REVIEW QUESTIONS.—(a) By what is the union between Christ and his church symbolized? (b) By what means was this union to be maintained? (c) What took place in the church soon after the apostles’ day? (d) To whom did she turn?
1. What message follows the message of Rev. 14:6, 7.
“And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Rev. 14:8.
2. What is there declared of Babylon?
3. Why did Babylon fall? Ans.—Because of rejecting Christ and committing fornication with the kings of the earth.
4. What is Babylon called in other scriptures?
“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” “And the woman was 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 of her fornication; and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Rev. 18:21; 17:4, 5. See note .
5. What does the term as here used symbolize? Ans.—An apostate church.
ORIGIN OF TERM.
6. What is the origin of the term “Babylon”?
“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” “Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Gen. 10:10, margin; 11:9.
7. What was the original meaning of the word to the natural man?
Ans.—The original word from which Babylon came was Bab-ilu, which in the Semitic language means the “gate of God,” the way to heaven. See “Story of the Nations—Chaldea,” by Ragozin (Putnam), pp. 225, 249; “Manual of Ancient History of the East,” by Lenormant, vol. 1, p. 24.
8. What was the object and the motive of the people in building the tower of Bab-ilu?
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” Gen. 11:4. See note .
9. What did the Lord pronounce this scheme of self-salvation to be?
“Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called confusion; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” Verses 7–9, margin. See note .
10. What spirit has been characteristic of Babylon both literal and symbolical through the world’s history? Ans.—Self-righteousness, self-exaltation. See Dan. 4:30; Isa. 47:8, 10; Rev. 17:4; 18:7. Compare with 46:9.
11. In whom does this spirit of self-exaltation find its source?
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14:12–14.
“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Eze. 28:17, first part.
12. What is the true spirit of Christianity in contrast with this?
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matt. 16:24.
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:3–8.
13. How was this spirit of self manifest in the early apostasy?
Ans.—The bishops of the Christian church multiplied rites and ceremonies and holy days. They said by this that God’s word and wisdom were not sufficient; it required their wisdom and their words to make God’s plan effectually the “gate of God;” but, as of old, God pronounced it Babylon—confusion.
14. What was the next inevitable step for Babylon to take?
Ans.—The church turned from the Lord and sought power of the state. She left her lawful spouse and committed fornication with the kings of the earth. Compare 2 Cor. 11:2 with Rev. 14:8; 17:2. This was the last step in her separation from Christ. Out of this came persecution of those who did not subscribe to her creed.
15. What especial heathen custom was adopted by the church, and why?
Ans.—Observance of Sunday, the day dedicated by the heathen to the sun. “That very day was the Sunday of their heathen neighbors and respective countrymen, and patriotism gladly united with expediency in making it at once their Lord’s day and their sabbath.”—North British Review, vol. 18, p. 409. See “The Lord’s Day the Test of the Ages,” pp. 90–95.
16. What did the apostate church secure from the state?
Ans.—The very first Sunday law of which we have record was made on March 7, 321 A.D., by Constantine: “On the venerable day of the sun let all magistrates and people residing in the cities, rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their labor, because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain sowing, or for vine planting, lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations, the bounty of heaven be lost.”—Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Art. Sunday Legislation.
17. What important decision was made by the Council of Nice, convened by Constantine? Ans.—That Easter should always and everywhere be observed on Sunday. See note .
18. Who was bishop of Rome during this part of Constantine’s reign? Ans.—Sylvester, from January 31, 314, to December 31, 335.
19. What did he decree by “apostolic authority” shortly after the Council of Nice? Ans.—That Sunday should be called the Lord’s day. See “History of the Sabbath,” p. 351.
20. What was decreed by the Council of Laodicea, A.D. 364? Ans.—That if Christians should rest on the Sabbath, “let them be accursed from Christ.” See “Prynne’s Dissertation on the Lord’s Day,” pp. 34–44.
21. What followed these decrees?
Ans.—A more rigid law followed, in 386. The church teachers in 401 petitioned the emperor that “public shows might be transferred from the Christian Sunday to some other day of the week, that the faithful might not be disturbed,” and that the people might be restrained from attending the theaters, which were “vastly more frequented than the church.” In fact, the same reasons for a Sunday law were given then as are used now. These shows were first prohibited by law in 485. (See “Rights of the People,” pp. 215–237.) Thus the church appealed to and received aid from the state, which she never would have needed, says Neander, if it had not been for “that secular spirit which in this period seized upon the church.” Babylon was in unlawful union with the kings of the earth.
22. What grew out of this? Ans.—The full development of the “man of sin,” the “mystery of iniquity,” foretold in 2 Thess. 2:3, 4, 7.
