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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” [
2
Peter 3:3-7
.]
Those who perished in the waters of the flood had an opportunity
to escape. All were urged to find refuge in the ark; but the multitudes
refused to heed the warning. So when the first angel’s message was
given, all who heard were invited to receive it, and share the blessing
to follow its acceptance; but many scorned and rejected the call. One
turned to his farm, another to his merchandise, and they cared for
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none of these things. Inspiration declares that when the antediluvians
rejected Noah’s words, the Spirit of God ceased to strive with them.
So when men now despise the warnings which God in mercy sends
them, his Spirit after a time ceases to arouse conviction in their hearts.
God gives light to be cherished and obeyed, not to be despised and
rejected. The light which he sends becomes darkness to those who
disregard it. When the Spirit of God ceases to impress the truth upon
the hearts of men, all hearing is vain, and all preaching also is vain.
When the churches spurned the counsel of God by rejecting
the Advent message, the Lord rejected them. The first angel was
followed by a second, proclaiming, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen,
that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of
the wrath of her fornication.” [
Revelation 14:8
] This message was
understood by Adventists to be an announcement of the moral fall of
the churches in consequence of their rejection of the first message.
The proclamation, “Babylon is fallen,” was given in the summer of
1844, and as the result, about fifty thousand withdrew from these
churches.
The term Babylon, derived from Babel, and signifying confusion,
is applied in Scripture to the various forms of false or apostate
religion. But the message announcing the fall of Babylon must
apply to some religious body that was once pure, and has become
corrupt. It cannot be the Romish Church which is here meant; for
that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. But
how appropriate the figure as applied to the Protestant churches,
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all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided
into almost innumerable sects. The unity for which Christ prayed