BABYLON by James White

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 10, 1859

BABYLON.

By James White

Rev. xviii, 1-4. "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

The word Babylon comes from Babel, and signifies "confusion or mixture." See Gen. x, 10; xi, 9. Once when men were all of one language, they undertook to build a "city, and a tower whose top should reach unto heaven." But God came down and confounded their language, so that they "could 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 building the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel, [margin, that is, confusion,] because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth." Gen. xi, 1-9. Babylon, signifying confusion, well applies to the many denominations of professed Christians, with their different creeds, holding forth such confusion of sentiments. We are aware that many will object to this view; but we ask such as do object to make a better application.

The fall of Babylon is a moral fall. This may aid us in determining what Babylon is. That her fall is a moral change is evident from the order of events given. First, she falls, second, she becomes the habitation of devils, and "the hold of every foul spirit," &c.; third, God's people are called out of her; and, fourth, her plagues are poured out upon her, and she is thrown down with violence, "like a great millstone cast into the sea," and "found no more at all."

If Babylon be applied to the Roman Catholic church, then we inquire, When did that church morally fall? and then, as a second event, become corrupt and spiritually wicked? She has always been low and corrupt.

Again, Babylon is where God's people are, and from which they are called out, a short time before the seven last plagues are poured out. This is evident from Rev. xviii, 4. "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." As the plagues are still future, and immediately follow Babylon's fall, and the call to God's people, the present is shown to be the period of her fallen condition, and the time for God's people to be called out of her. This forbids the idea of applying the text to the Catholic church in past time. Where, then, are the people of God of this generation? Are they in the Roman Catholic church? No; they have been, and many still are, in the Protestant sects. Bear this in mind: Babylon is where God's people are, a short time before the seven last plagues are poured out. She morally falls, and the people of God are called out to escape her plagues. This shows the propriety of applying Babylon to the sects, and locates the whole scene in a short period, just prior to the Second Advent.

If it be said that the city of Rome is Babylon, and that her fall is the burning of that literal city, then we would ask, How can the city of Rome "become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird" after it is burned? And how is it possible for God's people to be in Rome, (in order to be called out,) after that city is burned, and is thrown down with violence, like a great millstone cast into the sea by a mighty angel, and "found no more at all." Will God's people be in Rome after that city is no more? Again, the people of God are called out of Babylon to escape her plagues. But will they flee out of Rome after it is burned, to escape plagues, of which her being burned is her last plague? "Her plagues shall come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire." Rev. xviii, 8. The true application of Babylon is free from all these inconsistencies. The prophecy when rightly applied, will fit like the glove to the hand, being made purposely for it.

We unhesitatingly apply the Babylon of the Apocalypse to all corrupt christianity. The term, signifying confusion, is perfectly applicable to the many different sects, each holding different sentiments, and all united with the world. The Protestant sects are fitly represented by the harlot daughters of the woman of Rev. xvii, 4, 5. The woman that would leave her husband, and unite with, and seek protection from, another, would be called thus.

The professed church of Christ has left the arm of her true husband, and now leans upon the strong arm of the law. She seeks protection, and to be nourished by the corrupt governments of the world, and is properly represented by the harlot daughters of the old mother, she being a symbol of the Catholic church. As the woman should cleave to her husband, so should the church cleave to Christ, and instead of seeking the arm of the law for protection in the worship of God, lean only on the potent arm of her Beloved. The nominal churches are unlawfully wedded to the world. This may be seen in the various departments of civil government. Even in the war department, the professed minister of Jesus Christ is seen mocking the God of peace with his prayers for success in battle. The testimony of the Apostle is a binder on this point: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? (How few know this!) Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

That Babylon, or the nominal churches have fallen, they themselves have borne most solemn testimony. Turn back, dear reader, to pages 22-34, under the head, Iniquity Abounds. See also Three Angels of Rev. xiv, 6-12, pp. 61-64; Facts for the Times, pp. 36-50, published at the Review Office.

But it may be said that our views of the moral fall and spiritual death of the churches is shown to be incorrect by the great revivals of 1858. Well, let the Congregationalist, published in Boston, speak on this subject. In a leading editorial for Nov. 19th, 1858, the editor says:

"Mr. Theodore Parker, during the great awakening a few months since, sneeringly told us that a score of such revivals would never close a dram-shop, or liberate a slave. 'Fas est et ab hoste doceri.'

The slander—like many other slanders—contained a grain of truth which is this: that even the revived piety of our churches is not such that one can confidently infer, from its mere existence, its legitimate, practical fruits. It ought, for example, to be as certain, after such a shower of grace, that the treasuries of our benevolent societies would be filled, as it is after a plentiful rain, that the streams will swell in their channels. But the managers of our societies are bewailing the feebleness of the sympathy and aid of the churches.

"There is another and sadder illustration of the same general truth. The Watchman and Reflector recently stated that there had never been among the Baptists so lamentable a spread of church dissension as prevails at present. And the sad fact is mentioned that this sin infects the very churches which shared most largely in the late revival. And the still more melancholy fact is added, that these alienations date back their origin, in most cases, to the very midst of that scene of awakening. Even a glance at the weekly journals of our own denomination will evince that the evil is by no means confined to the Baptists. Our own columns have, perhaps, never borne so humiliating a record of contentions and ecclesiastical litigations as during the last few months."

This testimony, coming from two very high sources in the religious world, makes the real condition of fallen Babylon appear worse than before her spurious revivals.

Let it here be distinctly understood that the second angel [Rev. xiv, 8] is in the past. But the angel of Rev. xviii, 1-4, belongs to the present, and more especially to the future. This angel is to proclaim what the angel of chap. xiv, 8, did, and also something more, which has been taking place since Babylon fell. He adds, "and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." The second angel who announced in 1844 that Babylon had fallen, could not then also declare that she was a hold of foul spirits, for the history of her foul spirits has been since that date.

Mesmerism, Satan's mildest bait, was but little known in this country prior to 1844; since then the church has been bewitched with its damning influence. Psychology was not mentioned; and no one so much as dreamed of all this clattering of ten thousand demons from the infernal regions, rapping, moving chairs, stands, tables, &c. That Babylon's cup is full, we do not believe. But the present movements of Spiritualism show the text fast fulfilling. When accomplished, the wrath of God, unmixed with mercy, will be poured out.

But it may be said that the church as a body does not believe in the spirit manifestations. Very well; twelve years since they were not known. And for two or three years after the rapping was first heard, almost every one looked upon it as a deception. But as Spiritualism has rapidly advanced, there have more ministers embraced it than any other class of professional men, and church members form a large portion of the body of Spiritualists.

But we shall contend that this sin of necromancy rests upon Babylon. She is accountable for it; for this prominent point of her popular theology, found in all her creeds, that all men have immortality, and that the dead have knowledge, is the very basis of Spiritualism.

The Bible doctrine of immortality through Christ alone, and that conditional, and that the "dead know not anything," disrobes these demons, and exposes their hideousness. It shows that they are not the spirits of the dead, but lying spirits sent forth to do the work of him who was a liar from the beginning. It is a perfect safe-guard against the strong delusion of Spiritualism. But we do not see how those who hold that all men have immortality, and that the spirit, separated from the body at death, is conscious, can stand against this heresy.

A writer in the Spiritual Telegraph truthfully states: "Scarcely do we hear a funeral sermon, or read a book or a paper devoted to sacred subjects, but either directly or indirectly the subject of guardian angels and the continued existence of the spirit

after death is alluded to. These are some of the strong points on which Spiritualists rest their claims."

Go into our burying grounds, and there you may read on almost every gravestone, that the dead are still living. Wherever the eye falls upon the inscriptions on elegant monuments, or plain marble slabs, the impression is given that the soul separated from the body at death, joyfully and unencumbered, took its flight, and now lives in heaven. This is illustrated by the following, taken from an exchange paper:

"A marble monument in the form of an obelisk, has recently been put up in the old burying ground in Concord, N. H., to mark the spot where lie the remains of the son of President Pierce, who lost his life by the accident on the Boston and Maine Railroad. The monument bears the following inscription: 'BENJAMIN PIERCE, born April 13th, 1841; died January 6th, 1853. Go thy way, thy son liveth.'"

Does President Pierce believe what is stated in the last clause of the above; that his son, who died Jan. 6, 1853, "liveth?" If he does, then why may he not expect a visit now and then from his only son? Suppose some accomplished demon should visit his abode, and imitate the handwriting of the deceased, and in a manner calculated to touch the finest feelings of the soul, freely communicate with those bereaved parents; move chairs, tables, &c., play instruments of music; or even imitate the well-known voice of that only child. Would those parents be likely to resist that visitor, and drive him from them? Or would they believe him to be the spirit of their dear son? The reader may answer.

Not many years since, at the funeral of a virtuous young lady, the minister, while addressing the mourners, pointed to the coffin before the pulpit, saying, "Mary is not there. That is but the lifeless clay. Mary has gone to her God. Or, perhaps, her spirit has returned, and is now watching over this mourning circle."

Suppose distinct raps by some unseen hand that very moment had been made on the floor near the mourners; who of that congregation that hung upon the words of the eloquent speaker, would have doubted its being the spirit of Mary that produced the rappings? No one.

Now suppose that the minister, at the moment the rapping was heard, was uttering the Bible doctrine that immortality is conditional, to be given to the saints only at the resurrection, and that the dead know not anything. Who of that audience would have supposed that the raps were produced by the spirit of Mary? No one.

Thus we see that one of the great leading doctrines found in all the creeds of Babylon, forms the basis of Spiritualism. It has opened a wide door for Satan to come in and deceive the world. By many the doctrine of immortality through Christ has been classed with the non-essentials of the Bible. They will now see its importance. But we are of the opinion that the Bible does not contain non-essentials. The Lord has carefully kept them out, so that all scripture is "profitable."

Let it here be understood that we speak of the church as a body. That God has ministers and people yet in Babylon who are striving for heaven, amid the moral darkness that envelops her, we fully believe. This is evident from the fact that after the angel [Rev. xviii, 1-3,] proclaims the fall of Babylon, and that she has become a hold of foul spirits, &c., the voice from heaven [verse 4] says: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

What a moment of extreme interest is the present! The pouring out of the vials of God's wrath is the great event before us. A little space is left. God's people to flee out of Babylon, and thereby "be not partakers of her sins," (the most prominent of which are modern witchcraft and necromancy,) and "receive not of her plagues." The tenderest feelings of the heart go out after God's people now sitting in darkness. Our spirit yearns over them. O God, send out light and truth, and save them speedily! O blessed Saviour, bring the sheep and lambs to thy fold, before the wolves devour them.

CRY OF PEACE AND SAFETY.

"But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. . . . and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." I Thess. v, 1-6.

Two distinct classes are here spoken of. One class, called brethren, have an understanding of the times and seasons. They are not in darkness so that that day should overtake them as a thief. They are the children of the light and of the day. They are not asleep; but awake and watching for the day of the Lord. The other class will not understand the times and seasons; and when the day of wrath is hasting upon them greatly, they will be crying "peace and safety." They will be in darkness, or without knowledge as to the approach of the day of the Lord, and sudden destruction will come upon them as a thief in the night, and there will be no escape for them. The two classes are represented thus: One by a person awake and watching; the other by a person asleep.

The doctrine of a temporal millennium is of quite recent date, and is well calculated to lull men to sleep. While looking for the world's conversion, they will not be expecting the day of wrath. The first who taught the modern doctrine of a temporal millennium was Daniel Whitby, who died, 1726, aged 88 years.

Our Lord taught that the wheat and tares should grow together until the harvest; and the harvest is the end of the world. And that as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also at the coming of the Son of man. "Wide is the gate," said our Lord, "and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. vii, 13, 14. He does not say the narrow way to life is to grow wider and wider, till the whole world can walk in it. The scriptures plainly teach that as we approach the end, the love of many will wax cold, men will be turned from the truth to fables, so that the few who bend their lonely footsteps in the narrow way to life, will be less and less. O that honest souls, now asleep as to the Lord's coming, dreaming of the world's conversion, would awake before sudden destruction comes upon them!

The doctrine of universal salvation is also of recent date. It is a device of Satan to close the ear against the warning voice of truth. The Universalist has taken the advantage of the unscriptural doctrine that all men have immortality, and that the sinner is to wail eternally in hell fire, and has built himself up on these errors found in the creeds of the churches. But lay out the doctrine of immortality through Christ, and obtained at the resurrection of the just, at the second coming of Christ, and the Universalist is "done over" at once. To suit its views, the words of our Lord, [Matt. vii, 13, 14,] should be altered so as to read something as follows: Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to life, and all the world go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and none can find it!

The alarm has been given. The gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world; and the fears of the people have been aroused. But the evil servant cried, "My Lord delayeth his coming," which put the fears of thousands to an end. Then, when the period of confident expectation of the coming of the Lord passed by, the scoffer triumphed, and the unprepared were greatly relieved. The world and the body of the church have fallen asleep upon the subject of the judgment at hand. Such a time of "ease in Zion" never was known. "Peace and safety" is heard throughout the land.

But we are of the opinion that this cry of peace and safety is yet to have a more perfect fulfillment in the wide-spread delusion of Spiritualism. That "ism" has no Devil, no judgment, and no punishment of the wicked. All enter some one of the circles of the spirit world at death. There the vilest find pardon of sins committed in this world, and ascend in triumph to the higher circles!! All are safe; for although they may be guilty of crime of the blackest dye, yet at death they can do nothing less than to enter some one of these lower circles.

That enemy of Jesus Christ, Thomas Paine, is now reported through a medium, Rev. C. Hammond, to be in the highest circle of the spirit world! He says that his name is "written in the records of eternal life," that he has received his plaudit, "Well done, good servant," that he has obtained the "reward" of the faithful, and has entered into eternal "joy."!! Nothing short of a demon could have the brass to talk of Paine on this wise. We give the following brief description of Paine's character, from the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.

"This unhappy unbeliever died in contempt and misery. His disgusting vices, his intemperance and profligacy, made him an outcast from all respectable society. He is represented as irritable, vain, cowardly, filthy, envious, malignant, dishonest and drunken. In the distress of his last sickness, he frequently called out, 'Lord Jesus! help me.' Dr. Manley asked him, whether from his calling so often on the Saviour, it was to be inferred that he believed the gospel. He replied at last, 'I have no wish to believe on that subject.'"

So died Thomas Paine, in the depths of wickedness; and now he is a sainted spirit in the highest circle of the spirit world, and has come to teach this "Rev. Charles Hammond," who, under his inspiration, is to enlighten the world!!

What a hope is here held out to the vilest sinner! He may go on in crime, and feel assured of finally reveling with Paine in the glories of the higher circles of heaven!! It is evident that all who are caught in the snare of Spiritualism, will, with feelings of perfect "peace and safety," risk their soul's salvation, without repentance, and without the benefits of the atoning blood of Christ.

"When they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them," &c. From this we understand that those who reject the truth, and are in darkness as to the approach of the day of the Lord, will be united in the cry of peace and safety. We see but two classes in that dreadful hour. One is obeying the injunction of the Apostle, "Let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober." With the deepest interest they are watching the signs of the times, lest the day of the Lord come upon them as a thief. The other class is saying, "Peace and safety."

We might here mention the abundance of riches, silver and gold, heaped together, not only by individuals, but by numerous incorporations. Look at the many banking institutions, the amount of insurance capital, &c. &c., now existing, and then read what the Apostle says to the rich respecting their treasures. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you; your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten; your gold and your silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." James v, 1-3.

Dear reader, we have pointed out some of the most prominent signs of the immediate coming of the Son of man, and have shown their fulfillment by well known facts. We have seen the signs given the Jews to prove to them that Jesus was the true Messiah; also the more numerous and impressive signs of his Second Advent. Christ said of the Jews, that the men of Nineveh would rise up in the Judgment and condemn that generation. Also that it would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of Judgment than for them. If you reject greater light, how will you stand in the Judgment? Will it not be more tolerable for the Jews than for you? O reject not the plain word of the Lord, now fulfilling before your eyes. Prepare to meet thy God.