Read Revelation 17:1-2, Revelation 17:15 and Revelation 18:1-4. How extensive is Babylon’s influence?

The fallen church system has an international reach influencing people around the world with her deceptions. Satan is enraged that the gospel will be proclaimed to every “nation, tribe, tongue, and people” and this “gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world,” so he employs every possible deception to captivate the minds of the “inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 14:6, Matthew 24:14, Revelation 17:2, NKJV).

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Revelation 17:2 continues its explanation of the mystery of Babylon the great by declaring that she has “committed fornication” with the kings of the earth. What is fornication? It’s an illicit union. In the fallen church system, uniting with the state. In the true church system, the church is united with Jesus Christ. The fallen church looks to the political leaders of the earth for power and authority. It seeks the state to enforce its decrees. Rather than drawing her strength from Jesus as her true head, she looks to the state for support.

Revelation 17:2 continues its dramatic portrayal:

“And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (NKJV). The symbolism of the pure juice of the grape is used throughout the New Testament to represent the untainted, pure blood of Christ poured out for our salvation on the cross (Matthew 26:27-29). In Luke 22:20 Jesus says, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (NKJV). When the pure, new wine of the gospel is distorted, and the teachings of the Word of God are replaced with the teachings of human religious leaders, it becomes the “wine of Babylon.” (See Matthew 15:9.)

Notice, too, that God calls His people out of Babylon. In other words, no matter how corrupt and evil the system is, its reach is so wide that it encompasses, at least for a certain time, His faithful ones, or “my people,” (Revelation 18:4) as He calls them. Yet, the time is coming when God will call them out of that corrupt and evil system, which is about to fall because of its corrupt and evil nature, this “dwelling place of demons” and the “cage for every unclean and hated bird” (Revelation 18:2, NKJV).

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Revelation 12:17 and Revelation 17:14. How is God’s church described, and what is Satan’s reaction to it?

Down through the centuries, God has always had a people who have been faithful to Him. Revelation 12:17 describes their faithfulness as those who “keep the commandments of God,” and also who are elsewhere depicted as “called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14, NKJV).

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?

John wrote the book of Revelation at the end of the first century. By this time, the ancient city of Babylon was a dust heap. When John wrote down the messages in the book of Revelation, the literal city of Babylon had been destroyed for more than several centuries.

In Revelation the ancient city of Babylon is taken to be a type, or symbol, of the end-time Babylon. In the prophecies of Revelation, Babylon represents a false religious system that will have similar characteristics to Old Testament Babylon. The principles that guided ancient Babylon will be the undergirding structure of modern, spiritual Babylon.

In Revelation 17:1-6, a woman dressed in purple and scarlet strides across the landscape of time. This woman rides upon a scarlet-colored beast. The Bible calls her a harlot. She has left her true lover, Jesus Christ. Here the apostle John gives us a graphic portrayal of an apostate system of religion that has powerful influence in the world. Look at the wording: this power was one with “whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:2, NKJV). Drunk? Always a negative in the Bible. And fornication? Symbolic of the false teachings, false doctrine, and practice.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Revelation 17:1-2, Revelation 17:15; Revelation 18:1-4; Revelation 17:4-6; Matthew 16:18; Jeremiah 50:33-38; Psalm 115:4-8.

Memory Text: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14, NKJV).

The great controversy theme is summarized in Revelation with the symbolism of two women: one clothed with the sun, in Revelation 12:1-17, and one dressed in scarlet, in Revelation 17:1-18.

The striking symbol of the woman clothed with the sun, in the dazzling glory of Christ, is found in Revelation 12:1-17. She is faithful to her true lover, Jesus. She is not defiled with the corruption of false doctrines. Throughout the Bible, a pure woman symbolizes the bride of Jesus, or the true church. In Jeremiah 6:2, the prophet says, “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman” (NKJV). The prophet uses the expression “daughter of Zion” or a faithful woman to describe God’s people. (See also Ephesians 5:25-32 and Hosea 2:20.)

In contrast, the Bible likens apostasy to harlotry or adultery (James 4:4). Speaking of Israel’s rebellion and unfaithfulness, Ezekiel laments, “You are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband“ (Ezekiel 16:32, NKJV).

In this week’s lesson, we will study these two women of Revelation and probe, more deeply, the conflict between truth and error.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 27.

Sunday–>

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The Mission program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is an opportunity for us to understand the needs of others and share in supporting them. Please click on the image below to watch the Mission Spotlight presentation for this week:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDaI1Z7dR2Q&w=560&h=315]

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Quandary of Two Books

By Clifford Goldstein

When I grew up in a secular Jewish home, the essence of my religious experience could be summed up by how we kept the holidays: They tried to kill us, they failed – let’s eat! Nevertheless, I was always a seeker for truth.

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In the fall of 1979, my seeking took me down the path of the occult and spiritualism. I even had a few experiences with astral travel. Not knowing the source of these experiences, only that they were real, I decided to start reading about them. Thus, I walked over to the library at the University of Florida to get a book on the occult and start delving deeper into it.

At that point, I was a hungry writer who needed a job. As I was walking to the library, I stopped at a health food store in order to ask for work. A man came out and, as soon as I said something about the supernatural, he blurted out, “What?” He dragged me into the store and locked the door. After I told him about my experiences, he tried to warn me about demonic influences. Well, he might as well have talked to me about Santa Claus as about the devil. Before I left, he handed me a book and said, “Please, read it.”

Thus, with his book in hand, I went over to the University of Florida library and found an occult book. Because I wasn’t in school, I could not check it out, so I sat down in the library, read the first chapter, and even practiced the first technique, all of which was very new to me. Then, I went and hid the book on the shelves so that I could be sure that no one would check it out before I was done reading it myself.

Anyway, here’s the rub: I was walking through the library with the two books. In one hand I had, for the first time in my life, this book on the occult; in the other, for the first time in my life, I had the book that the man in the health food store gave me. One book in one hand, one book in the other. Occult book in one hand, and what was in the other? The Great Controversy. At the time, I was clueless as to what was unfolding around me.

A few days later, after an amazing confrontation with the Lord, I gave my heart to Jesus and those occult experiences never came back. Soon afterward I read The Great Controversy, a life-changing experience. No question, the Lord arranged for this powerful, timely, and important book to come into my life. Yes, I was a seeker for truth, and I found so much of it there.

Join the global church in 2023 and 2024 in the mass promotion and distribution of The Great Controversy. Visit greatcontroversyproject[dot]com for more information or ask your pastor.

Clifford Goldstein, a prolific author, has served as editor of the Adult Bible Study Guide since 1999.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission. Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

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