Sabbath Afternoon - May 20, 2023

Reading for the Week

Rev. 17:1, 2, 15; Rev. 18:1-4; Rev. 17:4-6; Matt. 16:18; Jer. 50:33-38; Ps. 115:4-8. 

Prayer Thought

The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upwards, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. At the end of every sentence, the saints shouted, Glory! Hallelujah! Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and they shone with the glory as Moses’ face did when he came down from Sinai. The wicked could not look on them for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God, in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the Beast, and over his Image. {ExV 17.3} Experience and Views

Then commenced the jubilee, when the land should rest. I saw the pious slave rise in triumph and victory, and shake off the chains that bound him, while his wicked master was in confusion, and knew not what to do; for the wicked could not understand the words of the voice of God.


Memory Text

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.  {Rev. 17:14}


This SS week's Lesson will dig deeper into the mine of truth concerning the events that will transpire in the world as the truth is being unfolded through the illumination of the Spirit of Truth promised by Jesus to His disciples (John 16:13). This includes the description of the opposing power and system that reveals its own nature and purposes.


Study Outline

Sunday - May 21, 2023

Two Opposite Systems

Rev. 12:17; 17:1-6, 14; 14:8; Eph. 6:10-18

Monday - May 22, 2023

The Wine of God's Wrath - Two Types of Wine

Rev. 14:6; 17:1, 2, 13; 18:1-4; Mat. 24:14; 26:27-29; 15:9; Lk. 22:20

Tuesday - May 23, 2023

Mystery, Babylon the Great - Two Ways of Thinking

Rev. 17:4-6; Gen. 11:1-4; 11:9; Isa. 49:26

Wednesday - May 24, 2023

A Call to Commitment - Two Different Leaders

Mat. 16:18; 17:14; Dan. 3; 2Thess. 2:4

Thursday - May 25, 2023

Babylon: The Center of Idolatry - Two Ways of Worshiping

Jer. 50:33-38; 51:15, 16, 17, 47; Exo. 20:4-6; Ps. 115:4-8

Friday - May 26, 2023

Further Study and Meditation

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Sunday - May 21, 2023

Two Opposite Systems

Rev. 12:17; 17:1-6, 14; 14:8; Eph. 6:10-18

“And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’” (Revelation 14:8)


A System that Tests through a Decree

The trying experiences that came to God's people in the days of Esther were not peculiar to that age alone. . . . The same spirit that in ages past led men to persecute the true church, will in the future lead to the pursuance of a similar course toward those who maintain their loyalty to God. . . . The decree that will finally go forth against the remnant people of God will be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews. Today the enemies of the true church see in the little company keeping the Sabbath commandment, a Mordecai at the gate. The reverence of God's people for His law is a constant rebuke to those who have cast off the fear of the Lord and are trampling on His Sabbath. . . .  {CC 245.3}  

Men of position and reputation will join with the lawless and the vile to take counsel against the people of God. Wealth, genius, education, will combine to cover them with contempt. Persecuting rulers, ministers, and church members will conspire against them.  {CC 245.4}  


Church and State Unite

As the Protestant churches reject the clear, Scriptural arguments in defense of God's law, they will long to silence those whose faith they cannot overthrow by the Bible. Though they blind their own eyes to the fact, they are now adopting a course which will lead to the persecution of those who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of the Christian world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of the papal sabbath. {DD 35.3} 

The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet's words: "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. {DD 35.4} 


A War with the Saints - Apostasy is the Voice of Satan

Those who apostatize are voicing the words of the dragon. We have to meet the satanic agencies who went to make war with the saints. "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17). Those who apostatize leave the true and faithful people of God, and fraternize with those who represent Barabbas. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).  {2SM 395.2}  

I write this because many in the church are represented to me as seeing men like trees walking. They must have another and deeper experience before they discern the snares spread to take them in the net of the deceiver. There must be no halfway work done now. The Lord calls for stanch, decided, whole-souled men and women to stand in the gap, and make up the hedge. [Isaiah 58:12-14 quoted.]  {2SM 395.3}  

There is a decided testimony to be borne by all our ministers in all our churches. God has permitted apostasies to take place in order to show how little dependence can be placed in man. We are always to look to God; His word is not Yea and Nay, but Yea and Amen.--Undated Manuscript 148.  {2SM 395.4}  


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Consider the Following

The Roman emperor Trajan visited Babylon in 116 AD, soon after John wrote Revelation. He found only ruins. Therefore, John was not talking about the literal city of Babylon.

According to Genesis 11:9, Babylon means “confusion.” In the End Time, a religious system will mix truth and lies, thus causing confusion.

On the other hand, the pure woman is a symbol of a religious system based on the truth


Monday - May 22, 2023

The Wine of God's Wrath - Two Types of Wine

Rev. 14:6; 17:1, 2, 13; 18:1-4; Mat. 24:14; 26:27-29; 15:9; Lk. 22:20

“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” (Revelation 18:3)


The World Breaks God's Law - Worship the Beast and His Image

The world and the churches are breaking God's law, and the warning must be given, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation." With such a curse hanging over the transgressors of God's holy Sabbath, should we not show greater earnestness, greater zeal? Why are we so indifferent, so selfish, so engrossed in temporal interests? Is our interest separated from Jesus? Has the truth become too pointed, too close in its application to our souls; and like the disciples of Christ who were offended, have we turned away to the beggarly elements of the world? We spend money for selfish purposes, and gratify our own desires, while souls are dying without a knowledge of Jesus and the truth. How long shall this continue?  {CS 51.1}  

All should have a living faith,--a faith which works by love, and purifies the soul. Men and women are ready to do anything to indulge self, but how little are they willing to do for Jesus, and for their fellow men who are perishing for the want of the truth!. . 


The Fierceness of His Wrath

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake, "such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." Verses 17, 18. The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of a hurricane like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have become like Sodom for wickedness are swallowed up by the angry waters. Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God, "to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." Great hailstones, every one "about the weight of a talent," are doing their work of destruction. Verses 19, 21. The proudest cities of the earth are laid low. The lordly palaces, upon which the world's great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent asunder, and God's people, who have been held in bondage for their faith, are set free. {DD 46.4} 


The Final Warning Given

With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment, receives the mark of the beast; he accepts the sign of  allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God. The warning from Heaven is, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” [Revelation 14:9, 10.]  {GC88 604.3} 

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its true light. He who reads every heart, and tries every motive, will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Every one is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently.  {GC88 605.1} 

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it is the point of truth especially controverted. 


Consider the Following

Babylon has “fornicated” with kings and merchants. The church has abandoned her true husband (Jesus) and has illicitly joined with civil powers.

She has adulterated the pure wine of the Gospel and has given the wine of her own thoughts to the nations. She no longer follows Christ in order to get the support of the State.

However, the pure church has remained faithful to her Husband. She only serves pure wine, the precious blood of Christ that washes away sin (Matthew 26:28).

God calls His children in Babylon to come out of it (Revelation 18:3-4).


Tuesday - May 23, 2023

Mystery, Babylon the Great - Two Ways of Thinking

Rev. 17:4-6; Gen. 11:1-4; 11:9; Isa. 49:26

“And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:5)


The Scarlet Colored Beast and the Woman

 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, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots." Says the prophet: "I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Babylon is further declared to be "that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Revelation 17:4-6, 18. The power that for so many centuries 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 also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with "the kings of the earth." It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.  {GC 382.2}  

Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. 


Deceiver of All Nations - Babylon the Great

In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. [Revelation 17:1-4 quoted.]  {7BC 983.3} 

Thus is represented the papal power, which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, by outside attraction and gorgeous display, deceives all nations; promising them, as did Satan our first parents, all good to those who receive its mark, and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies. The power which has the deepest inward corruption will make the greatest display, and will clothe itself with the most elaborate signs of power. The Bible plainly declares that this covers a corrupt and deceiving wickedness. "Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth."  {7BC 983.4}  

What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath (Letter 232, 1899).  {7BC 983.5}  


Consider the Following

The figurative Babylon changed the Word of God for human thoughts and traditions.

❖ There are two types of religion: The one that follows God’s Word and trusts Jesus, His grace, His sacrifice, and His salvation. And the one that follows its own philosophies and trusts human authority, leaders, and traditions.

❖ Babylon has always tried to destroy those who keep the pure faith (Revelation 17:6).


Wednesday - May 24, 2023

A Call to Commitment - Two Different Leaders

Mat. 16:18; 17:14; Dan. 3; 2Thess. 2:4

“So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Revelation 17:3)


Two Leaders of Earth's Inhabitants

When the youth is converted, do not leave him in idleness; give him something to do in the vineyard of the Master. According to his ability, let him be employed; for the Lord has given to every man his work. Let us cooperate with the Lord in every line, and set in operation every means whereby the powers of those connected with the school may be developed for usefulness. The inhabitants of the world are ranging themselves under the banners of the two leaders of earth's inhabitants. Christ, the Prince of life, and Satan, the prince of darkness, are urging men and women and youth into service. It is the work of the Christian teacher and scholar to make earnest efforts that the ranks of Christ may be continually increased, to invite every soul to stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel--TSS 50, 51.  {CSW 82.1} 


A Confederacy of Satan's Forces - World Leaders Confederate

[Revelation 17:13, 14 quoted.] "These have one mind." There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces. "And shall give their power and strength unto the beast." Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.  {7BC 983.6} 

In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth (MS 24, 1891).  {7BC 983.7}  


Experience with the Comforter

When He should come forth from the tomb, their sorrow would be turned to joy. After His ascension He was to be absent in person; but through the Comforter He would still be with them, and they were not to spend their time in mourning. This was what Satan wanted. He desired them to give the world the impression that they had been deceived and disappointed; but by faith they were to look to the sanctuary above, where Jesus was ministering for them; they were to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit, His representative, and to rejoice in the light of His presence. Yet days of temptation and trial would come, when they would be brought into conflict with the rulers of this world, and the leaders of the kingdom of darkness; when Christ was not personally with them, and they failed to discern the Comforter, then it would be more fitting for them to fast.  {DA 277.4}  


Consider the Following

Babylon is seated on many waters (Revelation 17:1, 15), and her foundation is a scarlet beast (Revelation 17:3). It’s based on a human system, so her leader is also a person or a human institution (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

❖ However, the pure church is founded on the Rock, the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Savior (Matthew 16:16-18; 1 Corinthians 3:11). Her leader is Jesus (Colossians 1:18).

❖ In the last days of our history, a Church-State system will arise again, the spiritual Babylon. It will have a spiritual leader that will claim to speak in God’s name and will try to take His place.


Thursday - May 25, 2023

Babylon: The Center of Idolatry - Two Ways of Worshiping

Jer. 50:33-38; 51:15, 16, 17, 47; Exo. 20:4-6; Ps. 115:4-8

“A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, and they are insane with their idols.” (Jeremiah 50:38)


True Worship and the Hypocrisy of the Pharisee

The Pharisee and the publican represent two great classes into which those who come to worship God are divided. Their first two representatives are found in the first two children that were born into the world. Cain thought himself righteous, and he came to God with a thank offering only. He made no confession of sin, and acknowledged no need of mercy. But Abel came with the blood that pointed to the Lamb of God. He came as a sinner, confessing himself lost; his only hope was the unmerited love of God. The Lord had respect to his offering, but to Cain and his offering He had not respect. The sense of need, the recognition of our poverty and sin, is the very first condition of acceptance with God. "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3.  {COL 152.1}  


Two Conflicting Ways of Worship

 In the issue of the contest, all Christendom will be divided into two great classes,—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Although church and State will unite their power to compel “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive “the mark of the beast,” [Revelation 13:16.] yet the people of God will not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds “them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God,” and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. [Revelation 15:2, 3.]  {GC88 450.1} 


Consider the Following

Idolatry was one of the causes of Babylon’s fall (Jeremiah 50:38). Worshipping images was also introduced early in Church history (4th Century), moving Christians away from true worship.

However, the pure church obeys all of God’s commandments (Revelation 12:17), including the second one which prohibits creating and worshipping images (Exodus 20:4-6).

When people worship images, they’re reducing God’s majesty to a lifeless statue. They degrade themselves, making themselves similar to the objects they worship (Romans 1:23; Psalm 115:4-8)


Friday - May 26, 2023

Further Study and Meditation

The end is near and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had.--1MR 248 (1902).  {LDE 111.3}  

O that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry.--Ev 29 (1903).  {LDE 111.4}  

The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments.--Ev 29 (1910).  {LDE 111.5}  


Questions to Ponder


From the Pen of Inspiration

“The fallen denominational churches are Babylon. Babylon has been fostering poisonous doctrines, the wine of error. This wine of error is made up of false doctrines, such as the natural immortality of the soul, the eternal torment of the wicked […] These and kindred errors are presented to the world by the various churches.” E. G. W. (Evangelism, cp. 10, p. 365)

“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.” E. G. W. (Last Day Events, cp. 14, p. 198)



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