where are most of the true followers of Jesus today?

5.  How can I be a positive influence rather than a hindrance to the work of God to-day?