In his vision, John saw an angel that is different from
the angel of verse 6 and the seven trumpet angels.
Evidently, this angel will likewise fly about the earth
warning the people not to trust in the religious, political
and commercial system of the Antichrist because it is a
doomed system. It is under the judgment of God and is surely
doomed along with the world that is passing away. Can you
imagine the comfort and encouragement this will bring to
believers who will be living under the persecution of the
beast?
The good news in the message of the angel is Babylonian the
great, the harlot riding the beast in Revelation 16 that has
“made all the nations to drink the wine of the passion of
her immorality” has fallen. This does not mean the nations
were forced to drink the wine of the passion of her
immorality the nations of their own accord followed her and
took from the cup she offered. The “wine” is the secret
mysteries and false and idolatrous doctrines that Satan has
used to draw nations further away from God.
One of the distinguishing features of the initiation into
the ancient system of the Babylonian or Chaldean “mysteries”
was the drinking of a mysterious drink. The drink was made
of wine, honey, water, and flowers. The drink prepared the
one being initiated into the Babylonian mysters for what
they would see and hear in the licentious Babylonian rites.
Through these mystery rites and symbols, the real concepts
and truths of God were perverted and forgotten. The primary
one worshipped was the woman and her child.
The spread of the Babylonian or Chaldean mysteries is
referred to in the words,” All nations” From ancient Babylon
and the kingdom of Nimrod, this cult spread all over the
world. In Egypt, its worship centered in the names of Isis
and Osiris; in India in the names Isi and Iswara; in Asia in
the names Cybele and Deoios, as Diana in Ephesus, and as
Fortuna and Jupiter in Pagan Rome. In Greece, it appeared
under the names of Ceres, the Great Mother with the babe at
her breast, or as Irene, the Goddess of Peace, with the boy
Plutus in her arms. Even in Tibet, China, and Japan Jesuit
missionaries have reported finding the signs of ancient
mystery Babylon, the counterpart of the Madonna and her
child, she was called Shing Moo, an idol portraying a woman
with a child in her arms and a halo around her head.
The names have changed, but certain elements are always
there as the mother with the child in her arms, or the woman
in heaven. Thus, Babylon has become the biblical name and
symbol for this worldwide religious system that has touched
all the nations of the world to some degree or another. She
is indeed the “Mother of Harlots” (Rev. 17:5).
